‘Grey’s Anatomy’s Camilla Luddington Gives Health Update Following Hashimoto’s Diagnosis
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Camilla Luddington is still getting used to her new normal after being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease earlier this year.
“It’s still new to me,” the Grey’s Anatomy star told People in an interview published on Saturday, October 4. “I got the diagnosis at the beginning of summer, so I’m fresh into this journey. I am on Levothyroxine, which is a thyroid medicine, and I can tell you that a lot of things have changed.”
Luddington explained that she has “so much less inflammation” after feeling “puffy all the time” and “exhausted” pre-diagnosis. “I was not working out. I hadn’t seen a workout class in years, and I’m back at Barry’s bootcamp lifting weights,” she said. “So I feel more myself. I feel like I have more energy for work, for my family. It feels like a lot of self-care at this point, just avoiding gluten and all these things that I’m sort of learning.”
The Mayo Clinic defines Hashimoto’s disease as “an autoimmune disorder affecting the thyroid gland.” The disease can cause “a decline in hormone production (hypothyroidism)” and is common among middle-aged women.
Luddington, who is 41, revealed her diagnosis on an August episode of her and Jessica Capshaw‘s Call It What It Is podcast. “About two-and-a-half months ago — now still very recent — I had blood work,” she stated. “It came back, and my doctor was like, ‘Everything looks great except this one little thing. And I remember hearing the words autoimmune disease and thinking, ‘What the f***?’ And then being told that I had something called Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism and that it was very common.”
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The actress said she ultimately felt “relieved” by the diagnosis despite some initial hesitation. “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?'” she told listeners.
Sharing some of her symptoms, Luddington continued, “What it can make you feel is tired and cold, which is really funny because [my husband] Matt [Alan] would make fun of me, because I’d have like 40 blankets on me at night. It can make you foggy, depressed, you can have dry skin, your hair can thin.”
On the podcast, Luddington said she was continuing to take medication and would check in with her doctor every six weeks to monitor her progress.
Luddington opened up more about her symptoms in her People interview, stating she realized her “brain fog” was actually caused by her thyroid issues. “The exhaustion of brain fog. So just literally being able to be present with whoever on set, with my family, is a huge difference,” she said.
Grey’s Anatomy, Season 22 Premiere, Thursday, October 9, 10/9c, ABC
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