Daisy Ridley has revealed she’s been diagnosed with a chronic autoimmune disease. The 32-year-old Rey Skywalker actress first discovered she had Graves’ disease in September 2023 when she went to her doctor after bouts of hot flashes and fatigue following filming of the psychological thriller Magpie. The condition occurs in four out of five people with an overactive thyroid gland, where their immune system produces antibodies that cause the production of too much thyroid hormone.
Symptoms can include difficulty sleeping, fatigue and weakness, change in vision or pain in the eye, and heart palpitations. Revealing her diagnosis for the first time, the Star Wars actress said: ‘It’s the first time I’ve shared that [Graves’]. I thought, Well, I’ve just played a really stressful role; presumably that’s why I feel poorly.
’ She continued to Women’s Health : ‘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.’ Daisy experienced sadness and irritation after her diagnosis, but made lifestyle changes to help, saying: ‘I am not super strict about it, but generally cutting down on gluten makes me feel better.’ She’s now started feeling better and, after suffering with a racing heart rate, weight loss, fatigue, and hand tremors, understands how ill she felt before.
She said: ‘I didn’t see how bad I felt before. Then I looked back and thought, How did I do .