ANXIETY
Anxiety disorder is the most common mental illness in the 
United States, affecting over 40 million adults, or about 20 
percent of the U.S. population. Anxiety is frequently associated 
with a depressive disorder—people who are depressed are 
nearly nine times more likely to develop an anxiety disorder than people who are not. The criteria in the DSM-IV  for generalized anxiety disorder 
include:  
1. At least six months of excessive anxiety or worry
2. Significant difficulty in controlling the anxiety  
 or worry
3. For six months, the presence of three or more of   
 the following symptoms on most days:
  •  Feeling wound up, tense, or restless
  •  Becoming easily fatigued or worn out|   37 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
  • Concentration problems
  • Irritability
  • Significant tension in muscles
  • Difficulty with sleep
It is easy to see how adrenaline can be responsible for a 
number of symptoms of this disorder: restlessness, fatigue 
caused by prolonged muscle tension, insomnia, nervousness, 
and jitteriness. People struggling with anxiety often feel the 
need to smoke or drink or take drugs to relax. It is not unusual 
for them to crave sugary foods. Adrenaline can be responsible for a number of 
anxiety symptoms: restlessness, fatigue caused  
by prolonged muscle tension, insomnia,  
nervousness, and jitteriness. Generalized anxiety disorder is a medical condition 
characterized by fear, unease, and worry while not being able 
to identify the source of these feelings. There are other types 
of anxiety disorders, including panic disorder (acute anxiety 
reaction), obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic 
stress disorder (PTSD) . I discuss PTSD  briefly in the next 
chapter. Panic disorder, a disabling condition associated with 
anxiety, affects about 6 million people in the United States. It is characterized by sudden and repeated attacks of intense 
fear, known as panic attacks, which occur when there is no 
real danger. The classic symptoms are:ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 38  | 
 • Shortness of breath (air hunger)
 • Palpitations
 • A sense of impending doom
Because of the feeling of air hunger, or shortness of breath, 
the person hyperventilates, expelling too much carbon dioxide. Hyperventilation can result in pain on the left side of the chest 
secondary to gas pain from swallowed air. It can also cause 
numbness and tingling around the lips and fingers as the blood 
becomes more alkaline from blowing off carbon dioxide. A patient suffering from a panic attack may show up at the 
emergency room complaining of chest pain and shortness of 
breath—classic symptoms of a possible heart attack. This, of 
course, gives the hospital a reason to do an expensive workup, 
even though a panic attack, or acute anxiety attack, is one 
of the easiest diagnoses in medicine to make, as shown in 
the movie As Good As It Gets . The character played by Jack 
Nicholson comes to the emergency room complaining of 
shortness of breath and chest pain. However, after his EKG 
and cardiac enzymes test normal, the emergency room doctor 
reassures him that he is having an anxiety reaction. In real 
life, many more expensive though unnecessary tests might 
be run as well, such as an echocardiogram, a thallium stress test, and possibly an angiogram, even though they might not be necessary. People with anxiety issues often have sighing-type 
respirations. They may have the sensation of a lump in their 
throat, referred to as globus hystericus, caused by muscle 
contraction in that area. If reducing adrenaline does not completely eliminate a 
person’s panic attacks, he or she may be dealing with suppressed |   39 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
hostility or resentment. These feelings are often deep in the 
subconscious, where the person is not aware of them. When 
the suppressed hostility starts coming into the conscious mind, 
it can result in a panic attack, which is the body’s attempt to 
push the hostility back into the subconscious. This suppressed hostility is usually toward somebody close 
to the person. In these cases, the person needs to look back over 
his or her life and see if a parent or sibling or spouse or even a child has been the cause of an emotional hurt. The treatment is to deal directly with the issue that has been suppressed. Obsessive-compulsive behavior, another anxiety-related 
problem, can take the form of ritualized behaviors, such 
as obsessive hand washing, or repeatedly checking to see if 
doors are locked or lights have been turned off. This type of behavior is actually a defense mechanism to keep the person from experiencing anxiety. In other words, if a person with a 
need to perform an obsessive act is prevented from doing so, he 
or she will experience anxiety. Again, lowering the adrenaline 
level often helps to eliminate the need to perform obsessive acts. IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME 
Irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS—also called spastic colitis—
is characterized by constipation, diarrhea, or some combination 
of both, although the most common manifestation of this 
disorder is constipation. During the fight-or-flight response, caused by the release of adrenaline, extra blood is sent to the 
muscles while circulation to the internal organs, which includes 
the intestines, is reduced. This can result in a slowdown of 
intestinal motility. Constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal 
expressions of excess adrenaline. In addition, when powerful ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 40  | 
feelings caused by adrenaline, such as anger and irritability, are 
internalized, they can result in diarrhea or intestinal spasms. Disorders associated with diarrhea are separated into two 
categories: organic and functional. Organic diarrhea occurs 
both day and night. Examples include ulcerative colitis, regional 
enteritis (Crohn’s disease), ischemic colitis, and diarrhea caused 
by the bacteria C. difficile or by the protozoa Giardia lamblia , 
which causes giardiasis. Functional diarrheas are regarded 
as psychological in origin and are not usually associated 
with having to get up at night with diarrhea. Irritable bowel 
syndrome is in this category. I have observed that other chronic inflammatory bowel 
conditions, such as ulcerative colitis and regional enteritis 
(Crohn’s disease), are similarly exacerbated by internalizing 
anger. Very often this anger is related to relationships with 
family members. Reducing the person’s adrenaline level often 
significantly improves his or her interactions with others, along 
with a significant improvement in gastrointestinal symptoms. HYPERTENSION 
I suspect that many cases of hypertension are related to excess 
adrenaline. As part of the fight-or-flight response, adrenaline 
can certainly raise blood pressure. “White coat hypertension,” 
a classic condition in which a person’s blood pressure rises 
while it is being measured in a doctor’s office, is caused by the 
release of adrenaline. Since visiting a doctor’s office is not the 
only source of stress in this world, a person who has white coat 
hypertension most likely has frequent episodes of hypertension 
in other life situations. Similarly, it is not unusual for blood pressure to spike 
in a dental office secondary to receiving a shot of novocaine |   41 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
mixed with epinephrine. In this case, epinephrine (which is 
adrenaline) is used to control bleeding because it causes blood 
vessels to constrict. Admittedly, the mere sight of a dental drill 
can induce fear in many people, with a concomitant rise in 
adrenaline that leads to a spike in blood pressure. If adrenaline is rising, then so is blood sugar. Any time 
the blood sugar level goes up, the body produces insulin to 
move the sugar into the cells where it is needed. Insulin is also 
a hormone that raises blood pressure, a fact well demonstrated 
by the condition called metabolic syndrome, or syndrome X. This condition is indicated by high triglycerides, low HDL 
cholesterol, and a high insulin level, as well as hypertension. To 
my knowledge, the only cause of a low HDL is elevated insulin. In addition, excess adrenaline is associated with increased 
stress. When under stress, the body releases cortisol, another 
hormone that stimulates sugar production, which leads to 
more insulin production, which can further increase blood 
pressure. The excess insulin can also cause a drop in blood sugar 
(hypoglycemia), which stimulates the production of adrenaline 
to increase sugar, which again raises blood pressure as well as 
cortisol, ad infinitum. This scenario of cascading hormones 
is likely to cause recurrent and/or persistent hypertension. Wouldn’t it make more sense to just lower adrenaline 
and avoid using drugs that can cause impotence, 
weight gain, bronchial spasm leading to asthma,  
plus other side effects? The proximal cause of all the aforementioned scenarios 
is excess adrenaline. Elevated blood pressure is commonly 
treated with a beta-blocker, such as atenolol, metoprolol, or ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 42   | 
propranalol, which blocks the effects of adrenaline. Wouldn’t 
it make more sense to just lower adrenaline and avoid using a 
class of drugs that can cause impotence, weight gain (they are 
antithyroid drugs), bronchial spasm leading to asthma, plus 
other side effects? High adrenaline can be easily controlled 
with diet and hormones, and then the patient can gradually 
wean himself or herself off the antihypertensive medications. DIABETES  
The two most common types of diabetes are type I and type II. Type I diabetes is caused by lack of insulin. Type II (adult 
onset) diabetes is commonly thought to be caused by resistance  
to insulin—that is, the cells become resistant to the action of 
insulin, so sugar has difficulty getting into the cells. However, 
I, along with a small but growing number of physicians, feel that type II diabetes is actually caused by the overproduction  
of insulin. A growing number of physicians feel that  
type II diabetes is actually caused by the 
overproduction of insulin. This view of type II diabetes is controversial and contrary to 
the traditional approach. However, the traditional approach is 
clearly not working. Attempts to lower blood sugar levels with 
drugs that increase insulin production or with insulin itself, as 
well as to lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure, usually all fail to prevent the complications of diabetes. In fact, those studies that have attempted to reduce sugar levels to normal in diabetics by increasing insulin to a high level have resulted |   43 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
in an alarming increase in mortality and complications. In 
2012, the normal level for hemoglobin A1C, the time-honored 
measurement of diabetic control, was raised from 6.5 to 7.5, an 
indication that diabetes experts may be realizing that lowering 
sugar levels by increasing insulin is not the answer. Standard thinking about diabetes is that sugar cannot 
get into the cells because all the cells are resistant to insulin; 
therefore the sugar stays in the bloodstream. However, I have 
suspected for some time that an additional factor might be 
involved: that the sugar cannot be transported into fat cells for 
storage purposes because the fat cells have become saturated 
with fat (i.e., there is no more room at the inn). As a result, 
the sugar level in the blood goes up. The importance of dealing with insulin in type II diabetes 
cannot be overstated. Insulin is a fat-storing hormone. It creates 
fat by pushing sugar into fat cells, where it is converted into fat 
for storage; it also sits outside fat cells and blocks the release of fat. Insulin is recognized as the cause of fat accumulating 
around the abdomen. People who produce a lot of insulin often 
have a paunch around the middle and relatively thin legs and arms. I suspect that when the fat cells in the abdominal area fill up, diabetes can follow. Let’s look at this more closely. The number of fat cells we 
have throughout life is generally determined at a very young 
age. People who were thin early in life often have fewer fat cells 
as adults. Because they have fewer fat cells to absorb sugar, they 
may be predisposed to developing adult-onset diabetes. (I have 
observed that some women who have undergone significant 
liposuction procedures can develop a type of diabetes that is 
often incurable—they have run out of fat cells in which to 
store sugar.) The current epidemic of type II diabetes among ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 44   | 
teenagers might very well be due to a combination of how 
they eat, lack of exercise to burn off sugar, excessive adrenaline 
(which raises both sugar and insulin), and, in some cases, 
having been thin early in life. If type II diabetes is caused by excess insulin, where does 
the excess insulin come from? In my view, adrenaline is the root 
cause. Overproduction of adrenaline leads to overproduction 
of sugar in order to fuel the brain and muscles. The elevated blood sugar stimulates the release of insulin. At the same time, overproduction of adrenaline also causes 
the release of cortisol. Cortisol, like adrenaline, raises the blood 
sugar level, which stimulates the release of insulin. As we have seen, elevated insulin lowers blood sugar 
(hypoglycemia). And low blood sugar stimulates cravings for 
food high in sugar as well as the release of more adrenaline 
(and cortisol), and so the cycle continues. This cycle can also include the release of glucagon, another 
hormone that can raise the sugar level. So now three hormones 
are raising the sugar level, which is further exacerbated if 
the person eats foods high in sugar. Is it any wonder that 
people wind up with high sugar levels leading to a diagnosis of 
diabetes? Along the same lines, could the release of adrenaline 
at night be the reason that fasting sugars in the morning are often the highest sugars of the day in a diabetic? My approach to treating type II diabetes is the same as for 
other medical conditions: I try to treat the underlying cause. When the insulin level is controlled, fat production is decreased 
and the ability to burn fat increases, so the oversaturated fat cells let go of some of their fat. Once the amount of fat inside the fat cells is reduced, there is room in those cells for sugar to get inside so the blood sugar level drops.|   45 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
Compare this approach to the traditional method of 
treating type II diabetes. Patients are placed on medications 
that increase insulin production or are placed on insulin itself. In my view, these patients are being treated with the very 
hormone that causes not only diabetes but also most of the 
complications of diabetes. Not surprisingly, these patients gain 
more fat around the middle. They often feel sleepy between 
three and four in the afternoon or after eating—a sign that 
they are likely producing a significant amount of insulin. When a type II diabetic is taken off insulin medication in 
conjunction with adopting an insulin-reducing meal plan and 
using progesterone cream, it is not unusual for the numbness 
in their feet (diabetic neuropathy) to improve. Patients on medications that increase insulin 
production or on insulin itself are being treated with 
the very hormone that causes diabetes. To summarize my view of insulin: it contributes to 
accumulation of fat around the middle, it causes type II 
diabetes and many of the complications of diabetes, and it 
raises blood pressure and speeds up the aging process. Yet this 
is the hormone that we use to treat type II diabetics. Could this be the reason they rarely get well? The effectiveness of reducing insulin in order to eliminate 
diabetes is illustrated in the following letter from a patient: ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 46   | 
September 7, 2010
Patient J.K. I am a retired physicist and aerospace scientist, age 
82, and a patient of Dr. Platt’s. In 1985, I was diagnosed 
with type II diabetes by my internist. The diagnosis was by glucose challenge; I had no symptoms that I recognized 
or complained of. I sought the best medical help I could 
find during subsequent years. Endocrinologists in Santa 
Ana, CA, UCLA  Medical Center, Loma Linda Medical 
Center, and UCSD  Medical Center treated me. I was 
treated with sulfonylureas, metformin, insulin, Rezulin, 
Avandia, and Actos. When first diagnosed, I weighed 
approximately 180 lbs. When I first visited Dr. Platt, 
January 19, 2010, I weighed 265 lbs. All of the physicians I 
visited suggested I lose weight, but none told me that excess 
insulin causes fat storage and weight gain, or that excess insulin is a characteristic of type II diabetes and of their 
treatment. They all encouraged me to control blood sugar. None mentioned that there is no scientific evidence that 
control of blood sugars to near normal levels will control diabetic complications. Since seeing Dr. Platt in January 2010, I have 
understood the need to control insulin, and so I stopped all my diabetic medications. I now weigh 210 lbs., a loss 
of 55 lbs. I feel good. I have no retinopathy. My blood 
sugars are back to normal. As I mentioned in chapter 3, I suspect that progesterone 
may help to control insulin by preventing the action of 
insulin at insulin receptor sites, which is actually a form 
of insulin resistance. Because insulin resistance might be a |   47 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
factor with certain diabetics, I recommend that they continue 
with metformin if they are on it, since it helps with insulin 
resistance. Diabetics who have creative ADHD  may need to 
take metformin to help prevent progesterone-induced insulin 
resistance in brain cells. WEIGHT PROBLEMS
When it comes to weight, the effect of adrenaline can go in 
either direction. On the one hand, adrenaline can increase 
metabolism and energy levels, which promotes the burning of 
fat. We often see this in children diagnosed with typical type 
ADHD : they are hyperactive and usually on the thin side, and 
in high school and college, they often participate in sports. Professional athletes are likely to have excess adrenaline, as 
are people designated as workaholics and type A personalities. These groups generally do not have weight issues. On the other hand, people with excess adrenaline who 
are not particularly active—that is, those with creative type 
ADHD —may experience increased weight or be constantly 
fighting to prevent weight increase. The creative brain requires 
much more sugar than a normal brain. If the person is not 
eating correctly, the body will continuously put out adrenaline 
to raise the sugar level to supply fuel to the brain. As you 
might realize by now, the increase in sugar causes an increase 
in insulin, which pushes sugar into fat cells, where the sugar is converted into fat. People who put out a lot of adrenaline at night are often 
in the unique position of gaining weight even while they are 
sleeping. This is in addition to the other characteristics of 
elevated nighttime adrenaline, such as tossing and turning, 
grinding teeth, restless leg syndrome, and getting up to urinate.ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 48   | 
 
People who put out a lot of adrenaline at night  
are often in the unique position of gaining weight 
even while they are sleeping. I suspect there is an unrecognized epidemic of ADHD —in 
particular, creative type ADHD —in which excess adrenaline 
is significantly raising the incidence of obesity in people of 
all ages. Addressing these people’s weight issues from the 
standpoint of adrenaline could not only improve their weight 
but also help them to focus better. Not only does excess adrenaline by itself contribute to 
weight gain, it also stimulates the release of cortisol and possibly 
also glucagon. So now there are two or three hormones raising 
the sugar level, stimulating insulin release, and creating fat. On the other hand, excess adrenaline can also reduce a 
person’s appetite. This is often what’s happening with people 
who regularly skip breakfast: they release so much adrenaline 
during the night that they don’t want to eat in the morning. They can end up essentially living on adrenaline through the persistent cyclical release of sugar and insulin it precipitates. Excess adrenaline can also create a craving to drink alcohol in 
order to relax—another potential cause of weight gain. In addition, medications prescribed for medical conditions 
caused by excess adrenaline can encourage increased weight. Both the antidepressants given to people with anger issues 
or depression and the beta-blockers frequently prescribed for 
people with hypertension or palpitations can cause weight 
gain. The drugs that type II diabetics are frequently given to raise the insulin level also create fat.|   49 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
I would be remiss if I did not also mention how our 
healthcare system contributes to the current epidemic of 
obesity. Even though obesity is now considered a disease, 
many doctors still consider it an eating problem and ignore the 
possibility that there are underlying metabolic issues. I have seen 
countless patients who had gone from doctor to doctor looking 
for answers, and were given the same advice by them all: eat less. It is important for the healthcare practitioner to sit down 
and talk to the obese patient. The practitioner needs to look 
and listen for clues indicating hormones out of balance—excess 
adrenaline, insulin, cortisol, or estrogen, or a low-functioning 
thyroid. What drugs is the person taking? What are the person’s 
eating and drinking habits and activity level? One of my patients—a classic if somewhat extreme case 
of creative type ADHD —weighed 420 pounds when he first 
came to see me. The amount of adrenaline required to cause 
that amount of weight gain also provoked other problems, such 
as alcoholism and fibromyalgia. This man’s previous doctors had accused him of eating too much, even though he assured 
them he wasn’t. If they had been listening to him, the fact 
that he was not a big eater would have been the first clue that he had a hormone problem, not an eating problem. This patient presented as a textbook case of imbalanced 
hormones in terms of both his history and his appearance. Not only was his body pouring out insulin, cortisol, and adrenaline, his excess fat was producing a lot of estrogen, 
which is a lipogenic (fat-creating) hormone, causing him to put 
on fat around his hips, thighs, and buttocks. His high insulin 
level put on weight around his middle. I was not surprised to 
find that his thyroid level was low-normal, which contributed 
to fat deposition everywhere.ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 50   | 
After I started treating him with progesterone cream, 
a meal plan designed to reduce adrenaline, and thyroid 
supplementation, his adrenaline level dropped, his fibromyalgia 
disappeared, and he reported feeling better than at any time 
in his life. After losing 240 pounds, he got down to a waist 
size of 32 inches. He had been suicidal when I first met him, 
and at the age of 47 he had never had a single date in his life. After he lost weight and improved his well-being, he started dating, got engaged, and is now happily married. TELOMERES AND AGING
Could reducing excess adrenaline actually increase one’s life 
span? It appears to be so. Currently a lot of research is examining 
the relationship between the length of telomeres—nucleotide 
sequences found on the tips of chromosomes—and aging. The 
evidence suggests that people with shortened telomeres may 
have a higher incidence of heart attacks and cancer. A biotech pharmaceutical company developed a drug that 
could prevent the shortening of telomeres. To avoid the five to 
ten years of FDA-required trials costing hundreds of millions 
of dollars, the company sold the rights for this substance to 
a nutraceutical company. The supplement, called TA-65, 
originally sold for $24,000 for a year’s worth. This cost has 
now been reduced to $2,400 to $8,000 per year, depending on dosage. Studies have shown that TA-65 increases the enzyme 
telomerase, which protects telomeres from getting shorter. It 
is most effective on rapidly dividing cells, such as the skin, the 
immune system, and the GI tract. The concern, of course, is that cancer cells are also rapidly dividing cells, but as yet this has not been noted as a problem.|   51 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
The results so far are anecdotal. Moreover, the doctors 
who are selling this substance are “anti-aging” specialists, so 
most of their clients could be taking bio-identical hormones 
as well, which may also be influencing the way the clients 
look and feel. Allow me to present an alternative, less expensive approach. It has clearly been demonstrated that stress reduces telomere size, while reducing stress increases telomere size. (This may 
be why people dealing with large amounts of stress have a 
higher mortality rate.) Adrenaline is closely associated with stress, and reducing 
adrenaline is known to lower stress levels. Exercise is one way 
of burning up adrenaline, and exercise has also been shown 
to increase telomere length in people who have elevated stress 
levels. Meditation, another stress reducer, has similarly been found to increase telomere length. However, why not reduce stress just by lowering excess adrenaline? INSOMNIA
Insomnia refers to trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, 
or both. People can have difficulty achieving sound sleep for 
a variety of reasons, including physical discomfort, emotional 
issues, and financial problems. However, in my view, excess 
adrenaline may be insomnia’s number one cause. As we have seen, adrenaline works as both a hormone, 
affecting a number of bodily functions, and as a neurotransmitter 
in the brain. People with a high level of  adrenaline functioning 
as a hormone are generally the ones who have trouble falling 
asleep. These are people with typical type ADHD  who as adults 
might have type A personalities. The extra energy produced 
by excess adrenaline may prevent them from feeling tired. ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 52   | 
The approach to helping these people fall asleep is to prevent 
the buildup of adrenaline during the day. A regular exercise regimen to burn off excess adrenaline may also be helpful. Those who awaken during the night are often people with 
creative type ADHD . These are often the people who complain 
that their mind does not shut off at night. From a survival 
standpoint, the body always wants to ensure that the brain 
has enough fuel to function properly. And the creative brain is 
more active than a normal brain and therefore requires more fuel. If, during the night, the body detects that the brain has 
used up its fuel, it will release adrenaline to raise the sugar level 
and the person will wake up. This release of adrenaline most 
often occurs between 2:30 and 3:00 a.m. and can continue 
throughout the rest of the night, so the person may keep waking 
up intermittently or even not be able to fall back to sleep. If, during the night, the body detects that the brain 
has used up its fuel, it will release adrenaline to 
raise the sugar level and the person will wake up. The release of adrenaline around 2:30 a.m. may cause 
hot flashes in perimenopausal or menopausal women with 
creative type ADHD , and may cause both men and women 
to experience the urge to urinate starting around this time. The treatment to prevent adrenaline levels from rising 
during the night is to eat a light low-glycemic snack shortly 
before bedtime, preceded by the application of progesterone 
cream. |   53 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME
Excess adrenaline during the night can also cause restless leg 
syndrome (RLS), an uncomfortable sensation in the lower 
extremities coupled with an uncontrollable urge to move them. Some people actually get out of bed and walk around to get 
relief. The same problem can be observed during the day in 
people who persistently move one leg up and down while they 
are sitting or feel the need to pace. Some people get cramps in their calves or their feet during 
the night. This is due to adrenaline constricting arteries and 
cutting off circulation to the muscles. Cold hands and cold feet 
can similarly be caused by adrenaline constricting blood vessels 
and impairing blood flow. This is often mistakenly attributed 
to an underactive thyroid lowering the body temperature. People with restless leg syndrome very often have associated 
symptoms also resulting from elevated adrenaline, such as teeth 
grinding, the need to urinate, and tossing and turning (restless 
body syndrome), and they often awaken in the morning with 
low back pain. Again, treatment involves preventing adrenaline from 
spiking during the night by applying progesterone cream and 
then eating a light low-glycemic snack before bed, and possibly 
exercising during the day to burn up excess adrenaline. Direct 
application of progesterone cream to the area of the feet or 
calves that is cramping often brings relief in less than a minute. HEADACHES
People with excess adrenaline often suffer from frequent 
headaches. Adrenaline can give rise to muscle tension in 
different areas of the body. When the tension is localized to ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 54   | 
the neck—not an uncommon place to feel tension—it can 
cause traction headaches, also known as tension headaches. One type of traction headache, called occipital neuritis, 
is often mistaken for a migraine headache because the pain 
can be severe. However, a migraine is characterized by a 
pulsating type of pain, while the pain of occipital neuritis is 
piercing. It arises at the base of the skull on one side or the 
other and shoots into the back of the eye on the affected side. The diagnosis can be confirmed by pressing the thumb into 
the suspected area at the base of the skull, which should be 
very painful. Applying moist heat to this area usually provides 
relief; however, preventing muscle tension around the nerve 
sheath by lowering the adrenaline level is the cure. I have recommended to patients with tinnitus that 
they apply progesterone to the back of the neck, and 
most of them have obtained significant relief. Muscle tension in the neck can also give rise to tinnitus, 
which is a ringing in one or both ears. The two vertebral 
arteries, which run up the back of the neck into the brain,  give 
rise in the neck to the smaller vestibular arteries, one going to 
each inner ear. It is my theory that tension in the neck muscles 
can constrict these small blood vessels, causing impairment of 
circulation to the inner ear and thus causing tinnitus. I have recommended to patients who have tinnitus that they apply progesterone to the back of the neck, and most of them have obtained significant relief. Another example of localized muscle tension is 
temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ) , a condition |   55 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
that may arise when people grind their teeth or clench their 
jaw, especially at night . TMJ  can be treated with a dental 
prosthesis or a retainer, or more simply by lowering adrenaline. Notably, a low progesterone level can cause a headache 
in three ways. First, a low progesterone level is associated 
with increased insulin, which can cause hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia can lead to a hunger headache, often between 
3 and 4 p.m. Second, the hypoglycemia can prompt the release 
of adrenaline, which can cause traction headaches. Third, 
women with low progesterone levels can get estrogen-induced 
migraine headaches when they have their periods. All of the kinds of headaches mentioned in this section 
respond quickly, sometimes immediately, to transdermal 
progesterone cream. The following story illustrates the power of this simple treatment:
I was asked to consult on a case of a 15-year-old boy who 
had been suffering from a persistent, nonstop headache, along 
with associated muscle tension in his neck, for 18 months. He was exceptionally intelligent and had classic symptoms 
of mixed type ADHD . Putting these factors together, I was 
confident that his headache was caused by excess adrenaline. I 
placed a small amount of over-the-counter progesterone cream 
on his forearm and on the back of his neck. In about five 
minutes his headache was 90 percent gone; after 10 minutes, it was 100 percent gone. ADDICTIONS
As we have seen, a high level of adrenaline creates anxiety, 
depression, or anger. In order to “chill out,” people with excess 
adrenaline often turn to alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, or some 
combination of them. Abusive use of these substances can lead ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 56   | 
to addictions. Regular exercise to burn off excess adrenaline—
engaging in sports, going to the gym, jogging, doing hard 
work outdoors—can help. However, when these people stop 
the intense physical activity, the tendency to turn again to 
addictive substances may reappear. Michael Phelps, the great Olympic swimmer, was on 
Ritalin for ADHD  in his younger years and got into swimming 
to eliminate the need for it. He burned up so much adrenaline 
with his swimming that he was able to stop taking the medicine. However, when he cut back on his swimming after the 2008 
Beijing Olympics, his adrenaline again built up, and he was 
caught smoking marijuana—a disappointment to many of his 
fans and commercial sponsors. However, when one appreciates 
the power of adrenaline, it’s easy to understand that he may have needed something to relax. It makes sense that people who rely on adrenaline to do 
their work—professional athletes, executives, law officers, and 
construction workers, as well as highly creative people such 
as artists and performers—would turn to drugs or alcohol in their downtime, again, just to relax. Similarly, I suspect that nearly everyone in Alcoholics Anonymous has had problems 
with too much adrenaline. It is the same with people who 
smoke two or three packs of cigarettes per day: they need to counteract the adrenaline in their systems. From a health standpoint, of course, smokers are setting 
themselves up for a multitude of serious conditions, including 
COPD , lung cancer, and heart disease. The huge number of 
people who are on prescription psychoactive drugs or who 
drink too much or use marijuana to relax all pose a significant 
danger to others and to themselves if they drive while under the influence. The cost of excess adrenaline to the healthcare |   57 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
system and to society at large is incalculable. And what about 
people in our prisons? An estimated 85 percent of people in 
prison have had problems related to drugs and alcohol. Could 
excess adrenaline be contributing to the fact that so many 
former prisoners wind up back in prison? The cost of excess adrenaline to the healthcare 
system and to society at large is incalculable. When it comes to standard methods for dealing with 
addiction, the success rate of detox or rehab programs is not 
impressive. Yet detox centers are thriving. Some of the most expensive detox facilities are located in Southern California, 
where I live. I have approached a number of these centers, 
including the Betty Ford Center in my hometown, Rancho 
Mirage, but found that none of them expressed interest in 
utilizing an approach that addressed the underlying cause of their clients’ addictions. The Church of Scientology—whether or not one agrees 
with their philosophy—deserves credit for advocating that 
people get off psychoactive drugs. However, they rely on 
outside “wellness” doctors to do this. I pointed out to some 
Scientology executives that doctors will not take patients off a 
psychoactive drug unless they are given a reasonable alternative 
to help deal with the patient’s illness. I proposed that they set 
up their own clinics and staff them with doctors trained to 
lower adrenaline levels, and I offered to provide consulting 
services. They, too, were not interested. The problem, of course, is that most doctors, including 
wellness doctors, do not appreciate the causative role of 
adrenaline in addiction. Reducing the adrenaline levels of ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 58   | 
people with substance addictions actually takes away their 
need to drink or do drugs. Using bio-identical progesterone 
correctly, people can often gradually give up psychoactive drugs 
with few or no withdrawal symptoms. But at present there is 
not enough incentive for healthcare administrators to change 
the status quo. The medical system is a multi-trillion-dollar-
a-year industry that thrives on disease and illness. Nothing in 
healthcare is going to change until people get angry enough 
to demand it. Reducing the adrenaline levels of people with 
substance addictions actually takes away their  
need to drink or do drugs. URINARY URGENCY AND BED-WETTING
Urinary urgency, or “overactive bladder,” that experience of  
“when you have to go, you have to go,” is yet another condition 
caused by adrenaline. Adrenaline increases perfusion through 
the kidneys, which in turn increases urinary output. At the 
same time, adrenaline gives people the urge to urinate. People who are releasing excess adrenaline all day and 
all night often experience this kind of urinary urgency. They frequently experience dribbling on the way to the 
bathroom—a condition called urgency incontinence. An 
article in the September 16, 2010 issue of the New England 
Journal of Medicine that reviewed the many pharmaceutical 
and surgical approaches to incontinence, not surprisingly, said 
nothing about adrenaline as a causative factor. Urgency incontinence is not to be confused with stress 
incontinence, a condition found mostly in women whereby |   59 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
they lose muscle control around the urethra. Under stress, 
such as coughing, sneezing, or laughing, urine leaks out. Even though incontinence is not a bladder problem, women 
with this condition are often given drugs to relax the bladder, 
such as Detrol or Ditropan, which are ineffective and have 
anticholinergic side effects (such as dry mouth, constipation, 
and glaucoma). Or they receive surgical treatment, such 
as placement of a vaginal mesh, which has been known to 
cause severe complications. The latest approach is to inject 
Botox into the bladder muscles. However, incontinence is not 
caused by a Botox deficiency. Moreover, Botox is so effective 
at preventing incontinence that women can wind up with the 
opposite problem and require catheter placement for three 
months until the drug wears off. However, stress incontinence can be completely eliminated, 
usually in three to six days, using intravaginal bio-identical 
testosterone cream in conjunction with doing Kegel exercises. I discuss this in more detail in my books The Miracle of 
Bio-Identical Hormones and The Platt Protocol for Hormone 
Balancing . The release of adrenaline at night to raise the sugar 
level to fuel the brain is very often the cause of 
nighttime urination. Many people have problems with nocturia (nighttime 
urination); some have to get up three or four times a night. This condition is often blamed on drinking too many fluids, 
prostate problems, heart problems, or having a “small bladder.” 
However, the release of adrenaline at night to raise the sugar 
level to fuel the brain is very often the cause.ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 60   | 
A child who has problems with enuresis (bed-wetting) 
almost always has ADHD . In fact, a pediatric urologist shared 
with me that the correlation between bed-wetting and ADHD  
is widely acknowledged in his field. I have observed that 
bed-wetting seems to occur almost exclusively in children 
who have a creative type (right-brained) component to their 
ADHD . This is not surprising, since the right brain is more 
active, even at night, so more adrenaline is released during the 
night, creating the urge to urinate. Bed-wetting seems to occur almost exclusively in 
children who have a creative type (right-brained) 
component to their ADHD. The pediatric urologist also told me that the primary 
treatment for bed-wetting in children was Vasopressin, a 
powerful antidiuretic hormone. I expressed surprise at the 
time that the FDA would allow this. To their credit, the FDA 
did wake up to the dangers of using this drug in children and 
has since disallowed it. However, this raises the question: what 
drugs might these doctors be prescribing now? Again, to my way of thinking, the urinary issues just 
discussed are all about adrenaline. Children with excess 
adrenaline can have a problem with bed-wetting, and adults 
with excess adrenaline will get up at night to urinate. Lowering 
the adrenaline level in both children and adults can bring 
dramatic improvement in this condition. |   61 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
HOW ADRENALINE DOMINANCE PRESENTS: 
PATIENT OBSERVATIONS
Excess adrenaline rarely causes a single condition. It is more 
likely to manifest as several conditions. The particular array of 
conditions tends to be unique to each patient, and in general, 
the number and severity of the conditions may increase as 
the years go by. Thus the following key points can be made:
1. The effects of excess adrenaline frequently start in  
  childhood and progress throughout adulthood. 2. A person often has a combination of the “good,” “bad,” and “ugly” effects of adrenaline. 3. Everyone is different in terms of how they react to excess adrenaline. 4. Everyone is the same in terms of the dramatic  relief they experience from reducing adrenaline. These points are illustrated in two letters from patients 
that follow. I have found that excess adrenaline is almost always 
associated with a low progesterone level. Low progesterone 
would account for the history of severe menstrual cramps 
described in the first letter. I suspect that this woman’s severe constipation was a manifestation of irritable bowel syndrome exacerbated by low thyroid function. The almost miraculous 
change in her demeanor and feelings she describes can only 
be attributed to a decrease in her adrenaline.ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 62  | 
Patient K.B. November 3, 2009Good morning everyone,
This past week has been like moving from living in 
black and white to waking up each day [to living] in color  
….The shades of grey are slipping away more and more each day and are being replaced equally by a brilliance of colors. That is the best description I can share. Today is the last day that I will be taking both Lamictal 
and Seroquel. Good riddance! I woke up today realizing 
something BIG is happening and I’d best keep a record of it! I am now convinced that the better cause of my 
turbulent childhood was my imbalance of hormones. What 
I can remember of my childhood (and that is not much) that directly contributes to my areas of concern today are, but are not limited to, the following:
Constant constipation with periods between bowel 
movements of 7–10 days and sometimes longer, throughout 
my entire life. Horrible menstrual cramps with clotting. Inability to concentrate; an inability to relax and “be 
myself” at any time, even when alone. Nervous, self-doubt, 
and on and on…. I thought that I would share my journal entry for 
today, which prompted this e-mail:
Today is Monday Nov. 3, 2009. I woke up today, 
after an extremely restful night, in no pain, energized, 
alert, clear headed, light spirited, calm, no pressure in 
my head, clear eyes, excited (and I am sure there are more 
adjectives that apply here) for the very first time that I can 
recall in my entire life. I know that Dr. Platt said that 
this would happen, but I walked out scared shitless that |   63 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
“I” would be right and that “Dr. Platt” would be wrong 
in my case. (After all, I sat through that meeting in my 
numbed, lethargic, toxic state, hearing the words as they 
“bounced” off of my head.) I was sure that it would not 
happen to me. I didn’t even know what good “ feelings” 
to expect or how to recognize them if they “popped up”! I 
actually asked myself, “How will I know that I am feeling 
better?” I didn’t know how horrible I felt. I just didn’t 
know …and the journaling goes on. These are my good reasons to journal. I always want 
to reference how bad I felt so I would never forget again. Our minds are designed to eliminate bad pain, but this 
bad pain always needs to be remembered at a safe distance 
and in a safe place, in the way of a reference point. I initially came to you for severe constipation and 
incontinence as well as rapid hair loss, just as my mother had. My remarkable improvement in one short week, in 
all of these areas and more, additionally gives me hope 
that my hair will hang in there (no pun intended) for a few more years than my mother’s did.With great appreciation,K.B. The patient who wrote the following letter consulted with 
doctors in five specialties at the Mayo Clinic, who put her 
through an extensive workup. Even though they eliminated 
lupus as one of her diagnoses, not one of them suggested 
that she taper off any of her nine medications, even the ones prescribed for lupus. In general, doctors hesitate to eliminate a drug that another 
doctor has prescribed. This is one reason why traditional 
medicine so often fails at getting patients well.ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 64  | 
Patient C.R. November 16, 2009Dear Dr. Platt,
I am writing to express my deep gratitude and 
appreciation for all that you have done for me in assisting me to basically turn my life around. When I first came to 
you as a new patient for treatment approximately 3 months 
ago, I had just been to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ, 
for an extensive series of evaluations by five doctors, who 
ordered a comprehensive workup of diagnostic tests for 
fibromyalgia, systemic lupus, and multiple health issues: 
interstitial cystitis; irritable bowel syndrome; fibromyalgia; 
peripheral neuropathy; sleep disorder; anxiety; depression; 
and chronic fatigue. I was a mess! Fortunately, I found out at Mayo that I did not have 
lupus, which had been misdiagnosed by my rheumatologist 
in Hawaii, who had prescribed Lyrica, Prednisone, and 
hydroxychloroquine for my pain and inflammation and to 
suppress my immune system. When I came to you last August, 
I was not only taking these medications, but also Lexapro, 
Wellbutrin, Ambien, Sonata, Detrol, and Vicodin—all 
prescribed by different MDs in Hawaii as well. I was so 
exhausted all of the time. I could barely get out of bed! I 
felt like my health was spiraling downwards and that I had 
no recourse but to seek an alternative approach from one 
of the most highly respected medical professionals in your 
field. That is why I sought you out. And, not surprisingly, during that first consultation with you I realized that all 
of the medications with their respective side effects were 
actually poisoning me and making me worse. When you asked me to wean myself off the medications |   65 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
and begin taking bio-identical hormones and change 
my meal plan, along with an entire program of natural 
nutritional supplements tailored for my specific needs, I 
was ready—not only because I was desperate to feel better 
and felt literally like I was dying—but because you really 
took the time during that first consultation to explain to 
me the biochemical mechanisms within my body which 
were causing, for example, the fibromyalgia and related 
disorders. You helped me to understand my body from a 
holistic approach, and therefore be open to treatment that 
was natural instead of chemical and would actually help my body heal itself. Your nutritional counseling, as well, 
helped me immensely to develop healthier eating habits 
that have supported my healing process and continue to 
make a huge difference in my overall well-being. So, as you can imagine, I am happy to say that your 
approach has worked! Since I have been off the medications 
for the last approximately 3 months and using the 
bio-identical hormones and changing the way I eat along with the supplements, my whole life is different. In fact, 
I really feel that your first consultation and subsequent 
discussions we have had, as well as your medical literature, 
have been a real wake-up call for me, and have actually 
saved my life! Before I came in to see you for the first time, 
I truly was feeling progressively worse and worse all of the 
time while on all of those medications, like I had constant 
flu-like symptoms. I was losing hope for any chance at 
living a normal, healthy life again. I would look at myself, 
a former model, and it appeared as though I was aging 
almost before my eyes…. But now, after only 3 months, not 
only have my life and health turned around, but I also feel ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 66  | 
and look more vibrant and alive than I have in years! My 
energy is back better than ever, and everyone from family 
to friends I have not seen in years keep asking me “What happened?” “What have you done to yourself?” They keep telling me I “look younger,” which of course I love! I am so happy that I took that first step to come in 
to see you and allow you to convince me to “think out of 
the box” (my term, not yours, but I feel it is appropriate)! Coming from a family of doctors and medical professionals, 
that was a big step to take, but again I want to thank 
you for taking the time and having the compassion and 
commitment to do what you do for your patients every 
day. I only wish more doctors would take your approach 
of not just treating the symptoms, but rather treating and 
healing the true underlying illness. As your patient, I am 
a living testimony to the fact that your approach not only 
works, but also is profoundly successful! Every condition 
I mentioned is now gone—including the depression, fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis, stress incontinence, 
sleep problems, anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, etc. I am so convinced of this that I have already referred and 
will continue to refer many beloved friends and family 
members, and even clients, to you from all over the world 
that are desperately in need of an alternative and more 
natural, holistic approach to the traditional medical model 
of using drugs to treat the symptoms (which is not working 
for them, either!). It is an honor and privilege to do so, 
because I feel that you have helped me to get my life back, 
and for that I am eternally grateful!67 
CHAPTER 7EXCESS 
ADRENALINE: THE UGLY
What I refer to as the “ugly” conditions caused by excess 
adrenaline represent hyperadrenalism’s more devastating 
effects. These are the illnesses that I feel have the most significant 
impact on a person’s quality of life. Like the conditions already 
discussed, all these maladies are generally considered incurable. Yet every one of them can be “cured” by addressing its root 
cause, which in every case has to do with too much adrenaline. There is an art to helping a patient get well. It starts with 
having a basic knowledge of hormones, since they control 
every system in the body. It also involves sitting down with 
the patient and listening to what he or she is saying. Ninety 
percent of a diagnosis should be based on this conversation. There is an art to helping a patient get well. It 
starts with a basic knowledge of hormones and also 
involves sitting down with the patient and listening 
to what he or she is saying. FIBROMYALGIA 
Fibromyalgia has had a singularly unimpressive history from 
a clinical standpoint. For a long time, half the doctors in ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 68  | 
America did not believe this condition existed; the other half 
believed it was a real condition, yet it sometimes took 20 years 
to diagnose, and even then doctors could only say, “There’s 
nothing we can do for it.” 
Although conventional medicine considers it incurable, 
fibromyalgia can often be eliminated in anywhere from three 
days to three weeks by reducing the patient’s level of adrenaline. Most people with this condition have other adrenaline-induced 
problems as well. These, too, can be eliminated along with 
the fibromyalgia. Even though millions of people suffer in various degrees 
from this condition, and tremendous research has been done 
on its etiology, modern medicine still cannot pinpoint its 
causation, although several theories have been proposed. For 
example, the latest research theorizes that fibromyalgia has a 
neurogenic origin having to do with the amplification of pain 
signals. Researchers have noticed disturbances in the levels 
of neurotransmitters that either facilitate pain awareness or 
prevent it—which, of course,  suggests that drugs that affect these neurotransmitters can help. (Notably, researchers have 
made similar findings in a number of chronic pain conditions, 
such as irritable bowel syndrome, TMJ, and interstitial 
cystitis—all of which are discussed in this book.) A television 
advertisement for the drug Lyrica, for example, states that 
fibromyalgia is caused by stimulation of overactive nerve tissue. These are classic examples of how drug companies control how 
medicine is practiced. One of the problems with evidence-based medicine is 
that one never knows what’s real. Pharmaceutical companies sponsor many of the studies, and it is well known that their 
financial support often influences the researchers and their |   69 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
results. This is why I feel more comfortable with observation-
based medicine. To me it seems logical that if a medical 
practitioner treating patients with a particular approach can 
successfully predict the outcome in almost 100 percent of cases, 
this should fulfill the criteria for evidence-based medicine. In 
this regard, the fact that I have eliminated fibromyalgia in the 
vast majority of my patients who were suffering from it should 
give credibility to my approach. If a medical practitioner treating patients with a 
particular approach can successfully predict the 
outcome in almost 100 percent of cases, this should 
fulfill the criteria for evidence-based medicine. Fibromyalgia is indicated by two major symptoms: pain 
and fatigue. The pain of fibromyalgia, I believe, is due to a 
buildup of lactic acid in muscles and tendon sheaths. This 
pain is similar to “muscle burn” experienced by athletes from 
working out. Muscle burn is caused by the buildup of lactic 
acid. The difference between muscle burn and fibromyalgia 
is that after athletes work out, their muscles usually relax, 
possibly because they have burned up a lot of adrenaline. As those muscles relax, circulation moving through them clears 
out the excess lactic acid, thereby eliminating the pain. But 
people who have fibromyalgia often find it hard to relax. Their 
muscles remain tense, which compresses the venules of the 
blood circulation system and the small vessels of the lymphatic 
circulation system, both of which normally carry lactic acid 
out of the muscles. As a result, the acid stays in the muscles and in tendon sheaths, and the pain persists. This constant tensing of muscles, even through the night, ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 70  | 
causes fatigue, and at times, severe fatigue. Patients often 
awaken with low back pain, upper back pain, or pain on the 
side of one hip. At night they may also tense their jaw, causing 
TMJ (temporomandibular joint dysfunction), or grind their 
teeth. The persistent tensing of muscles uses up nutrients that 
support muscle function ( AT P, CoQ10 , carnitine, magnesium, 
etc. ), so the recovery from using certain muscle groups may 
be very slow. The diagnosis of fibromyalgia is not difficult, even though 
it so often goes unrecognized. Eighteen pressure points on the 
body have been identified, the compression of which elicits 
pain in patients with fibromyalgia. It is not unusual for medical 
practitioners to conclude that what they are seeing is an 
autoimmune condition (which it is not) or to refer the patient 
to a rheumatologist because they think it is an inflammatory 
condition (which it is not). Because of the associated fatigue, 
people with fibromyalgia are also frequently diagnosed as 
having chronic fatigue syndrome. However, chronic fatigue 
syndrome is most likely viral in origin and is associated with low-grade fevers and swollen lymph glands. Of course, some people may have both conditions. There are no laboratory tests to directly diagnose 
fibromyalgia, but several tests help rule out other conditions. For example, the results of the C-reactive protein and 
sedimentation rate tests are elevated in inflammatory conditions 
but should be normal in fibromyalgia. The ANA (antinuclear 
antibiodies) test, which screens for autoimmune conditions 
like lupus, should also be normal in fibromyalgia. There is one lab test, however, that offers indirect evidence 
for fibromyalgia. This is the morning plasma cortisol test, 
which can indicate an elevated adrenaline level. The standard |   71 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
“normal” level (up to 19.4) for this test I believe is misleading; 
instead, I feel that any level greater than 11.5 suggests an 
overproduction of adrenaline. This is because the normal 
ranges for many lab tests were originally established by testing 
the blood of medical students. Because adrenaline enhances intelligence and medical students tend to be intelligent, their a.m. cortisol levels would have likely been relatively high. In my view, there are two main causes of fibromyalgia. The less common of the two is related to the displacement of the first cervical vertebra (C1), also called the atlas. The atlas 
sits at the top of the cervical spine, directly supporting the 
skull, and nerves pass through a hole in the atlas on the way to the brain. It is not uncommon for the atlas to be displaced when there has been a neck injury caused by, for instance, a 
whiplash or falling off a horse or bicycle. Displacement of the 
atlas can lead to irritation of the nerves passing through it, 
which can cause headaches, neck pain, upper shoulder pain, 
or arm pain. The pain can cause muscles to tense up, resulting 
in a buildup of lactic acid, which exacerbates the pain further. The importance of considering this cause of fibromyalgia 
is that it is best treated by chiropractors specially trained to 
manipulate the atlas either manually or by using an activator. (See the website www.nucca.org for names of chiropractors 
in various locations trained in this method.) Alternatively, 
specially trained orthodontists can supply a prosthesis that 
may realign the atlas. However, the more common cause of fibromyalgia, in my 
view, is the internalization of anger, associated with excess 
adrenaline. Adrenaline, known as the fight-or-flight hormone, 
should also be called the rage hormone, or anger hormone. Anger created by this powerful hormone is an intense feeling ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 72  | 
that, when suppressed, can cause persistent muscle tension with 
associated pain and fatigue. Because the anger is internalized, 
many people with fibromyalgia may not even realize that they 
have anger issues. Interestingly, they occasionally exhibit anger 
when someone suggests that they have anger issues. The more common cause of fibromyalgia is 
internalization of anger associated with  
excess adrenaline. The underlying anger can cause persistent tensing of 
muscles, which constricts circulation and prevents the buildup 
of lactic acid from being cleared. Eliminating the cause of 
the anger will, in most cases, eliminate the fibromyalgia, 
as the following stories of two of my fibromyalgia patients 
demonstrate. Their stories bring to mind one of my favorite 
quotes from Wayne Dyer: “Every moment of your life you 
spend upset, in despair, in anguish, angry, or hurt because of 
the behavior of anybody else in your life is the moment you have given up control of your life.” 
A 52-year-old woman with severe fibromyalgia came to 
see me. When I asked her about anger issues, she said her 
only known source of anger was her five-month-old puppy, 
which she had brought to my office with her. She happened to be a perfectionist, and the dog, she said, kept urinating on her carpet. She would not allow the dog to sleep on her bed 
because she worried he would urinate there. She could not 
visit her daughter because her daughter had two large dogs. In other words, the puppy was controlling her life. I suggested 
that since she did not have the temperament to live with a dog, 
she should give her dog away. Hearing that, she handed the |   73 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
puppy to one of my nurses. When she came back two days 
later to give some of the dog paraphernalia to the nurse, she 
commented: “I cannot believe how much better I feel.”
A 38-year-old woman came in with severe fibromyalgia. I had seen her six years prior and had diagnosed her then as having fibromyalgia. At that time, our discussion uncovered 
the fact that the source of her anger was her husband, who 
was abusive. Since I approach illness by addressing its cause, I 
recommended that she consider dissolving their relationship. Now she was back, six years later, still with severe fibromyalgia 
and still with the same husband—who was still abusing her. So 
again, I suggested that she consider dissolving their relationship 
because he clearly was not going to change his behavior. One week later she returned—laughing and smiling. Her 
fibromyalgia was completely gone. She had left her husband. These two cases represent a type of fibromyalgia that could 
be called “reactive fibromyalgia,” comparable to the condition 
“reactive depression.” However, I suspect that most clinically relevant fibromyalgia is from internalized anger due to excess 
adrenaline. People with this type of fibromyalgia may have 
other excess adrenaline problems as well, such as depression, 
irritable bowel syndrome, or insomnia. They may wind up 
on multiple medications, which can add to their malaise by 
causing weight gain, impotence, confusion, additional fatigue, 
and other symptoms. For example, a pastor who came to see me was on 15 
different medications for treatment of severe fibromyalgia, 
depression, and sleeping problems. His congregation thought 
he had Alzheimer’s disease because his speech was slurred 
and he appeared demented—though these were actually 
side effects from the drugs. I helped him to quickly wean ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 74  | 
himself off all his medications and also treated the underlying 
excess adrenaline. His fibromyalgia, depression, slurred 
voice, cognitive impairment, and insomnia disappeared. His 
congregation thought a miracle had happened. The next time 
he came into the office I chided him, “Do you realize that Jesus 
is getting all the credit for what I did for you?” He looked at me 
and replied, “Jesus sent me to you.” Spoken like a true pastor. I have seen a number of pastors in my practice. One thing 
they all had in common is the symptoms of creative type ADHD , 
which is associated with intelligence and enhanced creativity. The patient who wrote the following letter found that 
her fibromyalgia was gone three days after she first came to 
my office. When I asked how she got better so quickly, she 
responded that as soon as she had insight as to the cause, she 
was able to take the steps to eliminate it. Patient C.C. My first visit to Dr. Platt was in June of 2003, seven 
years ago. I suffered from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue 
syndrome. I had seen multiple physicians, but none of them 
ever had a solution for me. It took my last doctor five years 
to figure out the above problems, and all he did was put me on drugs to mask the problems. I was missing five or six weeks of work at a time. I went to see Dr. Platt, who took the time to talk 
and explain that I was not crazy. I did everything he 
asked. In just days I had more energy, no brain fog, and  
NO PAIN. I have not missed one day of work in the last seven 
years and I have never felt better. Dr. Platt gave me back my life, and I will forever be grateful.|   75 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
The following letter shows how important it is for patients 
to understand why they are not well. It is actually part of the 
healing process. Patient L.C. My recent visit with you is still in the forefront of my 
mind. I have been to many medical doctors, osteopaths, 
and chiropractors in my 64 years, and I wanted to tell 
you that the best doctor I have ever had an appointment with is definitely you. As you know, I was suffering very badly with 
fibromyalgia. My energy level was nil. The program that 
you put me on has worked miracles. I no longer have 
the fibromyalgia pain all over my body. I am no longer 
falling asleep for two hours after I eat my breakfast and 
my lunch. I am actually sleeping for seven hours plus each 
night without waking up five times during the night for a 
bathroom visit. My energy level has soared! So now I am back to my old self—busy doing things 
every day, walking and using a re-bounder. Previously, I 
was basically a couch potato without energy or motivation 
to do ANYTHING. I would have low energy crashes and 
I thought I might have diabetes.
AdrenalineDominance_eBook.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        ANXIETY
Anxiety disorder is the most common mental illness in the 
United States, affecting over 40 million adults, or about 20 
percent of the U. S. population. Anxiety is frequently associated 
with a depressive disorder—people who are depressed are 
nearly nine times more likely to develop an anxiety disorder than people who are not. The criteria in the DSM-IV  for generalized anxiety disorder 
include:  
1. At least six months of excessive anxiety or worry
2. Significant difficulty in controlling the anxiety  
 or worry
3. For six months, the presence of three or more of   
 the following symptoms on most days:
  •  Feeling wound up, tense, or restless
  •  Becoming easily fatigued or worn out|   37 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
  • Concentration problems
  • Irritability
  • Significant tension in muscles
  • Difficulty with sleep
It is easy to see how adrenaline can be responsible for a 
number of symptoms of this disorder: restlessness, fatigue 
caused by prolonged muscle tension, insomnia, nervousness, 
and jitteriness. People struggling with anxiety often feel the 
need to smoke or drink or take drugs to relax. It is not unusual 
for them to crave sugary foods. Adrenaline can be responsible for a number of 
anxiety symptoms: restlessness, fatigue caused  
by prolonged muscle tension, insomnia,  
nervousness, and jitteriness. Generalized anxiety disorder is a medical condition 
characterized by fear, unease, and worry while not being able 
to identify the source of these feelings. There are other types 
of anxiety disorders, including panic disorder (acute anxiety 
reaction), obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic 
stress disorder (PTSD). I discuss PTSD  briefly in the next 
chapter. Panic disorder, a disabling condition associated with 
anxiety, affects about 6 million people in the United States. It is characterized by sudden and repeated attacks of intense 
fear, known as panic attacks, which occur when there is no 
real danger. The classic symptoms are:ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 38  | 
 • Shortness of breath (air hunger)
 • Palpitations
 • A sense of impending doom
Because of the feeling of air hunger, or shortness of breath, 
the person hyperventilates, expelling too much carbon dioxide. Hyperventilation can result in pain on the left side of the chest 
secondary to gas pain from swallowed air. It can also cause 
numbness and tingling around the lips and fingers as the blood 
becomes more alkaline from blowing off carbon dioxide. A patient suffering from a panic attack may show up at the 
emergency room complaining of chest pain and shortness of 
breath—classic symptoms of a possible heart attack. This, of 
course, gives the hospital a reason to do an expensive workup, 
even though a panic attack, or acute anxiety attack, is one 
of the easiest diagnoses in medicine to make, as shown in 
the movie As Good As It Gets. The character played by Jack 
Nicholson comes to the emergency room complaining of 
shortness of breath and chest pain. However, after his EKG 
and cardiac enzymes test normal, the emergency room doctor 
reassures him that he is having an anxiety reaction. In real 
life, many more expensive though unnecessary tests might 
be run as well, such as an echocardiogram, a thallium stress test, and possibly an angiogram, even though they might not be necessary. People with anxiety issues often have sighing-type 
respirations. They may have the sensation of a lump in their 
throat, referred to as globus hystericus, caused by muscle 
contraction in that area. If reducing adrenaline does not completely eliminate a 
person’s panic attacks, he or she may be dealing with suppressed |   39 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
hostility or resentment. These feelings are often deep in the 
subconscious, where the person is not aware of them. When 
the suppressed hostility starts coming into the conscious mind, 
it can result in a panic attack, which is the body’s attempt to 
push the hostility back into the subconscious. This suppressed hostility is usually toward somebody close 
to the person. In these cases, the person needs to look back over 
his or her life and see if a parent or sibling or spouse or even a child has been the cause of an emotional hurt. The treatment is to deal directly with the issue that has been suppressed. Obsessive-compulsive behavior, another anxiety-related 
problem, can take the form of ritualized behaviors, such 
as obsessive hand washing, or repeatedly checking to see if 
doors are locked or lights have been turned off. This type of behavior is actually a defense mechanism to keep the person from experiencing anxiety. In other words, if a person with a 
need to perform an obsessive act is prevented from doing so, he 
or she will experience anxiety. Again, lowering the adrenaline 
level often helps to eliminate the need to perform obsessive acts. IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME 
Irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS—also called spastic colitis—
is characterized by constipation, diarrhea, or some combination 
of both, although the most common manifestation of this 
disorder is constipation. During the fight-or-flight response, caused by the release of adrenaline, extra blood is sent to the 
muscles while circulation to the internal organs, which includes 
the intestines, is reduced. This can result in a slowdown of 
intestinal motility. Constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal 
expressions of excess adrenaline. In addition, when powerful ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 40  | 
feelings caused by adrenaline, such as anger and irritability, are 
internalized, they can result in diarrhea or intestinal spasms. Disorders associated with diarrhea are separated into two 
categories: organic and functional. Organic diarrhea occurs 
both day and night. Examples include ulcerative colitis, regional 
enteritis (Crohn’s disease), ischemic colitis, and diarrhea caused 
by the bacteria C. difficile or by the protozoa Giardia lamblia, 
which causes giardiasis. Functional diarrheas are regarded 
as psychological in origin and are not usually associated 
with having to get up at night with diarrhea. Irritable bowel 
syndrome is in this category. I have observed that other chronic inflammatory bowel 
conditions, such as ulcerative colitis and regional enteritis 
(Crohn’s disease), are similarly exacerbated by internalizing 
anger. Very often this anger is related to relationships with 
family members. Reducing the person’s adrenaline level often 
significantly improves his or her interactions with others, along 
with a significant improvement in gastrointestinal symptoms. HYPERTENSION 
I suspect that many cases of hypertension are related to excess 
adrenaline. As part of the fight-or-flight response, adrenaline 
can certainly raise blood pressure. “White coat hypertension,” 
a classic condition in which a person’s blood pressure rises 
while it is being measured in a doctor’s office, is caused by the 
release of adrenaline. Since visiting a doctor’s office is not the 
only source of stress in this world, a person who has white coat 
hypertension most likely has frequent episodes of hypertension 
in other life situations. Similarly, it is not unusual for blood pressure to spike 
in a dental office secondary to receiving a shot of novocaine |   41 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
mixed with epinephrine. In this case, epinephrine (which is 
adrenaline) is used to control bleeding because it causes blood 
vessels to constrict. Admittedly, the mere sight of a dental drill 
can induce fear in many people, with a concomitant rise in 
adrenaline that leads to a spike in blood pressure. If adrenaline is rising, then so is blood sugar. Any time 
the blood sugar level goes up, the body produces insulin to 
move the sugar into the cells where it is needed. Insulin is also 
a hormone that raises blood pressure, a fact well demonstrated 
by the condition called metabolic syndrome, or syndrome X. This condition is indicated by high triglycerides, low HDL 
cholesterol, and a high insulin level, as well as hypertension. To 
my knowledge, the only cause of a low HDL is elevated insulin. In addition, excess adrenaline is associated with increased 
stress. When under stress, the body releases cortisol, another 
hormone that stimulates sugar production, which leads to 
more insulin production, which can further increase blood 
pressure. The excess insulin can also cause a drop in blood sugar 
(hypoglycemia), which stimulates the production of adrenaline 
to increase sugar, which again raises blood pressure as well as 
cortisol, ad infinitum. This scenario of cascading hormones 
is likely to cause recurrent and/or persistent hypertension. Wouldn’t it make more sense to just lower adrenaline 
and avoid using drugs that can cause impotence, 
weight gain, bronchial spasm leading to asthma,  
plus other side effects. The proximal cause of all the aforementioned scenarios 
is excess adrenaline. Elevated blood pressure is commonly 
treated with a beta-blocker, such as atenolol, metoprolol, or ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 42   | 
propranalol, which blocks the effects of adrenaline. Wouldn’t 
it make more sense to just lower adrenaline and avoid using a 
class of drugs that can cause impotence, weight gain (they are 
antithyroid drugs), bronchial spasm leading to asthma, plus 
other side effects. High adrenaline can be easily controlled 
with diet and hormones, and then the patient can gradually 
wean himself or herself off the antihypertensive medications. DIABETES  
The two most common types of diabetes are type I and type II. Type I diabetes is caused by lack of insulin. Type II (adult 
onset) diabetes is commonly thought to be caused by resistance  
to insulin—that is, the cells become resistant to the action of 
insulin, so sugar has difficulty getting into the cells. However, 
I, along with a small but growing number of physicians, feel that type II diabetes is actually caused by the overproduction  
of insulin. A growing number of physicians feel that  
type II diabetes is actually caused by the 
overproduction of insulin. This view of type II diabetes is controversial and contrary to 
the traditional approach. However, the traditional approach is 
clearly not working. Attempts to lower blood sugar levels with 
drugs that increase insulin production or with insulin itself, as 
well as to lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure, usually all fail to prevent the complications of diabetes. In fact, those studies that have attempted to reduce sugar levels to normal in diabetics by increasing insulin to a high level have resulted |   43 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
in an alarming increase in mortality and complications. In 
2012, the normal level for hemoglobin A1C, the time-honored 
measurement of diabetic control, was raised from 6. 5 to 7. 5, an 
indication that diabetes experts may be realizing that lowering 
sugar levels by increasing insulin is not the answer. Standard thinking about diabetes is that sugar cannot 
get into the cells because all the cells are resistant to insulin; 
therefore the sugar stays in the bloodstream. However, I have 
suspected for some time that an additional factor might be 
involved: that the sugar cannot be transported into fat cells for 
storage purposes because the fat cells have become saturated 
with fat (i. e. , there is no more room at the inn). As a result, 
the sugar level in the blood goes up. The importance of dealing with insulin in type II diabetes 
cannot be overstated. Insulin is a fat-storing hormone. It creates 
fat by pushing sugar into fat cells, where it is converted into fat 
for storage; it also sits outside fat cells and blocks the release of fat. Insulin is recognized as the cause of fat accumulating 
around the abdomen. People who produce a lot of insulin often 
have a paunch around the middle and relatively thin legs and arms. I suspect that when the fat cells in the abdominal area fill up, diabetes can follow. Let’s look at this more closely. The number of fat cells we 
have throughout life is generally determined at a very young 
age. People who were thin early in life often have fewer fat cells 
as adults. Because they have fewer fat cells to absorb sugar, they 
may be predisposed to developing adult-onset diabetes. (I have 
observed that some women who have undergone significant 
liposuction procedures can develop a type of diabetes that is 
often incurable—they have run out of fat cells in which to 
store sugar. ) The current epidemic of type II diabetes among ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 44   | 
teenagers might very well be due to a combination of how 
they eat, lack of exercise to burn off sugar, excessive adrenaline 
(which raises both sugar and insulin), and, in some cases, 
having been thin early in life. If type II diabetes is caused by excess insulin, where does 
the excess insulin come from. In my view, adrenaline is the root 
cause. Overproduction of adrenaline leads to overproduction 
of sugar in order to fuel the brain and muscles. The elevated blood sugar stimulates the release of insulin. At the same time, overproduction of adrenaline also causes 
the release of cortisol. Cortisol, like adrenaline, raises the blood 
sugar level, which stimulates the release of insulin. As we have seen, elevated insulin lowers blood sugar 
(hypoglycemia). And low blood sugar stimulates cravings for 
food high in sugar as well as the release of more adrenaline 
(and cortisol), and so the cycle continues. This cycle can also include the release of glucagon, another 
hormone that can raise the sugar level. So now three hormones 
are raising the sugar level, which is further exacerbated if 
the person eats foods high in sugar. Is it any wonder that 
people wind up with high sugar levels leading to a diagnosis of 
diabetes. Along the same lines, could the release of adrenaline 
at night be the reason that fasting sugars in the morning are often the highest sugars of the day in a diabetic. My approach to treating type II diabetes is the same as for 
other medical conditions: I try to treat the underlying cause. When the insulin level is controlled, fat production is decreased 
and the ability to burn fat increases, so the oversaturated fat cells let go of some of their fat. Once the amount of fat inside the fat cells is reduced, there is room in those cells for sugar to get inside so the blood sugar level drops. |   45 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
Compare this approach to the traditional method of 
treating type II diabetes. Patients are placed on medications 
that increase insulin production or are placed on insulin itself. In my view, these patients are being treated with the very 
hormone that causes not only diabetes but also most of the 
complications of diabetes. Not surprisingly, these patients gain 
more fat around the middle. They often feel sleepy between 
three and four in the afternoon or after eating—a sign that 
they are likely producing a significant amount of insulin. When a type II diabetic is taken off insulin medication in 
conjunction with adopting an insulin-reducing meal plan and 
using progesterone cream, it is not unusual for the numbness 
in their feet (diabetic neuropathy) to improve. Patients on medications that increase insulin 
production or on insulin itself are being treated with 
the very hormone that causes diabetes. To summarize my view of insulin: it contributes to 
accumulation of fat around the middle, it causes type II 
diabetes and many of the complications of diabetes, and it 
raises blood pressure and speeds up the aging process. Yet this 
is the hormone that we use to treat type II diabetics. Could this be the reason they rarely get well. The effectiveness of reducing insulin in order to eliminate 
diabetes is illustrated in the following letter from a patient: ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 46   | 
September 7, 2010
Patient J. K. I am a retired physicist and aerospace scientist, age 
82, and a patient of Dr. Platt’s. In 1985, I was diagnosed 
with type II diabetes by my internist. The diagnosis was by glucose challenge; I had no symptoms that I recognized 
or complained of. I sought the best medical help I could 
find during subsequent years. Endocrinologists in Santa 
Ana, CA, UCLA  Medical Center, Loma Linda Medical 
Center, and UCSD  Medical Center treated me. I was 
treated with sulfonylureas, metformin, insulin, Rezulin, 
Avandia, and Actos. When first diagnosed, I weighed 
approximately 180 lbs. When I first visited Dr. Platt, 
January 19, 2010, I weighed 265 lbs. All of the physicians I 
visited suggested I lose weight, but none told me that excess 
insulin causes fat storage and weight gain, or that excess insulin is a characteristic of type II diabetes and of their 
treatment. They all encouraged me to control blood sugar. None mentioned that there is no scientific evidence that 
control of blood sugars to near normal levels will control diabetic complications. Since seeing Dr. Platt in January 2010, I have 
understood the need to control insulin, and so I stopped all my diabetic medications. I now weigh 210 lbs. , a loss 
of 55 lbs. I feel good. I have no retinopathy. My blood 
sugars are back to normal. As I mentioned in chapter 3, I suspect that progesterone 
may help to control insulin by preventing the action of 
insulin at insulin receptor sites, which is actually a form 
of insulin resistance. Because insulin resistance might be a |   47 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
factor with certain diabetics, I recommend that they continue 
with metformin if they are on it, since it helps with insulin 
resistance. Diabetics who have creative ADHD  may need to 
take metformin to help prevent progesterone-induced insulin 
resistance in brain cells. WEIGHT PROBLEMS
When it comes to weight, the effect of adrenaline can go in 
either direction. On the one hand, adrenaline can increase 
metabolism and energy levels, which promotes the burning of 
fat. We often see this in children diagnosed with typical type 
ADHD : they are hyperactive and usually on the thin side, and 
in high school and college, they often participate in sports. Professional athletes are likely to have excess adrenaline, as 
are people designated as workaholics and type A personalities. These groups generally do not have weight issues. On the other hand, people with excess adrenaline who 
are not particularly active—that is, those with creative type 
ADHD —may experience increased weight or be constantly 
fighting to prevent weight increase. The creative brain requires 
much more sugar than a normal brain. If the person is not 
eating correctly, the body will continuously put out adrenaline 
to raise the sugar level to supply fuel to the brain. As you 
might realize by now, the increase in sugar causes an increase 
in insulin, which pushes sugar into fat cells, where the sugar is converted into fat. People who put out a lot of adrenaline at night are often 
in the unique position of gaining weight even while they are 
sleeping. This is in addition to the other characteristics of 
elevated nighttime adrenaline, such as tossing and turning, 
grinding teeth, restless leg syndrome, and getting up to urinate. ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 48   | 
 
People who put out a lot of adrenaline at night  
are often in the unique position of gaining weight 
even while they are sleeping. I suspect there is an unrecognized epidemic of ADHD —in 
particular, creative type ADHD —in which excess adrenaline 
is significantly raising the incidence of obesity in people of 
all ages. Addressing these people’s weight issues from the 
standpoint of adrenaline could not only improve their weight 
but also help them to focus better. Not only does excess adrenaline by itself contribute to 
weight gain, it also stimulates the release of cortisol and possibly 
also glucagon. So now there are two or three hormones raising 
the sugar level, stimulating insulin release, and creating fat. On the other hand, excess adrenaline can also reduce a 
person’s appetite. This is often what’s happening with people 
who regularly skip breakfast: they release so much adrenaline 
during the night that they don’t want to eat in the morning. They can end up essentially living on adrenaline through the persistent cyclical release of sugar and insulin it precipitates. Excess adrenaline can also create a craving to drink alcohol in 
order to relax—another potential cause of weight gain. In addition, medications prescribed for medical conditions 
caused by excess adrenaline can encourage increased weight. Both the antidepressants given to people with anger issues 
or depression and the beta-blockers frequently prescribed for 
people with hypertension or palpitations can cause weight 
gain. The drugs that type II diabetics are frequently given to raise the insulin level also create fat. |   49 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
I would be remiss if I did not also mention how our 
healthcare system contributes to the current epidemic of 
obesity. Even though obesity is now considered a disease, 
many doctors still consider it an eating problem and ignore the 
possibility that there are underlying metabolic issues. I have seen 
countless patients who had gone from doctor to doctor looking 
for answers, and were given the same advice by them all: eat less. It is important for the healthcare practitioner to sit down 
and talk to the obese patient. The practitioner needs to look 
and listen for clues indicating hormones out of balance—excess 
adrenaline, insulin, cortisol, or estrogen, or a low-functioning 
thyroid. What drugs is the person taking. What are the person’s 
eating and drinking habits and activity level. One of my patients—a classic if somewhat extreme case 
of creative type ADHD —weighed 420 pounds when he first 
came to see me. The amount of adrenaline required to cause 
that amount of weight gain also provoked other problems, such 
as alcoholism and fibromyalgia. This man’s previous doctors had accused him of eating too much, even though he assured 
them he wasn’t. If they had been listening to him, the fact 
that he was not a big eater would have been the first clue that he had a hormone problem, not an eating problem. This patient presented as a textbook case of imbalanced 
hormones in terms of both his history and his appearance. Not only was his body pouring out insulin, cortisol, and adrenaline, his excess fat was producing a lot of estrogen, 
which is a lipogenic (fat-creating) hormone, causing him to put 
on fat around his hips, thighs, and buttocks. His high insulin 
level put on weight around his middle. I was not surprised to 
find that his thyroid level was low-normal, which contributed 
to fat deposition everywhere. ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 50   | 
After I started treating him with progesterone cream, 
a meal plan designed to reduce adrenaline, and thyroid 
supplementation, his adrenaline level dropped, his fibromyalgia 
disappeared, and he reported feeling better than at any time 
in his life. After losing 240 pounds, he got down to a waist 
size of 32 inches. He had been suicidal when I first met him, 
and at the age of 47 he had never had a single date in his life. After he lost weight and improved his well-being, he started dating, got engaged, and is now happily married. TELOMERES AND AGING
Could reducing excess adrenaline actually increase one’s life 
span. It appears to be so. Currently a lot of research is examining 
the relationship between the length of telomeres—nucleotide 
sequences found on the tips of chromosomes—and aging. The 
evidence suggests that people with shortened telomeres may 
have a higher incidence of heart attacks and cancer. A biotech pharmaceutical company developed a drug that 
could prevent the shortening of telomeres. To avoid the five to 
ten years of FDA-required trials costing hundreds of millions 
of dollars, the company sold the rights for this substance to 
a nutraceutical company. The supplement, called TA-65, 
originally sold for $24,000 for a year’s worth. This cost has 
now been reduced to $2,400 to $8,000 per year, depending on dosage. Studies have shown that TA-65 increases the enzyme 
telomerase, which protects telomeres from getting shorter. It 
is most effective on rapidly dividing cells, such as the skin, the 
immune system, and the GI tract. The concern, of course, is that cancer cells are also rapidly dividing cells, but as yet this has not been noted as a problem. |   51 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  BAD 
The results so far are anecdotal. Moreover, the doctors 
who are selling this substance are “anti-aging” specialists, so 
most of their clients could be taking bio-identical hormones 
as well, which may also be influencing the way the clients 
look and feel. Allow me to present an alternative, less expensive approach. It has clearly been demonstrated that stress reduces telomere size, while reducing stress increases telomere size. (This may 
be why people dealing with large amounts of stress have a 
higher mortality rate. ) Adrenaline is closely associated with stress, and reducing 
adrenaline is known to lower stress levels. Exercise is one way 
of burning up adrenaline, and exercise has also been shown 
to increase telomere length in people who have elevated stress 
levels. Meditation, another stress reducer, has similarly been found to increase telomere length. However, why not reduce stress just by lowering excess adrenaline. INSOMNIA
Insomnia refers to trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, 
or both. People can have difficulty achieving sound sleep for 
a variety of reasons, including physical discomfort, emotional 
issues, and financial problems. However, in my view, excess 
adrenaline may be insomnia’s number one cause. As we have seen, adrenaline works as both a hormone, 
affecting a number of bodily functions, and as a neurotransmitter 
in the brain. People with a high level of  adrenaline functioning 
as a hormone are generally the ones who have trouble falling 
asleep. These are people with typical type ADHD  who as adults 
might have type A personalities. The extra energy produced 
by excess adrenaline may prevent them from feeling tired. ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 52   | 
The approach to helping these people fall asleep is to prevent 
the buildup of adrenaline during the day. A regular exercise regimen to burn off excess adrenaline may also be helpful. Those who awaken during the night are often people with 
creative type ADHD. These are often the people who complain 
that their mind does not shut off at night. From a survival 
standpoint, the body always wants to ensure that the brain 
has enough fuel to function properly. And the creative brain is 
more active than a normal brain and therefore requires more fuel. If, during the night, the body detects that the brain has 
used up its fuel, it will release adrenaline to raise the sugar level 
and the person will wake up. This release of adrenaline most 
often occurs between 2:30 and 3:00 a. m. and can continue 
throughout the rest of the night, so the person may keep waking 
up intermittently or even not be able to fall back to sleep. If, during the night, the body detects that the brain 
has used up its fuel, it will release adrenaline to 
raise the sugar level and the person will wake up. The release of adrenaline around 2:30 a.
Anxiety disorder.
What is the most common mental illness in the United States?
People who are depressed are nearly nine times more likely to develop an anxiety disorder.
What is the association between anxiety and depression?
Constipation.
What is the primary symptom of irritable bowel syndrome?
Excess adrenaline.
What is the potential cause of restless leg syndrome?
Internalized anger due to excess adrenaline.
What is the main cause of fibromyalgia, according to the author?