Amy Winehouse's friends fear that the erratic lifestyle the singer has been leading has caused so much damage that she will not be able to make another album.
To confirm fears, a source at Amy Winehouse's record company Island said that progress on her next album was "going slower than we'd have hoped".
"Amy isn't on a deadline with her album," her rep said.
"She's struggling. We just hope the wait is worth it," the Daily Star quoted the source as saying.
"She's got the genius in there, it's just taking more coaxing to get it out these days."
Amy Winehouse, 25, is currently in The London Clinic for scans in her battle with lung disease emphysema, it was reported last week.
But Winehouse had on a web video told fans she was fine and she was likely to release "two EPs and an album", and her spokesman also denied that she was back in rehab.
"The last album's still selling. She's in and out of the studio working... the record company hasn't seen the final result yet. Amy's fine," Amy's rep added.