Kevin Jonas’ Wife Danielle Reveals ‘Traumatic’ Battle With Lyme Disease & Hair Loss: ‘I Just Wanted to Feel Like Myself’

Danielle Jonas, who is married to Kevin Jonas, has been dealing with some difficult health challenges behind the scenes.

The TV personality revealed in an interview with Parents published on Thursday (Oct. 9) that she has been diagnosed with Lyme disease, a conclusion she says only came after her doctors originally downplayed what she was going through. “They tried to tell me it was anxiety,” Danielle told the publication.

“Finally, I had a biopsy that showed I actually had Lyme disease,” she continued. “I also had eczema on my scalp, which was likely from the inflammation [caused by Lyme disease]. The hair loss was very traumatic.”

According to Mayo Clinic, Lyme disease is caused by borrelia bacteria, which humans typically contract after a carrier tick bites them. Longterm symptoms include body pains, skin conditions and immune-system issues.

In Danielle’s case, the hair loss caused by her illness was so severe, she got extensions — but they only irritated the eczema on her scalp more. Eczema, or atopic dermatitis, is a skin condition that causes dryness, itchiness and inflammation, according to Mayo.

“I had to go out and do things with Kevin,” Danielle recalled. “I just wanted to feel like myself.”

The Married to Jonas star and Kevin got married in 2009. They share two daughters — 11-year-old Alena, 11 and 8-year-old Valentina.

“They saw everything I went through,” Danielle said of her children, who she says also have eczema. “The main thing I tell them [when their eczema flares up] is, ‘This is going to pass.’”

Lyme disease is quite common in the United States. The CDC estimates that 476,000 people are diagnosed with it each year. Danielle is just one of many public figures who have opened up about their struggles with the illness, including Avril Lavigne, Justin Bieber and Shania Twain.

Earlier this year, Justin Timberlake shared that he’d also been diagnosed with Lyme. “If you’ve experienced this disease or know someone who has — then you’re aware: living with this can be relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “When I first got the diagnosis I was shocked for sure. But, at least I could understand why I would be onstage and in a massive amount of nerve pain or, just feeling crazy fatigue or sickness.”

Danielle’s revelation comes as her husband and his brothers/bandmates, Joe and Nick Jonas, are touring in support of their new Jonas Brothers album, Greetings From Your Hometown, which debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200. In late September, the band added 18 new dates to the trek, which wraps in December in Brooklyn, N.Y.