Adrenal Insufficiency: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Options

When your adrenal insufficiency, a condition where the adrenal glands don’t produce enough steroid hormones, especially cortisol. Also known as Addison’s disease, it can leave you exhausted, dizzy, and struggling to handle stress—even simple things like a cold or a long day. This isn’t just feeling tired. It’s your body literally running out of the fuel it needs to keep your blood pressure steady, manage blood sugar, and respond to physical or emotional stress.

Most cases happen because the adrenal glands are damaged—often by an autoimmune reaction where your immune system attacks them. But it can also come from suddenly stopping long-term steroid use, infections like tuberculosis, or rare genetic disorders. Your body needs cortisol to survive. Without it, you can slip into an adrenal crisis—low blood pressure, vomiting, confusion, even shock. That’s why diagnosis matters. Many people go years thinking they’re just "burned out" or have "adrenal fatigue," a term not recognized by medical science. Real adrenal insufficiency shows up in blood tests: low cortisol, high ACTH, and sometimes low sodium and high potassium.

Treatment isn’t complicated, but it’s lifelong. You replace what your body can’t make: hydrocortisone or prednisone for cortisol, and sometimes fludrocortisone to help with salt balance. Dosing isn’t one-size-fits-all. You might need more during illness, injury, or surgery. Many people learn to increase their dose when they feel sick, like a fever or infection. Missing a dose can be dangerous. That’s why carrying an emergency injection of hydrocortisone and wearing a medical alert bracelet isn’t optional—it’s life-saving.

You’ll find posts here that dig into how adrenal insufficiency connects with other conditions—like how certain antibiotics or herbal supplements might interfere with your hormone therapy. Others compare steroid replacement options, explain what blood tests to ask for, or share how people manage daily life with this condition. There’s no magic cure, but with the right info and care, you can live well. You’re not alone. And what you’re about to read isn’t theory—it’s what real people and doctors are using to get through each day.