I’ve Lost 40 Pounds In A Year And a Half

For decades, Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson has been known for his legendary riffs and intricate solos. But behind the scenes, the 71-year-old musician has been fighting a battle with his health that has significantly altered his way of life. In a candid interview with Greg Prato of AllMusic, Lifeson shared details about his struggles with digestive issues, a serious autoimmune condition, and the drastic lifestyle changes he’s made to maintain his well-being.

Lifeson revealed that in early 2023, he underwent stomach surgery that led to a condition called gastroparesis, which causes delayed digestion. The effects were debilitating, leaving him feeling miserable for over a year. Searching for relief, he traveled to Austria’s Vivamayr Clinic, a wellness center known for its focus on gut health and holistic treatments.

“I went to a clinic in January in Austria, in southern Austria, called the Vivamayr Clinic. It is a wellness clinic that focuses on the digestive system. As well as many other things, they have many cancer patients there, and they provide so many different therapies. And it’s very calm and quiet — no phones, no music. It’s just about almost zenning out and diving into this — drinking a lot of water, tea, there’s no coffee, there’s obviously no alcohol,” he shared.

Lifeson explained that his condition forces him to be extremely careful with his diet. A single mistake can leave him suffering for days. “So, I really have to eat very carefully, and I have to be very selective about how I eat and not cross that line because it’s hard for me to get back over,” he said. “Y’know, one mistake costs me two or three days of discomfort. I was nauseous for a year. I was miserable for pretty much a year and a half…until I went to Vivamayr, and they just taught me how to take control of how I’m eating, what to eat when to eat. And it’s just remarkable.”

For someone who admitted to being “lazy” when it came to self-care, this experience was transformative. “Because I’m not normally that type of person. I’m lazy and I just don’t work hard when it comes to things I don’t want to do,” he admitted. “But this, for the first time in my life, just changed everything, and it’s been life-changing for me.”

The results speak for themselves — Lifeson has lost around 40 pounds in the last year and a half. More importantly, he’s found a way to maintain a healthier, more comfortable life. “And if I’m careful and I eat properly, I can live a happy, relatively normal life,” he said. “If I don’t, then I suffer. So, you don’t want to feel crappy I’ve come to realize.”

This realization led him to make permanent changes. “I don’t drink anymore, I don’t smoke, I don’t eat junk. Absolutely no junk. Gluten-free, lactose-free. Like, all of that stuff — because that’s me. That’s what I have to do. It’s not a choice. This is what I have to do to maintain a decent, comfortable life.”

Lifeson’s health challenges don’t stop there. For nearly 20 years, he has also been living with psoriatic arthritis, a painful autoimmune disease that causes joint inflammation. While the condition has worsened over time, he has managed it with medication.

“I would say that’s slowly getting worse, as to be expected. I have psoriatic arthritis, and I’ve been dealing with it for quite a while — for almost 20 years. I’m on two biologics [biologic drugs for the treatment of arthritis], so sort of like a double whammy in dealing with it. And it’s been very, very effective,” he said in a previous interview with Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk.

Despite the challenges, Lifeson remains determined to keep playing. “I have times where the inflammation has its own mind, and that’s when you’ll see me shaking my hands [while I am playing]. But it is what it is, and I can still get by, and I’m so used to it, I don’t really even think about it that much anymore.”