Knowing that I had a 
hormone problem, which has been corrected with natural 
products, and I don’t have a disease, I feel like living my life again. Please do not stop fighting to help people get well 
because you’re one of the few who do really put people on 
the right track. I cannot express enough how grateful I 
am for the work that you do. And thank you, Dr. Platt, ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 76  | 
for your continual work to give back lives, even against 
all the aggression/oppression you have in your daily life. Sincerely, 
L.C., Ph.D. CHRONIC INTERSTITIAL CYSTITIS
An estimated 750,000 to 1,000,000 women in the United 
States suffer from a condition called chronic interstitial cystitis. It often manifests as severe pain in the bladder 24 hours a 
day, along with uncomfortable burning during urination. Like so many other conditions discussed in this book, it has no known cause and, as a consequence, no known cure. It is most commonly treated with the drug Elmiron, which offers little or no help to the majority of women who use it. I consider chronic interstitial cystitis another manifestation 
of adrenaline dominance. As we saw in the section on urinary 
urgency (in the previous chapter), excess adrenaline can cause 
not only the urge to urinate but also the need to urinate 
frequently. However, some women, for one reason or another—
perhaps they work as teachers or cashiers—do not have the 
luxury of being able to run to the bathroom every 20 minutes 
or so. As a result, they tense up the muscles of the bladder in an 
attempt to prevent leakage. Any prolonged tensing of muscles 
can cause lactic acid to build up. This, in turn, can cause both 
pain in the walls of the bladder and burning upon urination. Because of the role of lactic acid buildup in chronic 
interstitial cystitis, I refer to it as fibromyalgia of the bladder. Not surprisingly, it is often associated with fibromyalgia 
elsewhere in the body. |   77 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
 
Because of the role of lactic acid buildup in chronic 
interstitial cystitis, I refer to it as fibromyalgia  
of the bladder. Elimination of this condition makes for an extremely 
grateful patient. One of my patients had been to doctors all 
over the world looking for relief. Two weeks after visiting my 
office, she sent a card thanking me and called me her “miracle 
doctor.” The treatment, needless to say, was simply to lower 
her adrenaline level. Trying to educate people who are in a position to change 
how this condition is treated has been frustrating. As an 
example, I approached the Interstitial Cystitis Association 
and offered to write an article for their newsletter about how 
I treat this condition, but they were not interested. Perhaps 
they could not fathom that this devastating condition might have a relatively simple solution. ROAD RAGE
I have included road rage in the “ugly” category because it is 
a potentially lethal condition, especially if two people with 
road rage come into contact with one another. People with 
road rage often tailgate other cars, they tend to drive too fast 
and make unsafe lane changes, and they certainly antagonize 
other drivers—especially those who also have road rage. It takes very little imagination to see that these people have 
an excessive amount of adrenaline. They frequently wind up in anger management classes, although these classes provide 
little benefit because they do not link the problem with its 
real cause.ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 78  | 
Road rage can have serious consequences. For example, a 
medical doctor in Los Angeles with excess adrenaline got into 
a road rage incident with two bicyclists who also had excess 
adrenaline. The doctor wound up in prison for five years, and 
both bicycle riders were hospitalized. One of them will never 
ride a bike again. Those who have a tendency toward road rage should keep 
in mind that their driving is monitored by law enforcement 
personnel who usually have excess adrenaline themselves. When an officer pulls a driver over and tells the driver to get 
out of the car and lie down on the ground, my recommendation 
is to do what the officer says. One only has to remember what 
happened to Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1992. After a 
long chase by highway patrol officers, he was pulled over and wound up attacking two policemen. He failed to heed their 
request to lie down, which resulted in his being beaten by 
over-adrenalized officers, an event that wound up precipitating 
the infamous Los Angeles Riots. Of course, the treatment for road rage is to lower adrenaline. The following letter illustrates how quickly this can be 
accomplished. This 30-year-old gentleman from the San Francisco 
Bay Area came to see me with only one complaint: anger. Patient A.W. Since the first time I rubbed the progesterone cream on 
my arms I could feel the effects. From that moment on, I have felt an inner calmness that had always seemed to be 
missing. This was something I had been trying to control for 
years by using different substances. I feel “normal” again, 
I should say, I like myself again. The biggest thing for me is 
driving. As you can imagine, where I live in Silicon Valley |   79 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
there is no shortage of traffic and bad drivers. Before coming to your office I would have times when 
I would just choose not to go out because of the devastating 
effect driving had on my attitude. Sometimes I just wanted 
to run drivers off the road or honk at them, and I just felt 
unusually frustrated with the whole experience. I should 
mention there was a point in my life when I loved to 
drive. Now, something amazing has happened, I can enjoy 
driving again. The local driving habits of people, or the lack 
thereof, haven’t changed. I have. It just doesn’t bother me 
anymore. I am amazed, too, when this happens. I think to 
myself, “Wow, that person just cut me off and that’s OK. I am OK with that.” Whereas I used to think, “Who in the f#*$ is that a%&#!+?” That is a big difference! I just feel so much better. I want to thank Dr. Platt and his team for their 
courage to move forward and really try to heal people 
during a time when people need it most. I know that there 
will be/is a lot of resistance, there always is with change, but if I can ever be of help I am here! It has been less than a week since I was there and I am seriously a new person! Before coming in to your office I had been working so hard 
on the physical and mental parts, but something was still 
missing. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for filling 
the missing part. I can now truly live my life. BIPOLAR DISORDER   
In my opinion, understanding how excess adrenaline can 
affect the body sheds light on the condition known as bipolar 
disorder. The older term, “manic-depressive disorder,” was 
perhaps a more apt name.ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 80  | 
People with this condition go from periods of extreme 
restlessness and hyperactivity to periods of extreme depression. In the hypomanic phase (a true manic phase is rarely seen 
outside of an institution), the mind can go extremely fast and 
the person may exhibit rapid speech or have grandiose ideas. These characteristics are symptoms of excess adrenaline in the 
brain. This same output of adrenaline, the anger hormone, can 
lead to depression when the anger is internalized. Subsequently, 
the adrenaline causes a swing back to euphoria. There is no way of accurately determining the behaviors 
through which a bipolar tendency will be expressed. It may 
be that right-brained patients exhibit more rapid speech and 
flow of ideas, while left-brained patients may manifest extreme 
activity. I suspect that both can become severely depressed 
and suicidal. I also suspect that everyone with this condition started out 
with ADHD . People with ADHD  can actually be pushed into 
a bipolar state simply with the use of commonly prescribed 
antidepressants that are in the norepinephrine reuptake 
inhibitor (NRI) category, or with stimulants. A partial list 
of these drugs includes: Wellbutrin, Effexor, Cymbalta, 
Lyrica, Pristiq, Adderall, Strattera, and Ritalin. The last three 
are prescribed for ADHD  specifically, while the others are 
commonly used for depression. Bipolar patients are often 
placed on antidepressants, with Cymbalta and Lyrica added 
for pain control. |   81 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
 
Doctors are giving bipolar patients medications that 
increase the adrenaline level in the brain when they 
have too much adrenaline in the brain to begin with. All of these drugs can increase the amount of adrenaline 
in the brain. Reminiscent of how doctors often treat type II 
diabetics with insulin or drugs that increase insulin, the very 
hormone that causes type II diabetes, doctors are giving bipolar 
patients medications that increase the adrenaline level in the 
brain, when they have too much adrenaline in the brain to 
begin with. Is it any wonder that suicide and sudden death 
are listed among the side effects of these drugs? As one patient 
wrote in a brief note:
Patient C.K. You have taken me off my bipolar drugs and have 
changed my life. My whole family acknowledges the 
following: I am more alert. I am walking better with 
“more life” in my step. My anxiety level is way down and I am no longer sluggish in thought. How ADHD  can convert into a bipolar disorder is 
illustrated by the case of a 32-year-old patient of mine. He 
had a history of hyperactivity caused by high adrenaline. In 
his youth he was active in sports and had trouble focusing 
in school; as an adult he became a workaholic. His excess 
adrenaline took away his appetite, which forced the release of even more adrenaline to provide fuel for the body. This also created stress, which led to cortisol production. The cortisol raised his sugar level, leading to the release of insulin, which ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 82  | 
resulted in hypoglycemia—prompting the output of still 
more adrenaline. His very high adrenaline caused hypomanic 
behavior along with episodes of severe depression due to 
internalization of anger. When I first met with this patient, he was on four 
medications: lithium, Depakote, Paxil, and Effexor. The drugs 
caused him to gain 65 pounds, which added to his depression, 
along with brain fog. I put him on a program to lower his 
adrenaline and wean him off all his psychoactive medications. His bipolar behavior disappeared along with his weight gain. He underwent a remarkable transformation, attesting to the ability of the body to heal itself when the underlying cause of the problem is addressed. Part of the protocol I recommend for treating bipolar 
disorder is natural bio-identical progesterone cream. Because 
progesterone is a natural antidepressant that affects most, if 
not all, of the neurotransmitters in the brain, using it helps 
patients to wean themselves off their antidepressant drugs. One woman who came to see me had been diagnosed with 
bipolar disorder and was on Lyrica, Cymbalta, Effexor, and 
Wellbutrin. All four drugs are NRIs. NRI drugs increase the level 
of norepinephrine—a hormone that acts similarly to adrenaline—
in the brain. For someone whose adrenaline level in the brain is already raised, taking NRIs can have tragic consequences. The woman was also in her first trimester of pregnancy. I 
advised her that if she wanted to maintain the pregnancy, she 
should go “cold turkey” off her medications to avoid damage to 
the fetus. She abruptly stopped all medications while applying 
progesterone cream every one to two hours and did not have 
a single withdrawal symptom. Needless to say, her bipolar 
disorder also disappeared.|   83 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
A Canadian patient who drove all the way from Manitoba 
to Southern California to see me shared that she had been 
on 43 medications at one time or another for her bipolar 
problem and had been institutionalized numerous times 
for this disorder. Obviously, the drugs were not solving her 
problem. I helped her wean herself off her medications and 
prescribed for her high doses of progesterone cream. Not only 
did she return to feeling normal, she was able to go out and get a job for the first time in 10 years. When she visited the doctor who had been treating her for 
years, he didn’t even recognize her. It was the first time he had 
seen her wearing makeup. Prior to this visit she would drag 
herself out of bed and didn’t have the energy to apply makeup. She told him how wonderful she felt off of her medications 
and on hormones. The doctor promptly scolded her and fired her as a patient. This was not surprising, since she threatened this doctor’s approach to treating patients. Another woman, aged 42, had been diagnosed with bipolar 
disorder, plus type II diabetes and hypertension. At the time I 
first saw her, she was on the following daily medications—an 
example of gross mistreatment of a patient, yet, surprisingly, still within the guidelines of the “standard of care”: 
Insulin – 90 units (an extremely high level)Seroquel – 25 mgAbilify – 5 mgLexapro – 30 mgRitalin – 30 mgProvigil – 200 mgMetformin – 2000 mgNeurontin – 600 mgCitrical – 2 tabletsADRENALINE DOMINANCE 84  | 
Aspirin – 325 mg
Nexium – 40 mgAtenolol – 50 mgRanitidine – 75 mgLipitor – 40 mgTricor – 145 mgXenical – 120 mgLotensin – 20 mgProvera – 10 mgNiaspan – 2 capsulesSynthroid – 88 mcg
I eliminated every one of her medications except the 
thyroid (Synthroid). Her brain fog disappeared. Her sugar 
level normalized, as did her blood pressure. Her cholesterol 
actually went down when she was off the Lipitor and Niaspan, 
and she lost 65 pounds. Certainly, treating patients with psychoactive disorders can 
be complex and should not be taken lightly. Reducing adrenaline 
and weaning off psychoactive drugs may not be suitable for every 
patient. That said, what I do know is that, given the choice, 
most patients prefer to treat the cause of their problem and not 
be subjected to a drug or drugs that can have toxic side effects. In the case of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder, it is 
certainly worth considering whether the issue is an underlying 
hormonal dysfunction that could be treated naturally with the 
right diet and with bio-identical progesterone. Until fairly recently, the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 
children was virtually nonexistent. Today, over 1 million 
children have been diagnosed with this condition. The main manifestations seem to be hyperactivity, disruptive behavior, 
extreme mood swings, and anger issues—all suggestive, of |   85 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
course, of excess adrenaline. These children are often placed 
on powerful psychoactive drugs, many of which the FDA has 
not approved for use in children. Today, over 1 million children have been diagnosed 
with bipolar disorder, even though they fail to 
demonstrate the classic signs of severe mood swings. While high levels of adrenaline can explain all of the 
behaviors these children exhibit, making that observation is not 
cost efficient for the business of medicine. Many psychiatrists 
are compensated only if they prescribe a drug. Once a child 
is started on an antipsychotic, the psychiatrist has a built-in patient for years to come. Primary care doctors are reluctant to prescribe these types of drugs, and certainly will not take the responsibility of discontinuing them. My personal view is that the school killings of recent years 
as well as teenage suicides may have involved young people on 
these drugs whose side effects have caused these tragic episodes. Although gun legislation may be of benefit, it might be even 
more effective to limit the prescription of these powerful drugs 
to children. A poignant example of the problem with false diagnostic 
labels, as well as the failure of the medical establishment to 
understand how hormones affect mental health, is the story of 
a four-year-old girl, Rebecca Riley. On December 13, 2006, Rebecca died of an overdose of drugs given to her for bipolar 
disorder, prescribed by a doctor who had never examined 
her. In 2010, her parents, in separate trials, were found guilty 
of murder, and both received life sentences. Their crime: 
deliberately overdosing their daughter.ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 86  | 
Her doctor had prescribed excessively high doses of three 
psychoactive drugs—Depakote 750 mg per day, Seroquel 200 
mg per day, and clonidine 0.35 mg per day—based not on 
examining Rebecca but on the mother’s reports of Rebecca’s 
behavior. Interestingly, both the doctor and the mother agreed, 
in interviews before the trials, that Rebecca most likely did not 
have bipolar disorder, even though she had been diagnosed 
with it. The state of Massachusetts neglected to file charges against 
the doctor. It is hard to fathom why the doctor was held 
blameless for Rebecca’s death, and why the pharmacists were 
not reprimanded for refilling the prescriptions for Rebecca 
almost every other day. In my opinion, every person associated 
with her care shares the blame for her death: her parents, the 
doctor, the pharmacists, the staff at her school, and social 
services. Her death, I feel, could have been prevented had the 
medical profession been aware of the relationship between 
hormones and ADHD . It has been noted that bipolar disorder runs in families. This makes sense since children inherit their hormones from 
their parents. I would guess that the parents of children who are given a bipolar diagnosis both have 
ADHD . Indeed, most 
of the patients I have seen with bipolar disorders have the signs 
and symptoms I recognize as creative type ADHD . In other 
words, they have a lot of adrenaline in the brain. The treatment for bipolar disorder that I have found 
repeatedly effective consists of the patient utilizing the proper 
dose of progesterone cream, following the correct meal plan, 
and weaning himself or herself off any bipolar medications 
he or she is taking.|   87 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
HYPEREMESIS GRAVIDARUM 
It is not unusual for pregnant women to experience morning 
sickness during the first three months of pregnancy. This 
nausea and vomiting is caused by estrogen when progesterone, 
the hormone that normally blocks the effects of estrogen, is 
inadequate. At the start of the second trimester, the placenta 
starts putting out large amounts of progesterone, which 
normally eliminates the nausea and vomiting. However, some women continue to vomit through 
their entire pregnancy, a condition known as hyperemesis 
gravidarum. Not being a gynecologist, I have not seen women 
in my practice at the time they exhibited this condition. But a 
number of my women patients report having had this problem 
during their pregnancies. These women go into the second trimester with their 
brains starved for fuel, so their bodies are pouring 
out adrenaline to raise their sugar levels. I have noted that the majority of these women have creative 
type ADHD , which means their brains require more fuel than 
a “normal” brain. Most of these women are progesterone-
deficient to begin with. As a result, they experience fairly intense 
nausea and vomiting in the first trimester due to unopposed 
estrogen. They go into the second trimester with their brains 
starved for fuel, so their bodies are pouring out adrenaline 
to raise their sugar levels. Unfortunately, this outpouring of 
adrenaline also induces nausea and vomiting and suppresses the 
appetite. To exacerbate matters, these women are still putting 
out large amounts of estrogen, which may also contribute to the nausea and vomiting.ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 88  | 
A review article titled “ Nausea  and Vomiting in Pregnancy” 
in the October 14, 2010 issue of the New England Journal 
of Medicine  says that “the cause of nausea and vomiting in 
pregnancy is unclear.” However, knowing how adrenaline 
affects the body provides a reasonable explanation of the cause. We know that in certain stressful situations, when the body 
is likely to produce excess adrenaline, some people experience 
nausea and vomiting. Examples include performers just before 
going on stage, professional athletes before going out on the 
field, and trial attorneys before giving their opening remarks. So overproduction of adrenaline is likely a key factor in women 
with hyperemesis gravidarum also. I suspect that giving women suffering from this 
condition high doses of bio-identical progesterone via vaginal 
suppositories, along with transdermal progesterone cream, 
would significantly relieve their symptoms. If nutrition with 
low-glycemic carbohydrates, either orally (if possible) or 
via tube feedings, is added, the problem could possibly be 
eliminated in 24 to 48 hours. Three other obstetrical complications that also seem related 
to high adrenaline are preeclampsia, toxemia of pregnancy, 
and gestational diabetes. Both preeclampsia and toxemia of 
pregnancy, which are extremely serious, often necessitating 
early termination of the pregnancy, are associated with 
hypertension. It seems reasonable that adrenaline and insulin 
are causing the rise in blood pressure. I also suspect that women 
with these complications are not producing a sufficient amount 
of progesterone during their pregnancy. Adrenaline and insulin 
presumably play key roles in gestational diabetes just like they 
do in regular diabetes, as discussed in the previous chapter. At the time of this writing, the FDA has just approved use |   89 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
of a synthetic progestin to prevent premature births. The cost 
of this drug is about $1,500 per week. The good news is that 
compounding pharmacies can provide the identical preparation 
for about $95 per week. The bad news is that the FDA has 
made it illegal for compounding pharmacies to compound it. However, there is still a silver lining to this story. Physicians can 
offer their patients an even better option, namely, bio-identical 
progesterone in the form of vaginal suppositories and topical 
cream. The FDA cannot block compounding pharmacies from 
dispensing bio-identical progesterone suppositories or cream 
because drug companies do not provide them. Bio-identical 
progesterone is natural and does not cause the serious side effects 
that synthetic progestins cause. It is also the least expensive as well as the most effective option. CYCLICAL VOMITING SYNDROME
Cyclical vomiting syndrome, which is similar to hyperemesis 
gravidarum, is another condition for which the medical 
establishment cannot identify a cause. One of my patients, 
aged 47, had this condition. He told me that every morning 
of his life he would wake up and vomit. When he was a 
child, every time he got excited, he would start vomiting and couldn’t stop and would have to be hospitalized. To my way 
of thinking, the only possible explanation for this type of 
vomiting is adrenaline. On his first visit he sat across the desk from me, clenching 
the arms of his chair. It was fairly easy to observe that this 
man was pouring out adrenaline. I applied some progesterone 
cream to his forearm, and in less than ten minutes he leaned 
back in his chair and stated that in his entire life he had never 
felt so good.ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 90  | 
In the six years (as of this writing) since his first visit, he has 
not had one episode of vomiting. The letter he sent to me clearly 
delineates the agony he suffered from hyperadrenalism and the 
effectiveness of treating excess adrenaline with bio-identical 
progesterone cream. For all those who have not experienced the symptoms 
of ADHD, there are absolutely no words to describe how 
bad, truly bad, life was before…. I first came to Dr. Platt a year and a half ago. I had 
been on a nine-month merry-go-round of treatments, tests, 
and scans, all to no avail. Some $18,000 later, an entire 
staff of doctors could not tell me what was wrong with me. I was suffering from fibromyalgia. Every single inch 
of my body hurt. I could not get out of bed in the morning 
without extreme pain, I mean PAIN. When I opened Dr. Platt’s book ( The Miracle of 
Bio-Identical Hormones) , I found all of my life’s agonies 
described on the pages in front of me. What makes me this 
way and how to fix it, all right there in black and white. I had just lost my job due in part to all these symptoms. My new bride of a year and a half was packing her bags, 
and frankly I was seriously considering jumping off a 
bridge. I now know that my adrenal glands are very active, and 
the one thing that a CT scan showed me is that my adrenal 
glands are three times larger than the average person’s. After reading Chapter 15 I realized that I have 
ADHD. How someone can remain undiagnosed at 47 
years of age baffles me.|   91 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
The effect that adrenaline has on so many parts of the 
body simply amazes me—how it affects hypoglycemia & 
blood sugar, the endless cycle of adrenaline versus sugar. In Chapter 15 Dr. Platt addresses adrenaline and 
its effects on the body in many ways. I counted 27 in just 
this one chapter. Adrenaline was killing me…. My wife and I made an appointment to see Dr. Platt. Feeling at the end of our rope, we booked the flights to 
California. My mood swings were out of control at this point. Like 
a clock’s pendulum going tick-tock-tick-tock, mine was 
going: aggression, depression, aggression, depression…. We sat across the desk from Dr. Platt, ranting 
and raving about all the symptoms, all the tests and 
aggravations. My wife and I often speak simultaneously, so the doc was getting more than his fill apparently. “Do you want all this to go away?” he asked me in 
the most sincere way, like he just fixed people’s lives every day. Thirty years of agony and this man says, “
DO YOU 
WANT THIS TO GO AWAY?”
He took progesterone cream and spread it down the 
length of my forearm. “Now rub that in,” he said. We conversed a while, looked at some blood tests, etc. Ten minutes or so passed. He says, “How do you feel?”
The first thing that came to mind was what I was 
not feeling…. No adrenaline….I was calm.I was sitting still, perfectly still….ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 92  | 
ADHD  is a hyperactivity disorder. This comes from too 
much adrenaline. Too much adrenaline attaching to over 
15 million neuro-receptors in the brain equals aggression. Waiting too long in line……Aggression
The waitress forgot my drink……Aggression
Someone didn’t live up to my expectations……  
         Aggression
My life has always been a battle to calm the aggression…. He put that cream on my arm and it was all gone…. Every single symptom GONE. In the days following I noticed:
No more vomiting in the morning.No more debilitating fibromyalgia.No more afternoon fatigue. Most of all, I am CALM  today. It’s great to just sit 
still…. Every single symptom gone in 10 minutes….What can I tell you about my friend, Dr. Platt? He has shaken the medical community with his 
knowledgeable, brutal honesty about how medicine is 
practiced in our society, how power is abused by our drug 
manufacturers. He questions the ideas of practitioners who 
treat the symptoms of disease, not the underlying problem. Make the symptom go away and you’re OK. The understanding this man has of bio-identical 
hormones and the human body’s reaction to hormone 
imbalance is astounding. There is no doubt about it! This man saved my life. Not only am I alive today, but I have a quality of life that 
30 years of medical treatment and antidepressants could not give me.|   93 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
I could write a book about all the correct analyses  
Dr. Platt makes in Chapter 15 about how hormones affect 
ADHD, HOW ADRENALINE AFFECTS OUR BODIES. I AM LIVING PROOF THAT EVERYTHING THIS 
MAN SAYS IS TRUE! No, It’s Not a Miracle
It’s Dr. Platt
AUTISM 
I have not had much personal experience with patients who 
have autism. But based on what I know about the condition, 
I strongly suspect that excess adrenaline is involved. Since 
the incidence of autism is rising, it is becoming increasingly important to recognize this disorder and understand healthy approaches to treating it. I feel that autism may be an extreme form of creative type 
ADHD . Autistic children can be extremely intelligent—some 
of them have been known to memorize a phonebook. At the same time, exceedingly high levels of adrenaline in the brain 
could be the reason they find it difficult to communicate. They 
might be shrinking away from sensory input, including eye 
contact, in order to decrease the amount of stimulus to their over-adrenalized brains. Autism may be an extreme form of creative type ADHD. My approach to treating these children would be to use 
the protocol described in this book: transdermal progesterone 
cream to help control insulin and adrenaline, and a diet ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 94  | 
that includes large amounts of low-glycemic carbohydrates, 
especially green vegetables, in order to provide a steady supply 
of fuel for the brain. Once adrenaline is lowered, the mind can 
stop racing. Without the over-stimulation from sensory input, 
the children might be able to communicate more effectively. In 
addition, I would recommend certain supplements, including 
digestive enzymes to help with digesting the vegetables, 
coconut oil to provide additional fuel for the brain, vitamin 
D3, and a B vitamin supplement. Several of my patients who were mothers of autistic 
children followed this protocol for their children and saw 
dramatic improvement. One of these mothers included the 
following brief note at the end of a letter: 
Patient F.A. My son, Frank, is also using progesterone since February. Frank (age 15) has autism. Over the last few months he has been less anxious and calmer. He is more outgoing in social situations. He has been voted student of the month 
for February and March. At school he is participating more, 
and the teaching staff finds less prompting is necessary. Overall, lots of nice changes. In my view, it seems likely that eliminating most of the 
40-plus vaccinations that many infants receive might also 
help prevent autism.|   95 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
The following e-mails were sent to me by the mother of a 
three-year-old child with autism associated with Potocki-Lupski 
syndrome ( PTLS ) who had been essentially noncommunicative 
prior to treatment: 
02/20/2104 (treatment started on 02/17/2014): 
Ian has been great! We are all really impressed with 
him. He has HEAPS more energy, his speech has improved 
a lot suddenly, and he has been falling asleep amazingly 
easily and staying asleep. It is 9 p.m. now, I am ready to 
pass out, and he is super happy and lively and drawing 
and playing! We have never seen him this bright! 03/17/2014:
Anyway, I am improving and Ian is doing amazingly 
on the progesterone! He is really starting to talk! He is 
able to put more words together and is really trying to 
communicate. His energy and focus are way better. We are 
super delighted with him and cannot believe the change. It is getting some attention in the alternative health circles 
that I frequent.03/24/2014:
I am going to have to really study this subject now, 
as Ian is doing REALLY WELL on your program! His 
energy is up, his speech is exploding, and he is acting so 
much more like a regular little boy. It is great. Even his 
GP is starting to get impressed; she is coming around and getting interested in this field!ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 96  | 
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may also be related to 
excess adrenaline. PTSD  is frequently diagnosed in soldiers 
returning from war zones. It is my feeling that most enlistees 
in the armed forces have large amounts of adrenaline to 
begin with, and this excess is probably exacerbated under the 
conditions of war. PTSD  is also found in trauma patients—women who have 
been raped, people involved in motor vehicle accidents, and so 
on. I suspect that many of their symptoms, such as anxiety, 
depression, obsessive-compulsive behavior, nervousness, and 
nightmares, are related to excess adrenaline. Perhaps the most suggestive evidence of hyperadrenalism 
in these patients is the recent success in treating this disorder 
with propranolol, a powerful beta-blocker. Since the action of 
beta-blockers is to block the effects of adrenaline, propranolol’s 
effectiveness with PTSD  suggests that adrenaline is involved. However, propanolol is just another Band-Aid approach with 
a lot of side effects. Taking steps to directly lower adrenaline 
levels might make more sense for this condition and certainly 
should be worth trying. PREMENSTRUAL DYSPHORIC DISORDER
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder ( PMDD) has a tremendous 
impact on the quality of life of the woman who is afflicted with 
it, as well as the people around her. Like many other conditions 
discussed in this book, its cause is considered unknown. PMDD  affects about 5 percent of women who are 
menstruating. As with PMS, the symptoms of PMDD  occur 
about a week before the period and generally resolve two or 
three days after the period starts. Although PMDD shares |   97 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
some characteristics with PMS , it is in a category all by 
itself because of the severity of the symptoms. They are bad 
enough to interfere with the woman’s daily routine. The classic 
symptoms include:
• Extreme mood changes
• Depression with feelings of hopelessness
•  Severe anger issues
•  An underlying, pervasive anxiety
•  Brain fog with difficulty focusing
•  Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep
•  Overwhelming fatigue
•  Muscle aches and pains 
•  Headaches
By now, the reader probably recognizes all of these 
symptoms as related to adrenaline. However, PMDD  has 
additional symptoms caused by estrogen dominance: uterine 
cramps, breast tenderness, fluid retention, and bloating. Eliminating this condition begins with the clear 
understanding that it is strictly a hormonal problem, caused 
primarily by too much adrenaline and estrogen, and too little 
progesterone. (In spite of how it is normally treated, it is not 
caused by a deficiency of Prozac.) Just before her monthly 
period, a woman experiences a sharp drop in progesterone, 
which initiates menstruation. A low progesterone level leads 
to a rise in insulin, which, in turn, can cause hypoglycemic 
episodes, along with bloating, fluid retention, and weight 
gain. I suspect that women who have PMDD  have creative 
type or mixed type ADHD , which makes their response to 
hypoglycemia more pronounced, resulting in the output of 
large amounts of adrenaline. ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 98  | 
 
Eliminating PMDD begins with understanding it as 
strictly a hormonal problem. Treatment to lower the adrenaline level, of course, is 
a combination of using a topical progesterone cream and 
following a low-glycemic meal plan. This regimen will also help 
to control insulin as well as block the effects of high estrogen. I received the following letter from a woman who was 
suffering from extreme PMDD . I present it in its entirety, despite 
its length, because it touches on a number of important issues, 
the most significant being the profound lack of knowledge 
about hormones among many doctors. Unfortunately, this 
includes many gynecologists, who are the primary specialists 
treating women and teenage girls. I believe that this letter should be required reading for all 
doctors training to be gynecologists. Any doctor reading this 
who recognizes that he or she would have taken the same 
approach as the physicians in this letter is strongly encouraged 
to read my manual for healthcare practitioners: The Platt 
Protocol for Hormone Balancing . This letter should be required reading for all doctors 
training to be gynecologists. Dear Dr. Platt,
I am 33 years of age and I really do not think 
I will make it to 34!!! I am taking antidepressants, 
painkillers, and have a Mirena coil fitted. I do not have 
any children. I started my periods at 14 and I have suffered |   99 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
with severe PMS since I was 16 years old, and I really 
can’t cope with it any more. I am sick to death of doctors 
not listening to me!!! I have said to them from the start 
that I have problems with my hormones. My own mother 
suffered all of her adult life with severe PMS. I am like 
a carbon copy of her. She had to have a hysterectomy in 
her early 40s to stop her PMS and has been on all sorts of 
HRT. She now  uses estrogel,  and from all I have read about 
“synthetic hormones” I am very worried about her. My 
grandmother died of breast cancer in her mid 50s, my 
mother is in her mid 50s!!!!!! Also my mother’s aunt now 
has breast cancer. I was put on a birth control pill at 15 to regulate my 
periods; from the onset they have been very heavy and 
irregular. I have since been on every contraception pill 
you can think of!!! Since I was 19 I have been on every 
antidepressant you can think of!!! I have constantly told the 
doctors that I am only depressed for two weeks of the month 
and that my problems are hormonal, but they will just 
not listen to me!!! When I saw a psychologist (I had to practically beg the 
doctors that I wanted to see someone, as I thought I was 
going insane every month), she confirmed what I knew all 
along. I had PMDD . I then had to ask the doctors to refer 
me to a gynecologist. The gynecologist gave me Provera injections, which 
made me worse. I felt like I was 100 years old, I have never 
felt so ill, so I stopped that as well. He asked if there was a 
possibility I could have endometriosis, how should I know! I have suffered with extremely painful periods since I can  100  | 
ADRENALINE DOMINANCE
remember; I have had a very painful lower back and left 
shoulder since I was 23. The doctors have been aware of all of this. As the years have progressed, so has the mental 
and physical pain. I have been told on numerous occasions 
that “some people suffer painful periods, it’s normal.”
My gynecologist performed a laparoscopy in March this 
year and told me I have stage 2-3 endometriosis!!! Well, no kidding!! At the same time he fitted a Mirena coil and said this should help with the pain. I told my gynecologist from the start that I need 
something for the psychological effects of PMDD  as well. Yes, I am in excruciating pain every month, but what 
about my mental state!!! I feel like I am going insane 
every month. He said you do not have PMDD , you have 
endometriosis, which can cause mood swings!!! I suffer 
with a lot more than mood swings!!! The coil has done nothing to help with the pain; if 
anything, it’s worse. As for the PMDD , well, it’s two weeks 
of a “living hell” for me and my close family. I become 
a different person; it’s as though I have been possessed. My mind has been taken over and I cannot control it no 
matter how hard I try. I become  extremely agitated, angry, 
nasty, bouts of uncontrollable crying, deep dark morbid 
thoughts, extremely depressed, suicidal thoughts, thoughts 
of harming others—the list is endless. And then there’s the 
physical pain, swollen and sore breasts, bloating  (I look like 
I’m 6 months pregnant), my hands are always swollen, I 
have aches and pains throughout my body, joints ache, my 
head aches, I have lower back and shoulder pain, pelvic 
pain, zero energy and motivation. I could go on!!! I have been a guinea pig now for 18 years, trying |   101 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
everything possible from contraceptive pills, injections 
to stop my ovaries from working, etc., and nothing has 
worked. I have repeatedly told the gynecologist that it is 
the hormones that are causing my problems, why would I 
want to add more of them back into my body, especially if 
they are synthetic. I have gained a lot of weight and the 
scales keep rising, even though I hardly eat a thing!!! My gynecologist said he will perform a hysterectomy at 
the end of this year if I am still no better. Only a miracle 
could help me now, as I am not all of a sudden going 
to get better. While I was waiting for an appointment, 
I came across your book The Miracle of Bio-Identical 
Hormones . I could not believe what I was reading. It 
confirmed my beliefs about my hormones—do my doctors 
have no common sense!!! Your book was a revelation to me: of course it’s 
my hormones. I have known this all along, and I also 
knew that the amount of “synthetic” hormones they have 
been pumping through my body for years has made my 
endometriosis and PMDD  so much worse. I told my next gynecologist that I wanted to try 
“bio-identical hormones”—she basically laughed in my 
face!! She said it was all a gimmick to make money on the 
internet and that the patches she was going to prescribe 
were “bio-identical hormones” that were derived from 
plant extracts so that makes them bio-identical and that the 
molecular structure had been changed slightly!!!! (Well, it’s 
not bio-identical, then, is it!!!) She was very patronizing. I could have had a full-blown argument with her, but to be honest I didn’t have the energy and I thought, “She is my last hope”!!! 102  | 
ADRENALINE DOMINANCE
I was prescribed Estraderm MX 100; each patch 
contains 3 mg of estradiol!!!! From the research I have 
carried out, this is the worst thing I could be on!!!! I asked 
her if the patches would make my endometriosis worse, and 
she said it would be unlikely!!!! WHAT ! !! Doesn’t estradiol 
feed endometriosis??? I couldn’t believe it when she said 
“Well, your own body produces estrogen doesn’t it!!! It’s 
the progesterone that is causing you all of your problems as 
this is what peaks during the last two weeks of the month 
when you are having problems.” I could not believe what 
I was hearing. As you can now imagine, I do not know 
which way to turn. Because of the PMDD  I have never been able to keep 
a job for long. I am unemployed; I have been for years 
now. I am existing, not living. I had so many hopes and 
dreams which have all been taken away from me. We 
only have one life, and I have wasted so many years of it. All my relationships have failed, I have no friends, I have 
no zest for life, all I see are dark tunnels, I am a recluse, I 
do not go out, I really do not have a life. It’s just me and the four walls. I live with my parents still, which is very 
hard for me. I was once a positive, bubbly, outgoing, happy 
person, but with each year passing I am becoming more and 
more negative, angry, frustrated, and extremely depressed. I am trapped within my own skin. All I want is to be 
free from my mind and body, and the only way I can see this happening is if I end my life. I know this may sound drastic, but I really cannot cope with the ups and downs any more and it seems the only solution. I suppose this is a cry for help, I feel as though you are 
now my last chance of hope, I am desperate for help. I don’t |   103 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
think I have any more tears in me to cry, and I don’t have 
the energy to face another dark day. Yours gratefully and hopefully,
 (name withheld)
What a tragic story! This woman is clearly estrogen 
dominant, as evidenced by her cramps, breast tenderness, 
endometriosis, and bloating, all caused by a deficiency of progesterone. Her doctors put her on birth control pills, 
Provera, and a Mirena coil—all of which stopped her from 
making progesterone. As a result, she went from a low level of 
progesterone to none, which increased her symptoms related 
to both estrogen dominance and adrenaline dominance. To 
make matters worse, she was placed on high levels of estradiol, 
the strongest estrogen, exacerbating her estrogen-induced 
endometriosis. Since few doctors are aware of the connection between 
PMDD  and adrenaline, her doctors could not see that 
excess adrenaline was causing her mood swings, anger 
issues, depression, and weight gain, as well as pains due to 
fibromyalgia. This woman has cried out for help for many years, yet 
her doctors were not listening, and they failed to realize that they did not have the knowledge to help her. Unfortunately, 
this kind of story will continue until the day when patients 
become angry enough to demand a more intelligent approach 
from their doctors. To quote the French philosopher Voltaire: 
Doctors give drugs of which they know little, 
into bodies of which they know less, 
for diseases of which they know nothing at all.105 
CHAPTER 7FEN-PHEN: 
ANOTHER SIDE TO 
 
THE STORY
 
Fen-Phen—the combination of two generic weight loss 
drugs, fenfluramine and phentermine—was a short-lived 
phenomenon in medical history. At the time of its withdrawal 
in 1997 by the FDA, 29 million Americans were on this drug 
combination, and every type of medical practitioner, including 
primary care doctors, orthopedists, psychiatrists, and plastic 
surgeons, was prescribing it. I have included Fen-Phen in this book because, in my view, 
no other combination of medications has lowered adrenaline and insulin levels as dramatically. First, some background. Michael Weintraub, M.D., who is 
credited with combining these two weight control medications, 
thought that putting them together would enhance their 
effectiveness while reducing their side effects. His 65-page 
article in the May 1992 issue of Clinical Pharmacology and 
Therapeutics  delineated the remarkable results of a weight loss 
study Weintraub had conducted using Fen-Phen. Soon after the article appeared, a number of weight loss 
clinics started utilizing this drug combination and duplicated 
his success. The media caught on, coining the term “Fen-Phen.” 
Almost overnight, clinics sprang up all over the country, and  106  | 
ADRENALINE DOMINANCE
doctors from all specialties started prescribing it. The problem 
was that very few doctors really knew how to prescribe it or 
what the correct dosage should be. Since phentermine and fenfluramine were generic 
medications—that is, they were no longer patented—no 
drug companies were marketing them. This eliminated the 
most common way that doctors learn dosing of a drug, which 
is from the representative of the drug company making the 
drug. Instead, doctors referred to the PDR (Physicians’ Desk 
Reference), which listed the usual dosage for each medication 
individually—phentermine 30 mg per day and fenfluramine 
20 mg three times a day—but no dosage for the combination. Having no better information, doctors simply prescribed the individual dosage for each drug—which eventually resulted in the demise of Fen-Phen. In the meantime, A.H. Robins, the drug company that 
manufactured fenfluramine under the name Pondimin, came 
out with a new weight loss drug called Redux to replace 
Pondimin, which had gone off patent. Needless to say, the 
company wanted Fen-Phen off the market, since it could 
dramatically interfere with sales of Redux. In retrospect, the decision to develop Redux never made 
sense. It was the same chemical as Pondimin, only stronger. And, like Pondimin, it was not very effective for weight loss 
when used by itself, and it had serious side effects such as 
pulmonary hypertension. A.H. Robins sponsored a study conducted at the Mayo 
Clinic, the primary purpose of which was to eliminate 
Fen-Phen. They rounded up 24 women from across the United 
States, all on high dosages of Fen-Phen, some taking 18 times 
the correct dosage. Many of these women were found to have |   107 fEN-pHEN : ANOTHER S IDE TO THE S TORy 
heart valve damage. As a result of this (purposely) flawed study, 
the FDA immediately pulled fenfluramine from the market, 
as well as Redux, which A.H. Robins should have anticipated. So they wound up being hoisted by their own petard. To my knowledge, this was the only study of Fen-Phen that 
ever demonstrated significant heart valve damage. Between 
1992 and 1997 (the year Fen-Phen was taken off the market), 
only five deaths were attributed to Fen-Phen. This number is 
minimal compared to the hundreds of thousands of deaths 
caused by NSAID s, such as Vioxx and ibuprofen, or diabetic 
drugs such as Avandia—drugs that are still on the market or 
were taken off the market after many years of the FDA ignoring 
the number of deaths they caused. Weintraub actually provided the correct (and safe) dosage 
of Fen-Phen in the epilogue to his 65-page article. In the 
epilogue, he comments that the dosage he used in the original 
study was too high, but once the study started he couldn’t 
change the protocol. In the study he recommended a dosage 
of phentermine 30 mg and fenfluramine 20 mg three times 
a day. However, he realized after the study, started that the 
dosage should have been phentermine 15 mg and fenfluramine 
20 mg once a day. It seems that few doctors, if any, were aware 
of this information. The problem with the higher-than-necessary dosage of 
Fen-Phen is that while one drug, phentermine, suppressed the 
appetite, the other drug, fenfluramine, took away cravings. When the doses of both were too high, people stopped eating, 
so their metabolism halted and no weight loss occurred. The 
next week they would go back to their physicians and say, 
“Doc, I’m not losing weight,” and usually the doctor prescribed 
an even higher dose. This scenario was sometimes repeated  108  | 
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week after week—no wonder people got overdosed. However, when Fen-Phen was used correctly, nothing was 
more effective for weight loss, and I suspect nothing ever will 
be. Because one drug took away the appetite and the other 
took away cravings, this combination allowed people to have 
complete control over how they ate, which contributed strongly 
to weight loss. In addition, I would put Fen-Phen, when used 
correctly, up against almost any drug on the market today in terms of safety. When Fen-Phen was used correctly, nothing was 
more effective for weight loss, and I suspect  
nothing ever will be. I suspect that the main reason why Fen-Phen helped bring 
about significant weight loss was because of fenfluramine’s 
apparently unique ability to reduce the effect of insulin, the 
main hormone that creates fat from sugar and prevents the 
release of fat from fat cells. As long as people on Fen-Phen 
were eating, they were able to burn fat and lose weight. As it turned out, Fen-Phen took away cravings not only 
for food but also for alcohol, cigarettes, cocaine, and heroin, 
usually within 24 hours. At times, I prescribed Fen-Phen 
just to get a patient off cigarettes—which was 100 percent 
successful—and the weight gain that commonly occurs after people stop smoking never happened. Used together, the combination of phentermine and 
fenfluramine lowered blood pressure, eliminated migraine 
headaches, and, quite remarkably, got rid of asthma, depression, and 
ADHD . It also helped diabetics to get off their medications. In fact, I found Fen-Phen more successful in getting rid of |   109 fEN-pHEN : ANOTHER S IDE TO THE S TORy 
these conditions than any other medication on the market. Fen-Phen appears to have helped prevent the effects of 
not only insulin but also of adrenaline. I suspect that because 
insulin was controlled, there was less hypoglycemia, which 
meant that less adrenaline was released to raise the sugar level. This drop in adrenaline helped to eliminate high blood pressure 
and ADHD . Individually, phentermine or fenfluramine could 
elevate blood pressure. However, the combination actually 
lowered it. Sadly, the FDA’s  primary function often appears to be 
protecting drug companies rather than benefiting consumers. Fen-Phen was pulled from the market based on a study of 
only 24 women who were on extremely high doses of the 
medications—clearly an invalid study. In fact, extremely few 
deaths have been attributed to this drug combination, and 
very few side effects occurred when the correct dose was used. Compare this to Chantix, a drug on the market since 
2006 to aid in smoking cessation, which has been found to 
increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke by 72 percent. In other words, one in twenty-eight users will develop this 
problem. Chantix also causes erratic behavior and depression, 
along with suicidal thoughts. In 2009, Chantix received a 
black box warning concerning these issues, and as of 2011, 
more than 150 suicides had been attributed to this drug. Yet 
it is still on the market. Fen-Phen was eliminated from the market because 
of heart concerns, yet I do not know of any drug 
combination that has actually been more  
beneficial for the heart. 110  | 
ADRENALINE DOMINANCE
 Fen-Phen was eliminated from the market because of heart 
concerns, yet I do not know of any drug combination that has 
actually been more beneficial for the heart. Fen-Phen helped 
people get off cigarettes, lowered blood pressure, helped to 
eliminate diabetes, reduced stress, and was the most successful 
non-surgical treatment ever for losing excess weight. I researched this drug combination for six months before 
I started using it with patients. The first patient I put on it 
lost 100 pounds in three months with only minor changes his 
eating habits. In this era of epidemic obesity, it might be worthwhile 
for the medical community to reassess the positive aspects of 
Fen-Phen. This would require a reevaluation of its benefits, 
an honest reassessment of its safety and efficacy, and FDA 
reapproval. This kind of reapproval of a drug happened not too long 
ago for a hypnotic medication called thalidomide. In the 1950s 
and 1960s, this drug had been prescribed as a sleeping aid for 
pregnant women, which unfortunately resulted in a significant 
number of congenital birth defects, and it was taken off the 
market. Subsequently, it was found to have unique qualities 
that allowed its reemergence as an anti-rejection drug used 
with transplant patients. If Fen-Phen is ever reintroduced, steps must be taken to 
ensure correct dosing. Perhaps a limited study could be funded 
by the NIH,  focusing on treatment of the morbidly obese. I 
doubt if drug companies would be interested in doing these 
studies, since phentermine and fenfluramine are not patentable. Perhaps it is time for the medical community to accept 
the fact that the current recommendations for controlling 
weight are not working. Surgery should not be the answer. |   111 fEN-pHEN : ANOTHER S IDE TO THE S TORy 
Since obesity is now considered a disease rather than an eating 
problem, the idea of using medications to treat it might also 
be more acceptable. If a weight loss medication can also 
eliminate hypertension, asthma, migraine headaches, substance 
addictions, ADHD , and depression, so much the better. Interestingly, bio-identical progesterone cream provides 
many of the same clinical results as Fen-Phen because of its 
effect on insulin and adrenaline. It also helps with weight loss, 
though the effect is not as profound as with Fen-Phen.113 
CHAPTER 8ADRENAL 
FATIGUE—  
OR IS IT? Adrenal fatigue is a diagnosis used mostly in alternative 
medicine, usually among naturopathic physicians. The 
diagnosis is based on the theory that the adrenal gland, if underfunctioning, can fail to produce sufficient quantities 
of cortisol. Treatment often involves prescribing cortisol in 
addition to addressing diet, timing of eating, and amount 
of rest. I have two concerns about this diagnosis and its treatment. First, adrenal fatigue may actually be adrenaline dominance, 
a condition of adrenal overfunctioning rather than 
underfunctioning. Second, prescribing cortisol for a condition 
possibly already associated with a high cortisol level may have 
unintended consequences. Cortisol, if given inappropriately, 
can produce unwanted weight gain by raising sugar and insulin 
levels. It can also cause osteoporosis, cataracts, stomach ulcers, 
muscle wasting, and brain damage. Naturopathic physician James Wilson, in his book, Adrenal 
Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome ,* published in 2001, 
gives a list of symptoms suggesting adrenal fatigue. These 
include:
* J.L.Wilson, Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome    
  (Petaluma, CA: Smart Publications, 2001), pp. 27–45. 114  | 
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• Fatigue unrelieved by sleep
• Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep• Decreased ability to handle stress• Depression• Increased PMS in women• Increased symptoms when meals are skipped• Problems focusing, with memory lapses• Decreased tolerance, easily irritated• Low energy between 3 and 4 p.m. • Difficulty staying on task • Being easily startled, which causes palpitations• Anxiety attacks• Hypoglycemia• Weight gain
As we have seen in this book, excess adrenaline can cause 
or contribute to every one of these symptoms. So is adrenal fatigue a condition related to too little 
cortisol or too much adrenaline? The distinction is 
important, since the treatments for the  
two conditions differ. So is adrenal fatigue a condition related to too little cortisol 
or too much adrenaline? The distinction is important, since the 
treatments for the two conditions differ. Usually, symptoms 
related to excess adrenaline can be largely relieved within 24 hours. Problems related to adrenal fatigue are more complex, since adrenal insufficiency can take months to correct. |   115 ADRENAL fATI gUE—OR IS IT? I suspect that one of the sources of confusion between 
adrenaline dominance and adrenal fatigue is that a low level 
of salivary cortisol is often considered an indicator of adrenal 
fatigue. However, I have observed that patients with low 
cortisol levels in saliva often have high cortisol levels in the 
blood. An elevated cortisol in a morning blood sample almost 
always goes along with high adrenaline. In fact, I consider a high morning cortisol blood level to be the best indicator of high adrenaline. (In my view, any cortisol level greater than 11.5 might actually be considered elevated.) I believe that this significant discrepancy between high 
cortisol levels in the blood versus low levels in the saliva is 
related to the tendency of adrenaline to constrict blood vessels. For example, the most common cause of cold hands and cold 
feet is excess adrenaline, not low thyroid. Vasoconstriction of 
blood vessels in the eye can cause glaucoma (which is often 
treated with beta-blocker eye drops), and vasoconstriction 
of the vestibular artery in the neck can cause tinnitus in the 
ears. Similarly, vasoconstriction of salivary gland blood vessels 
could possibly restrict blood flow to that area, resulting in low 
cortisol levels in the salivary glands themselves (as well as a 
dry mouth, which is commonly found in people with anxiety). It might make more sense to treat patients initially 
as if they have adrenaline dominance. For these reasons, it might make more sense to treat 
patients initially as if they have adrenaline dominance, rather 
than starting them on cortisol, a powerful hormone that they 
may not need. The fact that excess adrenaline responds so 
quickly to the protocol presented in this book can be used  116  | 
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as a diagnostic tool. If the patient’s symptoms are caused by 
adrenaline dominance, the symptoms should disappear or at 
least improve within 24 hours. If the symptoms do not improve 
within 24 hours, then the possibility of adrenal fatigue can 
be considered. Cortef, the drug most commonly used to treat adrenal 
fatigue, raises the cortisol level. Patients often feel better after 
they have started on Cortef. This may be because Cortef also 
raises the blood sugar level, which can decrease the body’s 
need to put out adrenaline. It can also act as an antidepressant. Thus Cortef can appear to be helping, whereas it may actually 
be making things worse. A word of caution: If a morning blood cortisol test shows 
that the patient’s cortisol level is below normal, and if the 
person’s DHEA-S (dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate, a hormone 
produced by the adrenal gland) level is also extremely low, the 
patient should probably be referred to an endocrinologist for treatment of possible Addison’s disease—a true condition of “adrenal fatigue.”117 
CHAPTER 9MANAGING 
EXCESS ADRENALINE
This chapter discusses the specifics of the treatment protocol 
for managing excess adrenaline. This treatment can bring 
about improvement of many of the conditions caused by 
adrenaline dominance fairly quickly, often within 24 hours. The two main aspects of the protocol—using progesterone 
cream and following a properly balanced diet—are discussed 
separately. (A recommended eating plan is provided in the 
appendix.) Both are vital to lowering adrenaline, though they 
play different roles. Progesterone lowers adrenaline indirectly 
through its effect on insulin. The only thing that directly lowers 
adrenaline is giving the brain a steady supply of the right fuel 
so the body doesn’t continue to release adrenaline. This is 
accomplished through diet. This treatment can bring about improvement of many 
of the conditions caused by adrenaline dominance 
fairly quickly, often within 24 hours. Because of the damage that can occur from prolonged 
imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain, this chapter also includes a section on recommended supplements to  118  | 
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improve brain health. The final section comments on diet 
and supplements for children with ADHD  and autism. DIETARY TREATMENT: A MEAL PLAN
The importance of diet in treating hyperadrenalism cannot 
be underestimated. It represents 70 percent of the successful 
approach to lowering adrenaline and is essential in addressing 
all of the conditions mentioned in this book: the “good,” the 
“bad,” and the “ugly” manifestations of excess adrenaline. In my view, we can assume that everyone who has one or 
more of the “bad” or “ugly” conditions caused by adrenaline 
dominance also has one of its “good” aspects: typical type, 
creative type, or mixed type ADHD . The meal plan for reducing adrenaline is designed around 
the principle of providing a steady supply of fuel for the body 
and especially for the brain. It relies on the glycemic index, 
which rates foods according to how quickly and how high 
they raise the level of glucose in the blood, and, consequently, 
the level of insulin. A useful version of the glycemic index is 
available in appendix B. The meal plan for reducing adrenaline is designed 
around the principle of providing a steady supply of 
fuel for the body and especially for the brain. A food high on the glycemic index is digested quickly and 
releases sugars into the bloodstream rapidly, which means 
it keeps the blood sugar yo-yoing due to alternating high 
sugar–high insulin levels. Examples of high-glycemic foods 
are refined sugar, refined grains or flours, many fruits, and all 
the products made with these foods. |   119 MANA gINg Ex CESS  ADRENALINE
Foods ranked low on the glycemic index are digested more 
slowly and release sugars more gradually, so a diet that focuses on 
low-glycemic foods prevents the yo-yo effect and thereby helps 
to control adrenaline. Low-glycemic foods include whole grains 
and legumes, vegetables, some fruits, and unprocessed foods. In addition, the meal plan for reducing adrenaline includes 
healthy fats, good protein, and sufficient water. I recommend 
including extra virgin coconut oil in the diet. Traditional 
thinking has always been that sugar, in the form of glucose, 
is the only fuel the brain requires. Recently, however, it has 
been discovered that ketone bodies might be an even more 
potent source of fuel for the brain. Ketone bodies are formed 
from medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), which are found 
in coconut oil and palm oil. They are important for reducing 
insulin resistance in the brain (type III diabetes), and may help 
to prevent, and in some cases greatly alleviate, Alzheimer’s 
disease. The importance of avoiding high-glycemic carbohydrates 
to control excess adrenaline is well illustrated by revisiting the 
story of Jose, the nine-year-old boy with typical type ADHD  
who we saw in chapter 4. It was Jose’s mother who brought 
him to me for care and who applied the progesterone cream 
that helped him so much. Jose’s father did not believe that 
eating correctly was a factor in his son’s improvement. One morning he took Jose to the International House of 
Pancakes. Jose ordered pancakes and waffles and smothered 
them in syrup. Shortly thereafter, he jumped up and started 
throwing plates onto the floor from adjoining tables. He found 
the Coca-Cola dispenser and started wolfing down sodas. He 
began yelling and screaming; the police came and ended up 
detaining him overnight. The father learned firsthand that  120  | 
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Jose could not eat or drink refined sugar without stimulating 
the release of large amounts of adrenaline. The full meal plan designed for people with excess 
adrenaline is available in appendix A. The logical nutritional 
advice it provides can benefit anyone, including people trying 
to lose weight. While what  one eats is important for managing excess 
adrenaline, when one eats is equally important. A person with 
any type of ADHD  should ideally eat five small meals spaced 
every three hours throughout the day. For people with creative type ADHD , this timing is 
especially critical. They need to eat often because their brains 
are more active.
AdrenalineDominance_eBook.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        Knowing that I had a 
hormone problem, which has been corrected with natural 
products, and I don’t have a disease, I feel like living my life again. Please do not stop fighting to help people get well 
because you’re one of the few who do really put people on 
the right track. I cannot express enough how grateful I 
am for the work that you do. And thank you, Dr. Platt, ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 76  | 
for your continual work to give back lives, even against 
all the aggression/oppression you have in your daily life. Sincerely, 
L. C. , Ph. D. CHRONIC INTERSTITIAL CYSTITIS
An estimated 750,000 to 1,000,000 women in the United 
States suffer from a condition called chronic interstitial cystitis. It often manifests as severe pain in the bladder 24 hours a 
day, along with uncomfortable burning during urination. Like so many other conditions discussed in this book, it has no known cause and, as a consequence, no known cure. It is most commonly treated with the drug Elmiron, which offers little or no help to the majority of women who use it. I consider chronic interstitial cystitis another manifestation 
of adrenaline dominance. As we saw in the section on urinary 
urgency (in the previous chapter), excess adrenaline can cause 
not only the urge to urinate but also the need to urinate 
frequently. However, some women, for one reason or another—
perhaps they work as teachers or cashiers—do not have the 
luxury of being able to run to the bathroom every 20 minutes 
or so. As a result, they tense up the muscles of the bladder in an 
attempt to prevent leakage. Any prolonged tensing of muscles 
can cause lactic acid to build up. This, in turn, can cause both 
pain in the walls of the bladder and burning upon urination. Because of the role of lactic acid buildup in chronic 
interstitial cystitis, I refer to it as fibromyalgia of the bladder. Not surprisingly, it is often associated with fibromyalgia 
elsewhere in the body. |   77 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
 
Because of the role of lactic acid buildup in chronic 
interstitial cystitis, I refer to it as fibromyalgia  
of the bladder. Elimination of this condition makes for an extremely 
grateful patient. One of my patients had been to doctors all 
over the world looking for relief. Two weeks after visiting my 
office, she sent a card thanking me and called me her “miracle 
doctor. ” The treatment, needless to say, was simply to lower 
her adrenaline level. Trying to educate people who are in a position to change 
how this condition is treated has been frustrating. As an 
example, I approached the Interstitial Cystitis Association 
and offered to write an article for their newsletter about how 
I treat this condition, but they were not interested. Perhaps 
they could not fathom that this devastating condition might have a relatively simple solution. ROAD RAGE
I have included road rage in the “ugly” category because it is 
a potentially lethal condition, especially if two people with 
road rage come into contact with one another. People with 
road rage often tailgate other cars, they tend to drive too fast 
and make unsafe lane changes, and they certainly antagonize 
other drivers—especially those who also have road rage. It takes very little imagination to see that these people have 
an excessive amount of adrenaline. They frequently wind up in anger management classes, although these classes provide 
little benefit because they do not link the problem with its 
real cause. ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 78  | 
Road rage can have serious consequences. For example, a 
medical doctor in Los Angeles with excess adrenaline got into 
a road rage incident with two bicyclists who also had excess 
adrenaline. The doctor wound up in prison for five years, and 
both bicycle riders were hospitalized. One of them will never 
ride a bike again. Those who have a tendency toward road rage should keep 
in mind that their driving is monitored by law enforcement 
personnel who usually have excess adrenaline themselves. When an officer pulls a driver over and tells the driver to get 
out of the car and lie down on the ground, my recommendation 
is to do what the officer says. One only has to remember what 
happened to Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1992. After a 
long chase by highway patrol officers, he was pulled over and wound up attacking two policemen. He failed to heed their 
request to lie down, which resulted in his being beaten by 
over-adrenalized officers, an event that wound up precipitating 
the infamous Los Angeles Riots. Of course, the treatment for road rage is to lower adrenaline. The following letter illustrates how quickly this can be 
accomplished. This 30-year-old gentleman from the San Francisco 
Bay Area came to see me with only one complaint: anger. Patient A. W. Since the first time I rubbed the progesterone cream on 
my arms I could feel the effects. From that moment on, I have felt an inner calmness that had always seemed to be 
missing. This was something I had been trying to control for 
years by using different substances. I feel “normal” again, 
I should say, I like myself again. The biggest thing for me is 
driving. As you can imagine, where I live in Silicon Valley |   79 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
there is no shortage of traffic and bad drivers. Before coming to your office I would have times when 
I would just choose not to go out because of the devastating 
effect driving had on my attitude. Sometimes I just wanted 
to run drivers off the road or honk at them, and I just felt 
unusually frustrated with the whole experience. I should 
mention there was a point in my life when I loved to 
drive. Now, something amazing has happened, I can enjoy 
driving again. The local driving habits of people, or the lack 
thereof, haven’t changed. I have. It just doesn’t bother me 
anymore. I am amazed, too, when this happens. I think to 
myself, “Wow, that person just cut me off and that’s OK. I am OK with that. ” Whereas I used to think, “Who in the f#*$ is that a%&#. +. ” That is a big difference. I just feel so much better. I want to thank Dr. Platt and his team for their 
courage to move forward and really try to heal people 
during a time when people need it most. I know that there 
will be/is a lot of resistance, there always is with change, but if I can ever be of help I am here. It has been less than a week since I was there and I am seriously a new person. Before coming in to your office I had been working so hard 
on the physical and mental parts, but something was still 
missing. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for filling 
the missing part. I can now truly live my life. BIPOLAR DISORDER   
In my opinion, understanding how excess adrenaline can 
affect the body sheds light on the condition known as bipolar 
disorder. The older term, “manic-depressive disorder,” was 
perhaps a more apt name. ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 80  | 
People with this condition go from periods of extreme 
restlessness and hyperactivity to periods of extreme depression. In the hypomanic phase (a true manic phase is rarely seen 
outside of an institution), the mind can go extremely fast and 
the person may exhibit rapid speech or have grandiose ideas. These characteristics are symptoms of excess adrenaline in the 
brain. This same output of adrenaline, the anger hormone, can 
lead to depression when the anger is internalized. Subsequently, 
the adrenaline causes a swing back to euphoria. There is no way of accurately determining the behaviors 
through which a bipolar tendency will be expressed. It may 
be that right-brained patients exhibit more rapid speech and 
flow of ideas, while left-brained patients may manifest extreme 
activity. I suspect that both can become severely depressed 
and suicidal. I also suspect that everyone with this condition started out 
with ADHD. People with ADHD  can actually be pushed into 
a bipolar state simply with the use of commonly prescribed 
antidepressants that are in the norepinephrine reuptake 
inhibitor (NRI) category, or with stimulants. A partial list 
of these drugs includes: Wellbutrin, Effexor, Cymbalta, 
Lyrica, Pristiq, Adderall, Strattera, and Ritalin. The last three 
are prescribed for ADHD  specifically, while the others are 
commonly used for depression. Bipolar patients are often 
placed on antidepressants, with Cymbalta and Lyrica added 
for pain control. |   81 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
 
Doctors are giving bipolar patients medications that 
increase the adrenaline level in the brain when they 
have too much adrenaline in the brain to begin with. All of these drugs can increase the amount of adrenaline 
in the brain. Reminiscent of how doctors often treat type II 
diabetics with insulin or drugs that increase insulin, the very 
hormone that causes type II diabetes, doctors are giving bipolar 
patients medications that increase the adrenaline level in the 
brain, when they have too much adrenaline in the brain to 
begin with. Is it any wonder that suicide and sudden death 
are listed among the side effects of these drugs. As one patient 
wrote in a brief note:
Patient C. K. You have taken me off my bipolar drugs and have 
changed my life. My whole family acknowledges the 
following: I am more alert. I am walking better with 
“more life” in my step. My anxiety level is way down and I am no longer sluggish in thought. How ADHD  can convert into a bipolar disorder is 
illustrated by the case of a 32-year-old patient of mine. He 
had a history of hyperactivity caused by high adrenaline. In 
his youth he was active in sports and had trouble focusing 
in school; as an adult he became a workaholic. His excess 
adrenaline took away his appetite, which forced the release of even more adrenaline to provide fuel for the body. This also created stress, which led to cortisol production. The cortisol raised his sugar level, leading to the release of insulin, which ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 82  | 
resulted in hypoglycemia—prompting the output of still 
more adrenaline. His very high adrenaline caused hypomanic 
behavior along with episodes of severe depression due to 
internalization of anger. When I first met with this patient, he was on four 
medications: lithium, Depakote, Paxil, and Effexor. The drugs 
caused him to gain 65 pounds, which added to his depression, 
along with brain fog. I put him on a program to lower his 
adrenaline and wean him off all his psychoactive medications. His bipolar behavior disappeared along with his weight gain. He underwent a remarkable transformation, attesting to the ability of the body to heal itself when the underlying cause of the problem is addressed. Part of the protocol I recommend for treating bipolar 
disorder is natural bio-identical progesterone cream. Because 
progesterone is a natural antidepressant that affects most, if 
not all, of the neurotransmitters in the brain, using it helps 
patients to wean themselves off their antidepressant drugs. One woman who came to see me had been diagnosed with 
bipolar disorder and was on Lyrica, Cymbalta, Effexor, and 
Wellbutrin. All four drugs are NRIs. NRI drugs increase the level 
of norepinephrine—a hormone that acts similarly to adrenaline—
in the brain. For someone whose adrenaline level in the brain is already raised, taking NRIs can have tragic consequences. The woman was also in her first trimester of pregnancy. I 
advised her that if she wanted to maintain the pregnancy, she 
should go “cold turkey” off her medications to avoid damage to 
the fetus. She abruptly stopped all medications while applying 
progesterone cream every one to two hours and did not have 
a single withdrawal symptom. Needless to say, her bipolar 
disorder also disappeared. |   83 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
A Canadian patient who drove all the way from Manitoba 
to Southern California to see me shared that she had been 
on 43 medications at one time or another for her bipolar 
problem and had been institutionalized numerous times 
for this disorder. Obviously, the drugs were not solving her 
problem. I helped her wean herself off her medications and 
prescribed for her high doses of progesterone cream. Not only 
did she return to feeling normal, she was able to go out and get a job for the first time in 10 years. When she visited the doctor who had been treating her for 
years, he didn’t even recognize her. It was the first time he had 
seen her wearing makeup. Prior to this visit she would drag 
herself out of bed and didn’t have the energy to apply makeup. She told him how wonderful she felt off of her medications 
and on hormones. The doctor promptly scolded her and fired her as a patient. This was not surprising, since she threatened this doctor’s approach to treating patients. Another woman, aged 42, had been diagnosed with bipolar 
disorder, plus type II diabetes and hypertension. At the time I 
first saw her, she was on the following daily medications—an 
example of gross mistreatment of a patient, yet, surprisingly, still within the guidelines of the “standard of care”: 
Insulin – 90 units (an extremely high level)Seroquel – 25 mgAbilify – 5 mgLexapro – 30 mgRitalin – 30 mgProvigil – 200 mgMetformin – 2000 mgNeurontin – 600 mgCitrical – 2 tabletsADRENALINE DOMINANCE 84  | 
Aspirin – 325 mg
Nexium – 40 mgAtenolol – 50 mgRanitidine – 75 mgLipitor – 40 mgTricor – 145 mgXenical – 120 mgLotensin – 20 mgProvera – 10 mgNiaspan – 2 capsulesSynthroid – 88 mcg
I eliminated every one of her medications except the 
thyroid (Synthroid). Her brain fog disappeared. Her sugar 
level normalized, as did her blood pressure. Her cholesterol 
actually went down when she was off the Lipitor and Niaspan, 
and she lost 65 pounds. Certainly, treating patients with psychoactive disorders can 
be complex and should not be taken lightly. Reducing adrenaline 
and weaning off psychoactive drugs may not be suitable for every 
patient. That said, what I do know is that, given the choice, 
most patients prefer to treat the cause of their problem and not 
be subjected to a drug or drugs that can have toxic side effects. In the case of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder, it is 
certainly worth considering whether the issue is an underlying 
hormonal dysfunction that could be treated naturally with the 
right diet and with bio-identical progesterone. Until fairly recently, the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 
children was virtually nonexistent. Today, over 1 million 
children have been diagnosed with this condition. The main manifestations seem to be hyperactivity, disruptive behavior, 
extreme mood swings, and anger issues—all suggestive, of |   85 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
course, of excess adrenaline. These children are often placed 
on powerful psychoactive drugs, many of which the FDA has 
not approved for use in children. Today, over 1 million children have been diagnosed 
with bipolar disorder, even though they fail to 
demonstrate the classic signs of severe mood swings. While high levels of adrenaline can explain all of the 
behaviors these children exhibit, making that observation is not 
cost efficient for the business of medicine. Many psychiatrists 
are compensated only if they prescribe a drug. Once a child 
is started on an antipsychotic, the psychiatrist has a built-in patient for years to come. Primary care doctors are reluctant to prescribe these types of drugs, and certainly will not take the responsibility of discontinuing them. My personal view is that the school killings of recent years 
as well as teenage suicides may have involved young people on 
these drugs whose side effects have caused these tragic episodes. Although gun legislation may be of benefit, it might be even 
more effective to limit the prescription of these powerful drugs 
to children. A poignant example of the problem with false diagnostic 
labels, as well as the failure of the medical establishment to 
understand how hormones affect mental health, is the story of 
a four-year-old girl, Rebecca Riley. On December 13, 2006, Rebecca died of an overdose of drugs given to her for bipolar 
disorder, prescribed by a doctor who had never examined 
her. In 2010, her parents, in separate trials, were found guilty 
of murder, and both received life sentences. Their crime: 
deliberately overdosing their daughter. ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 86  | 
Her doctor had prescribed excessively high doses of three 
psychoactive drugs—Depakote 750 mg per day, Seroquel 200 
mg per day, and clonidine 0. 35 mg per day—based not on 
examining Rebecca but on the mother’s reports of Rebecca’s 
behavior. Interestingly, both the doctor and the mother agreed, 
in interviews before the trials, that Rebecca most likely did not 
have bipolar disorder, even though she had been diagnosed 
with it. The state of Massachusetts neglected to file charges against 
the doctor. It is hard to fathom why the doctor was held 
blameless for Rebecca’s death, and why the pharmacists were 
not reprimanded for refilling the prescriptions for Rebecca 
almost every other day. In my opinion, every person associated 
with her care shares the blame for her death: her parents, the 
doctor, the pharmacists, the staff at her school, and social 
services. Her death, I feel, could have been prevented had the 
medical profession been aware of the relationship between 
hormones and ADHD. It has been noted that bipolar disorder runs in families. This makes sense since children inherit their hormones from 
their parents. I would guess that the parents of children who are given a bipolar diagnosis both have 
ADHD. Indeed, most 
of the patients I have seen with bipolar disorders have the signs 
and symptoms I recognize as creative type ADHD. In other 
words, they have a lot of adrenaline in the brain. The treatment for bipolar disorder that I have found 
repeatedly effective consists of the patient utilizing the proper 
dose of progesterone cream, following the correct meal plan, 
and weaning himself or herself off any bipolar medications 
he or she is taking. |   87 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
HYPEREMESIS GRAVIDARUM 
It is not unusual for pregnant women to experience morning 
sickness during the first three months of pregnancy. This 
nausea and vomiting is caused by estrogen when progesterone, 
the hormone that normally blocks the effects of estrogen, is 
inadequate. At the start of the second trimester, the placenta 
starts putting out large amounts of progesterone, which 
normally eliminates the nausea and vomiting. However, some women continue to vomit through 
their entire pregnancy, a condition known as hyperemesis 
gravidarum. Not being a gynecologist, I have not seen women 
in my practice at the time they exhibited this condition. But a 
number of my women patients report having had this problem 
during their pregnancies. These women go into the second trimester with their 
brains starved for fuel, so their bodies are pouring 
out adrenaline to raise their sugar levels. I have noted that the majority of these women have creative 
type ADHD, which means their brains require more fuel than 
a “normal” brain. Most of these women are progesterone-
deficient to begin with. As a result, they experience fairly intense 
nausea and vomiting in the first trimester due to unopposed 
estrogen. They go into the second trimester with their brains 
starved for fuel, so their bodies are pouring out adrenaline 
to raise their sugar levels. Unfortunately, this outpouring of 
adrenaline also induces nausea and vomiting and suppresses the 
appetite. To exacerbate matters, these women are still putting 
out large amounts of estrogen, which may also contribute to the nausea and vomiting. ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 88  | 
A review article titled “ Nausea  and Vomiting in Pregnancy” 
in the October 14, 2010 issue of the New England Journal 
of Medicine  says that “the cause of nausea and vomiting in 
pregnancy is unclear. ” However, knowing how adrenaline 
affects the body provides a reasonable explanation of the cause. We know that in certain stressful situations, when the body 
is likely to produce excess adrenaline, some people experience 
nausea and vomiting. Examples include performers just before 
going on stage, professional athletes before going out on the 
field, and trial attorneys before giving their opening remarks. So overproduction of adrenaline is likely a key factor in women 
with hyperemesis gravidarum also. I suspect that giving women suffering from this 
condition high doses of bio-identical progesterone via vaginal 
suppositories, along with transdermal progesterone cream, 
would significantly relieve their symptoms. If nutrition with 
low-glycemic carbohydrates, either orally (if possible) or 
via tube feedings, is added, the problem could possibly be 
eliminated in 24 to 48 hours. Three other obstetrical complications that also seem related 
to high adrenaline are preeclampsia, toxemia of pregnancy, 
and gestational diabetes. Both preeclampsia and toxemia of 
pregnancy, which are extremely serious, often necessitating 
early termination of the pregnancy, are associated with 
hypertension. It seems reasonable that adrenaline and insulin 
are causing the rise in blood pressure. I also suspect that women 
with these complications are not producing a sufficient amount 
of progesterone during their pregnancy. Adrenaline and insulin 
presumably play key roles in gestational diabetes just like they 
do in regular diabetes, as discussed in the previous chapter. At the time of this writing, the FDA has just approved use |   89 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
of a synthetic progestin to prevent premature births. The cost 
of this drug is about $1,500 per week. The good news is that 
compounding pharmacies can provide the identical preparation 
for about $95 per week. The bad news is that the FDA has 
made it illegal for compounding pharmacies to compound it. However, there is still a silver lining to this story. Physicians can 
offer their patients an even better option, namely, bio-identical 
progesterone in the form of vaginal suppositories and topical 
cream. The FDA cannot block compounding pharmacies from 
dispensing bio-identical progesterone suppositories or cream 
because drug companies do not provide them. Bio-identical 
progesterone is natural and does not cause the serious side effects 
that synthetic progestins cause. It is also the least expensive as well as the most effective option. CYCLICAL VOMITING SYNDROME
Cyclical vomiting syndrome, which is similar to hyperemesis 
gravidarum, is another condition for which the medical 
establishment cannot identify a cause. One of my patients, 
aged 47, had this condition. He told me that every morning 
of his life he would wake up and vomit. When he was a 
child, every time he got excited, he would start vomiting and couldn’t stop and would have to be hospitalized. To my way 
of thinking, the only possible explanation for this type of 
vomiting is adrenaline. On his first visit he sat across the desk from me, clenching 
the arms of his chair. It was fairly easy to observe that this 
man was pouring out adrenaline. I applied some progesterone 
cream to his forearm, and in less than ten minutes he leaned 
back in his chair and stated that in his entire life he had never 
felt so good. ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 90  | 
In the six years (as of this writing) since his first visit, he has 
not had one episode of vomiting. The letter he sent to me clearly 
delineates the agony he suffered from hyperadrenalism and the 
effectiveness of treating excess adrenaline with bio-identical 
progesterone cream. For all those who have not experienced the symptoms 
of ADHD, there are absolutely no words to describe how 
bad, truly bad, life was before…. I first came to Dr. Platt a year and a half ago. I had 
been on a nine-month merry-go-round of treatments, tests, 
and scans, all to no avail. Some $18,000 later, an entire 
staff of doctors could not tell me what was wrong with me. I was suffering from fibromyalgia. Every single inch 
of my body hurt. I could not get out of bed in the morning 
without extreme pain, I mean PAIN. When I opened Dr. Platt’s book ( The Miracle of 
Bio-Identical Hormones), I found all of my life’s agonies 
described on the pages in front of me. What makes me this 
way and how to fix it, all right there in black and white. I had just lost my job due in part to all these symptoms. My new bride of a year and a half was packing her bags, 
and frankly I was seriously considering jumping off a 
bridge. I now know that my adrenal glands are very active, and 
the one thing that a CT scan showed me is that my adrenal 
glands are three times larger than the average person’s. After reading Chapter 15 I realized that I have 
ADHD. How someone can remain undiagnosed at 47 
years of age baffles me. |   91 ExCESS  ADRENALINE: THE  UgLy
The effect that adrenaline has on so many parts of the 
body simply amazes me—how it affects hypoglycemia & 
blood sugar, the endless cycle of adrenaline versus sugar. In Chapter 15 Dr. Platt addresses adrenaline and 
its effects on the body in many ways. I counted 27 in just 
this one chapter. Adrenaline was killing me…. My wife and I made an appointment to see Dr. Platt. Feeling at the end of our rope, we booked the flights to 
California. My mood swings were out of control at this point. Like 
a clock’s pendulum going tick-tock-tick-tock, mine was 
going: aggression, depression, aggression, depression…. We sat across the desk from Dr. Platt, ranting 
and raving about all the symptoms, all the tests and 
aggravations. My wife and I often speak simultaneously, so the doc was getting more than his fill apparently. “Do you want all this to go away. ” he asked me in 
the most sincere way, like he just fixed people’s lives every day. Thirty years of agony and this man says, “
DO YOU 
WANT THIS TO GO AWAY. ”
He took progesterone cream and spread it down the 
length of my forearm. “Now rub that in,” he said. We conversed a while, looked at some blood tests, etc. Ten minutes or so passed. He says, “How do you feel. ”
The first thing that came to mind was what I was 
not feeling…. No adrenaline…. I was calm. I was sitting still, perfectly still…. ADRENALINE DOMINANCE 92  | 
ADHD  is a hyperactivity disorder. This comes from too 
much adrenaline. Too much adrenaline attaching to over 
15 million neuro-receptors in the brain equals aggression. Waiting too long in line……Aggression
The waitress forgot my drink……Aggression
Someone didn’t live up to my expectations……  
         Aggression
My life has always been a battle to calm the aggression…. He put that cream on my arm and it was all gone…. Every single symptom GONE. In the days following I noticed:
No more vomiting in the morning. No more debilitating fibromyalgia. No more afternoon fatigue. Most of all, I am CALM  today. It’s great to just sit 
still…. Every single symptom gone in 10 minutes…. What can I tell you about my friend, Dr.
L.C., Ph.D.
Who wrote a letter to Dr. Platt expressing gratitude for his work in helping them overcome their condition?
Lowering the patient's adrenaline level.
What is the primary treatment for chronic interstitial cystitis, according to the author?
The author suggests that excess adrenaline is the cause of road rage, and recommends that individuals with road rage lower their adrenaline levels.
What is the author's theory on the cause of road rage and how to treat it?
The author believes that the medical community has been misdiagnosing and mistreating patients with bipolar disorder, and recommends a natural approach that addresses the underlying hormonal imbalance.
What is the author's opinion on the treatment of bipolar disorder?
The author suspects that excess adrenaline may be a contributing factor to autism and recommends a comprehensive treatment approach that includes using bio-identical progesterone cream and a specific diet.
What is the author's perspective on the treatment of autism?