October is Pituitary Awareness Month and this year, the theme “A Lifetime of Hormone Health” feels especially meaningful to me. Living with a pituitary condition has shaped my life in ways that are often invisible to others, but it has also shown me the importance of resilience, self-advocacy, and hope.
At 19, I was told by a gynaecologist that I would never have children. No clear explanation was given, just a life-changing statement that left me bewildered. Despite this, I went on to have fertility treatment and I’m now blessed with two amazing grown-up children, aged 24 and 22. At the same time, I lived with a constant and frightening thirst, drinking litres of water every day and running to the toilet every 15 minutes (sometimes less). I thought my kidneys were failing. Doctors only tested my blood sugar and reassured me I didn’t have diabetes, but that was of little comfort. What was really happening was vasopressin deficiency, a rare condition that is still poorly understood today.
Growing up, my body didn’t develop in the way it should. I developed just one breast, never started periods like other girls my age, and even had surgery to check whether I had a womb because my uterine lining was so thin it didn’t show up on scans. People often comment on my height (I am 4ft 10”) but few realise how closely this is tied to my pituitary function.
You hear a lot about the challenges of menopause these days. For me, the exhaustion and hormone depletion that many women experience later in life were already there throughout my 20s, 30s, and 40s. I would put on a bright, energetic face in public, only to collapse in private, needing to rest. Even when I tried to explain, one friend scoffed that I was “hardly a geriatric.” This is what makes pituitary conditions so hard; they are invisible illnesses. People don’t see the constant struggle.
“I would put on a bright, energetic face in public, only to collapse in private, needing to rest.”
The hidden impacts showed up in other ways too, for example, needing steroids that were missed for years, having a bone age of 70 when I was only 32, and the daily uncertainty of a pituitary gland that only partially functions and seems to “behave” on its own terms.
But I refused to give up. I worked relentlessly in the gym, not just to look my best, but to fight for my bone health and overall wellbeing. Over time, the difference has been extraordinary. At 54, I feel healthier than ever thanks to persistence, better treatment, and greater awareness of pituitary conditions.
And here’s the wonderful part … life continues to surprise me. Against all odds, I’ve just been signed by a wonderful inclusive modelling agency, ZBD Talent!
In Eleanor Mills’ words, there is still “Much More to Come!”
#ZBD #Zebedee #InclusionRevolution #PocketRocket #PituitaryFoundation