Lyme disease: 'Crying an hour wiped me out for a week'

"A few years ago, Maia Pavey was busy running a photo lab studio in Woolwich. Now she is bedridden, suffering "crushing" fatigue, numbness, limb pain, dizziness and nausea. "My independence is gone completely. Being bedridden and not being able to do anything is incredibly difficult, so I'm quite sad all the time," Maia, 27, said. "It's even harder when I can't do anything to cheer myself up." In March 2022 she contracted Covid-19, which rapidly deteriorated her health, leaving her bedbound since August 2023."

"Maia, from Erith in south-east London, has also been diagnosed with a long list of complex and overlapping medical conditions, alongside Lyme disease. These include long Covid and postural tachycardia syndrome, which prevents the normal functioning of the nervous system. "Her immune system was weakened [by Covid-19], and it opened the door to any prior infections that were lurking," her mother Helene explained. It has left her unable to work or care for herself, with Helene becoming her full-time carer."

"Maia says she was "shocked" and "cried a lot" when she received the diagnosis. "At that point, I was struggling to do anything, so crying for an hour wiped me out for over a week. "Then eventually when I was told about the disease, so much of my life made sense. I realised I've been suffering from this for a long time.""

Maia Pavey contracted Covid-19 in March 2022 and experienced rapid health deterioration that left her bedbound from August 2023. Multiple diagnoses include Lyme disease, long Covid, and postural tachycardia syndrome, producing crushing fatigue, numbness, limb pain, dizziness, nausea and autonomic nervous system dysfunction. Lyme disease was diagnosed in December 2024 and is thought to have been reactivated by Covid after lying dormant from a suspected teenage tick bite. The condition removed Maia's ability to work and care for herself, requiring her mother to become her full-time carer and causing prolonged emotional and physical exhaustion.

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