Avril Lavigne reveals she has Lyme disease contracted from a tick bite

Pictured: Military academy graduate, 21, charged with murder of married DC lawyer found in hotel room with 'lubricant and condoms'
Killer co-pilot LIED to doctors about being on sick leave: Andreas Lubitz told them he was not flying planes - as it emerges second black box of doomed flight has been found
'There are better ways of wasting your tax dollars': Canadian doctor slams Pizza Hut for policy requiring a sick note for ONE day off in scathing letter
Climbdown on the 'gay discrimination' laws: Arkansas and Indiana both prepare new versions in bid to end furor over religious protection measures
Putin threatens nuclear war: Russian leader will take any necessary step to drive Nato out of Baltics and defend Crimea
Hollywood's last superstars: Who are the only six actors left in Tinseltown who can still command $20 million-a-movie as the industry targets 'safer' reboots and franchises?
PIERS MORGAN: Tom Cruise must ditch the vile cult of Scientology NOW before Hollywood ditches him
Girlfriend of killer co-pilot and her family flee their home: Partner said to be too scared to remain in town and fears facing 'hatred of the world'
'Are you Christian or Muslim?' Al-Shabaab terrorists kill at least 15 and 500 are missing in Kenya university massacre as gunmen go door-to-door asking victims their religion
Arkansas man suffers kidney failure from drinking a GALLON of iced tea every day
Hooray! You CAN eat fast food after exercise: Burgers and chips are just as good as supplements for workout recovery, study claims
Ouch! Physics teacher swings an ax into volunteer co-worker's genitals during classroom 'experiment' that went awry
It's important to un-wind: Kim brings back North Korea's 'pleasure troupe' of young women to entertain him
ISIS on Assad's doorstep: Terror group seizes refugee camp which is home to 18,000 people in deepest foray yet inside Syrian capital
Hillary 'hid during Bill's scandal': Clinton told aides they would be fired if she was seen at height of Lewinsky revelations
NYPD detective is stripped of his badge and gun and thrown out of elite terror division after enraged meltdown against Uber driver is caught on camera
Yoko pays tribute to Cynthia, the secret wife John Lennon treated so very cruelly: How Beatles star's late wife watched in silence as he hid her from the world and had affairs on the road
The man with a giant 'boiled egg' inside him: Doctors discover 10cm ball of fat after patient complained of frequently needing the loo
How to get a flat stomach without going to the gym - just by using a piece of STRING
Cats who rose from the ashes of East Village fire: Woman who lost her home in gas blast gets reunited with her two beloved felines who survived by hiding under a bed
Owner of Manhattan building which exploded leaving two dead 'could face manslaughter charges' as investigators probe links to gas tapping
Atlanta cheating scandal teachers go to cells in hand-cuffs: Eleven educators face up to 20 years in prison for inflating their students' test scores to get money for their schools... and for themselves
Wall Street trader makes $2.5million in just MINUTES after buying and selling shares in tech company following news on Twitter
Arkansas woman becomes world's oldest living person and asks President Obama to attend her 117th birthday on July 4 because she voted for him twice

Singer reveals she was bedridden for five months
Couldn't shower for a full week as she was unable to stand
Has 'no idea' where she got the tick bite which must have been attached for 36 hours in order to transfer the disease
Same condition that has left Real Housewives star Yolanda Foster unable to read, write or watch TV

Published: 09:42 EST, 1 April 2015 | Updated: 10:41 EST, 1 April 2015

View
comments

Avril Lavigne has revealed she has Lyme disease.

In an interview with People Magazine, the 30-year-old explained the debilitating bacterial infection is the reason behind her months-long absence from the public eye.

The singer has no idea where she got the tick bite that infected her.

Scroll down for video

Struggling: Avril Lavigne has revealed she has Lyme disease. She is pictured here at her 30th birthday party in Las Vegas when she was fully suffering the effects

'I had no idea a bug bite could do this,' she said. 'I was bedridden for five months.

'I felt like I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk and I couldn't move. I thought I was dying.

'I had complete weakness and fatigue. One night I tried to brush my teeth on the tour bus and couldn't even stand.'

'There were definitely times I couldn't shower for a full week because I could barely stand,' she continued. 'It felt like having all your life sucked out of you.'

Symptoms of the disease range from headaches and joint pain to severe fatigue, heart palpitations, paralysis of the face and even dementia. If not caught and treated early enough with antibiotics the condition can persist for years.

Sick: The singer, seen her performing at Planet Hollywood in May, told People Magazine she had no idea where she got the tick bite that infected her

The disease was recently highlighted after Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star Yolanda Foster contracted it, who reveled she has lost the ability to read, write or even watch TV because of it.

Incubation period from infection to onset of symptoms is typically two weeks, although it can be months or even years between the two, so it is impossible to say when the bites occur. Avril was between the Asian and South American world tour when she first developed symptoms

The musician thinks she may have been bitten last spring, and remembers first waking up on night in April drenched in sweat and feeling feverish.

She assumed it was the flu, or even exhaustion and dehydration from touring, but when her symptoms persisted, some friends who were familiar with the disease suggested she might have it. However she said doctors were skeptical and didn't want to test her.

After her last public appearance in September she tried to celebrate her 30th birthday in Las Vegas with friends, but she could not muster the energy.

Awol: The Sk8er Boi singer said hubby, Nickleback frontman Chad Kroeger, helped take care of her while she was bedridden for five months

'It was terrible, "I could barely eat, and when we went to the pool, I had to leave and go lie in bed,' she said. 'My friends asked, "What's wrong?" I didn't know.'

It was only several months later of, after a number of emergency room visits that a specialist finally diagnosed her.

Since October the popstar holed herself up in her Ontario home while she recovers, aided by her mom who came to stay with her, while husband, Nickleback frontman Chad Kroeger took as many breaks as he could from his world tour to be with her.

ARCHIVE: Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger at 10th Huading Awards

She says support from her fans through social media helped immensely, and she now feels around 80 per cent recovered. She now wanst to raise more awareness about the disease.

Around 65,000 people in Europe are infected every year, and 25,000 Americans were diagnosed in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The tick normally has to be attached to the host for 36 hours to transfer the infection.