Preparing for Work Differently with Thyroid Eye Disease

I am often asked if thyroid eye disease (TED) impacted my ability to work. While I fortunately did not navigate symptoms like double vision or vision loss, there were still many symptoms during my active phase that I needed to be mindful of while preparing for work.

I largely work in consumer-facing roles and often speak in front of groups for an hour at a time. So when I started experiencing symptoms of redness and extremely watery eyes, I was concerned with how that might be perceived by clients.

Would they think I’m upset and have been crying, especially once my eyeliner and mascara have been destroyed by my tears? Would people look at my unusually red eyes and think that I showed up to work high?

Then when I started experiencing shocking proptosis and eyelid retraction, would people see that something is wrong and jump to some unknown assumption? Would people start asking me questions about my very personal medical condition? I wish I could say that I didn’t care what others thought, but ultimately people will often make assumptions based on things they observe.

Navigating My Career and Thyroid Eye Disease On My Own Terms

If I could help it, I didn’t want to prominently bring the subject of TED into my workplace (if I needed special accommodations, of course, that would be a different story). While I am an advocate for multiple autoimmune conditions and have written dozens of articles about my experience with TED, I do value my medical privacy in the workplace, so I developed tools/routines to help manage symptoms, create boundaries, and help myself feel more comfortable.

Get up a little earlier

I don’t like getting up earlier than I need to, but mornings were the worst in my active phase. Due to the proptosis and eyelid retraction, my eyes couldn’t close completely while I was sleeping. I’d wake up in the middle of the night with my eyes painfully burning, and I’d hurriedly flood my eyes with eye drops. Come morning time, I found that my eyes were still burning from the dryness and needed time to settle down. Cue more eye drops! And a washcloth with warm water helped to further sooth my eyes. Having a few extra minutes to spare in the mornings was helpful.

Navigate makeup differently

I love makeup, and I’ve written quite a bit about different makeup techniques that helped me feel more like myself while I was struggling during the active phase. However, no amount of eye drops or waking up earlier made my eyes want to cooperate with eyeliner or mascara. So I got into the habit of doing most of my makeup in the mornings/after my eyes had settled, and I saved the eyeliner/mascara for the late morning/lunch time. Was this ideal? No, but nothing about TED has been ideal, and I was just glad that I could wear makeup because it truly helped so much.

Tissues and sunglasses

Winter mornings were particularly difficult with the wind whipping at my face. I remember walking to work one day and feeling blinded by tears. Sunglasses (even though it wasn’t very bright outside) became a natural barrier for the wind, and I got into the habit of carrying a tissue in my hand as I walked so I could dab away the tears as they formed.

Schedule meetings differently

During my active stage, seeing my reflection in the mirror was incredibly triggering, so I spent a long time avoiding mirrors, cameras, etc. Understandably, the topic of video meetings (where I could see myself on screen) was something that I wanted to develop a coping mechanism for. I didn’t need to unexpectedly feel triggered when talking with a client about invoices. Fortunately, as a freelancer, I had some flexibility with my schedule. If a client requested a video meeting, I would offer them times in the afternoon compared to the morning - this gave me time for my eyes to settle, I could properly do my makeup, and I would feel more confident and comfortable on camera.

Have a backup option

Oops, looks like that video meeting needs to be scheduled in the morning! Good thing I just got a new pair of blue light glasses for when I work at the computer. If my eyes were a little red or weren’t cooperating with my mascara in the morning, glasses helped. I felt like the extra accessory took the focus away from my eyes and helped me feel a little more comfortable emotionally.

Have you approached tasks differently to help you feel more comfortable with your symptoms at work?