She Could No Longer Dance Because Of Hyperthyroidism

Emma Tara, age 28, is an Australian professional dancer. She has been living with hyperthyroidism since young. When she was 18, she suffered from panic attacks and her weight kept fluctuating. She had 16 hours of sleep on the weekends and she thought that may be due to tiredness.

In 2011, Emma flew to Singapore for a dance contract to perform on a circus stage. Even after her performance, she worked out 2 to 3 times a day to lose the weight that she had gained. Nonetheless, she felt extremely exhausted yet she only had 1 to 2 hours of sleep every night. She also needed hair extensions because of her hair loss.

Emma recovered for a short period of time but suddenly, her life took a turn. as her body started to become very weak. Left with no choice, she left her dance contract. Soon, things got worse. Her eyes started to bulge out, her hands started trembling and her weight started dropping even though she ate like a horse.

In December 2013, Emma was diagnosed with Graves’ disease. Her heart started beating so fast that it could be seen popping out of her chest. Her daily activities were highly affected. She could not dance anymore as she will fall onto the ground and started shaking tremendously when she tried dancing. This impacted her mentality greatly and she felt so lost, alone and helpless. Recently, her conditions have improved and she got off her medications yet she is still unable to do cardio activities.

Video reference:

Emma Tara, 2015. Graves' Disease│Hyperthyroidism│My Story. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO28tT8IIjU> [Accessed 21 November 2015].