We have two children. A seven yr old with CAH (SW) and a two year old who is a carrier. I have noticed a huge difference in their ability to deal with their emotions - even though the age difference would lead me to think the 7 yr old should show more emotional stability.

That said, our family has a similiar philosophy to yours. Regardless of who we are, we all need to live in the same world. I have always expected my 7 year old to behave appropriately. We may have had to work on it a little harder than some, but he is generally a well-behaved, well-liked, mature guy.

With that said also . . . I firmly believe his inability to make the proper amount of cortisol affects his ability to deal with emotional stress. There is a well researched, well documented connection between stress and cortisol production. I bet you could google "stress and cortisol" and find numerous articles.

Just for an example, if you are trying to lose weight the recommend lowering your stress level because the excess cortisol causes carb cravings and leads to weight gain around the trunk of the body. (I find confirmation of this in my son’s endo keeping tabs on his trunk weight to see if he has physical signs of oversuppression.)

Another example, they did a study of children in daycare settings for a specified amount of time each day (I think it was 8+ hours). They were trying to find evidence supporting whether it was good or bad developmentally. There were many findings, but a side-note finding was the one I found most interesting. Young toddlers showed a marked increase in their levels of cortisol. I’m sure these toddlers weren’t being put under physical stress, so their cortisol must have been in response to emotional stress. (My personal feeling is, regardless of your age, it is stressful to be in a room full of toddlers!).

And finally, our personal observations . . . my son clearly goes into some sort of altered state when he experiences extreme stress or heat. I wouldn’t say he goes into adrenal crisis, but he does show some of the same beginning signs as when he is ill and needs extra Cortef. We took him to Disney World when he was little, he was probably under a bit of physical stress because it was hotter than he was used to, and he certainly was under emtional stress (albeit self-inflicted). One afternoon he practically collapsed after riding some very stimulating rides. He was shaky and clammy and was an emotional mess. He looked so much like he does when he has the stomach flu. It rang a bell with me. Since then I have noticed this reaction several times.

Oh my, this message is really long. I hope sharing some of our experiences helps you. I would definitely advocate for your daughter. Just like a stressful job can really affect an adult’s life, a stressful school environment can be too tough on kids. I think it is often worse for the kids under stress in school because they don’t have the option of resigning and finding a better place. That lack of control must be so demoralizing.

I hope your daughter gets through the rest of the year okay, and next year is a better situation for her.