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“Grey’s Anatomy” star Camilla Luddington is getting candid about a personal health battle that left her confused, exhausted and, at times, barely able to function.
Luddington, 41, known for her role as Dr. Jo Wilson on the long-running medical drama, revealed she was recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that drastically impacted her everyday life – physically and emotionally.
“I want to say about two and a half months ago now, still very recent, I had blood work and it came back,” she began to explain on her “Call It What It Is” podcast. “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—.’”
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Camilla Luddington, 41, opens up about her autoimmune disorder diagnosis, describing the relief and validation she felt after months of confusing symptoms. (Jerod Harris/Getty Images)
Luddington continued to say that her doctors diagnosed her with Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism and told her that it was a very common autoimmune disorder.
Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the thyroid gland, causing symptoms like fatigue, muscle weakness and joint pain, according to the Mayo Clinic.
As she explained it, “Hashimoto’s is when your body’s immune system accidentally attacks your thyroid, which is a little gland in your neck that helps control your energy, AKA makes you a little slothy. K? So over time, the damage it does, it makes the thyroid slow down and stop making enough hormones.”
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Luddington, known for her role as Dr. Jo Wilson on the medical drama, experienced severe exhaustion and swelling. (Jennifer Clasen/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
“The thing that was really strange actually was the week before, I was waking up and my face and my hands were really swollen. So, I was very confused as to why I was suddenly looking so swollen in my eyes… I was having trouble taking my rings off,” she said of her symptoms.
Eventually, Luddington decided to get the blood work done. She said that after her results came back, “I remember [them] saying … ‘I don’t know how you’re functioning.’”
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Camilla Luddington stars alongside Ellen Pompeo on “Grey’s Anatomy.” (Byron Cohen/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
While the diagnosis may have been overwhelming for Luddington, it was also a kind of validation.
“Sometimes, when you have health anxiety, you do feel like you’re gaslighting yourself. I was like, ‘nothing’s wrong, like I’m crazy,’” she said. “This is one of those things where it’s like – here we go, Luddington.”
Still, she’s found hope in the treatment plan and the support she’s received.
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Camilla Luddington was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism disorder. (Desiree Navarro/WireImage/Getty Images)
“After being told like, listen … we have a way to control this and treatment and everything, I felt more calm about it. And then the relief was just… really huge.”
The actress admits the journey hasn’t been easy.
“It’s hard to live this way,” she said. “I didn’t realize how exhausted my body was.”
Reps for Luddington did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital for comment.
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Stephanie Giang-Paunon is an Entertainment Writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to stephanie.giang@fox.com and on Twitter: @SGiangPaunon.
