What You Need to Know About Adrenal Insufficiency

0:00
6:18 What happens to the body when taking corticosteroids?
8:57 What is adrenal insufficiency?
10:34 Risks.
13:35 Symptoms of corticosteroids.
15:37 Testing: Basal Cortisol Levels.
16:37 ACTH Stimulation test.
19:11 Adrenal insufficiency vs. prednisone withdrawal.
23:09 Q&A: What are some symptoms of adrenal insufficiency vs those symptoms for
weaning too fast from steroids?
24:48 Q&A: Is Adrenal Insufficiency inevitable if you reduce prednisone slowly over two
years? At what dosage will it appear?
27:49 Q&A: If one of the symptoms is fatigue, and fatigue is one of the most common
lingering symptoms of ANCA vasculitis, how can my team determine if I
have adrenal insufficiency without the ATCH test?
32:31 Q&A: What happens to adrenal glands in the case of a transplant?
33:40 Q&A: Are there forms of vasculitis that can cause primary adrenal insufficiency?
34:51 Q&A: If you decrease prednisone to 0 do you always develop adrenal
insufficiency?
36:04 Q&A: Is a person at risk for adrenal insufficiency while they are reducing and then
12 months after stopping completely?
36:40 Q&A: Is there a method that works to reduce steroid dependence because a small
reduction causes steroid withdrawal?
39:09 Q&A: What can patients do as they taper off prednisone to get the adrenal glands to
'kick in' and start making sufficient amounts of cortisol again?
41:36 Q&A: If repeated cortisol tests show the return of cortisol levels to normal levels
then there is no longer adrenal insufficiency. Is this correct?
43:20 Q&A: Can you recover from adrenal insufficiency or can it be a permanent
condition?
47:11 Q&A: What is meant by a “rescue dose”?
47:43 Q&A: Budesonide is reported as having fewer systemic effects than Prednisone-
does it have the same risk of AI?
48:54: Q&A: Does advanced age affect the ability to recover from adrenal insufficiency?
49:45 Q&A: Is DHEA a steroid?
What You Need to Know about Adrenal Insufficiency
Recorded June 2024
If you’re living with vasculitis and on corticosteroid medication, we have what you need to know about adrenal insufficiency. In this webinar, Alexandra Villa-Forte, MD, MPH, FACP, from the Center for Vasculitis Care and Research at the Cleveland Clinic, addresses your most pressing concerns and explain why tapering off corticosteroids needs to be done in a precise way. Dr. Villa-Forte will discusses how to discern between withdrawal symptoms and adrenal insufficiency, and how to monitor yourself for potential adverse effects during a taper.