Katherine Ryan has opened up about her struggles with lupus, admitting it has left her "stressed and very agitated" at times.
Katherine Ryan has opened up about her battle with lupus
The 38-year-old comedian – who first developed the autoimmune condition, which causes joint pain, skin rashes and tiredness, in 2007 – struggled with the symptoms for a long period of time before her diagnosis.
Katherine said: “I just felt really bad. My joints were sore, I had fevers that I couldn’t explain and, most noticeably, I had a really bright coloured rash on my face.
“I had really low white blood cells, but no one seemed particularly alarmed about that.
“There was a lot of frustration with doctors who didn’t know what was wrong and didn’t investigate. I felt quite fobbed off.
“I went to homoeopathic doctors, I went to GPs, I went to private dermatologists. One thought it was ringworm and I tried different creams that irritated it even more. I was even being told I might have leprosy!”
The '8 out of 10 Cats' star admitted it wasn’t until she took herself to A&E that it was looked into more.
She added to the Daily Mirror newspaper: “I said, ‘I don’t know where else to go, I feel really sick.' ”
It wasn’t until one nurse suggested that she might be suffering with lupus she broke down in tears.
Katherine recalled: “I only knew about lupus in a pop culture sense because I’d heard it joked about on shows like 'House' and 'Seinfeld',
“I was crying. Lupus affects mood, it can affect your neurology and it can do all sorts of things. I was so stressed and very agitated and upset about it.
“It was confirmed with a blood test that I had all these markers for lupus. I was thinking, 'Oh no, all these terrible things are going to happen.'
“It depends on how severe it is, but people can need chemotherapy and dialysis and transplants, so it can be very serious.”
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