Adrenal Insufficiency
Cortisol is a hormone produced normally by the adrenal (ah- dree-nal) glands (located just above your kidneys). Cortisol is needed by your body to maintain your blood sugar level and to cope with physical stress, such as infection or trauma.
If your doctor has told you that your child's adrenal glands are not able to make enough cortisol on their own, then you must give a medication called hydrocortisone (or another form of cortisone) to replace the cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone which is needed for the body to live. Frequently, the adrenal glands cannot make aldosterone either, and this is replaced with the medication, Florinef.
Your child needs to take a daily dose of:
____ Cortef _________mg every _________________
____ Prednisone _____mg every _________________
____ Florinef ________mg every _________________
Stress can be any unusual physical problem the body must deal with. Normally, in the event of stress, your adrenal glands produce extra cortisol. Therefore, if your child's adrenal glands are not making cortisol, you need to give extra cortisol when stress occurs. Your child's doctor will tell you how much cortisol is needed.
The stress dose is usually the entire day's doses combined and administered every 6 - 8 hours. Some specific kinds of stress when an extra amount would be needed are as follows:
- Illness such as chicken-pox, flu, or infection, with fever over 101.5 degrees
- Vomiting or diarrhea
- Surgery, or injury such as broken bone or trauma causing severe bleeding
- Any illness associated with decreased appetite
In the event of any of the listed stress conditions, you should give your child "stress doses" of:
____ Cortef _________mg every _________________
____ Prednisone _____mg every _________________
Failure to administer a stess dose can cause serious illness or even death.
It is not necessary to take extra Florinef.
If your child is unable to take or keep the medication down by mouth, it must be injected. You will be taught how to give the medication by injection ("shot") and should always have this at home in case you need it. Your child's injectable dose of:
Solucortef is: _________ mg or _________ ml of injectable medication every 8 hours. A single "shot" of the injectable medication will only cover your child's cortisone needs for 8 hours and must be repeated every 8 hours as long as stress continues.
Contact Us
For additional information on this or any Health Topic, please call the Family Resource Center, 513-636-7606, or your pediatrician.
PEP 1026 I 12/90
Rev. 2/06
