What does adrenal crisis mean?

What does adrenal crisis mean?

Adrenal crisis is a medical emergency. It’s the most serious complication of adrenal insufficiency and happens due to a severe lack of cortisol. An adrenal crisis can be life-threatening. Symptoms of adrenal crisis include:

• Severe pain in your lower body that comes on quickly.
• Bouts of vomiting and diarrhea.
• Weakness.
• Confusion and loss of consciousness.
• Low blood glucose,
• Low blood pressure.

If you have adrenal insufficiency, you should always have an injectable form of glucocorticoid medicine with you and you should wear some type of medical alert jewelry with that information. Make sure your family and friends know how to give the injection in the case of an emergency.

Other hormone imbalances and symptoms can occur with adrenal disorders. These include having too much potassium (hyperkalemia) or not enough sodium (hyponatremia) in your blood.