Avril Lavigne, Canadian pop star, reveals tough battle with Lyme disease

Avril Lavigne says she thought she was dying after contracting a severe case of Lyme disease, the Canadian pop star revealed in an exclusive interview published Wednesday by People magazine.

"I had no idea a bug bite could do this," said the Sk8er Boi singer, who suspects she was bitten by a tick in spring 2014.

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"I felt like I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk and I couldn't move," said Lavigne who is recuperating from the bacterial infection at home in Ontario. "I thought I was dying."

"There were definitely times I couldn't shower for a full week because I could barely stand," said the 30-year-old Napanee native. "It felt like having all your life sucked out of you." 

Cared for by family

She has been cared for by her mother and husband, Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger, while the illness left her bedridden for 5 months, the singer said.

Fans have been sending their well wishes to the pop rocker after she told a fan she was suffering from health problems in December.

"I'm not feeling well," wrote the typically private star in a direct message to a Lavigne Twitter fan account. "I'm having some health issues. So please keep me in your prayers."

• Avril Lavigne tells fans she has 'health issues,' asks for prayers

The request triggered an outpouring of support after the fan shared the exchange publicly.

"The get-well messages and videos they sent touched me so deeply," Lavigne told People, revealing that she's now feeling "80 percent better."

The full interview will be available when the April 13th edition of the magazine hits newsstands.

Making new music

Despite her health problems, Lavigne revealed that she'd written a new single called Fly earlier this year.

The song, benefiting the upcoming 2015 Special Olympics, is due out later this month.

The Canadian singer enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame in 2002 with her breakout hit Complicated, but her most recent album release, Hello Kitty, was widely panned by critics.

Billboard called the single's Japanese-themed video an "embarrassment in any language." 

While the People article paints Lavigne as a star ready to reclaim the spotlight, her official website hasn't been updated since April 2014, and there are no upcoming events planned.