Amy Schumer Says Comments About Her ‘Moon Face’ Led to Diagnosis
Amy Schumer reflected on how internet comments about her “moon face” ultimately led to her Cushing syndrome diagnosis.
Doctors eventually chimed in with concern, which caught her eye.
“I wouldn’t have known if the internet hadn’t come for me so hard,” she said.
Amy Schumer is once again opening up about her Cushing syndrome diagnosis, which all started a year ago when the public began pointing out her “moon face,” she explained on the January 22 episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast.
“The Internet really came for me,” Schumer began, explaining that comments about the round and puffy appearance of her face were relentless. “I was like, ‘Okay, everybody, like, relax,’” she recalled. Then she noticed that doctors were also expressing concern. “They were, like, ‘No, no … something’s really up. Your face looks so crazy,’” Schumer said.
Understandably, the onslaught of opinions initially activated Schumer’s defenses. “At first, I was like, ‘F*ck off,’” she said. Then, she began to connect the dots. She remembered that she had “been getting steroid injections for [her] scars” from her breast reduction and Cesarean section. (According to John Hopkins Medicine, steroid injections at the site of dense scars can help soften and shrink them.)
Schumer went on to explain that the injections “gave me this thing called Cushing syndrome, which I wouldn’t have known if the internet hadn’t come for me so hard,” she said. Cushing is a condition that occurs when the body makes too much cortisol over a long period, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
Cortisol is well known as the “stress hormone” because it helps the body respond to stress, however, it also contributes to blood pressure and blood sugar regulation, inflammation reduction, and metabolism. Aside from Schumer’s biggest indicator, which was a red, round face, other symptoms of Cushing include rapid weight gain, poor wound healing, high blood pressure, rapid hair growth, fatigue, and others.
Thankfully, Schumer’s condition was exogenous, meaning it was caused by external factors, per the NIDDK. So she “got rid” of it, she explained, adding: “It just has to work itself out.” That doesn’t mean the process was easy, though. The diagnosis took a toll on her self-esteem, especially when it came to work.
“I was feeling really down on myself before I started filming this movie [Kinda Pregnant]… I was, like, really having trouble figuring out how I was going to star in a movie while I had this going on,” she said.
More than anything, though, the actress and comedian was grateful to have answers. “I feel reborn,” she shared last year in the News Not Noise newsletter. “There are a few types of Cushing. Some that can be fatal, require brain surgery or removal of adrenal glands. While I was doing press on camera for my Hulu show, I was also in MRI machines four hours at a time, having my veins shut down from the amount of blood drawn and thinking I may not be around to see my son grow up.”
She called her diagnosis “the greatest news imaginable.”
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