Avril Lavigne went on hiatus last year with many speculating that she was either pregnant, in rehab, or having marital issues with husband, Nickleback frontman Chad Kroeger. In December, she updated fans on Twitter and asked for prayers because she was "having some health issues." The "Hello Kitty" singer has now revealed what was going on in a new interview with People, explaining that she had been bedridden for five months after contracting Lyme disease.
She told the magazine that she had been feeling lethargic and lightheaded for months but that doctors couldn't seem to pinpoint what was wrong with her.
"I could barely eat, and when I went to the pool, I had to leave and go lie in bed," she told them. "My friends asked, 'What's wrong?' I didn't know."
The normally energetic singer was then diagnosed with a severe case of Lyme disease.
"I had no idea a bug bite could do this," she said, adding that she thinks she was bit by a tick sometime last spring. "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."
Following her diagnosis, she has been recuperating at her home in Ontario. Her mother moved in to help take care of her while Kroeger was on tour.
"There were definitely times I couldn't shower for a full week because I could barely stand," she said. "It felt like having all your life sucked out of you."
One thing that helped her through the dark times were her fans, who sent messages and videos to the singer, urging her to get well.
"They were asking about me since I was MIA, so I mentioned to one fan directly that I wasn't feeling good," Lavigne said of the private Twitter message she sent that went viral. ""The get-well messages and videos they sent touched me so deeply."
She announced that she's about 80 percent better and eager to get back to her life and music.
She will be releasing a new single this month for the 2015 Special Olympics called "Fly."
"This was a wake-up call," Lavigne declared. "I really just want to enjoy life from here on out."
