L-R: Julia Michaels, Selena Gomez (Miranda McDonald) Selena Gomez says reading negative comments about her weight after she was diagnosed with lupus “really messed [her] up for a bit.”

During an interview on her friend Raquelle Stevens’ video podcast Giving Back Generation, the singer says the body-shaming attacks on social media increased after her illness.

“I have lupus and deal with kidney issues and high blood pressure, so I deal with a lot of health issues, and for me that’s when I really started noticing more of the body image stuff,” explains Selena, who received a kidney transplant in 2017.

The singer says “weight fluctuation” is one of the side effects of the medication she takes and is completely out of her control.

“It’s the medication I have to take for the rest of my life — it depends on even the month, to be honest,” she says. “So for me, I really noticed when people started attacking me for that. And in reality, that’s just my truth. I fluctuate. It depends what’s happening in my life.”

Selena adds the negative comments she received online “got to me big time,” admitting, “That really messed me up for a bit.”

But she adds that now she’s “very happy with living my life” in the present and not exposing herself to negativity online.

In other Selena news, she joined her pal Julia Michaels for a surprise duet of “Anxiety” during Julia’s Inner Monologue tour stop in Los Angeles Monday night. The performance marked the first time they’ve performed the song together for a live audience.

Copyright © 2019, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.