A MODEL has been forced to put her career on hold and spend £10,000 on private treatment after Lyme disease was left undiagnosed for a year.

Michelle De Feo, 23, who has modelled for Nuts magazine and the Sport, was told by her doctor she was suffering from depression.

But she has only just been diagnosed with Lyme disease - a bacterial infection spread to humans by infected, spider-lick ticks who feed on humans' blood.

So far Michelle, who lives on a farm in Boxted, has spent around £10,000 on private treatment to rid her of the infection.

Michelle said the blood tests done in England to diagnose the disease are not thorough enough.

As a result she paid for a German clinic to test her blood and it made the correct diagnosis.

She said: "I think the NHS need to sort this out. There are probably thousands of people with Lyme disease and it is only a simple blood test.

"In Colchester you have got Highwoods Country Park, areas like Boxted, Great Horkesley and Langham, where there are no signs up to warn people of Lyme disease."

Michelle said she had been unwell for about a year on and off.

"It started off with bad migraines, then it got worse as it went on.

"It got up to a point where I had to stop working, I was getting bad vertigo.

"Some days I was bed ridden."

Michelle went to her NHS GP surgery in Colchester and was diagnosed with depression.

She was prescribed anti-depressants.

But Michelle knew the diagnosis was wrong and said the medication made her feel more unwell.

She next tried a private GP in the town who diagnosed her with vertigo-related migraines and gave her more medication for the headaches.

"It was getting worse - I even considered Botox. Then I was talking to friends about Lyme disease. It was only about a month ago and I looked it up," she said.

Michelle returned to her NHS GP with her suggestion but it was rebuffed.

"He said you have got to be bitten - I said I'd had a couple of bites but didn't think anything of it."

A blood test came back negative for the disease but she knew something wasn't right.

Determined to get more answers, Michelle discovered Germany did a £600 blood test which more thoroughly tested for the disease and ordered it to her home.

"Thankfully my cousin is a nurse and did the blood test. Fedex collected it and took it back to Germany.

"It came back positive within about five days.

"They sent me a list of of people they work with in the UK at private clinics, one of those is in Hemel Hempstead."

The Breakspear Medical clinic in the Hertfordshire town has been treating Michelle for three hours a day, every day, for the last month.

Michelle has to be administered intravenous antibiotics.

Her treatment there finishes this weekend.

Michelle is also administered oxygen for four hours a day and will continue this for the next two months at home.

Although she hopes to continue with modelling soon, Michelle said the experience has put her life into perspective and she would like to do charity work.