For a very, very anxious person, the suggested dose of diazepam – the scientific name for Valium – is 5 mg, taken no more than four times a day. So a total of 20 mg.
Rendered to 40 mg of Valium daily, we are talking about a horse dose, a “megadose”, specifies the pharmacist and popularizer Olivier Bernard, also known by his pseudonym Le Pharmachien, who obviously did not treat the international star.
At the worst of her neurological illness, Céline Dion swallowed 90 mg of diazepam every day, a drug from the benzodiazepine family that relieves anxiety and relaxes muscles.
“These are very high doses,” confirms pharmacist Anis Ouyahia, who collaborates on Pénélope McQuade’s radio show at 95.1 FM and who has not treated Céline either.
This excessive consumption, which relaxed the neck and vocal cords of the 56-year-old singer, could have plunged her into respiratory distress and, ultimately, killed her, according to what the diva herself revealed in an interview Tuesday evening with NBC host Hoda Kotb.
Someone in good physical shape and without mental health problems would become a zombie – or fall into a coma altogether – by taking 90 mg of Valium over a 24-hour period. For example, a standard prescription for diazepam is equivalent to a dose 22 times less than the amount Céline ingested.
But as she publicly revealed, Céline Dion quickly developed a tolerance to this anxiolytic, which dates from another era.
“Valium is rarely used today. There are new medications that are much easier to use, such as clonazepam, whose effects last over a longer period,” specifies pharmacist Olivier Bernard.
Suffering and in search of performance, the Charlemagne diva broke through the pharmaceutical levels, increasing her doses from 3, to 15, to 50 and up to 90 mg of Valium. How she stood on stage with so many chemicals in her body was a scientific miracle. Valium acts within minutes and causes drowsiness and memory loss. Also, its regular users quickly become dependent and must wean themselves, as Céline did during the pandemic, while she was holed up in her bunker in Las Vegas.
The pop music superstar wasn’t donning Valiums to freeze her face or get high, but to sing at the high level she’s accustomed her fans to. Not to disappoint, even if it means ruining your health, in the most opaque secret, it breaks the heart to watch.
Celine Dion has spent her entire life in restraint and control. Control of his precious voice, his public image and his athletic body. Céline barely drank, did not smoke, jealously protected her instrument, imposed long periods of silence and controlled the humidity of the rooms where she performed. For more than 40 years, she avoided any form of excess, unlike some of her sisters, which could have harmed her career or impaired her vocal performances.
There is something profoundly unfair about seeing an incurable illness (stiff person syndrome) strike an artist as healthy and disciplined as Céline.
In February 2012, upon the tragic death of Whitney Houston, the Quebec performer denounced substance abuse within the artistic colony, which included Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson. To think, now, that Céline Dion, the most cautious woman in showbiz, could have suffered the same fate gives you chills.
The public has almost never observed Celine Dion in a weak situation. For us, Céline is a superhero who hits the biggest notes and fills arenas all over the world. Tireless, unstoppable, Céline goes on tours and albums, both in English and in French. And she smashes all records, accumulates professional conquests.
In excerpts from the documentary I Am: Celine Dionwhich is released on June 25 on the Amazon Prime Video platform, it is a fragile and vulnerable Céline who appears before our eyes.
No makeup, barely her hair done, and in harsh lighting, which she would never have accepted five years ago. It’s shockingly true, especially when she shows director Irene Taylor, between sobs, how much her voice was damaged by her health problems.
Since 2008, when the first muscle spasms bothered her, Céline Dion had to find ways to finish her shows without becoming voiceless. She handed the microphone to the crowd more often (sing with me!) and lowered the tone of her songs, to make them less demanding.
This mysterious illness, Céline initially believed that it was a common cold, a sinus infection or the consequences of overwork. The official diagnosis only came in 2022: stiff person syndrome, whose violent spasms broke a rib.
I found her brave and touching for speaking so openly about her problems. Above all, I admire his determination. Whether she has to crawl or express herself with her hands, Céline Dion will return to the stage, something she has not done since March 2020.
And never his piece Courage will have been so vibrant and speaking. “Cheer up, don’t let me down now. I need you to keep the doubts at bay. I find myself facing something new. You are all I can hold on to. »