FOR TWO years Helen d’Ayala has been battling the symptoms similar to flu.

Each day the mother-of-two is so tired she has to come home from work half way through the day just so she can snatch a few precious minutes sleep and battles painful muscle twinges.

The problem? A simple tick bite.

Mrs d’Ayala, a wildlife officer, was bitten by the blood feeding parasite while at work in 2009.

The 45-year-old said she had always been a fit and healthy woman, who loved working outdoors.

But her life changed immeasurably after she was bitten by a tick while working at a nature reserve on the Ridgeway, near Thame.

To mark Tick Bite Prevention Week, she called for more understanding of the effect of the bites, which are currently more prevalent than they had been and can affect dogs.

She said: “I began to feel really, really ill. It was like having flu, I had all of the same symptoms.

“I also had this most incredible pain across my shoulders, and a raging fever.

“I couldn’t even hold a pen and there were times I couldn’t get out of bed.”

Mrs d’Ayala, of Didcot, was finally diagnosed with Lyme Disease, which affects up to 3,000 people across the UK each year.

The disease is a bacterial infection, spread to humans by infected ticks – small, spider-shaped insects.

The most common symptom of Lyme Disease is a red skin rash. But if left untreated, symptoms such as a high temperature, muscle pain and swelling, and paralysis of the facial muscles can develop.

As soon as it was suspected she had the disease, Mrs d’Ayala was given antibiotics by her GP. But two years later, her health is still suffering.

She has since been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME, and each day is a struggle for enough energy to balance looking after two children with her full time job.

She said: “Sometimes the children say to me ‘Mummy why are you so tired?’ “It has completely ruled my life for the past two years.

“I never consider myself the type of person who would be diagnosed with chronic fatigue. I was a really fit, outdoors person. I manage nature reserves for a living.

“I know there are people out there who are worse off than me, But there must be so many more people who have this disease and do not know what it is.”

WHERE AND WHAT TO DO TICKS caused Lyme Disease and are often picked up while doing through activities such as hiking and mountain-biking.

It is rare, but is more common in places such as Exmoor, the New Forest, South Downs, parts of Wiltshire and Berkshire, Thetford Forest, the Lake District, the Yorkshire moors and the Scottish Highlands.

To remove a tick:

Use tweezers, wear gloves or cover your fingers with tissue to avoid touching the tick.

Grab it as close to the skin as you can, and gently pull straight up until all parts are removed.

Do not twist or jerk the tick as you are removing it because this may cause the mouthparts to break off and remain in your skin once the tick has been removed.

Wash your hands with soap and water. Using petroleum jelly, alcohol or a lit match does not work.