Grey's Anatomy star Camilla Luddington reveals she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease common among women
British actress Camilla Luddington has opened up on the latest blow to her health, revealing she's recently been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.
The TV star - best known for having played Dr Jo Wilson in ABC's hit medical drama series Grey's Anatomy - was previously diagnosed with tinnitus. In December 2024, she told her fans the ear condition had left her feeling 'very lonely when I first realised I had it', after enduring a buzzing sound in her head for several months.
This week, however, the 41-year-old broke the news that she'd recently been told by medics that she'd simultaneously been suffering the side effects of an autoimmune condition behind the scenes.
Speaking on her iHeartRadio Call It What It Is podcast, she described her latest ailment as Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
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According to the Cleveland Clinic, the disease - which is more prevalent in women - causes low levels of the thyroid hormone in your body, which itself has a knock-on effect on several other areas of your body.
The most common symptoms of Hashimoto's thyroiditis are weight gain, constipation and fatigue - the latter symptom of which Luddington endured to an extreme degree.
"As long as you've been listening to us, you've known that I joke about being slothy," she told her podcast listeners on 6 Aug. "Slower, tired. Wanna be in bed. Love a nap."
The actress went on to confess, however, that she put her constant exhaustion down to her busy schedule, and had no idea she was battling severely ill health.
It was only after going for her annual blood tests to 'make sure everything is good' that she was dealt her diagnosis.
"My doctor was like, ‘Everything looks great except this one little thing," Luddington continued. "And I remember hearing the words ‘autoimmune disease’ and thinking, 'What the f**k.'
"And then being told that I had something called Hashimoto's hypothyroidism and that it was very common."
Interestingly, according to the National Institutes of Health, the condition comes with some gender disparity, with women being four to 10 times more likely to develop Hashimoto's than men.
Despite the disease being treatable with medication, the TV star admitted she was left 'a little freaked out' by the news.
Luddington went on: "I felt like I had the answer for something that I've been knowing is going on. And I have health anxiety, so there was a part of me that was like, 'Am I gaslighting myself?'."
Thankfully, however, the actress is on 'the road to recovery', telling her fans: "It's going to be a journey."
Topics: Grey's Anatomy, Celebrity, Health, US News
Rhianna Benson