Shania Twain has revealed it was Lyme disease that left her unable to sing a few years ago.
The Canadian country-pop star recalled the moment she realized she was infected with the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria.
“I saw a tick fall off me,” said Twain, who was bitten in 2003 while in Norfolk, Virginia.
The singer told Victoria Ahearn of the Canadian Press that she started experiencing symptoms of Lyme disease almost immediately.
“I was on tour, so I almost fell off the stage every night,” she recalled. “I was very, very dizzy and didn't know what was going on. It's just one of those things you don't suspect.”
Although Twain was diagnosed with Lyme disease at the time, she didn’t realize until later that it was to blame for her dysphonia — a disorder affecting her vocal cords. Her struggle to regain her voice was documented in the 2011 series Why Not? With Shania Twain.
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Twain, a nature lover who frequently spends time at her summer home in the woods near Huntsville, Ont., wants to educate others about Lyme disease.
“You have a very short window to catch it and then treat it and then even when you treat it, you could still very well be left with effects, which is what happened to me," she said.
“Normally it can attack your nervous system or the vital organs — heart, liver, kidneys, nervous system. It's a debilitating disease and extremely dangerous. You can't play around with it, so you've got to check yourself for ticks.”
In 2015, Canadian singer Avril Lavigne revealed she was left bed-ridden for five months after contracting Lyme disease.
Yolanda Foster, ex-wife of Canadian music producer David Foster, also went public with her Lyme disease battle.