Treatment of Addison's disease

All treatment for Addison's disease involves hormone replacement therapy to correct the amount of steroid hormones your body is not manufacturing. Some choices for treatment include:

• Oral corticosteroids. Your doctor might prescribe fludrocortisones (Florinef) to replaces aldosterone. Hydrocortisone (Cortef), prednisone or cortisone acetate is also used to switch cortisol.
• Corticosteroid injections. If you are unwell with vomiting and cannot retain oral medications, injections are an choice.
• Androgen replacement therapy. To treat androgen deficiency in ladies, dehydroepiandrosterone will be prescribed. Some studies recommend that this therapy might improve overall sense of well-being, libido and sexual satisfaction.

An ample intake of sodium is usually recommended, particularly throughout significant exercise, when the weather is hot, or if you've got gastrointestinal upsets, like diarrhea. Your doctor also will recommend a short lived increase in your dosage if you are facing a stressful state of affairs, like an operation, an infection or a minor illness.

Addisonian crisis
An addisonian crisis could be a life-threatening state of affairs that leads to low blood pressure, low blood levels of sugar and high blood levels of potassium. this case needs immediate medical care. Treatment usually includes intravenous injections of:

• Hydrocortisone
• Saline resolution
• Sugar (dextrose)