DOCTOR'S ORDERS

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Diagnosed With Painful Autoimmune Disease

Camilla Luddington detailed the troubling symptoms that led to her Hashimoto’s diagnosis.

Grey’s Anatomy star Camilla Luddington is sharing the startling symptoms that led to her diagnosis with an autoimmune disease. On the Call It What It Is podcast, Luddington, who portrays Dr. Jo Wilson on ABC’s long-running drama, revealed she has Hashimoto’s disease. According to the Cleveland Clinic, Hashimoto’s is a lifelong autoimmune condition that affects the thyroid gland, which is responsible for controlling the speed of your metabolism. In Hashimoto’s disease, the metabolism slows, causing symptoms that include fatigue, dry skin, slowed heart rate, weight gain, muscle and joint pain, and hair loss. “It can make you feel...tired and cold,” Luddington, 41, explains, noting that husband Matthew Alan would poke fun at her for having “like 40 blankets on me at night.” There were visible symptoms, too: Luddington recalls waking up to see that her “face and hands were really swollen.” It never crossed her mind that a medical reason could cause her symptoms, but she eventually mentioned feeling chronically tired to her physician. She had blood work done and finally received her diagnosis. The news came as a shock, followed by the relief of knowing the truth. “I was a little freaked out,” she said. “Then when they said it’s common, I was like, ‘That sucks but okay.’”