The singer said he is learning to live with the condition which ‘comes and goes’
Lewis Capaldi has been diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome and has gone public with it because he does not want fans to think he has been “taking cocaine or something”.
The singer told The Sun that he is now learning to live with the twitches and was relieved to discover he had the condition as he feared he might be suffering a degenerative disease.
The 25-year-old is being treated with Botox injections to freeze muscles to try to control the tics characteristic of Tourette’s.
Capaldi, who’s single Someone You Loved was at No1 for seven weeks, told the publisher: “I have been diagnosed with Tourette’s.
“I wanted to speak about it because I didn’t want people to think I was taking cocaine or something.
“My shoulder twitches when I am excited, happy, nervous or stressed. It is something I am living with.”
The singer, whose new hit, Forget Me, is expected to race up the charts when released on Friday, reassured his fans that it isn’t “as bad it it looks”. He spoke to them in an Instagram Live session.
Capaldi said he is yet to learn “much about” his new condition, and is “learning new ways to cope all the time”.
“Some days it’s more painful than others, sometimes it’s quite uncomfortable but I guess that’s it,” he said.
“When they told me, ‘We think you’ve got Tourette’s’, I was like, ‘Do you know what, that makes so much sense’.”
Capaldi said when he looks back at interviews from 2018, “I can see that I’m doing it.”
The performer said the condition does not trouble him all the time: “It comes and goes. Sometimes I can go months without doing it. “I thought I had some horrible degenerative disease so I’ll take Tourette’s.”
According to the NHS, Tourette’s syndrome is a “condition that causes a person to make involuntary sounds and movements called tics”.
“It usually starts during childhood, but the tics and other symptoms usually improve after several years and sometimes go away completely.
“There’s no cure for Tourette’s syndrome, but treatment can help manage symptoms. “People with Tourette’s syndrome may also have obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or learning difficulties.”
“Swearing is rare and only affects about 1 in 10 people with Tourette’s syndrome,” the NHS added. “Tics are not usually harmful to a person’s overall health, but physical tics, such as jerking of the head, can be painful.”
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