Celine: I took so much valium I could have died

CELINE Dion has revealed how she ingested enough valium to kill her when she suffered excruciating muscle spasms.

- CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

The My Heart Will Go On singer said she began suffering symptoms of stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological condition, as far back as 2008.

The Canadian told fans her diagnosis in December 2022 when she cancelled her Courage World Tour.

However she has now spoken about how she hopes to return to the stage.

Speaking on America's Today Show, she told host Hoda Kotb that before her diagnosis she was taking copious amounts of diazepam, sold under the name valium.

Celine said the drug helped her to relax her whole body in order to perform on stage before adding she was unaware of the consequences.

In her first TV interview since her diagnosis, she admitted: "I did not know, honestly, that it could kill me."

The 56-year-old told how, over the years, her body became so acclimatised to the dosage that after 20 minutes, she would need to take more. She said: "You get used to it. It doesn't work."

She admitted the daily amount of diazepam she was taking was enough to "kill you", adding that eventually, along with the help of doctors, she weaned herself off medications - "especially the bad ones" during the pandemic.

Celine said: "I stopped everything because it stopped working." Her taking of the drug coincided with the period in which her husband, Rene Angelil, was fighting for his own life with throat cancer.

He died in 2016 and Celine said: "I had to hide. I had to try to be a hero."