Georgie Lule Mziu was well on her way to becoming a professional dancer but aged 17, she was bitten by an infected tick and had to "put her life on hold."

The Chiswick resident didn't notice anything was wrong until a large "bull's eye rash" developed around the tick bite on her calf.

Speaking to getwestlondon during Lyme Disease Awareness Month 2018, Georgie, now aged 20, said:"I was bitten in Norwich but I didn't notice till the next day and I had no idea what it was - it looked like a rashy bruise kinda thing - I thought I looked really cool, I was like 'ok- well whatever'"

"It was big and covered almost the whole of my calf - it was like a bruise with a hole in the middle which was the bull's eye rash and it was hard with poison."

Despite suffering Lyme Disease symptoms including extreme fatigue, blurred vision, muscle aches, memory loss and even paralysis, Georgie wasn't diagnosed with the illness until two years later.

She said: "In May 2016 I was wrongly diagnosed with glandular fever, the doctors didn't ask if I'd been bitten, they said my symptoms could be a virus, my GP didn't really know anything.

"But then 10 months later I was on antibiotics for some tonsillitis and it was like it my Lyme symptoms went through the roof - I was completely paralysed from the waist down, I couldn't stand up and I was green - it was one of the darkest moments of my life."

Georgie hasn't been able to work since she contracted Lyme Disease in 2015

She added: "I've been to A&E so many times over the past years but they just didn't know how to treat me.

"In the end I got tested for Lyme Disease in Germany because the NHS tests aren't sensitive enough - about 90% of people tested in the UK come back negative even though they have Lyme Disease symptoms."

Georgie has been receiving treatment for chronic Lyme Disease from a Naturopath - a doctor who deals with natural medicines - since February 2017, but she still isn't well enough to work.

She said: "My treatment's from America and it's not available on the NHS - it's really expensive, but as the NHS don't offer a proper treatment plan for chronic Lyme disease it felt like my only option."

Georgie estimates her family have had to fork out thousands on Lyme Disease treatment since she was first diagnosed.

Since starting the treatment Georgie says she feels more positive about the future but the illness caused her to suffer depression and anxiety in the past.

A large EM bull's eye rash appeared on Georgie's calf around the tick bite

She said: "I'm still not able to work - I am better than I was but I'm still in a lot of pain, muscular aches, nerve pain but it's mostly fatigue that sets me back. I just start feeling really dizzy and all the pain starts coming so I can't work.

"I think it will take me another year to fully recover - but I still want to be a dancer and an actress because that's what I was working towards before I got ill."

"It's just so depressing coz all my friends are out their dancing."

She added: "I'd been offered a place to study at London Studio Centre dance school where I'd wanted to go since I was 10 but I couldn't take it.

"Because I'm a dancer, I was used to being so active all the time. Doing my A Levels and dancing on the weekend, teaching - and the hardest part about the illness has been going from that to doing nothing - being in chronic pain is such a life change.

"And the social side as well - it's so isolating because, my friends have been great but you know, there's only so much they can do because they have to live their lives.

"I feel like it's stolen a crucial part of my life - I was so excited to start a degree and start my career but I've had to put it on hold."

Lyme Disease is transmitted through tick bites

Georgie is promoting Lyme Disease Awareness month because she wants to see better diagnosis available on the NHS.

She said: "I would like to see better diagnosis on the NHS and obviously a correct treatment plan - if you get diagnosed straight away then antibiotics do work but if it's left and becomes chronic it doesn't work.

"There's no treatment, or not even emotional or psychological support offered because they don't really know how awful it is.

"And anxiety, depression and panic attacks are all symptoms of it - people don't realise it's a physical illness that massively impacts your mental health."

What is Lyme Disease?

According to Lyme Disease UK , Lyme disease is caused by a spirochaetal bacteria from the genus Borrelia, most commonly transmitted through the bite of an infected tick. Infected ticks have been found all over the UK including in urban parks and gardens. Public Health England states that there are 1,000 serologically confirmed cases occur in the UK each year but estimates that there could be around 3,000 new cases per year. Data is incomplete and the true number is likely to be much

Around 3/4 of London parks are believed to contain infected ticks, including Richmond Park in Chiswick.

What are the symptoms of Lyme Disease?

Early symptoms can include an EM rash in the shape of bull’s-eye rash (but the rash can also be atypical in appearance), swollen glands, fever, headaches, numbness and tingling, muscle and joint pain and fatigue. If the disease is left untreated it can result in cardiac problems, chronic pain, neurological complications and other disabling symptoms. Some Lyme disease patients are misdiagnosed with other conditions such as depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis.

You can find more information on Lyme Disease on Lyme Disease UK's website here.