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Tulisa said she has suffered a Bell’s palsy attack and minor short term paralysis as she gave a candid health update on Friday.
The singer, 37, explained how she had cancelled her egg retrieval due to her ongoing issues and a ‘crazy life experience’ as of late.
The star was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy in 2020 – a neurological disorder that causes paralysis or weakness on one side of the face when the facial nerve is damaged or stops working properly.
Giving her Instagram followers an update, she went through some of the ‘highs and lows’ she has experienced recently in a bid to be more ‘authentic.’
Tulisa explained how she is suffering nicotine withdrawals after giving up smoking and has undergone surgery for cyst removal.
She also shared the devastating news that her friend has being diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, which then led to Tulisa’s Bell’s palsy attack as she dealt with the stress and upset.
Sharing a series of photos, Tulisa wrote: ‘Trying to turn my insta into a place of authenticity. All that crazy life experience into a bit of inspo & tools for others. Which includes sharing my highs & the lows!’
The musician continued: ‘This week/month had challenges: Nicotine Withdrawals: HELLISH, but I’m now 2 months cig free.
‘Hormonal Roller Coaster: Canceled my recent egg retrieval due to low count(Not surprised with how my body felt).
‘Frustrating but ok due to previous great success. Stress/hormones/nicotine withdrawals have been crazy.
‘Surgery Success: Last 3 cysts removed by Darrylc Coombes who years ago discovered the cysts causing my swelling & Bell’s palsy. Now cyst/swell free. Big thanks to Dr.Al.
‘When other Dr’s looked at me like I was crazy & must have have had too much filler. What a journey.’
‘The Big Hit: Same day as surgery, learned my soul sis Shelly has an aggressive cancer & will now start chemo/radiotherapy. Still processing.
‘She’s a fighter, the fight continues. The news after post surgery effects/drugs led me to be sick & pressure from throwing up caused a Bell’s palsy attack .
‘Left my steroids in Manny but got some within 24hrs, so minor paralysis will last a week or so.’
Tulisa added: ‘Nothing compared to what my Shelly is going through. Currently in bed recovering nicely from it all.
‘Less sob story, more reminder we’re all human, going through challenges, even when it looks shiny from the outside.
‘The positives: Shelly is strong & fighting. Cig free! Now got double the amount of eggs. Happy on my business front. Health.
‘My inner work over the past 6 months has helped build a better baseline. Even in lows, I bounce back quicker.
‘My improved emotional/nervous system regulation allows me to feel without staying stuck. Life isn’t constant happiness, it’s a series of ups & downs that define being ALIVE.
‘It’s up to u to choose ur thoughts/perceptions. It’s YOUR MIND. Not the experiences, others treatment of u or the past. Don’t be consumed by the experiences..Be the observer.’
After Tulisa was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy she she soon became locked in a vicious cycle of having filler to even out her appearance and her face becoming inflamed and swollen.
Speaking on Olivia Attwood’s podcast So Wrong It’s Right this month, Tulisa admitted the problems were particularly bad around the time she reformed with the trio in 2022, ending their 11-year hiatus from the music scene with a new tour and single release.
A doctor soon got to the cause after performing an ultrasound on her face, finding ‘three chronically infected cysts’ in her cheek, one of which popped during an ‘explorative operation’ due to being so bulbous.
Tulisa shared: ‘I’ve no idea what they were caused by, they weren’t filler, they were just self-occurring, but I came out of the operation and instantly my face was less swollen.
She added that after having her first Bell’s palsy attack aged 24, she attempted to use fillers to ‘balance out’ her face, causing her to be locked in a ‘vicious cycle.’
Two years passed where the condition was kept at bay, but she started to feel a ‘low level swelling’ in the same cheek, which rapidly increased.
She explained: ‘I would have like tingling sensations like little ants crawling in my face. I started seeing doctors all around the UK – “Something’s wrong with me, what’s wrong with my face” – it was so scary. This went all the way up until this year it was horrific.
‘I constantly felt like my cheek was on fire. I’d have good days and bad days and on some days, I’d take steroids, which would bring it down.
‘When I was doing that N-Dubz run it was at its worst, so you might see an interview, I look normal. And then you see another interview, it’s like, what the hell is going on with my face?’
Tulisa also shared her belief that the painful cysts had contributed to a long list of medical concerns she has battled with for years such as sarcoidosis and immune disorders.
She shared: ‘I’ve had all these health problems for years – sarcoidosis, immune disorders and this explains all the symptoms that I was getting and could have been causing Bell’s palsy because in total there was, I think, six of them. They could have been growing over the years, actually triggering the Bell’s.’
After years of experimenting, Tulisa said she made the decision to remove the filler from her face and now only uses it in her lips.
She added: ‘Right now, I only have filler in my lips. There’s no filler anywhere else in my face.’
