Avril Lavigne reveals she has Lyme disease after months of rumors surrounding her health: ‘I thought I was dying’

Avril Lavigne's ailing health left her and her loved ones wondering what the hell was going on.

Now, the punk princess revealed she was diagnosed with a severe case of Lyme disease.

"I had no idea a bug bite could do this," she told People. "I was bedridden for five months."

Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system.

 

The Canadian singer was feeling ill for months when she headed to Las Vegas with friends to celebrate her 30th birthday in September. But despite being in Sin City, partying was the last thing on Lavigne's mind.

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

After receiving her diagnosis the "Complicated" singer began recuperating at her home in Ontario with the assistance of her mom, who moved in to help out, and her husband, Nickelback's Chad Kroeger, 40. But even with the support of her family, the disease proved to be quite debilitating.

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

Lavigne's devotees worried about her condition especially after two hashtags "#PrayForAvril" and "#GetWellSoonAvril" went viral on Twitter in December. Speculations around her well-being boiled over when she replied, "thank you," confirming something was wrong.

"I feel bad because I haven't been able to say anything to the fans to let them no (sic) why I've been absent," she wrote Dec. 7 directly to the fan page where the hashtags originated from and after reports indicated she was heading to rehab, which she called "hilarious."

"They were asking about me since I was MIA, so I mentioned to one fan directly that I wasn't feeling good," she told People about the Twitter exchange. "The get-well messages and videos they sent touched me so deeply."