It took years for me to get a diagnosis and years more waiting for the help I need
Former fitness instructor Robert Hunter says his adult life has been torn apart because of an injury when he was 10 years old.
The life-changing legacy of the blow to his head in childhood has left him suffering impotence, depression, pain and chronic fatigue because of unseen damage to the vital chemical and hormone-producing pituitary gland at the base of his brain. Robert, 45, from Newtongrange, Midlothian, said: “I was hit on the head with a golf club by another boy during a bit of rough and tumble when we were just kids. I remember getting several stitches. I simply forgot about the incident, as you do.”
Robert had no inkling when he began struggling during intimate relationships that the childhood head injury was affecting his ability to make love. Damage to his pituitary gland, situated at the base of the brain, was leaving him with insufficient testosterone and other hormones to keep his body functioning normally.
The unseen damage was affecting the production of vital adrenal and growth hormones and chemicals, causing depression and chronic fatigue.
Robert said: “Inexplicably, around 15 years ago I began piling on weight until I could hardly recognise the person I once was. I was exhausted, depressed and in pain. My joints swelled up.
“My GP simply insisted I lose weight. I hadn’t changed my diet, but the weight gain was there for everyone to see.”
Robert’s relationship broke down amid impotence difficulties and, along with the depression and feelings of helplessness over what was happening to him, he tried twice to take his own life.
“I realised then I had to take control and find out what was wrong with me.” Researching his symptoms, Robert realised they fitted the effects of a damaged pituitary gland. His GP asked if he had suffered any head injury and Robert remembered being hit with the golf club. But he still did not get all the help he needed.
He said: “Even though specialists in Edinburgh agreed my childhood injury caused the problem, I suffered years of frustration before getting a full diagnosis in England. “Hormone treatment was available, but I was constantly denied the full range of tests to diagnose every deficiency.
“In despair, I reached out to a specialist in England who did all the tests and found I was deficient in the human growth hormone as well as others. “Even with those results, it’s a continual struggle to get the medication I need in Scotland. Because it took so long – almost 10 years – to get a proper diagnosis and treatment, far too much damage has already been done to my body to reverse things and get my life back. “Effective treatment is available, but I fear others like me are left suffering needlessly in Scotland because not enough is being done.”