British comedian Miranda Hart has opened up on the 30 years she has suffered with Lyme disease, which has, at time, left her 'bed-bound'.
Hart, now 51, made the revelation in her new memoir, I Haven't Been Entirely Honest With You, which will be released to the public on Thursday (10 October).
A household name in the UK for her semi-autobiographical sitcom on the BBC, dubbed Miranda, she has also starred in Call the Midwife, as well as Hollywood film Spy alongside Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Jason Statham, and Jude Law.
Advert
But for the last decade, Hart has spent a lot of the time outside of the spotlight that comes with being an actress and comedian.
It was after she 'collapsed' as a result of her ill health; something she has bravely spoken about in her new book.
What happened to Miranda Hart?
In the book, Hart reveals she went to her doctor pleading for help, saying she felt 'toxic and poisoned'.
Advert
All in all, it took a massive 33 years for the Not Going Out star to get the diagnosis - having secretly been battling Lyme disease for more than three decades.
Doctors had initially said she was agoraphobic, a mental health disorder where you have an extreme or irrational fear of entering open or crowded places.
After securing the diagnosis during the Covid-19 lockdown, Hart believes she contracted Lyme disease while she was on holiday as a 14-year-old.
At the time, she had been suffering with extreme flu-like symptoms while in Virginia, USA.
Advert
"For me, it was the unnerving neurological symptoms that I had got initially, aged fourteen, from Lyme, which I always found particularly hard to deal with," she writes in her book.
"And they got considerably worse as I headed into my forties. As did the fatigue from the cell depletion. Yup, all delightful."
Speaking to the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Hart added: "Unless you’ve had fatigue like that, you don’t understand what literally not getting off the floor is.
Advert
"I was basically bed-bound and house-bound. There’d be times where I'd look at a glass of water, and think, 'I don’t know how to pick that up'. All anyone wants is to be heard, accepted, loved and seen... and when you’re not - particularly in a medical situation - it’s the worst."
Lyme disease symptoms
According to the NHS, Lyme disease is most often spread to people by infected ticks. And like many infections, the earlier you treat it, the easier the recovery.
Advert
On symptoms to look out for, the NHS says: "A circular or oval shape rash around a tick bite can be an early symptom of Lyme disease in some people.
"The rash can appear up to three months after being bitten by an infected tick, but usually appears within one to four weeks. It can last for several weeks. The rash can have a darker or lighter area in the centre and might gradually spread. It's not usually hot or itchy.
"The rash may be flat, or slightly raised, and look pink, red, or purple when it appears on white skin. It can be harder to see the rash on brown and black skin and it may look like a bruise."
After being bitten by an infected tick, some patients have reported getting the following symptoms:
- A high temperature, or feeling hot and shivery
- A headache
- Muscle and joint pain
- Tiredness and loss of energy
Can I catch Lyme disease in the UK?
The NHS says that not all ticks in the UK carry the bacteria that causes you to contract Lyme disease.
"But it's still important to be aware of ticks and to safely remove them as soon as possible, just in case," the health service says.
"Ticks that may cause Lyme disease are found all over the UK, but high-risk places include grassy and wooded areas in southern and northern England and the Scottish Highlands."
Topics: BBC, Entertainment, Film, Health, TV, TV and Film, UK News, NHS
Tom Earnshaw