Kris Kristofferson Diagnosed with Lyme Disease After Alzheimer’s Misdiagnosis

Kris Kristofferson is suffering from Lyme disease and went undiagnosed for years. 

Kris Kristofferson Diagnosed with Lyme Disease After Alzheimer’s Misdiagnosis
Kris Kristofferson; Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images

There have been many rumors as of late concerning the health status of Kris Kristofferson, and the Country Music Hall of Fame member recently put those to rest with the announcement that he is suffering from Lyme disease – not the Alzheimer’s’ diagnosis that many people have feared.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, the singer’s wife, Lisa, said that he was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Looking back on that moment, she says that there should have been testing done for Lyme disease, but admits that the doctors in their home base of California weren’t “looking for it or aware of it there then. But now we know it’s everywhere,” she reasons.

Among Kristofferson’s symptoms included massive and painful spasms all over his back and his legs. Tests were conducted in late 2015, with the first one coming back suspicious. The second, done by IGeneX earlier this year, came back positive. The singer soon began seeing a doctor in California, who added antibiotic intramuscular injections to Kris’s protocol and is continuing to treat the legendary entertainer.

Lisa confirmed in the Huffington interview that he had been treated for Alzheimer’s for the past three years, but finally a spinal tap and MRI ruled out the disease. Tests were performed for Lyme during that period, but came back negative. “The doctor explained to me that Lyme does not live in fluid, it lives in tissue,” she said. “It bores into tissue so you would really have to do a biopsy of the brain to find it.”

Kristofferson had been complaining for about twelve years about what he perceived to be memory loss, though it didn’t affect his ability to perform songs from his catalog. But Lisa said things like his sense of smell and his spatial awareness was off a bit.

Fortunately, treatment has helped the writer of such classics as “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Help Me Make It Through The Night.” Lisa said, “We had tremendous improvement after the intramuscular injections of Invanz, the Doxy and Alinia, thirty days of hyperbaric oxygen and twenty days of TMS of the frontal lobe. How it all worked is impossible to say but I can tell you that twenty days into theTMS, his personality was back.” She says that he still has problems with his spatial awareness and short-term memory loss, but he is doing a lot better overall.

“We walked two miles yesterday,” she says. “His physical health is incredibly good. All his symptoms of fibromyalgia, sleep apnea and twitching are now gone with the Lyme treatment. He has stayed off the two Alzheimer’s drugs and the antidepressant he was taking for the fibromyalgia. He is continuing to do treatment as needed. When I look back, his symptoms really should’ve caused his doctors to test him for Lyme and they missed it. Most doctors are just not looking for it.”

Kristofferson – who turned 80 last month – has just released a new album entitled The Cedar Creek Sessions. Produced by Tamara Saviano and Shawn Camp, the album consists of recordings made in Austin, Texas two years ago. Sheryl Crow appears on the set, adding her vocals to “The Loving Gift,” a song originally recorded by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash in the 1970s. Still touring, he will kick off a brief run in Denmark and Sweden on September 10, with several California dates on the books for October and November. For all things Kristofferson, log on to KrisKristofferson.com.