Writer, comedian and actor, Miranda Hart, received national media attention after recently revealing that she has suffered decades of symptoms due to Lyme disease. We are very grateful to Miranda for speaking out about her struggle and wish her the best on her recovery journey.
(Credit: PA)
Years of health problems
The 51-year-old confessed to becoming unwell aged 14 or 15 after living in the US state of Virginia, a Lyme disease hotspot. Here she was likely unknowingly bitten by a tick carrying the infection. Since that time she has never had a normal level of energy or felt refreshed after a night’s sleep.
Symptoms developed over the following years, with some becoming increasingly neurological in nature, and led to a diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Unfortunately further tests did not reveal that the root cause was Lyme disease until 2020.
This late diagnosis echoes the experience of many who did not notice a tick bite or see a diagnostic erythema migrans (EM) rash, not always present with the disease. Diagnosis can be difficult as symptoms can be non-specific and testing inconclusive in some cases, leaving patients and doctors uncertain of the root cause of their health issues.
Life changing symptoms
Miranda told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme that she eventually collapsed, ending up bedbound and housebound. Her fatigue was so extreme that she explained there were “times where I’d look at a glass of water and think, I don’t know how to pick that up”.
Listen to Miranda Hart discussing her Lyme disease journey on BBC Sounds.
As Miranda’s body battled the infection, complications occurred. For years Miranda suffered from “too many itises” including bronchitis, tonsilitis, pericarditis, gastroenteritis, labyrinthitis – along with blood clots, adrenal fatigue, cysts, migraines and more.
Coping with uncertainty
Although often a difficult illness to treat in later stages, Miranda described her Lyme diagnosis as somewhat of a relief. Feeling misunderstood and misjudged had been some of the hardest aspects of her illness to manage.
“In my case, my level of illness, it was never acute, I wasn’t going to collapse and die of it, luckily” she explained. But I kept saying to doctors, I know I’m leading a half-life, I’m leading a very debilitated life but with no understanding of why.”
“I think the hardest thing about these sort of fatigue-based conditions, whatever they come from, is that lack of understanding, lack of never knowing when there’s an end date, no management plan.”
To help support others going through a similar experience Miranda outlines her health battles in her new book, I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest With You. Her own research led her to discover “10 keys, which I call my treasures, to living well” which she says have genuinely helped her on her journey with the disease.
The future for Lyme disease patients?
In response to Miranda’s announcement LDUK co-founder and chair, Natasha Metcalf, discussed Lyme disease on BBC Radio Stoke. During the interview she flagged the need for further research and treatment options, particularly for late stage cases.