On Valent Day, Amy Schumer visited “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” as part of her tour promoting her Hulu series “Life & Beth,” but many viewers and people online were more focused on her face. Schumer addressed the speculation about her health in an Instagram post the next day, and in an interview published by Jessica Yellin’s News Not Noise on Friday, she revealed she’s been diagnosed with exogenous Cushing syndrome — and she credited the online reactions in part for being why she got checked out.
Schumer told Yellin that she underwent hours-long MRI scans while promoting her show and “having my veins shut down from the amount of blood drawn and thinking I may not be around to see my son grow up.” The actress found out that she has a type of Cushing that “will just work itself out.”
While Internet chatter about her appearance was unpleasant and often unkind, Schumer also said that it spurred her to find out if anything was going on.
“Aside from fears about my health, I also had to be on camera having the Internet chime in. But thank God for that,” she explained. “Because that’s how I realized something was wrong. Just like when I realized I had named my son something that didn’t sound so good. ‘The Internet is undefeated,’ as they say.”
Schumer also said that she turned to News Not Noise to share her private medical information because she felt it could help others. As she said, “I also wanted to advocate for women’s health. The shaming and criticism of our ever-changing bodies is something I have dealt with and witnessed for a long time. I want so much for women to love themselves and be relentless when fighting for their own health in a system that usually doesn’t believe them.”
Symptoms of exogenous Cushing syndrome include a round and full face, weight gain, thin skin, easy bruising, bone pain and/or tenderness.
“I want women to value feeling strong, healthy and comfortable in their own skin,” she added. “I am extremely privileged to have the resources I have for my health and I know it’s not that way for most people. I am grateful and want to use my voice to continue to fight for women.”
On Feb. 15, Schumer attributed her fuller face to endometriosis. She explained, “I’ve enjoyed feedback and deliberation about my appearance as all women do for almost 20 years. And you’re right it is puffier than normal right now. I have endometriosis an auto immune disease that every woman should read about.”
“There are some medical and hormonal things going on in my world right now but I’m OK,” Schumer added.
