Daisy Ridley reveals Graves' disease diagnosis

Actress Daisy Ridley has spoken for the first time about her diagnosis with Graves' disease, an autoimmune disease that mainly affects young and middle-aged women.

Ridley, 32, best known for his role as Rey in the later Star Wars films, initially said symptoms including rapid heart rate, weight loss, fatigue and hand tremors were due to the effects of filming a recent movie.

“I thought, ‘Well, I just played a really stressful role, and that's probably why I feel so bad,’” She told Women's Health magazine,.

But she was diagnosed after a doctor suggested it might be Graves' disease, which he told her often makes people feel “tired but stressed”.

Ridley realized she was feeling particularly upset, she said.

“It was funny. I felt like I was upset with the world, but it turns out everything is moving so fast, you can't relax.”

She added to the magazine that women should not be prepared to accept feeling tired.

“We all read the statistics about women who are undiagnosed or underdiagnosed and [it’s about] Kind of coming to terms with saying, “I really, really don't feel good” and not, “I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.”

“It's normal for me not to feel happy.”

Graves' disease is linked to hyperthyroidism and is “much less severe than what a lot of people experience,” Ridley said.

But she added: “Even if you can handle it, you shouldn't. If there's a problem, you shouldn't just talk about it.” [suffer through it]”.”

After being diagnosed about a year ago and making other changes to her lifestyle and diet, she said she realized the difference they made.

“I didn’t realize how bad I felt before,” she said. “Then I looked back and thought, How did I do that?”

The British actress is best known for her appearances in Star Wars films including The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, as well as recent dramas Magpie, Young Woman and The Sea.

Graves' disease is an autoimmune condition in which your immune system produces antibodies that cause your thyroid gland to produce too much thyroid hormone. According to the National Health Service.

About 80% of people with hyperthyroidism have this problem.

The cause is unknown, but it mostly affects young or middle-aged women, and is often hereditary. Smoking may also increase the risk.

Symptoms can include::

• Irritability and emotional swings; nervousness or anxiety
• Weight loss despite good appetite
• Heart palpitations (fast or irregular heartbeat)
• Sweating and feeling hot
• shaking or trembling
• Lack of sleep
• Muscle weakness, with difficulty getting out of a chair or climbing stairs
• frequent bowel movements
• In women who have menstrual periods, they may become lighter or stop completely.

In 2011, American rapper Missy Elliott, who was 39 at the time, said she had the disease.and that it caused her hair to fall out and disrupted her nervous system.