A woman whose painful eye bulging was repeatedly dismissed as “allergies” has revealed how she was eventually diagnosed with a life-altering disease that led her to be hospitalised almost 50 times.
Ketevan Chkhetiani was told twice that her red, swollen eyes were the result of allergies, despite insisting she had never suffered from them before.
But the 33-year-old’s symptoms worsened and she was left in “excruciating pain” and unable to tolerate light.
A third doctor finally carried out blood tests and diagnosed her with Graves’ disease.
The condition causes the immune system to attack the thyroid.
“The first month of having Graves’ was the worst month of my life,” Ketevan, from Brattleboro in Vermont, US told Need To Know.
“I was in pain every single day, I couldn’t go to work, I couldn’t go outside and I was extremely photosensitive to all lights.
“The only time I could go out was during the night when it got dark.
“I’m so angry that I wasn’t diagnosed sooner.”
On doctors’ responses to her problem, Ketevan said: “I felt gaslit into thinking everything was normal.
“I’ve never had an allergy in my life and I knew there was something else going on.
“After that I just felt defeated, I felt like I was just wasting my time or wasting the doctors time constantly going.
“My mother was the one who told me to try one more time.
“I do believe that if I had been diagnosed sooner, I wouldn’t have had to experience all the pain and hardship I went through and am still going through.
“My eyes wouldn’t have bulged out as much as they did, I wouldn’t have needed all of the surgeries and I could have had a different life rather than the difficult one I have to deal with.”
Ketevan developed double and blurred vision, forcing her to give up hobbies she loved, including reading and drawing.
At the time, she had been trying to learn how to code as well, but she could no longer look at a computer screen.
Her eye pain was so intense she would press warm pads – or even ice cubes – gently against her eyes to try to cope.
She has undergone several surgeries on her eyes to correct the bulging caused by the disease.
But the condition – which she was diagnosed with in May 2024 – does not just affect her eyes.
Ketevan says she experienced racing heart episodes where her heart rate would soar above 120 beats per minute and refuse to come down.
The disease has also impacted her dreams of becoming a mother.
Graves’ disease can cause pregnancy complications and increase the risk of miscarriage.
Ketevan says she has tried to conceive in the past but was unsuccessful.
Doctors have warned her that pregnancy could pose serious risks until her thyroid levels stabilise.
She said: “I’ve tried before to get pregnant but always failed to, my body basically acts like a natural birth control.
“There are high risks of my child being born with a lot of complications and even me passing the disease to them.
“It’s best to wait for my thyroid levels to be normal but that’s very difficult, so I avoid getting pregnant which makes me sad because I’ve wanted to have kids for a long time.”
Day-to-day, Ketevan also struggles with guilt over not being able to work full-time due to her health.
She currently works nine hours a week as a home health aide and also runs a small business from home, making and selling quilted bags.
Ketevan, who lives with her boyfriend Dmitry, 33, went on: “It has affected my own self-confidence.
“People stare, kids ask what happened to my eyes.
“I hated looking in the mirror because I just felt so ugly.
“I also feel guilty for not being able to work as much or as hard as other people do.
“I have very low energy, fatigue, I get cold easily and sometimes hot because my body has no temperature regulations.
“I’ve been to the hospital over 46 times.
“The amount of IVs I’ve had I don’t even remember.
“But I can definitely say that I’m in a better place now than I was before.
“And I’m so thankful for all the doctors who have helped me get better.”
Although surgery has significantly improved her appearance, the emotional scars remain.
Looking back, Ketevan says she wishes she had pushed harder sooner.
She added: “Know that it’s very important to advocate for yourself.
“If you feel like something is wrong, keep talking to your doctor about it.
“Doctors aren’t always right, your body is your own and if you feel there is something wrong, then there is.
“Don’t be afraid to bug those doctors until they start to really pay attention.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a female getting seen by a male doctor or a male getting seen by a female doctor.
“If you feel dismissed and not heard, the last thing you want to do is accept that and walk away.
“If I’d advocated for myself sooner instead of waiting and using the useless allergy eye drops I could have be diagnosed sooner, but I was too afraid.”
