Adrenal crisis is a life-threatening situation where a person’s cortisol level has significantly dropped. It requires urgent medical treatment. For patient’s who may be at risk of experiencing adrenal crisis, there can be lots of worry around whether healthcare professionals will recognise and know how to properly treat your condition.
At The Pituitary Foundation, we aim to provide educational and supportive resources to help you feel empowered to receive the medical care you need. As part of this, we recently delivered a talk on patient self-advocacy, with a particular focus on adrenal insufficiency and adrenal crisis.
In this talk, Professor John Wass (Professor of Endocrinology) provides his practical tips for preparing for healthcare appointments, to ensure you get the most out of them. He also discusses what to do if you feel you are not receiving, or have not received, adequate care while attending A&E with signs of adrenal crisis.
You can Prof Wass’ full talk below.
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In his talk, Prof Wass also mentions a research paper that he continually refers to when discussing adrenal crisis and how this should be handled by healthcare professionals. This paper can be a useful tool for educating healthcare professionals on what adrenal crisis is and how they should manage patients who present with symptoms.
You may wish to download and print this paper and bring it with you to future healthcare appointments or visits to A&E.