A woman who gained 10st (6.3kg) because of a rare hormonal disorder credits one daily exercise for helping her lose the weight without the help of Ozempic in just two years.
Hannah Mai, 37, was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease in October 2020 after she put on 10st in two and a half years.
The condition is caused by prolonged exposure to high levels of cortisol. Some of the most significant symptoms of the disease include weight gain around the middle of the body and around the upper back, as well as a rounded face.
It is the same syndrome that US comedian Amy Schumer discovered she had earlier this year, having been diagnosed after receiving comments about her ‘moon face’ appearance.
Hannah, from Coventry, Warwickshire, underwent brain surgery in February 2021 to remove the pituitary tumour that causes the condition and was placed on steroid medication to control it.
Then in 2023, she was taken off the steroid medication and became determined to lose the weight she had gained because of the disease.
At the time, she weight 20st 5lbs (approximately 129kg) and was a dress size 26.
However, she says that doing pilates everyday, in tandem with a high-protein diet, has helped her slim down to 10st 4lbs (approximately 65kg) – all without taking weight-loss jabs which are currently soaring in demand across the UK.
Commenting on Ozempic, which is a diabetes medication but used off-label for weight loss, Hannah said: ‘I think Ozempic is great for people who need it, and for medical reasons.
‘It is really helping some people, but I feel if you give yourself a chance, you can really push yourself.
‘Once I started losing the weight, I just kept going.
‘It isn’t easy, you really have to push yourself, and focus on who you want to be and think about who you want to be.’
Hannah first noticed she started rapidly gaining weight when she turned 30, putting on seven stone in just a few months that took her from nine stone to 16st.
She visited the doctor multiple times out of concern, but kept being asked if she was pregnant or that the weight gain could be blamed on hormones.
She said: ‘I was always around nine stone, but I noticed how I started to gain a bit of weight.
‘I knew there was something wrong with me, but people around me thought I had changed my diet and asked if I was eating more.
‘I was asked if I was pregnant six times, and told that my weight gain could be caused by hormones.
‘I went up to 20 stone at my heaviest.’
Then in October, more than two years after the sudden weight gain started, she said she woke up one morning with a hunched back.
She turned to Google to research the symptoms, including the weight gain, and came across Cushing’s disease, prompting her to go straight back to the doctor with a printout of the list of symptoms.
Hannah was referred to University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, where she underwent a blood test and MRI scan that confirmed the had the condition.
‘I was relieved but scared when I got the diagnosis,’ Hannah recalled. ‘I had been saying for years that there was something wrong with me.’
She underwent brain surgery in February 2021 to remove the pituitary tumour that causes the condition.
A small, benign tumour of the pituitary gland is the most common cause of spontaneous Cushing’s, which accounts for around 70% of cases, according to The Pituitary Foundation.
The tumour causes the pituitary gland to produce too much of a hormone called adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), which then triggers the release of too much cortisol – leading to Cushing’s.
Removing the tumour usually solves the issue, as Hannah found, but she had to be on steroid medication to control the condition. She got better after two years on steroids and was taken off it.
She said: ‘It wasn’t easy to lose weight whilst I was still on steroids, as soon as I came off them, I knew this was my body and I was a lot better.
‘I really pushed myself, I worked super hard, cut out all sugar, cut out dairy, and gluten after I was diagnosed with celiac disease.
‘I have a low-carb, high-protein diet with lots of vegetables, and I do pilates every day.’
Hannah, who is now raising money for The Pituitary Foundation, was able to shrink from a size 26 to a size 10, which was the dress size she wore before being diagnosed with the syndrome.
She added: ‘I am super proud of myself, I am always worried that the weight will come back.
‘I feel so much happier. When I look back at myself, I just can’t believe I was that size.
‘When I look back at old photos, I feel very sad about what happened to me, but it makes me think that I need to be proud about how far I have come.’
Amy Schumer was diagnosed with the same condition in February 2024, after fans pointed out how different she looked from normal in a televised interview.
In an appearance on the Call Your Daddy podcast earlier this year, the I Feel Pretty star said she initially ignored comments about her ‘swollen’ face as she put them down to trolling, but then physicians began expressing concern.
She said: ‘Doctors were chiming in in the comments and they were, like, ‘No, no, something’s really up. Your face looks so crazy.”
She noticed that people were speculating that she could have Cushing syndrome.
‘At first, I was like, ‘F*** off,’,’ she said, before recalling that she was ‘getting steroid injections for my scars’ from her breast reduction surgery and Caesarean section after she and her husband Chris Fischer welcomed their son Gene in 2019.
‘So I was getting these steroid injections and so it gave me this thing called Cushing syndrome — which I wouldn’t have known if the internet hadn’t come for me so hard,’ Amy explained.
