Lingerie designer Fine Rees loved by Helena Bonham-Carter reveals Lyme disease …

October 20, 2015 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News

Fine Rees, 40, had to close her business when she couldn’t leave her bed
She spent £20,000 on tests trying to get her condition diagnosed
Now needs an oxygen mask and has no feeling on side of her body

Martha Cliff for MailOnline

and
Phoebe Jackson-edwards For Mailonline

Published:
14:04 EST, 18 October 2015

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Updated:
01:30 EST, 19 October 2015

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A lingerie entrepreneur has been forced to close her business and now needs an oxygen mask and a wheelchair after seeing her health destroyed by Lyme disease.

Fine Rees, 40, was the creative force behind Miss Lala’s Boudoir which sold vintage-style underwear and had stores in London’s Primrose Hill and Covent Garden.

Fine, who lives in London, was forced to close her business after extreme fatigue caused by the bacterial infection left her needing to sleep in the office in a mattress under her desk.

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Fine Rees was a successful lingerie entrepreneur with customers including Scarlett Johannson

Fine was a healthy young woman until she was bitten by a tick which she says caused her to contract Lyme disease in 2006

Fine says she spent £20,000 on tests to find the cause of the mystery illness that left her unable to function and now means that she has no feeling on one side of her body.

Her revelations about the effect of the condition follows admissions from Gigi Hadid’s sister Bella and younger brother Anwar are sufferers of Lyme, while Ashley Olsen is also reported to have had it for years.

Fine was given the diagnosis in 2012 but believes she contracted the disease in 2006. She told FEMAIL: ‘I was bitten in South Africa while I was camping in KwaZulu–Natal in what you might call the bush.

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‘There were a lot of monkeys who you can assume were tick-ridden.

‘One morning I had a mysterious bite with a large ring around it. I went to see a doctor in South Africa who gave me antibiotics for three days.’

She was initially diagnosed with ME and then depression, but she knew that was not the cause.

In 2007, her business, which counted Scarlett Johannson and Helena Bonham-Carter as customers, received investment from a leading underwear manufacturer.

Fine in hospital during Christmas last year on a drip and tried to stay jolly in a Santa hat

Fine had to keep a mattress in her office so she could lie down after just a few hours working

Fine, pictured when she was healthier, is now living with her parents and had serious relationships end because of her condition

But that year she found herself becoming increasingly clumsy and forgetful.

She said: ‘In the first six years I was becoming more and more unwell and if I fell I would blame it on my heels.

‘By 2009, I had a mattress in my office and I would manage a couple of hours work before passing out.

‘My wonderful mother tried to keep my business going when I became bedridden but by the end of 2009 we had to close.’

Fine had to leave her Primrose Hill flat and move back to live with her parents.

Fine was eventually diagnosed in the US and has sought treatment in other countries and the States

She said: ‘Romantic relationships unfortunately became impossible and I had two major break-ups.

‘No one wants to become someone’s nurse but I have got to the point where I am happy to be single.

‘I am lucky because I have the most amazing parents. We try to make light of the situation. For example, if I have the shakes we refer to them as my amazing new dance moves.’

Fine has spent all her savings and thousands of pounds from family members on tests and treatments across Europe and America.

Bella Hadid attended the Global Lyme Alliance Inaugural Gala in New York this month

In 2012, she was finally diagnosed after being tested in the US.

She said: ‘Over the last year I have really deteriorated and I am now in a wheelchair.

‘A good day for me used to be being able to go to work and now a good day is being able to get myself dressed.

‘Lyme disease can affect you in so many ways it can mess with you cognitively it can give you the shakes and sometimes you can wake up to the most unbearable pain.’

Although it concerns her how few people are aware of the disease, she doesn’t think the interest from high-profile sufferers like model Bella Hadid is important.

She said Phones4U billionaire John Caudwell talking about his experiences is more of a victory.

She said: ‘Cases like John Caudwell speaking out on the community’s behalf are very important as he is a serious entrepreneur rather than a young model or socialite and so is more likely to be taken seriously.

‘We need GPs to be taught more about the disease. At the moment we are just a footnote and people aren’t aware of how devastating the disease can be.

‘My message to sufferers would be that it can only get better.

‘We can’t be ignored any more. Our community is full of optimism and we will stride forward.

WHAT IS LYME DISEASE?

Lyme disease, or Lyme borreliosis, is a bacterial infection spread to humans by infected ticks.

Ticks are tiny spider-like creatures found in woodland and heath areas.

They feed on the blood of birds and mammals, including humans.

Ticks that carry the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease are found throughout the UK and in other parts of Europe and North America.

Many people with early-stage Lyme disease develop a distinctive circular rash at the site of the tick bite, usually around 3 to 30 days after being bitten.

Some people with Lyme disease also experience flu-like symptoms in the early stages, such as tiredness (fatigue), muscle pain, joint pain,headaches, a high temperature (fever), chills and neck stiffness.

More serious symptoms may develop several weeks, months or even years later if Lyme disease is left untreated or is not treated early on and include pain and swelling of the joints, problems affecting the nervous system including numbness and pain in the limbs, facial paralysis, memory problems and difficulty concentrating.

It can also lead to heart problems like myocarditis, where the heart muscle becomes inflamed and heart failure. Meningitis is also a risk.

A few people with Lyme disease go on to develop long-term symptoms similar to those of fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, which is called post-infectious Lyme disease.

Source: NHS Choices