By Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Grammy award-winning pop star Justin Timberlake, 44, recently took to Instagram to share his diagnosis of Lyme disease, a bacterial infection that he said was “relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically.” His statement comes on the heels of criticism from fans who felt he was under-performing during his recent world tour.

“When I first got the diagnosis I was shocked for sure,” the post stated. “But, at least I could understand why I would be onstage and in a massive amount of nerve pain or, just feeling crazy fatigue or sickness.”

Lyme disease is an infectious disease caused by borrelia burgdorferi , a bacterial species that can spread to people and animals from the bite of a deer tick — also called a black-legged ti

See Full Page