Back in the day, everywhere you looked, Avril Lavigne was there. In the early 2000's, the Canadian singer was practically a God to all teenage girls and it was rare to catch one who wasn't sporting high-top converse, heavy eyeliner and a striped necktie in her honour.

However, there came a time where the Sk8r Boi songstress vanished and her fans were left to wonder where she'd gone.

Recently, Avril revealed that, in her time away from the spotlight, she fought a long battle with Lyme Disease, an illness that reportedly made her feel like she was dying.

Claiming that she stayed in bed fighting the disease for two years, the rocker opened up about her crippling illness in a recent interview with Billboard.

Claiming she started to feel "achy, fatigued and could not get the fuck out of bed" during her 2014 tour, Avril confessed that she was finally diagnosed with the disease - a bacterial infection commonly spread to humans by infected ticks - after speaking to a specialist.

She began a course of antibiotics and antimalarials to kill the bug (spirochete), however, by the time she was diagnosed, it had morphed into a cystic form.

"I was in bed for fucking two years," she told the magazine. "It went undiagnosed for so long that I was kind of fucked."

The pop star attempted to make a comeback in 2015 but ultimately decided she wasn’t ready, admitting that she would often make out that she was fine on social media when she wasn't.

"I put on a brave face because I didn’t want it to be a part of my identity. So the second I was up, I would take a picture and post it on Instagram and act like my life was fucking great," she said.

It's not the first time the 33-year-old - who released her new single Head Above Water last month - has spoken out about her traumatic experience. In an emotional letter to her fans in September, the Complicated singer claimed she had "accepted death".

"I spent the last few years at home sick fighting Lyme Disease," she wrote. "Those were the worst years of my life as I went through both physical and emotional battles. I was able to turn that fight into music I’m really proud of. I wrote songs in my bed and on the couch and recorded there mostly as well. Words and lyrics that were so true to my experience came pouring out of me effortlessly. Truly… by keeping my spirits up, having goals to reach and a purpose to live for, my music helped to heal me and keep me alive."

She continued: "The first song I am choosing to release is called Head Above Water. It is also the first song I wrote from my bed during one of the scariest moments of my life. I had accepted death and could feel my body shutting down. I felt like I was drowning. Like I was going under water and I just needed to come up for air."

We're so glad you're better, Avril! You truly are a fighter.

Back in the day, everywhere you looked, Avril Lavigne was there. In the early 2000's, the Canadian singer was practically a God to all teenage girls and it was rare to catch one who wasn't sporting high-top converse, heavy eyeliner and a striped necktie in her honour.

However, there came a time where the Sk8r Boi songstress vanished and her fans were left to wonder where she'd gone.

Recently, Avril revealed that, in her time away from the spotlight, she fought a long battle with Lyme Disease, an illness that reportedly made her feel like she was dying.

Claiming that she stayed in bed fighting the disease for two years, the rocker opened up about her crippling illness in a recent interview with Billboard.

Claiming she started to feel "achy, fatigued and could not get the fuck out of bed" during her 2014 tour, Avril confessed that she was finally diagnosed with the disease - a bacterial infection commonly spread to humans by infected ticks - after speaking to a specialist.

She began a course of antibiotics and antimalarials to kill the bug (spirochete), however, by the time she was diagnosed, it had morphed into a cystic form.

"I was in bed for fucking two years," she told the magazine. "It went undiagnosed for so long that I was kind of fucked."

The pop star attempted to make a comeback in 2015 but ultimately decided she wasn’t ready, admitting that she would often make out that she was fine on social media when she wasn't.

"I put on a brave face because I didn’t want it to be a part of my identity. So the second I was up, I would take a picture and post it on Instagram and act like my life was fucking great," she said.

It's not the first time the 33-year-old - who released her new single Head Above Water last month - has spoken out about her traumatic experience. In an emotional letter to her fans in September, the Complicated singer claimed she had "accepted death".

"I spent the last few years at home sick fighting Lyme Disease," she wrote. "Those were the worst years of my life as I went through both physical and emotional battles. I was able to turn that fight into music I’m really proud of. I wrote songs in my bed and on the couch and recorded there mostly as well. Words and lyrics that were so true to my experience came pouring out of me effortlessly. Truly… by keeping my spirits up, having goals to reach and a purpose to live for, my music helped to heal me and keep me alive."

She continued: "The first song I am choosing to release is called Head Above Water. It is also the first song I wrote from my bed during one of the scariest moments of my life. I had accepted death and could feel my body shutting down. I felt like I was drowning. Like I was going under water and I just needed to come up for air."

We're so glad you're better, Avril! You truly are a fighter.