Acute adrenal crisis

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Adrenal gland hormone secretion

Endocrine glands

Adrenal crisis; Addisonian crisis; Acute adrenal insufficiency

• Headache
• Profound weakness  
• Fatigue
• Slow, sluggish movement
• Nausea  
• Vomiting
• Low blood pressure
• Dehydration
• High fever  
• Shaking chills  
• Confusion or coma
• Darkening of the skin
• Rapid heart rate
• Joint pain  
• Abdominal pain  
• Unintentional weight loss  
• Rapid respiratory rate (see tachypnea)
• Unusual and excessive sweating on face and/or palms
• Skin rash or lesions may be present
• Flank pain
• Loss of appetite  

• An ACTH (cortrosyn) stimulation test shows low cortisol.
• The baseline cortisol level is low.
• Fasting blood sugar may be low.
• Serum potassium is elevated (usually primary adrenal insufficiency).
• Serum sodium is decreased (usually primary adrenal insufficiency).

Review Date: 05/12/2006
Reviewed By: Robert Hurd, MD, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.