Amy Schumer has opened up about having Cushing’s syndrome and the nasty comments that sparked her diagnosis.
The Expecting Amy actor, 43, was made fun of online after appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in early 2024.
Trolls took to social media to mock her ‘moon face’, while others were concerned for Schumer because her face appeared to be swollen.
After visiting the doctors in February, they informed her that she had Cushing’s syndrome, and the comedian admitted that if the ‘internet hadn’t come for [her] so hard’, she wouldn’t have got herself checked.
What is Cushing’s syndrome?
Cushing’s syndrome ‘is a condition caused by having too much of a hormone called cortisol in your body’, according to the NHS.
The health service notes that ‘it can be serious if it’s not treated’.
Possible symptoms of Cushing’s syndrome
• Weight gain
• Increased fat on stomach area whilst rest of the body remains slim
• A rounded and puffy face
• A build up of fat around the neck area
• Easily bruising skin
• Weakness in upper arms and thighs
• Reduced sex drive
• Depression
• High blood pressure
The NHS says that if cortisol levels are caused by steroids, which has been the case with Schumer, the dose should be gradually reduced or stopped.
Why Amy Schumer decided to see a doctor
“The internet really came for me after doing a bunch of press,” she recently told Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast.
“And I was like, ‘ok everybody relax’, but then like doctors were chiming in [within] the comments.
“And they were like, ‘no, no we think something’s really up, like your face looks so crazy’… I’m like wait, I’m getting trolled by doctors?”
She continued: “I was like f**k off and then I was like wait, I have been getting steroid injections for my scars… I had a breast reduction, a C-section, whatever… So, I was getting these steroid injections and so, it gave me this thing called Cushing’s syndrome — which I wouldn’t have known if the internet hadn’t come for me so hard.
“So, right before I started filming Kinda Pregnant, which you guys have to check out on Netflix, right before we started rolling, was when I learned I had this condition, and that I had something called ‘moon face’, and I’m starring in a movie — and there’s a camera right in my face.
“I asked some of the people close to me and everyone’s like, ‘you look great’, but then you have like your one friend from high school that’s like, ‘your face is looking, like, a little bit insane’.”
