Amy Schumer credits social media comments for leading to rare diagnosis
Amy Schumer is crediting social media outreach from doctors for helping her receive a health diagnosis she said she wouldn't have otherwise known about.
The 43-year-old actor and comedian recalled in a new interview with the "Call Her Daddy" podcast that she noticed she had been getting an inordinate amount of comments about her appearance last year while promoting her Hulu series "Life & Beth" and initially dismissed them.
"It was like a year ago and the internet really came for me after doing a bunch of press and I was like, 'OK, everybody like, relax,'" Schumer told host Alex Cooper.
"But then, like, doctors were chiming in in the comments and they were like, 'No, no, we think like, something's really up. Like, your face looks so crazy that we think something's up,'" Schumer continued.
At the time, in early February 2024, Schumer's face had looked especially round and then by the end of the month, Schumer revealed she had been diagnosed with Cushing's syndrome, a type of hormonal disorder where the body has too much of the hormone cortisol and can cause a constellation symptoms, including a round face, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases or NIDDK. Cushing syndrome can have different causes, including the body itself producing too much cortisol, or from taking steroids, which can act similarly to the cortisol hormone.
"I learned I had this condition and that I had something called moon face," Schumer said, after doctors sent messages to her about the rare syndrome.
"I had a breast reduction, C-section ... and 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," she added.
Other symptoms of Cushing's syndrome can differ but they also include weight gain, relatively thin arms and legs, more fat around the base of the neck, a fatty hump between the shoulders, easy bruising, wide purple stretch marks, particularly on the abdomen, breasts, hips, and under the arms, or weak muscles.
Treatment for Cushing's syndrome also varies depending on what is causing excess cortisol and may include options such as surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or cortisol-reducing medicines. If the syndrome is caused from steroid medication, reducing the dosage may help with symptoms.
Schumer, who stars in the upcoming Netflix film "Kinda Pregnant," said she and the cast and crew were preparing to shoot the comedic movie when she was diagnosed with Cushing's syndrome, which impacted her self-esteem.
"There's a camera right in my face and they're like, rolling, and I'm like, 'Oh my God,'" she said.
But despite her "moon face," Schumer said a supportive friend helped her come to terms with her appearance and eventually, her Cushing's syndrome symptom went away on its own.
"I was feeling so down on myself and I was really having trouble figuring out how I was going to star in a movie while I had this going on and it just took one friend ... she was like, 'You know what? I think you look f------ great,'" she said. "I just needed one person to just amp me up."
