“A month ago, I was diagnosed with Graves’ disease. Within 24 hours of beginning treatment, I felt the light coming back on. It’s been increasing in strength ever since.”
“If yours is dimming, even slightly, go get checked. Don’t ‘suck it up’ and transcend suffering; you deserve to be comfy. Shit’s hard enough as is.”
In the Instagram carousel, Erin shared a screenshot of a conversation with her mom where she texted, “I’m serious; I really really need relief. I feel nauseated tonight. I feel so shit and removed from who I am, I can’t live like this forever. Or that long.”
The text continued, “There aren’t moments anymore, not even a passing 5 seconds, when I feel normal. I’ve never had that. Not one. It’s not just fatigue – it’s an ineffable, system wide cry for help and I don’t know how long I can remain in this state.”
In Erin’s post, she acknowledged that her experience with Graves’ disease might not align with others. “Autoimmune disease manifests differently in everybody/ every body. Your experience will be different from mine. My experience will be different from yours. Perhaps greatly, perhaps minutely,” she added.
“One thing I can say: if I hadn’t chalked it all up to stress and fatigue, I would’ve caught this sooner,” she wrote.
In another photo shared in the carousel, presumably taken after she started her treatment, she wrote to her Dad, “I already feel a world of a difference, primary thought (as of now): ‘damn, this is how I’m supposed to feel? I’ve been missing out!'”