American supermodel Bella Hadid periodically uses Instagram to provide insights into her daily life coping with a chronic illness. A recent post from September 2025 showcases her undergoing various treatments at a specialized medical center. In a separate post dating back to August 2023, Hadid is depicted with an intravenous catheter attached to her arm, revealing her battle with Lyme disease for over 100 days and enduring nearly 15 years of unseen struggles.
Receiving approximately three million likes and 19,000 comments, the post drew significant support from users. Many expressed solidarity, with one individual inquiring about their own experiences with chronic Lyme disease and treatment methods. While Lyme disease is a recognized medical condition known to cause pain, fatigue, and muscle discomfort, celebrities like Hadid, along with singers Justin Timberlake and Justin Bieber, claim to have chronic Lyme disease, a controversial term not acknowledged by mainstream medicine.
Chronic Lyme disease is a concept propagated by alternative practitioners attributing symptoms like pain, fatigue, and neurological issues to a persistent Lyme infection, despite the absence of positive results on standard Lyme disease tests. Although seeking answers through the lens of chronic Lyme may offer hope to individuals with unexplained symptoms, experts caution against the largely unregulated private testing and treatment landscape, which can pose serious risks.
The rise of Lyme disease globally, including in Canada, underscores the importance of early antibiotic treatment to combat the infection, as untreated cases can lead to severe complications affecting various body systems. Post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) is a condition where individuals continue to experience distressing symptoms post-treatment, often without a clear understanding of the underlying cause, complicating the treatment approach.
Misconceptions surrounding Lyme disease, chronic Lyme, and PTLDS persist, with some individuals advocating for ongoing treatments based on the belief that Lyme bacteria persist in the body despite antibiotic courses. Medical professionals emphasize the lack of evidence supporting this notion and caution against unnecessary and potentially harmful treatments that prey on vulnerable individuals seeking relief from chronic illness.
Testing for Lyme disease in Canada involves a two-step process utilizing blood screening for antibodies signaling infection, though these tests have limitations and may yield false positives or fail to detect the active infection. Private clinics offering alternative tests and treatments outside the regulatory framework may mislead patients with claims of superior diagnostics and unproven therapies, creating a lucrative industry centered around chronic Lyme disease.
The narrative of chronic Lyme underscores the complexity of diagnosing and treating persistent symptoms, leading some individuals to pursue costly and unproven therapies, as seen in Feile O’Connell’s near-fatal experience with unverified treatments in Mexico. The challenges in addressing chronic illnesses highlight the critical need for enhanced research, improved healthcare access, and greater empathy from healthcare providers to support individuals grappling with complex medical conditions.