HealthInfo West Coast-Te Tai Poutini
Addison's disease
Matenga a Addison
Addison's disease is a very rare disease involving your adrenal glands. It's also called adrenal insufficiency.
You have two adrenal glands, which are just above your kidneys. They release two hormones: cortisol and aldosterone.
Cortisol has many roles in your body. It controls your blood pressure, immune system and blood glucose (sugar) levels.
Aldosterone controls the balance of salt and water in your body.
Addison's disease happens when your adrenal glands are damaged and no longer make enough of these important hormones. The commonest cause is your body's immune system mistakenly destroying the cells in your adrenal gland. We do not know why this happens.
Symptoms of Addison's disease
Symptoms of Addison's disease usually come on slowly. They include tiredness, poor appetite, weight loss, dizziness (especially when you stand up), nausea, diarrhoea or vomiting and darkening skin.
Sometimes your adrenal glands can fail suddenly and cause symptoms to appear rapidly, such as confusion, low blood pressure, loss of consciousness and pain in your abdomen, lower back or legs. This is known as an Addisonian crisis and can be life threatening.
Diagnosing Addison's disease
If your doctor thinks you might have Addison's disease, you'll need a blood test to measure your cortisol and aldosterone levels.
You might also need a scan such as a CT scan or MRI scan.
Treating Addison's disease
Your health professional will prescribe tablets to replace the cortisol and aldosterone. You'll need to take them every day for the rest of your life. Usually, you'll take hydrocortisone and fludrocortisone.
If you have Addison's disease, consider wearing a medical alert bracelet or pendant so medical staff know how to treat you in an emergency. Search online for medical bracelets NZ to find medical bracelet suppliers.
Managing Addison's disease when you're sick
If you become unwell with any illness, you should take extra hydrocortisone. This is because cortisol is the body’s "stress hormone" and you need higher levels to help your body recover from infections and other illnesses.
- For a mild illness when you're sick enough to stay in bed or take a day off work with something like the flu or a fever, take double your usual oral dose for at least three days. Provided you're getting better, you can then reduce the dose back down to normal.
- If you're more unwell, for example with pneumonia, or if you aren't responding to the treatment outlined above, you should contact your general practice team urgently. Your general practice team may give you a hydrocortisone injection or admit you to hospital.
- If you have vomiting or diarrhoea, you might not absorb the hydrocortisone medication. If you vomit within three hours of taking your hydrocortisone, take it again but take double the dose. If you vomit again or have diarrhoea, you should contact your doctor urgently because you might need a hydrocortisone injection or to be admitted to hospital.
You do not need to take extra fludrocortisone when you're unwell.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
- Patient.info – Addison's Disease
This page explains what causes Addison's disease, its symptoms and its treatment.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed June 2023.
SourcesReview key: HIADD-70626
