Pituitary & Adrenal
Adrenal Disorders
Adrenal insufficiency, Cushing's syndrome, phaeochromocytoma, hyperaldosteronism and the incidentally found adrenal nodule — uncommon conditions where the diagnosis is frequently the whole of the difficulty.
Symptoms that bring people in
- Extreme tiredness with weight loss and low blood pressure
- Darkening of the skin, or salt craving
- Dizziness on standing
- Weight gain at the trunk with thin arms and legs
- Purple stretch marks, easy bruising, a rounded face
- Episodes of severe headache, palpitations and sweating
- High blood pressure that is hard to control, or low potassium
Having one of these does not mean you have this condition — several overlap with far more common problems. It means the question is worth asking properly.
The adrenal glands produce cortisol, aldosterone and adrenaline. Disorders here are individually uncommon but consequential, and several are curable once identified — which is why persistent, unexplained symptoms deserve proper endocrine assessment rather than repeated symptomatic treatment.
Adrenal insufficiency
Cortisol deficiency, whether from autoimmune adrenal disease, tuberculosis, or — most commonly in practice — abrupt withdrawal of long-term steroids. It presents with profound fatigue, weight loss, low blood pressure, salt craving and skin darkening. Diagnosis uses an early-morning cortisol with ACTH and a stimulation test where needed. Replacement is straightforward, but education is what keeps patients safe: doses must be doubled during fever or illness, an injection must be available at home, and a steroid card or bracelet should be carried. Untreated adrenal crisis kills; treated promptly, it does not.
Cushing's syndrome
Cortisol excess, from steroid medication, a pituitary tumour, an adrenal tumour or an ectopic source. The clinical picture — central weight gain, thin skin, bruising, purple striae, muscle weakness, diabetes, hypertension, low mood — overlaps considerably with common obesity, so confirmation requires careful biochemical testing before any imaging is interpreted.
Secondary hypertension
Primary hyperaldosteronism is a genuinely under-diagnosed and often curable cause of high blood pressure, and should be considered where hypertension is resistant to treatment, begins young, or occurs with low potassium. Phaeochromocytoma classically causes episodic headache, palpitations, sweating and pallor with labile blood pressure.
The incidental adrenal nodule
Adrenal lesions are increasingly found on scans done for other reasons. Two questions settle management: is it hormonally active, and does it look benign? Most are neither active nor sinister and need only defined follow-up. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia, presenting in childhood or as androgen excess in adult women, is assessed in the same clinic.
This page is general information. Doses and treatment choices in endocrinology are individual, and are decided at a consultation with your reports in front of us. Please do not start, stop or change a medicine based on this page.
Common questions
Before your first visit
How do I book an appointment?
Use the appointment form on this website and the clinic will telephone you to confirm a time, usually within one working day. For a same-day or urgent request, please ring the number in the page header instead — a phone call is always faster than a form.
Hospital OPDs at CMRI and Narayana Memorial are booked through the hospital's own reception. For district chambers, it is worth calling the chamber number listed on its page before travelling.
Which chamber should I choose?
Whichever is easiest for you to reach and return to. Endocrine conditions need review over months and years rather than a single visit, so the chamber you can get to comfortably every few months is nearly always the better choice than the one that seems most impressive.
That said: if your problem needs same-day tests, an ultrasound, or admission, a hospital OPD is the better setting. The Chambers page lists every location with its days and timings, and the weekly timetable shows them all side by side.
Do chamber timings ever change?
Yes — and this is worth taking seriously if you are travelling any distance. Several district visits run on a monthly rotation, such as the 1st and 3rd Saturday, and a hospital OPD can be rescheduled at short notice. Timings shown on this website are kept up to date and any known cancellation appears on the chamber's page, but please telephone ahead before a long journey.
What should I bring to the first consultation?
Bring everything you have, even if it seems old or irrelevant:
- all previous prescriptions, including from other doctors
- every blood report and scan you hold, in date order if possible
- the actual strips or boxes of the medicines you take, or a written list with doses
- your home blood sugar or blood pressure diary, if you keep one
- for a child, the growth chart and immunisation record
Old reports are genuinely useful. A five-year-old thyroid result or an earlier scan often changes the plan, because what matters in endocrinology is frequently the trend rather than today's number.
Consultation
Request an appointment
Tell us which chamber suits you and when. We will confirm your slot by phone.