The presentation of symptoms that occur in women with adrenal disease depends on the type of disease and is not significantly different from the symptoms that occur in men with the disease. Two are briefly described below.
Primary aldosteronism: the typical symptoms are hypertension and hypokalemia, with hypertension manifesting as dizziness and headaches, and hypokalemia, which can manifest as muscle weakness, periodic paralysis, numbness in the extremities, and even difficulty breathing and swallowing, in relation to the degree of reduction in blood potassium.
Cushing’s syndrome: the main clinical features are centripetal obesity, full-moon face, skin acne, purple lines, hirsutism, diabetic tendencies, hypertensive syndrome, sexual dysfunction and female masculinisation. Specific manifestations that can occur in female patients are reduced, irregular or stopped menstruation, acne, and marked masculinisation such as breast atrophy, hirsutism, enlarged laryngeal nodes and clitoral enlargement.