Comedian Kenan Thompson opens up about health diagnosis after suffering in silence for years

The 46-year-old comedian and long-time Saturday Night Live star, while speaking to People magazine, opened up about his struggle with a painful condition that affected his daily life and work.

Thompson shared that about two years ago, he began experiencing strong heartburn after eating certain foods, especially acidic ones. At first, he tried to manage the symptoms with common medicines from the story, but they eventually stopped working.

"I noticed that I would get hoarse a lot easier when I'm doing the show. Losing my voice quicker, but also uncomfortable sleepless nights because I'm burping up acid, just kind of hiccuping all night," Thompson told People.

"And that can add more stress to an already stressful kind of environment doing a live show like that. So all of those factors, I was like, whatever, I'll get over it. But it just started to pile up," he said.

"It was a suffering-in-silence situation. I don't know if I was necessarily embarrassed to talk to a doctor -- I just didn't know if I needed to," Thomas added.

By early 2024, the symptoms became too "extreme" to ignore. That's when he finally went to see a doctor and was diagnosed with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) -- a condition where stomach acid flows back into the esophagus, often causing burning and discomfort.

Thompson has also joined a health campaign called GERD IS NO JOKE to raise awareness about the condition.

The comedian shared that since starting treatment, he has felt much better. "God bless, I feel great," he said. "I'm in a much healthier kind of space with my daily lifestyle and meal decision-making and all of that good stuff. I'm in a good place."

Meanwhile, on the work front, the American actor-comedian has been a cast member of the popular comedy series SNL since 2003. The actor is also the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history. Apart from SNL, the actor was also a part of 'Kenan' from 2021 to 2022.