But she was then diagnosed after a doctor suggested it could be Graves', which he told her often makes feel "tired but wired".
Ridley realised she had been feeling particularly irritable, she said.
"It was funny. I was like, oh, I just thought I was annoyed at the world, but turns out everything is functioning so quickly, you can’t chill out."
She told the magazine that women should not be prepared to accept feeling unwell.
"We all read the stats women being undiagnosed or underdiagnosed and [it's ] sort of coming to terms with saying, 'I really, actually don't feel good' and not going, 'I'm fine, I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine.'
"It’s just normalised to not feel good."
Graves' disease is related to an overactive thyroid and is "much less severe than what a lot of go through", Ridley said.
But she added: "Even if you can deal with it, you shouldn’t have to. If there’s a problem, you shouldn’t have to just [suffer through it]."
After getting her diagnosis almost a year ago and making other lifestyle and diet changes, she said she became aware of the difference they had made.
"I didn’t realise how bad I felt before," she said. "Then I looked back and thought, How did I do that?"
The British actress is known for appearing in Star Wars films including The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, as well as the recent dramas Magpie and Young Woman and The Sea.
Graves' disease is an autoimmune condition where your immune system produces antibodies that cause the thyroid to produce too much thyroid hormone, according to the NHS.
80% of with an overactive thyroid gland have it.
The cause is unknown, but it mostly affects young or middle-aged women and often runs in families. Smoking can also increase your risk of getting it.
Symptoms can include:
In 2011, US rapper Missy Elliott, then 39, said she had it, and that it had made her hair fall out and shut down her nervous system.
Since starting in 2009, the Toy-Fu group has earned an estimated £178,000 for the charity Mary's Meals.
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