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Acute adrenal crisis

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Endocrine glands

Endocrine glands

Adrenal gland hormone secretion

Adrenal gland hormone secretion

Acute adrenal crisis

Alternative Names:

Adrenal crisis; Addisonian crisis; Acute adrenal insufficiency
Symptoms:

headache
profound weakness
fatigue
slow, sluggish, lethargic movement
nausea
vomiting
low blood pressure
dehydration
high fever
shaking chills
confusion or coma
darkening of the skin (see skin, abnormally dark or light)
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 lesion may be present
flank pain
loss of appetite

Signs and tests:

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).

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