What is Cushing Syndrome? Cause and meaning explored as Amy Schumer alleges trolls triggered health diagnosis

On the January 22 episode of Call Her Daddy podcast, Amy Schumer sat down with host Alex Cooper and shared that online trolls triggered her Cushing Syndrome diagnosis.

She explained that “a year ago, the internet really came for me,” referring to her suddenly swollen face. The stand-up comedian shared that she initially ignored the comments.

“I was like, ‘Okay, everybody, like, relax,’” Amy Schumer said.

However, soon, she began taking it seriously when “Doctors were chiming in the comments and they were, like, ‘No, no… something's really up. Your face looks so crazy.’”

Soon, when she consulted physicians, Amy Schumer was diagnosed with Cushing Syndrome, an endocrine disorder caused by high levels of cortisol in the blood that has remained in the human body for a lengthy period.

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Exploring the cause and meaning of Cushing Syndrome amid Amy Schumer’s revelation

According to the Mayo Clinic website, Cushing Syndrome occurs when the body retains excessive cortisol for a long time, either from taking medicines called glucocorticoids or when the body produces too much of the stress hormone.

Some of the major symptoms of Cushing Syndrome include buffalo hump (a fatty hump between the shoulders); moon face (a swollen face); acne; slow wound healing; thin and frail skin that bruises easily; weight gain around the trunk with thin arms and legs; and pink or purple stretch marks on the stomach, hips, thighs, breasts, and underarms.

Cushing Syndrome can, in turn, cause hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or bone loss. People who take glucocorticoids often need to stop taking them to treat their high cortisol levels. If the hormone is caused by the body itself, then an endocrinologist needs to order several exams, including imaging, urine, blood, saliva, and inferior petrosal sinus sampling, to diagnose the disorder.

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More about Amy Schumer’s Cushing Syndrome diagnosis

During Wednesday’s podcast interview, Amy Schumer shared how social media trolls who pointed out her sudden change in appearance alerted her to her distinctive facial swelling, which led to her diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome.

"At first, I was like, ‘F*ck off,’” the 43-year-old actress shared until she realized, “Wait, I have been getting steroid injections for my scars.”

She shared that she took the shots for a long time following her breast reduction and C-section.

“It gave me this thing called Cushing syndrome - which I wouldn't have known if the internet hadn't come for me so hard,” she shared.

The Trainwreck star shared how she has now “got rid” of Cushing's Syndrome and allowed it to “work itself out.” Amy shared that her diagnosis came early last year, when she had just begun shooting for her Netflix movie, Kinda Pregnant (releasing on February 5, 2025), and was feeling conscious of her appearance.

“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 was feeling really down on myself before I started filming this movie… I was, like, really having trouble figuring out how I was going to star in a movie while I had this going on,” Schumer noted.

The comic added that she needed “one person to just amp me up,” aka her friend and director Lorraine Caffery, who told her she looked “f*cking great.” Meanwhile, another friend gave her the blunt truth and pointed out how her face looked “a little bit insane,” which helped her put things into perspective.

Amy Schumer announced her diagnosis in February 2024. At the time, she told the News Not Noise newsletter on Substack:

"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.”

The mother of one continued:

“So, finding out I have the kind of Cushing that will just work itself out and I'm healthy was the greatest news imaginable. It has been a crazy couple of weeks for me and my family. Aside from fears about my health, I also had to be on camera having the internet chime in. But thank God for that. Because that's how I saw something was wrong.”

Amy Schumer shares her five-year-old son Gene with her husband, Chris Fischer.