Hi, just another parent of a child here... who supposedly ISN'T affected by the cortisol levels, ha ha ha! I've been saying this for 5 YEARS, and our Endo, keeps saying, "Her testosterone levels aren't elevated, so it isn't related to her adrenal insufficiency in any way... sorry, it's just HER!" Well, if he'd ever seen how out of control her emotions get... and I mean, OUT OF CONTROL; he'd know that it isn't anything she WANTS or tries, to pull... she gets scared herself, when it happens, you can see that! Also, when she has one of these episodes, (Usually when hungry, tired, etc) her physical reaction, is to immediately storm off, but crash somewhere, and sleep for a time. With Samantha, it's more a tantrum kind of thing, or she gets REALLY hysterical, when crying... but of course, that is just being FEMALE, I guess, according to him! Happy to see that it hasn't all been in my mind, but I'm sorry your children suffer this frustrating 'swing' of emotions, too... Janine