Misdiagnosis Caused Kris Kristofferson’s Memory Loss
In 2013, Kris Kristofferson revealed that he was suffering from memory loss. At the time, the country icon blamed football, boxing and the concussions that came from playing sports in his early 20s; now, however, there is good news: His memory loss is not due to Alzheimer's or dementia -- it's something else completely.
Rolling Stone reports that Kristofferson had a huge breakthrough when a doctor tested him for Lyme disease -- and the test came back positive.
"He was taking all these medications for things he doesn't have, and they all have side effects," Kristofferson's wife Lisa says. She believes that he contracted the disease while filming the 2006 movie Disappearances: He crawled around the forest floor in Vermont for six weeks, during which time he most certainly could have encountered a tick.
Kristofferson went through three weeks of treatment for Lyme disease, and he stopped taking medication for Alzheimer's and depression. "All of a sudden, he was back," Lisa recalls.
Though the artist is doing much better, things still aren't perfect; however, "some days, he's perfectly normal, and it's easy to forget that he is even battling anything," Lisa adds.
Though many feel apprehensive about health conditions and older age, Kristofferson isn't one of them. After all, he points out, "What good would it do?"
"I really have no anxiety about controlling my own life," Kristofferson explains. "Somehow I just slipped into it, and it's worked. It's not up to me -- or you. I feel very lucky that [life]'s lasted so long, because I've done so many things that could have knocked me out of it. But somehow, I just always have the feeling that He knows what He's doing. It's been good so far, and it'll probably continue to be."
The "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" hitmaker is working to spark his memory through his old songs, listening to The Complete Monument & Columbia Album Collection record by record ("It just takes you back like a picture of something would," he says). And Kristofferson continues to keep busy amidst his health struggles: He stars in an upcoming new Western film, Traded, and his upcoming record, The Cedar Creek Sessions, is due out in mid-June.