I forgot about my vow and I followed Squirt’s instructions of October 27th and stopped taking the daily blood pressure pill and diuretic. By October 30th my whole body was itching so badly I thought I would loose what little mind I had left. By October 31st I was so bloated that my eyes were slits. I looked like a beached whale! What a boost to my ego! I called Squirt on November 1st and he decided that I should go back on the diuretic. Within 24 hours the itching started to subside. It took almost a week for the bloating to disappear. My blood pressure dropped rapidly the first little while I was off the blood pressure medication. I decided that I would not go back on the blood pressure pills. Needless to say, this exercise in eliminating medications did nothing to relieve my symptoms. All it did was to give me great insight into how a beached whale must feel!

On November 14, 2000, I had an email from the Hormone Doctor in California. An excerpt from his email read as follows, “I finally got a chance to go over your films with our radiologist. On your adrenal CT Scan, your adrenal glands were mildly enlarged and nodular. This could be Cushing’s. Your pituitary CT Scan was normal but pituitary CT Scan’s are not good for finding pituitary tumors. I would go ahead and get some more UFC measurements.”

I had a second email on November 15, 2000 from the Hormone Doctor. One of the comments in his email was as follows, “I think you may have Cushing’s syndrome. From your picture you look like you have it and nodular and enlarged adrenals go along with it. The inability to lose weight and hypertension are also part of Cushing’s.”

Further along in his email he wrote, “I am enclosing a few articles on the adrenal gland and on Cushing’s. I really think you should try to get a UFC done.”

I must add something about the Hormone Doctor. He is very dependable and encouraging. He has given me the inspiration to continue my battle to find a diagnosis.