Amy Schumer's health struggles from endometriosis and Lyme disease to chronic pain - after she sparked concern with 'puffy and swollen' face

After a string of appearances where comedian Amy Schumer’s face seemed puffy or swollen, the actor has insisted she’s ‘okay’.

She said she still feels ‘strong and beautiful’ while struggling with endometriosis and autoimmune disease.

A clip from the Life & Beth star’s appearance on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon – but a clip quickly went viral on social media with doctors posing the question to the public: ‘What happened to Amy’s face?’

But Amy responded on Instagram, saying: ‘Thank you so much for everyone’s input about my face! 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.’

Read on for more details on the actress’ health struggles over the years…

After a string of appearances, including an interview with Jimmy Fallon (pictured), where comedian Amy Schumer ‘s face seemed puffy or swollen the actress has insisted she’s’ okay’

She said she still feels ‘strong and beautiful’ while struggling with endometriosis and autoimmune disease

Amy responded on Instagram, saying: ‘Thank you so much for everyone’s input about my face! 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’

Endometriosis

In 2022, Amy opened up about her battle with endometriosis, which occurs when tissue grows around the uterus and gets trapped, causing debilitating pain and heavy bleeding, especially during menstrual cycles.

In a CBS News interview, Amy called it a ‘lonely, lonely disease.’

Many patients with endometriosis take medications to regulate their reproductive hormones known as progestins.

According to Mount Sinai, taking these medications can lead to water retention, which can cause the face to swell.

In the aforementioned interview, Amy added that one struggle with endometriosis was how so many people would write off her symptoms.

‘You tell someone you get really bad cramps, and they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s being a woman,’ and you’re like, ‘No, it’s irregular.’ I’ve been in so much pain, you know, my whole life. It’s not just the week of my period. It’s during ovulation,’ she explained.

However, after years of discomfort, she said she felt like a ‘new person’ after she had her uterus and appendix removed in September 2021.

Trichotillomania

In August 2022, Amy revealed that she was diagnosed with Trichotillomania – a disorder which compels its sufferers to pull out their own hair.

She told The Hollywood Reporter that she was worried her son Gene, who she shares with her chef husband Chris Fischer, may inherit the condition as there are genetic factors to the disorder.

She said: ‘Every time he touches his head I’m having a heart attack.’

Discussing her own experience, Amy said: ‘I think everybody has a big secret and that’s mine. And I’m proud that my big secret only hurts me but it’s been what I’ve carried so much shame about for so long.’

She developed trichotillomania during her turbulent childhood and at one point had to wear a wig to school – though she said the hairpiece fooled no one.

‘And it’s not that I used to have this problem and now I don’t, it’s still something that I struggle with,’ the Trainwreck star shared.

Amy has said she fears her son Gene could inherit her hair pulling disorder Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania is a disorder which compels its sufferers to pull out their own hair which the comic developed during her turbulent childhood

Lyme Disease

In 2020, the actress also revealed that she had been diagnosed with Lyme disease, adding that she ‘maybe had it for years’.

Common signs of Lyme disease, according to the Mayo Clinic, include a bullseye-shaped rash, fever, headache, extreme tiredness, joint stiffness, and muscle aches and pains.

Additionally, the condition can cause swollen lymph nodes – which can make cheeks look puffy.

It is transmitted by black-legged ticks carrying either the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi or, more rarely, Borrelia mayonii.

The disease can typically be treated by several weeks of oral antibiotics but if left untreated, the infection can spread to the joints, heart and nervous symptoms and be fatal.

Later symptoms of Lyme disease include severe headaches and neck stiffness, further rashes, arthritis with joint pain and swelling, facial or Bell’s palsy, heart palpitations, problems with short-term memory and nerve pain.

Amy took to Instagram to reveal her Lyme disease diagnosis in 2020, but said she may have had it for many years

Schumer has also opened up about her extreme experiences with morning sickness when she was pregnant with her son Gene in 2018 and 2019

Things became so serious at one stage that Amy was hospitalized and had to postpone tour dates in Texas

Morning sickness

Schumer has also opened up about her extreme experiences with morning sickness when she was pregnant with her son Gene.

Gene was born in 2019 and in the year prior his mother shared a video of herself having to pull over on the side of the road to vomit.

To be precise, the Snatched and I Feel Pretty actress suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, an acute form of pregnancy-related nausea also suffered by the Duchess Of Cambridge during all three of her pregnancies.

Things became so serious at one stage in 2018 that Amy was hospitalized and had to postpone tour dates in Texas.