Miranda Hart, 51, reveals the moment she ‘collapsed’ after finally getting an official diagnosis for her three decade mystery health battle: ‘I was shocked and felt a deep well of sadness’
Miranda Hart has given rare insight into her three-decade mysterious health battle and the moment she received her official diagnosis: she has Lyme disease.
In her new memoir, I Haven’t Been Completely Honest With You, out October 10, Miranda, who has taken a break from the spotlight for the past decade, opens up about her plight and the moment she “collapsed.” of poor health.
While fans know the comedian, 51, as Chummy in Call The Midwife and for her cheerful self-titled sitcom, Miranda has admitted behind closed doors that she desperately told doctors: ‘I feel toxic and poisoned’.
It took 33 years for doctors to discover that Miranda was battling the bacterial infection of Lyme disease, after initially mislabeling her as agoraphobic – an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in certain situations.
She remembers coming out of her doctor’s appointment in tears after they told her she was “TATT” – “Tired all the time” and said, “I just don’t know what to do with you.”
Miranda Hart has given rare insight into her three-decade mysterious health battle and the moment she received her official diagnosis: She has Lyme disease
The comic was officially diagnosed during lockdown and believes she contracted Lyme disease when she was 14 after battling nasty flu-like symptoms in Virginia.
The comic was officially diagnosed during lockdown and believes she contracted Lyme disease when she was 14 after battling nasty flu-like symptoms in Virginia.
She writes: ‘For me, it was the unnerving neurological symptoms I initially developed from Lyme at the age of fourteen that have always been particularly difficult for me to cope with. And they got significantly worse as I approached my forties. Just like the fatigue due to the exhaustion of the cells. Yes, all delicious.’
Of the moment she received her diagnosis, she adds: “I stopped that Zoom call, closed my laptop and sat there, silent and stunned. So many emotions, I was shocked, but I also immediately felt a deep source of sadness and disappointment – for more than thirty years I knew something was wrong. I remembered all the times I had said to different doctors, “I feel toxic and poisoned, or, it’s like I have the flu every day, but I don’t have a fever.”
‘(It’s amazing how the body can sometimes literally tell us what’s going on.) I felt the anger rising at the moments I was told I must have agoraphobia.
‘I would try to treat it as such when, as it turned out, it was the lack of energy and extreme light and sound sensitivity that caused my body to crash when I went outside in any activity or in a stimulating environment .’
Miranda says she struggled to know how to share the news of her diagnosis with her followers, fearing she would be seen as “complaining” or “just tired all the time.”
But Lyme disease wreaked havoc on her body and she received “endless diagnoses.” Also, fans soon noticed her absence from TV screens.
In 2017, it was revealed that Miranda would not be returning to Call The Midwife, citing a busy work schedule as the reason.
But she later revealed during a stand-up gig in London that she was suffering from ‘ill’ health.
She said at the time: ‘I don’t feel like myself at the moment because I was sick last year and couldn’t exercise.’
Although fans know the comedian (51) as Chummy in Call The Midwife, Miranda has admitted behind closed doors that she desperately told doctors: ‘I feel toxic and poisoned’
Excerpt from Miranda’s memoir I haven’t been completely honest with you – published on Thursday, October 10
In 2017, it was revealed that Miranda would not be returning to Call The Midwife. She later revealed during a stand-up performance in London that she was suffering from ‘ill’ health
The star also suffered the ‘excruciating grief’ of losing her beloved dog Peggy in 2021 (pictured)
She later got a new dog, a Poochon named Patti, who fans described as her “healing dog.”
Now that she’s speaking out, the comedian says doctors discovered she’d been battling Epstein-Barr, glandular fever, herpes, shingles and “other nasty things that I don’t want to remember because they all sounded so awful.”
Miranda describes suffering from chronic stress, with viral infections and injuries being her primary stressor, and “years of fear of misdiagnosis.”
Living in London and a high-flying career added to the comedian’s ‘stress pot’, until it all became too much and she ‘eventually collapsed’.
She writes, “For years I woke up with symptoms that I now see were caused by a 9 out of 10 stress level due to my undiagnosed Lyme and associated infections due to an immune system disorder.
‘Everything I had to do that day caused extreme fatigue. That’s why I finally collapsed.’
Looking back on this life-changing moment, Miranda says that if she had learned to remove stressors from her daily life, “my body could function efficiently again to recover.”
The star also suffered the “excruciating grief” of losing her beloved dog Peggy in 2021.
Miranda had had Peggy, a Shih Tzu-Bichon Frize cross, since 2007 and credited her with helping her through some tough times in her life, including heartbreak.
She announced the death of her “faithful, loving best friend” on Instagram, saying she was taking a break from work and social media.
She later got a new dog, a Poochon named Patti, who fans described as her “healing dog.”
Excerpt from Miranda’s memoir I Haven’t Been Completely Honest With You – available on Thursday, October 10.