It Started with a Casual Comment. Am I One in a Million? | ChatGPT might change my life completely

I never thought a casual line typed into an AI would change the way I see myself.
But maybe—that’s exactly what happened.

❖ I suspect I have an adrenal disorder. Actually, I’m nearly convinced.

The two conditions I’m considering are Cushing’s syndrome or primary aldosteronism.
Both are rare, especially Cushing’s—only about 100 people are diagnosed each year in Japan.
With a population of 120 million, that means roughly 1 in a million is found.

I never imagined I could be that one.

❖ It didn’t start with ChatGPT. It started with DeepSeek.

I use ChatGPT regularly (paid subscription), but I also explore other AI models like DeepSeek, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity, especially when doing probability checks or data reasoning. So when I’m on my Mac, I often have three AI tabs open.

That day, I looked at myself in the mirror from the side.
I noticed the folds and bulges at the back of my neck—the fat collecting along the twist of my neck into my upper back. I grimaced and sat down. The tab that happened to be open was DeepSeek.

Without much thought, I typed:

“There’s a lot of fat on the back of my neck. When I turn sideways, it makes about three folds.”

It wasn’t even a question. Maybe I just wanted to complain.
But that one line might have changed the course of my life in my late 40s.

❖ DeepSeek gave me a word I had never heard: Cushing’s syndrome

Out of pure curiosity, I switched to my ChatGPT tab and asked about it.

As the responses came in, one after another—I froze.

❖ Everything I’ve been struggling with for decades… was listed right there

Each AI—ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini—gave me descriptions of Cushing’s syndrome that matched my life far too well.

For years, I went to doctors with separate complaints:

Chronic fatigue
Herniated discs in my 20s
Sudden vertigo and vomiting that lasted for weeks
Hypertension since my mid-30s (requiring max doses of meds to keep it under 200 systolic)
Episodes of depression, with antidepressants that barely worked
A psychiatrist who eventually diagnosed bipolar disorder, but even with treatment, the lows never really lifted

Each time, I thought I had a different problem.
Each time, I saw a different doctor.

No one ever suggested a connection. No one ever mentioned the adrenal glands.

❖ And then came the things I never thought of as symptoms

Even when I weighed around 49 kg at 158 cm—on the lower end of the healthy range—my belly still stuck out.
No matter how slim I was overall, I never had a flat stomach.
Fat clings to my jawline—so much that I constantly tilt my head upward to hide it.
If I push myself with travel or exercise, I crash and need days to recover.
Sleep has always been a battle—I fall into a nocturnal cycle I can’t seem to escape.
When I carry heavy bags, they leave red strap marks on my shoulders—like light bruises that vanish in a day.
People say my facial skin looks good, but the skin on my arms is often rough and irritated.

I had never considered any of this to be part of a medical condition.

❖ I don’t have a diagnosis yet—but I finally see myself differently

There’s no official CT report.
No confirmed diagnosis.
No blood work yet.

But for the first time in my life, I’m seeing a version of me that’s not lazy, not weak, not broken—just misunderstood.

And maybe, just maybe… I can finally get better.

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