Lena Dunham attends Friendly House 30th Annual Awards Luncheon at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 26, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images,)

Lena Dunham had a doctor’s appointment this week, and didn’t bother dressing up for it. 

Tabloid publications snapped the Girls star in her blue nightgown, getting to her car with the help of a cane.

On Instagram, Lena reveals she’d had a flare up of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a rare condition that affects your skin, joints and blood vessel walls, resulting in thin, stretchy skin and loose joints. Pop star Sia also recently revealed her struggle with the syndrome and Jameela Jamil chimed in to say she’s a sufferer too.

”I could choose to be embarrassed by these paparazzi pics- I mean, that’s probably the point of someone publishing them in the first place- but I’m really not, “ Dunham wrote, reposting the photos. 

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I could choose to be embarrassed by these paparazzi pics- I mean, that’s probably the point of someone publishing them in the first place- but I’m really not. I could lie and say it was an early Halloween look (Don’t you get it? I’m going as a con woman leaving a Florida Keys jail after being acquitted of murdering her husband, and now she’s trying to get disability license plates.) But the truth is just: This is what life is like when I’m struggling most with chronic illness. An Ehler-Danlos syndrome flare means that I need support from more than just my friends… so thank you, sweet cane! For years, I resisted doing anything that would make my physical situation easier, insisting that a cane would “make things weird.” But it’s so much less weird to actually be able to participate than to stay in bed all day. And yes, you'd better believe I'm wearing my nightgown. I was walking four feet to the car to go to the doctor and I wanted to be full cozy. I mean, didn't Bieber wear hotel slippers for like five years? Yeah, so I can wear my glamour nighty for two hours. And then an hour later, I’m in a meeting look tackling the job I love. That’s the two-fold life of a woman with chronic illness; we still rock our dreams and goals and passions (and fashions) and we live many lives in one day. Tell me about your day!

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She joked about her “Halloween costume”, I’m going as a con woman leaving a Florida Keys jail after being acquitted of murdering her husband, and now she’s trying to get disability license plates,” she wrote, before describing her battle with her chronic illness.

“For years, I resisted doing anything that would make my physical situation easier, insisting that a cane would “make things weird.” But it’s so much less weird to actually be able to participate than to stay in bed all day. And yes, you’d better believe I’m wearing my nightgown. I was walking four feet to the car to go to the doctor and I wanted to be full cozy.”

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I am an artist, a writer, a dreamer, a cat lady, a secret folk singer, an obsessively devoted daughter and sister and friend….. and I am also an addict in recovery. Therefore, I was beyond honored to have received the Woman of The Year Award at the Friendly House 30th Annual Awards Luncheon. Thank you so much to @friendlyhouseLA for your endless support and inspiration during my healing process. Thank you @DemiMoore for making me cry with your introduction- you are a true friend through thick and through thin, through Etsy and through anesthesia. For any of you embarking on the journey of recovery, please know that you are worth saving and worth loving. And until you really feel those things, let me feel them for you. And finally, please support other women daring enough to get clean by donating in the link in my bio!

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The revelation comes in the same week that Dunham gave a speech at the Peggy Albrecht Friendly House treatment center for women in Los Angeles, which celebrated its 30th anniversary with a luncheon. Dunham was awarded Woman of the Year by Friendly House at the function, where she talked about being 18 months sober following an addiction to anti-anxiety medication Klonopin.

“Being me has sometimes hurt so much that I couldn’t bear it,” Dunham said at the benefit. “But being me is also a super-power, and it’s the same for all of you.” Dunham said she is “living a life that’s beyond my wildest imagination. […] And I’ll put my money on sober women any day — because a woman who has overcome an addiction can do f—ing anything.”

Dunham recently wrote an Elle cover story on Demi Moore, who also revealed her battles with addiction in her new memoir Inside Out. Moore was also at the Friendly House event. 

 

 

topics: LENA DUNHAM, Girls, Demi Moore

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