Following my junior year of high school, I was so excited to spend an entire three weeks at a summer camp. We got to do so many extraordinary things, but I noticed that I was sweating a lot, I was even burning while wearing sunscreen, and I had acne on my face. Not to mention, my appetite seemed to have doubled overnight.
Nevertheless, we did a lot of walking and outdoor activities throughout, so I didn’t necessarily think they were particularly unusual changes. However, as the summer turned into fall, my symptoms continued to progress. Over time, I stopped having periods, I couldn’t sleep at night, I developed terrible anxiety, would bruise easily, got migraines, and gained over 10 pounds.
This all coincided with college application season, meaning I was studying for the SAT and juggling a part-time job, so I just presumed it was all stress-related. Each of my symptoms seemed to have a perfectly logical reason. I was exercising more and under stress.
My mom has had them since she was a teenager; maybe it was my turn. There was a simple explanation for everything. Nonetheless, the mental aspect affected me the most because I felt ugly and out of place.
I gained weight, and my face became rounder. I saw someone else in the mirror, and I didn’t like her. I no longer liked being seen, so I isolated myself as much as possible.
I decided to seek medical expertise after I missed my period for the second time. That was the final straw in my long list of symptoms. To my surprise, the pediatrician looked at my facial features and thought I might have Cushing’s Syndrome, a hormonal disorder caused by an abnormal amount of cortisol.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
