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 that? ‘I’ve always been health conscious, and now I’m trying to be more well-being conscious. ‘I do a fair amount of the holistic stuff, but I also understand that it is a privilege to be able to do those things.
‘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 normalised to not feel good.’ However, she’s determined not to feel sorry for herself, adding: ‘In the grand scheme of things, it’s much less severe than what a lot of people go through.
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].’ Daisy has been candid about her health over the years, having been diagnosed with endometriosis during her teenage years and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in her 20s.
Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes, while PCOS also affects the ovaries. What is Graves' disease? According to the Mayo Clinic, Graves’ disease is ‘an immune system condition that affects the thyroid gland’. It causes the body to make too much thyroid hormone, a condition called hyperthyroidism.
Graves’ and hyperthyroidism can affect many organs in the body. Symptoms include: Feeling nervous and irritable A slight tremor in hands or fingers Sensitivity to heat Losing weight Changes in menstrual cycles Bulging eyes Fatigue Heart palpitations She previously opened up about how her career success affected her health after starring in Star Wars . Despite it being a massive career milestone, in 2015 she also felt significant anxiety and stress after becoming the face of the franchise, and the attention that came with it.
‘Essentially, it was a leaky gut,’ she began, explaining how she was ‘just knackered’ while promoting the film. ‘I’d never travelled that much, or done press junkets, and my body deals with stress in a very physical way, so my gut was manifesting an emotional reaction to travelling around the world, people saying hello to me in the street. And me going, “What’s going on?” And worrying,’ she told The Times.
She then became worried she might not have been the right pick for the role and perhaps wasn’t ‘good enough’, but by the time the third film was released in 2019 she accepted she was ‘chosen for a reason’. Earlier this year it was revealed that Daisy would be reprising the role of Rey for a new Star Wars movie, written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. Got a story? If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.
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