Avril Lavigne confirms Lyme disease diagnosis left her bedridden

Avril Lavigne said she thought she was dying after a Lyme disease diagnosis left her bedridden for five months.

The Canadian singer started to develop symptoms on her 30th birthday, but had no idea what was causing them.

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

Lavigne – who said she had "no idea a bug bite could do this" - believes she was bitten by a tick sometime last spring.

"I was bedridden for five months," she said. "I felt like I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk and I couldn't move. I thought I was dying.

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

The Hello Kitty singer was looked after by her mother at her home in Ontario as well as her husband, and Nickleback musician, Chad Kroeger, 40.

Lavigne - who now feels "80 per cent better" - said the amount of support from fans "touched me so deeply".

[Evening Standard]