Comedian and Oscar-winning actress Mo’Nique, 56, is giving fans a shoutout for essentially giving her an unofficial diagnosis for a thyroid issue. In an Instagram Live, the star thanked fans for advising her to get her throat checked out when she initially wasn’t receptive to the suggestions.
“I owe some people a ‘thank you,’ and I owe some folks that were paying attention to me and brought something to my attention,” Mo’Nique said. “And I kept trying to avoid what was being said, right? So, I’m gonna share. Y’all, for the people that kept bringing it to my attention, I want to say thank you because when I would do some lives or some posts, some of the comments would be ‘Mo, check your throat. Check your throat.’”
She continued, “’Your thyroid looks like it’s it’s having a problem,’ and I would say ‘Oh no no no no, I just got a fat neck,’ and I was very comfortable in saying, ‘I just got a fat neck.’”
The thyroid is an endocrine gland that produces hormones such as the triiodothyronine, or T3, and thyroxine (T4). Thyroid disorders can show up in symptoms like swelling in the neck. Other symptoms can include weight gain, depression, tiredness, sweating and more depending on the type of thyroid disorder you have, which can include hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism and more.
The comedian revealed that she did indeed end up having a thyroid issue and used it as a teaching moment, encouraging others to get their health checked out.
“So, I am here to tell y’all, the ones that told me to look out for that, it was actually my thyroid. And sisters, when your thyroid is out of whack, I tell you everything is out of whack,” Mo’Nique shared. “Everything. So, please, please take it from me. Don’t put it off. Don’t neglect what you need to go get dealt with.”
“Thank you for saying, ‘Auntie! Your neck is fat,’” she added.
Thyroid disorders affect over 12% of the U.S. population at some point in their lives according to the American Thyroid Association. Women are particularly at risk since one in eight will experience thyroid issues during their lifetime.