Stress And Cortisol Almost Shattered My Life

Yesterday, a chap asked me why I was writing this blog. I had a problem answering him because my reasons are all very personal and private. Finally, I told him about the things that have happened to me and he told me to put it in the blog. In his opinion, it gives the blog more meaning and truth. I don’t know if you will believe me, but here is my story.

I have to admit I am very angry at what happened to me when I found out I had Addison’s disease. It almost killed me and I had to find out what was happening to me. By accident, I discovered my problem was Cortisol Insufficiency. Not one doctor would talk to me about Cortisol. They were all afraid of being prosecuted for treating Cortisol Insufficiency. It was illegal for a doctor to treat any form of Cortisol problem induced by stress.

Have you ever heard of Cortisol? Cortisol is a hormone produced by the Adrenal glands. There is one adrenal gland on the top of each kidney. Cortisol affects a vast majority of the body’s systems; digestion, neurotransmitters in the brain, and the thyroid gland, to name a few. The list is very long. When your balance of Cortisol is messed up, you are set up for all of the degenerative diseases; I mean cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc. It robs a man of his manhood and you can no longer give your woman the things she needs most. I also became very weak, no stamina, I lost the ability to solve simple problems. This led me to become one very angry person. I could no longer support myself or my family in a good paying or responsible job. As things got worse I could not get along with anyone. Not only were the emotional problems caused by the Cortisol screwing up my brain chemistry and neurotransmitters, I could not find a way to make anyone understand what was happening to me, because I had no understanding of what was going on. When something would happen, I wanted to fight, but I couldn’t because I did not have the strength or ability to control my legs or balance. So I just withdrew into myself. My wife did not leave me, but our relationship was almost nonexistent. All we did was fight. The kids lost their respect for me and I could not understand what was happening. God, I tried everything I could to find an answer to my problems.

In 1983 I got my first real break. I met Durk Pearson and his wife, Sandy Shaw. I was lucky and got to talk to Durk for almost an hour. He got me started on Alternative Medicine. I read their book, Life Extension, A PRACTICAL SCIENTIFIC APPROACH. It was not until 1997 that I heard about hormone testing and the importance of testosterone. I had read several articles that explained if a man does not have a healthy level of testosterone he would experience fatigue. I had given up trying to get any information from doctors and I heard about a new form of testing using samples of saliva to measure a man’s hormones. I had no idea what the hormones did or why they were important to the operation of the human body. I just knew I wanted to find out how to get rid of the fatigue. Just before I ordered the saliva tests I heard about another serious form of testing being used to identify heavy metal poisoning. I did not have the money and knew my wife would get really angry, still I ordered both tests. When I got the test results back, I really had no way to understand their meaning. It was simple to see that I really did not have any testosterone. But the results did not tell me how to correct the deficiencies for any of the hormones. The heavy metals test did not tell me anything. I was really confused and very depressed.

I made appointments with several doctors and showed them the two tests and asked them to explain what the results for each test meant. None of them would tell me anything. They told me the tests were worthless because I did not use blood tests. Now I was really feeling disgusted and like I had been ripped off. The doctors had charged me several hundred dollars for each appointment and they did nothing. Each appointment took about 10 minutes of the doctor’s time.

While I was trying to figure out the tests and how they could help me I heard about a doctor in Washington. His name is Jonathan Wright. Dr. Wright only practices alternative medicine. I contacted his office and got their address. I sent a letter to Dr. Wright and told him about my problems and asked him to help me find a doctor here in Orange County, California. It took almost two months before I received any response. One of his staff sent me the name and address of a doctor that practices alternative medicine. I called and got an appointment. Then I realized the doctor was a woman and I found out that she did not normally see men as patients. After I met Dr. Connealy I showed her the hormone test and heavy metal test. She was very quick in responding to each test. She looked at the heavy metal test and told me I had a real problem with arsenic and strontium. She explained in detail what the test showed and how I could overcome the heavy metal toxins. Then she looked at the hormone test and told me I had a serious problem because I had flatlined the Cortisol test. She explained how important Cortisol was and why it put my life in danger. I asked her what I could do to overcome the problem and I could not believe her answer. She told me she did not know how to solve the problem and she could not help me. I should have been really upset and angry, but I wasn’t. She had told me the truth and that was the most important thing anyone had done for me in a very long time.

I had to find ways to treat myself. I flatlined for four years and should have died. Before long I was reading anything I could find on health and I started calling any one that I thought might have some idea on how I could fight the Cortisol insufficiency. Somehow, I found the answers and was able to put the puzzle together. In 2006 I was tested again. This time I was normal; there were six saliva samples; two were normal and four were high, a total reversal from the three earlier tests. Now the doctors were more than willing to talk to me, they figured I had Cushing’s syndrome, a tumor that would require surgery. After more tests I was shown to be healthy.

Because of their incompetence I almost lost my wife as I could no longer be a man. Manhood demands more than the ability to fight and use my fists. Sex is an extremely strong and natural need every human has. It makes no difference whether it is a man or a woman. There will be no love and close intimate relationship between a man and woman if they do not fulfill the sexual needs they each have. It has been hard for my wife to understand what has happened to me and I do not blame her. I did not know how to explain to her or the kids what was happening to me. Even in 2006 I was only then starting to understand just how complex this Cortisol problem could be.

I finally had a place to start and rebuild my life. My way of handling problems earlier in my life was to go at the problem directly and it served me well. As I can look back now, I realize I seldom failed to achieve my goals. But I paid a heavy price every time. I achieved success starting in college that my mentor complimented me on. He was right. I had a long list of accomplishments that said I was a winner. Unfortunately, I was just setting myself up for a big fall. Winning is great, but it really does not have any great meaning if you are not satisfied and happy to enjoy your friends and family. I never learned that lesson. None of this Toxic Stress has to happen.