Daisy Ridley is opening up about her health, revealing in a new interview that she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease in September 2023. The actress, 32, discussed her experience with the autoimmune disorder in the cover story for the September/October issue of Women’s Health, which dropped on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
“It’s the first time I’ve shared that [Graves’],” said Ridley, who had previously shared her struggle with endometriosis and polycystic ovaries.
What is Grave’s Disease?
Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disorder that causes the immune system to produce antibodies that attack the thyroid gland, causing it to produce too much thyroid hormone. According to the Mayo Clinic, this can lead to a wide range of symptoms, including:
- Feeling nervous and irritable.
- Having a slight tremor of the hands or fingers.
- Being sensitive to heat with an increase in sweating or warm, moist skin.
- Losing weight, despite wanting to eat more.
- Having an enlarged thyroid gland, also called goiter.
- Having changes in menstrual cycles.
- Not being able to get or keep an erection, called erectile dysfunction, or having less desire for sex.
- Having bowel movements often.
- Having bulging eyes — a condition called thyroid eye disease or Graves’ ophthalmopathy.
- Being tired.
- Having thick, discolored skin mostly on the shins or tops of the feet, called Graves’ dermopathy.
- Having fast or irregular heartbeat, called palpitations.
- Not sleeping well.
How Ridley Discovered she had Graves’ Disease
Ridley’s road to learning she had Graves’ disease began when she met with her general practitioner for bouts of hot flashes and fatigue after wrapping the filming of her psychological thriller Magpie. “I thought, Well, I’ve just played a really stressful role; presumably that’s why I feel poorly,” she said.
She was then encouraged to see an endocrinologist, who noted that her symptoms — which included hand tremors, a racing heart rate and weight loss — are often dubbed as “tired but wired.” That struck a chord. “It was funny, I was like, ‘Oh, I just thought I was annoyed at the world,’ but turns out everything is functioning so quickly, you can’t chill out,” Ridley said.
How Ridley Learned to Manage the Disease
There is no cure for Graves’ disease, but treatments can reduce the risk of complications and help manage symptoms.
For Ridley, that’s included adapting what Women’s Health called “a routine pattern of daily medication and a more mindful diet,” including going gluten-free, which is said to help with inflammation. “I am not super strict about it, but generally cutting down on gluten makes me feel better,” says Ridley, who has also been vegan for year.
She’s also been slowing down more and practicing self-care, including regular exercise. “It’s an hour just for me, and it’s my time to do what I need to do to make myself feel good,” she said. Acupuncture, massages, infrared saunas and cryotherapy have all been integrated into her routine. “I’ve always been health conscious, and now I’m trying to be more well-being conscious,” Ridley continued.
“I didn’t realize how bad I felt before,” she said, looking back after implementing those lifestyle changes. “Then I looked back and thought, ‘How did I do that?’ “
The actress — currently starring as famed American swimmer Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle in Young Woman and the Sea — told Women’s Health she’s learned through this experience to listen to her body. “We all read the stats about women being undiagnosed or underdiagnosed and sort of coming to terms with saying, ‘I really, actually don’t feel good’ and not going, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine.’ It’s just normalized to not feel good,” she said.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s much less severe than what a lot of people go through,” she added. “[But] even if you can deal with it, you shouldn’t have to. If there’s a problem, you shouldn’t have to just [suffer through it].”
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