[joshgel]

> Lindsay suspected his body was producing too much adrenaline. He knew of a drug called Levophed, which is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to raise blood pressure in some critically ill patients. Levophed is basically an injection of noradrenaline, which counters the symptoms created by excess adrenaline.

This is incorrect. norADRENALINE is a more specific version of ADRENALINE made in different parts of the body (and which also acts as a neurotransmitter). outside of nerves, noradrenaline acts on alpha receptors which among other things constrict blood vessels to raise blood pressure (it is used for this in critically ill patients). adrenaline acts on the same alpha receptors, but also targets beta-receptors which have the effect of speeding up and increasing the strength of contractions in the heart (also used in critically ill patients with low blood pressures and whose hearts aren't pumping enough). Epinephrine is another word for adrenaline.

> As Lindsay delved into more medical literature, he found only 32 recorded cases of bilateral adrenal medullary hyperplasia.

I don't have numbers to counter this off the top of my head, but congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a rare syndrome, but still common enough that it is taught to every medical student and tested on our boards repeatedly.

obviously, im somewhat skeptical, but i guess that plays into his hands since I'm part of the 'establishment'. Hard to know without more medical details, which are glaringly missing from any stories I can find about him...

[DangitBobby]

From a patient perspective, it's pretty believable. They don't know what's wrong after the typical battery of tests, so it's incurable or you're making it up.

I've also had an experience where I basically told the doctor

>I am tired all the time, I sleep 12-16 hours a day and still wake up feeling completely unrested, and it seriously affects my ability to do my school work and live my life

and his response was (to paraphrase)

>you just need exercise, fatty

For context, I was in my late teens at this point, and a few pounds overweight by the medical definition.

Long story short, after many expensive visits with psychiatrists, we learn that anti-depressants didn't help because I wasn't depressed.

I finally did a sleep study, and it was sleep apnea. A sleep disorder.

This sounds ridiculous, right? As an outsider looking in, it's so obvious. But this actually happened to me, and I am sure it happens to thousands of patients all of the time.

[joycian]

Isn't sleep apnea more common in overweight people?

[hnick]

It is. A Doctor suggested I lose some weight (only about 10kg or 10% of my weight, which I shouldn't have had) before proceeding with any other treatments. This was after a sleep study where I had some interruption but not quite to the point of diagnosing sleep apnea.

[mistermann]

If ~every doctor is familiar with his condition, and there are no problems with the medical establishment that contributed to this situation, how did it come about that he was never treated for it, and he had to (allegedly) propose a new surgery in order to treat it? And the whole process took over a decade? And doctors (allegedly) now voluntarily consult with him on obscure cases?

[badamp]

> I don't have numbers to counter this off the top of my head, but congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a rare syndrome, but still common enough that it is taught to every medical student and tested on our boards repeatedly.

You are confusing Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (ie 21 alpha hydroxylase deficiency), the bane of every 3rd year med student and adrenal medullary hyperplasia, a much rarer condition (I don’t recall it ever coming up during medical school).

Congenital Adrenal hyperplasia involves the cortex where the corticosteroids are produced. Epinephrine and norepinephrine are catecholamines produced by the medulla. AMH is more similar to pheochromocytoma though.