Daisy Ridley, who played Rey in the latest Star Wars big screen trilogy, has been diagnosed with Graves' disease. She opened up about the diagnosis for the first time in the September / October 2024 issue of Women's Health.
She'd been working on the Disney+ film Young Woman and the Sea, a true-life story about long distance swimmer Gertrude "Trudy" Ederle, who swam across the English Channel, then went straight into filming the thriller Magpie. Daisy began to feel symptoms such as a racing heart rate, weight loss, irritability, fatigue, and hand tremors, and attributed them to the stressful role she was playing. After a series of tests, her endocrinologist informed Daisy she has Graves' disease -- an autoimmune disorder that leads to an overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism).
Following her diagnosis in September 2023, Daisy cut down on gluten in her diet. "I am not super strict about it, but generally cutting down on gluten makes me feel better," she told the magazine. She's also taking time to rest when she needs to, and getting therapeutic massages, acupuncture, and infrared saunas -- plus she carries rose quartz crystals, which are believed to promote emotional balance. She works out with a trainer who focuses on mobility rather than high-intensity cardio. "Generally, my training stays pretty consistent. And then we tailor stuff to what I’m doing," she explained during the interview. “It’s just finding the balance, and me understanding now where my tolerance really ends."
Daisy has a message for other women who may be going through similar problems. "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 says. "Even if you can deal with it, you shouldn’t have to. If there’s a problem, you shouldn’t have to just ." ~Alexandra Heilbron
Poor Daisy, she's had a lot of health setbacks for such a young woman. Good for her for doing that movie about the long distance swimmer, that had to have taken a lot of stamina.
Having had Graves disease, and Hashimoto’s disease (Both autoimmune thyroid Disorders) I can relate - If you are not feeling great, find a doctor who will listen to you - it’s hard sometimes