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As social media has grown over the years, more users have started working as influencers — people who build a following based on their purported level of knowledge and expertise in a specific field. This includes health. Phrases like “weight loss supplements,” “balance your hormones,” and even “lower your cortisol”…

Cortisol: It’s one of the hormones involved in the body’s fight-or-flight response. Feeling anxious about a test? You might be able to thank cortisol for that. Think everyone hates you? Perhaps it’s cortisol. Most people don’t know that cortisol can also make you depressed, like on those…

I remember the day I realized something was wrong with me. Until that point, I’d been able to explain away my symptoms. Buffalo hump on my back? Bad posture. Periods stopped? I’d been stressed out. Acne? It happens! Then I gained 70 pounds in a month and a half.

Social workers like me learn the importance of advocacy. We advocate for our clients and strive to help them improve their lives in one way or another. Although we advocate for others, we sometimes forget to advocate for ourselves. When I started experiencing symptoms of Cushing’s disease, I realized…

About three years ago, my body began to change. Movement became more difficult and running long distances was increasingly painful. I watched as the scale slowly ticked upward, purple marks started showing up on my stomach, and my face become noticeably round. I had no idea what was going on…

Three years ago, I started developing symptoms of Cushing’s disease. These symptoms included weight gain, deposits of fat at the base of my neck (called a buffalo hump), striae, bone pain, fatigue, and general weakness, among others. Initially, these symptoms developed slowly but were exacerbated over…

I don’t particularly like tight spaces that make obnoxious washer and dryer sounds, but I guess these machines come in handy if you’re trying to confirm a pituitary adenoma (or anything in the brain, really). An MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, is an intimidating process for some. Oddly enough,…

It’s common for Cushing’s patients to develop health anxiety. Every little thing that seems off in our bodies can trigger worry or panic. This might result in excessively searching the internet and creating worrisome scenarios in our minds before observing the facts. I had a pituitary tumor removed…

Someone once asked me, “What would life be like if you never had Cushing’s disease?” I then wondered, if I could time travel and erase my Cushing’s diagnosis, would I? I thought my answer to the latter would be swift and obvious. It’s not. I ponder my life…

Barriers are obstacles that get in our way as we pursue a goal. These barriers sometimes are out of our control, but sometimes we allow them to stop our progress. My journey with Cushing’s disease had a few self-inflicted barriers I needed to overcome to achieve my goals. Until…