This Is Your Endocrine System - Pituitary

The pituitary gland is King of the endocrine hill. A tiny teardrop sort of arrangement, the pituitary hangs from the base of the hypothalamus portion of the brain, not too far behind the bridge of the nose, a vulnerable location for such an important actor.

Studies link concussions to pituitary damage. One typical study said 68% of people suffering even a mild concussion ended up with a damaged pituitary.

My pituitary problems apparently began when a drunk driver hit my parents’ car, and my pliable 11-month-old skill bashed into the door panel.

Too many concussions (and nobody knows how many is too many) brings you closer to dementia. And, it seems, to Parkinson’s Disease.

If you suffer a concussion, you can increase your chances of healing by resting until you can’t rest any more. And I’m not talking about relaxing. I’m talking get in the bed and sleep as much and as long as you can. Then stay in the bed until you sleep some more. Don’t make demands on your brain; it’s broken. Let it heal.

Besides concussions, The Pituitary Network Association’s studies say about 20% of us have pituitary tumors. While these tumors are typically benign, they can significantly affect endocrine function–which affects everything else.

Meanwhile, faced with these numbers and the studies to support them, many doctors recently displayed an amazing flash of brilliance and decided nobody has pituitary problems. They now refuse to consider the possibility. Since I have a damaged pituitary, this attitude miffs me, but there you are.

What’s the big deal about the pituitary? It controls the endocrine system, telling the other glands when to start and when to stop. If your pituitary doesn’t tell your thyroid gland to get it in gear, the thyroid gland does nothing. Your thyroid gland may be able to work, but it doesn’t work because it never gets the signal it needs to take action. Since the thyroid gland controls your metabolism, this lack of action is no small matter.

Same with your adrenal glands, from whence you get energy and stress responses. Without a signal from the pituitary, they kick back and do nothing. You’re on your own.

Here’s an example from my own life: When life stresses me, because my pituitary chooses not to get involved, my adrenals don’t get the message to kick in and save the day. Minor stresses become major, and major stresses become overwhelming. When stress gets too high, I cry. Which upsets me even more. Do you realize how much power you lose by crying? Nobody wants to blubber in, say, a tax audit, but going in, I know that can happen to me. Which raises the stress level another notch.

Or at least that’s the way it used to be. Shoot! I used to cry over just about anything. Learning about vitamins and minerals made a huge difference. Once I made them a regular part of my life, only major stresses turned on the waterworks. And now it appears I found the final piece needed to stop the weeping and wailing completely. I won’t announce anything until I’m sure, but things look good, and research backs up what I’m experiencing. WooHoo!

I leave you with this: If you’re tired all the time, have difficulty handling stress, lack initiative, lost your libido, etc–the symptom list is very long–consider the pituitary. A whacked out pituitary is a very bad thing.