A woman with the same rare condition as Amy Schumer has revealed how she was left with mobility issues after gaining 10st in six years.
Tayla Peabody, 30, first began experiencing Cushing’s syndrome symptoms after the birth of her son, Ezra, including an undiagnosed mass on her adrenal gland.
Despite eating a “calorie-controlled” diet and exercising, she couldn’t shift the weight – with no idea of what was really going on in her body.
“I was eating a calorie-controlled diet, walking 12 miles a day with the baby, and going to the gym, but nothing was working,” Tayla, a marketing officer from Nottinghamshire told Need To Know.
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“It was really affecting my mental health and my relationships with my friends and family.
“I started losing my hair, my gums were bleeding, and I was waking in the night having anxiety attacks.
“I would cry every day for no apparent reason and couldn’t focus on anything.
“My face was bright red and would blister and I developed a buffalo hump between my shoulders.
“I was even given a blue badge and, for a short period, I would need to use a wheelchair.
“I was becoming a shadow of myself.”
Cushing’s syndrome occurs when the body has too much cortisol for an extended period of time with symptoms including increased fat on the stomach and chest and a red, puffy, rounded face.
Tayla claims to have spoken to numerous doctors between 2017 and 2022, who all believed she would eventually lose the weight if she kept trying.
The mum joined support groups, tried different diet and nutrition plans, and had personal training sessions, but her weight continued to climb.
It was only when one of her Instagram followers reached out to her that Tayla realised she might have Cushing’s syndrome.
She said: “I Googled it and that was it – I had every common symptom.
“I cried, it was like a huge weight had been lifted.”
After months of tests, an MRI scan found a 2.6cm mass sitting on top of Tayla’s adrenal gland in October 2022.
She finally had an answer to what was going on.
In December 2023, she had the mass, which had grown to almost 4cm, surgically removed.
She said: “I hadn’t had a period in six years, and they returned within six weeks.
“I’ve already lost two stone and that’s without being able to move much.
“My red cheeks have also faded and are no longer sore or blistered.
“It’s the long-term recovery from the damage that Cushing’s has done to my body that’s the hardest part.
“It will take months, if not years [to recover from].
“But there are definite signs that I’m getting better.
“My diagnosis made me feel validated.
“I could finally say to people, ‘See, I told you there was something wrong’.
“It proved that no matter how hard I tried, there was nothing I could have done.”
Tayla thinks it’s “brilliant” that a public figure has come out to talk about a condition as rare as Cushing’s but has cautioned against “downplaying” the condition.
She said: “Some of the articles about Amy have made Cushing’s sound quite trivial.
“They haven’t explained the detrimental effect it can have on people’s lives – it ruins our health, mental health, physical abilities and quality of life.
“If left too long [without treatment], Cushing’s can be fatal.”
Tayla hopes to raise awareness for Cushing’s disease and similar illnesses and, in turn, foster kindness.
She added: “I wish people weren’t so judgmental when they see someone who obviously carries weight.
“People tend to assume they are just lazy, don’t exercise and eat too much.
“I was a 26-year-old who loved the gym, spin classes, and nice clothes.
You never know if someone might be struggling with something medically, so don’t be so quick to make assumptions.”
