You don’t feel right. You’re always weak and tired. Your blood pressure is too high. And your skin is weird. Something’s going haywire in your system. But what?
These symptoms could mean you have one of several adrenal disorders. Your adrenal glands make hormones that regulate your body. When these glands don’t work right, it throws your hormones out of balance, leaving you with too little or too much. And this can affect the way you feel.
The good news? Adrenal disorders are treatable. And the experts at Cleveland Clinic are here to help. We’ll work with you to craft a personalized treatment plan to help you manage your hormones and feel more like yourself again.
Our board-certified and fellowship-trained endocrinologists (hormone specialists), and expert endocrine surgeons have years of experience in diagnosing and treating adrenal disorders. They’ll work as a team to design a personalized treatment plan that meets your needs and goals. Meet our team.
Your healthcare providers work together to diagnose and quickly treat your adrenal disorder. They’ll also make sure you get the information and support you need to take care of your health — physically and emotionally — during your treatment.
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Depending on which of the many adrenal disorders you have, your symptoms can vary. You might notice changes in your skin. Or you might feel confused and tired. You could start gaining weight for no reason. You could have weakness and muscle spasms. Or you could suddenly have diabetes.
All of these things are warning signs to see your healthcare provider. Your provider will do a physical exam and order tests to check the levels of adrenal hormones (like cortisol) in your saliva (spit), blood and urine (pee). Cortisol helps you fight infection and maintain healthy blood pressure and blood sugar. If it’s out of balance, it’s a good indication you could have an adrenal disorder.
If your provider thinks you might have a tumor, they may order imaging tests like a CT scan or MRI to learn if the tumor is benign or cancerous.
Our healthcare providers see patients at convenient locations in Ohio, Florida and London.
Once we know for sure that you have an adrenal disorder, we’ll work with you to design a personalized treatment plan. We’ll consider your age, health, symptoms and the type of adrenal disorder you have.
We’ll continue to test your hormone levels regularly and make any changes needed to keep them in balance.
Sometimes, we’ll recommend surgery to remove benign and cancerous tumors that cause adrenal disorders. Our endocrine surgeons are experts in their field and do most surgeries laparoscopically (minimally invasively). If you have a large tumor, you may need to have an open adrenalectomy (adrenal gland removal).
When cancer causes an adrenal disorder, your providers may recommend radiation therapy after surgery. This treatment uses safe, high-powered X-rays to destroy any cancer cells that are left.
Having too little cortisol can cause a life-threatening medical emergency called an adrenal crisis. Call your healthcare provider right away if you:
You need treatment right away.
Adrenal disorders also cause complications that could need additional treatment. These include high potassium (hyperkalemia) or low sodium (hyponatremia) levels in your blood. Your provider will work with you to manage these issues.
Adrenal disorders can knock your hormone levels — and you — out of balance. While there are many kinds of these disorders, and some are more serious than others, all require the right diagnosis and quick treatment. We know it can be hard to deal with this when you’re not feeling like yourself. That’s why Cleveland Clinic adrenal disorder experts are here to help you easily get the care you need, when you need it.
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