Disclaimer: not a doctor (obviously), ask someone who is qualified, but this is what the ID doctor told me:
Lyme is a bacterial infection, and can be cured with antibiotics. Once the bacteria is gone, you no longer have Lyme disease.
However, there is a lot of misinformation about Lyme online. Some people think Lyme is a chronic, incurable disease, which they call "chronic lyme". Often, when a celebrity tells people they have lyme disease, this is what they mean. Chronic lyme is not a real thing - it is a diagnosis given to wealthy people by unqualified conmen or unscrupulous doctors in response to vague, hard to pin symptoms
The late stage of lyme disease is painful. Like "I think I'm dying" painful. It does have a range of symptoms, but those show up like 3 to 6 weeks after the initial infection.
A lot of people claiming chronic lyme disease don't remember this stage.
Lyme disease does cause a range of problems if left untreated. But not before the "I think I'm dying" stage. It's basically impossible for someone, especially with a lot of wealth, to get lyme disease and not have it caught early on.
Consider the OP's story. They tried to not treat it but ended up thinking "OMG, I think I have meningitis and I'm going to die!".
Lyme can kill, but it rarely does. Partially because before it gets to that point it drives people to seek medical attention.
Lyme is a bacterial infection, and can be cured with antibiotics. Once the bacteria is gone, you no longer have Lyme disease.
However, there is a lot of misinformation about Lyme online. Some people think Lyme is a chronic, incurable disease, which they call "chronic lyme". Often, when a celebrity tells people they have lyme disease, this is what they mean. Chronic lyme is not a real thing - it is a diagnosis given to wealthy people by unqualified conmen or unscrupulous doctors in response to vague, hard to pin symptoms