Tejal Somvanshi
Billie Shepherd, former star of The Only Way Is Essex, has shared her diagnosis with Lyme disease after months of severe symptoms that left her bedridden and unable to perform basic tasks without help. The 35-year-old reality star revealed that her symptoms appeared suddenly in January this year. “One day I was fine, the next I woke up with really bad pains in my elbows and my arms,” Shepherd told the Mirror. What followed was a difficult two-month journey to diagnosis, during which she underwent numerous blood tests while her condition worsened.
Shepherd described the pain as “the most intense, awful pain in my joints” and said she experienced reactive arthritis, painful red lumps on her legs, a rash on her back, and extreme fatigue. Her condition became so severe that she couldn’t get out of bed without assistance from her husband Greg.
“Some mornings I couldn’t even get out of bed. I would have to crawl, going to the toilet, I was in bits, I was hysterical, crying, because I was in so much pain,” she explained. “It was hard for me to sit on the toilet without Greg helping me. It was so scary.”
Doctors believe Shepherd was likely bitten by an infected tick as many as three years ago, with the infection remaining dormant in her system until recently. According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), there are around 1,500 laboratory-confirmed cases of Lyme disease in England and Wales each year, though the actual number is estimated to be between 3,000 and 4,000.
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted to humans through the bite of infected ticks. Early symptoms typically include a circular red rash around the bite site (known as erythema migrans), which can appear up to three months after being bitten but usually develops within one to four weeks. The distinctive rash often resembles a bull’s-eye or target. However, about one in three people with Lyme disease never develop this telltale rash.
Similar Posts
Other common early symptoms include flu-like illness, severe headaches, joint pain, neck stiffness, and extreme fatigue. If left untreated, the infection can spread to the joints, heart, and nervous system, causing more severe and long-lasting problems.
Standard treatment for Lyme disease typically involves antibiotics, but Shepherd said her body didn’t respond to the prescribed medication. “I was so unwell. It was only after Sam introduced me to a holistic doctor and I started taking natural medicines that I started to notice a difference and things slowly began to turn around,” she shared.
Cases are higher in rural, less deprived areas; incidence showed male predominance and bimodal ages. The NHS recommends preventive measures such as covering skin when walking in grassy or wooded areas, tucking trousers into socks, using insect repellent, and wearing light-colored clothing to make ticks easier to spot.
Shepherd, who shares three children – Nelly, 11, Arthur, eight, and Margot, two – with her husband, said she’s still struggling with fatigue. She hopes that by sharing her experience in her upcoming show with sister Sam Faiers, she can raise awareness of the condition.
“If I can raise awareness and offer others comfort at the same time, I’ll be happy,” she said. Sam And Billie: Sister Act premieres on Tuesday, August 19 at 9pm on ITV2.
