Hormonal Adrenal Tumor

When your hormonal adrenal tumor, a growth on the adrenal gland that produces excess hormones. Also known as functional adrenal tumor, it can throw your whole system out of balance—causing high blood pressure, weight gain, or even panic attacks without any obvious trigger. These tumors aren’t always cancerous, but they’re never harmless. Unlike regular lumps, they don’t just sit there—they actively pump out hormones like cortisol, aldosterone, or adrenaline, flooding your body with signals it never asked for.

The cortisol excess, a condition caused by tumors that overproduce the stress hormone cortisol leads to Cushing’s syndrome: round face, fatty hump between the shoulders, thin skin that bruises easily. Then there’s aldosterone, a hormone that controls salt and water balance—too much of it means high blood pressure that won’t respond to normal meds, plus low potassium and muscle cramps. And if the tumor churns out adrenaline or noradrenaline, you might get sudden heart palpitations, sweating, and terrifying spikes in blood pressure—this is pheochromocytoma, a rare, often benign tumor of the adrenal medulla that can mimic a panic attack but carries real risk of stroke or heart attack if missed.

These aren’t theories. Real people show up in clinics with unexplained weight gain, constant headaches, or heart races that doctors can’t explain. Blood tests, urine collections over 24 hours, and CT or MRI scans are the standard tools to catch these tumors. And once found? Treatment isn’t always surgery—but it’s often the only way to stop the hormone flood. Medications can help manage symptoms, but they don’t fix the root problem. The key is catching it early before the long-term damage sets in: bone loss, diabetes, heart strain.

What you’ll find in the posts below aren’t generic overviews. They’re real, practical breakdowns of how these tumors interact with other health issues—like how hormone imbalances mess with thyroid meds, why certain drugs can make symptoms worse, and what alternatives exist when surgery isn’t an option. No fluff. Just what you need to understand what’s happening in your body—and what steps to take next.