Celine Dion relied on heavy doses of Valium to get through shows and fight rare condition

Celine Dion's desperate desire to perform while she fought a rare neurological disorder once pushed her to regularly take up to 90 milligrams of Valium a day, she said — doses that could've been deadly.

Celine Dion's desperate desire to perform while she fought a rare neurological disorder once pushed her to regularly take up to 90 milligrams of Valium a day, she said — doses that could've been deadly.

Dion, the famed Canadian singer, has been sidelined with stiff-person syndrome, a debilitating condition that affects roughly 1 or 2 out of every 1 million people.

Dion, a five-time Grammy winner, said that to control symptoms, she started with 20-milligram doses of the powerful medication, which can curb muscle spasms and seizures. Adult doses typically are 2 to 10 milligrams.

But as her body became accustomed to that dose, Dion said, she'd end up having to increase it — up to 90 milligrams on some days.

"Ninety milligrams of Valium can kill you. You can stop breathing," Dion told NBC News' Hoda Kotb. "And at one point, the thing is that my body got used to it at 20 and 30 and 40 [milligrams], until it went up. And I needed that. It was relaxing my whole body."

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/music/celine-dion-relied-heavy-doses-valium-get-shows-fight-rare-condition-rcna156603

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