Erin Moriarty, best known for her performance in the Prime Video series The Boys, has revealed she has been diagnosed with the autoimmune condition Graves’ disease.
The 30-year-old actor said in a recent Instagram post that she received treatment within 24 hours of her diagnosis and has been “increasing in strength ever since”.
“A month ago, I was diagnosed with Graves’ disease,” she said. “Within 24 hours of beginning treatment, I felt the light coming back on.”
She urged fans who feel their light “dimming” to get checked.
“Don’t ‘suck it up’ and transcend suffering; you deserve to be comfy. S***’s hard enough as is,” she added.
In the series of photos shared alongside the health update, Moriarty posted a screenshot of a text exchange with her mother where she wrote, “I’m serious; I really need relief. I feel nauseated tonight. I feel so s*** and removed from who I am, I can’t live like this forever.”
In another screenshot of a text to her father after beginning treatment, she said: “I already feel a world of difference, primary thought (as of now): ‘Damn, this is how I’m supposed to feel? I’ve been missing out!’ xx.”
She also told her followers: “Autoimmune disease manifests differently in everybody/everybody. Your experience will be different from mine. My experience will be different from yours. Perhaps greatly, perhaps minutely. One thing I can say: if I hadn’t chalked it all up to stress and fatigue, I would’ve caught this sooner.”
Graves’ disease is a form of hyperthyroidism where the thyroid gland is overactive and produces too much thyroid hormone. It is caused when the body’s immune system produces antibodies that disrupt the thyroid to make too much thyroid hormone (thyroxine).
According to the NHS, symptoms may include a fast heart rate or palpitations, diarrhoea, tremor, difficulties sleeping, weight loss, irregular periods, and feeling hot, hungry or anxious. Some patients may experience neck swelling or bulging eyes, which is called Graves’ ophthalmopathy.
Treatment typically includes an antithyroid drug called carbimazole. In some young people, Graves’ disease runs its course over a few years and the thyroid recovers. In others, treatment needs to continue using the drug carbimazole or by having the thyroid gland removed by surgery (thyroidectomy).
Moriarty rose to fame across four seasons of Eric Kripke’s superhero drama The Boys, as Annie January, a superhero who goes by the name Starlight. Her other credits include the 2013 film The Kings of Summer and 2016’s Captain Fantastic.
