Solange Reveals She’s Battling an Autonomic Disorder
Solange is letting fans in on a private health battle she’s been waging behind the scenes. The singer was supposed to take the stage for the upcoming AfroPunk festival in South Africa on New Year’s Eve, but she recently had to cancel her performance because of an autonomic disorder.
Taking to Instagram to detail what she’s been going through, she began, “Wrote, deleted and rewrote this like 5 times… Still not sure what exactly or how much I want to share… However it’s so important to me for the people in South Africa, a place that has tremendous meaning to me and that has given me SO SO MUCH, to know why I won’t be performing at Afro Punk this NYE.”
She continued, “The past five months I have been quietly treating, and working through an Autonomic Disorder. It’s been a journey that hasn’t been easy on me… Sometimes I feel cool, and other times not so cool at all. It’s a complicated diagnosis, and I’m still learning so much myself, but right now, my doctors are not clearing me for such an extended lengthy flight, and doing a rigorous show right after.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, an autonomic disorder is a disorder “of autonomic nervous system (ANS) function,” which is “a general term used to describe a breakdown or abnormal function of the… autonomic nervous system [which] controls much of your involuntary functions.” Symptoms can include problems with the regulation of heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and perspiration. as well as fatigue, lightheadedness, feeling faint or passing out, weakness, and cognitive impairment. We don’t know which of these (if any) Solange is experiencing, but it’s clear that she’s not well enough for her usual energy-filled performance style.
The star continued her statement to fans by saying, “As a part of the self care that I’ve tried to encourage this past year, it needs to start with myself, and I’m looking forward to doing a better job of this 2018.”
Do you know anyone dealing with an autonomic disorder? Let us know @BritandCo.
(photo via Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Glamour)
