‘Trust your body’: Woman who had stress-like symptoms ended up being diagnosed with rare disease
Nicole Peace, a woman from Baltimore County, is speaking out about her journey with Cushing’s disease, urging others to see a doctor for unexplained symptoms. In 2023, Peace began having dizzy spells and other health issues, which she initially attributed to stress.
“I had dizzy spells, but I knew, at the time, I was under stress,” Peace told WBAL-TV 11 News.
For two years, Peace experienced a worsening set of symptoms, including weight gain, headaches, brain fog, and darkening skin. In 2025, she had another dizzy spell while seeing her endocrinologist.
“She said my bloodwork looked good, so she didn’t know where they could be coming from. But she never did a pituitary panel,” Peace recounted.
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Later, high levels of cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) were detected through a pituitary panel, pointing toward a diagnosis of Cushing’s disease. Subsequent MRI and CT scans substantiated this finding by confirming the existence of a benign tumor.
Cushing’s disease is rarely diagnosed, with only about 10 to 15 cases per million people identified annually in the U.S. Diagnosis is challenging because the symptoms are often subtle. However, small tumors can be detected using a brain MRI.
Dr. Samir Sur, a neurosurgeon who serves as director of cerebrovascular and skull base surgery as part of the Comprehensive Stroke Center team at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, explained, “To cure that disease, we had to remove the tumor, which we were able to do using an endoscope, which is a specialized camera that we used through the nose and special instruments to access the tumor.”
Cushing’s disease is caused by a pituitary gland tumor, which leads to abnormally high levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This excess cortisol causes various hormonal changes throughout the body.
“There can be weight gain in the neck or back or face. Sometimes, skin can show changes of discoloration or striae or markings, such as stretch marks, or easy bruising. So, there’s a host of different things that can manifest in different patients,” Sur noted.
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Although Peace’s surgery lasted four hours, her doctors cautioned her that the recovery period could extend up to a year.
“Surgery is not even the hard part,” Peace remarked. “Recovery is the hardest part because people go through so much. It was an up-and-down rollercoaster. Sometimes, your energy level is up and you feel like you can do 1,000 things, and sometimes, your energy is so low you can’t even get out of bed.”
Peace described her recovery as a difficult experience, characterized by a feeling of being trapped in her own body, along with persistent headaches, brain fog, and cognitive delays. Currently undergoing hormone replacement therapy, she continues to work with doctors to find the optimal medication balance. Her message to others facing unexplained physical changes is clear: listen to your body and don’t hesitate to seek medical assistance.
“Don’t ignore even the smallest sign that something is not (right). I mean, trust your body. We know our body, we know when something’s not right,” Peace advised.
