Free guide · Scarlet Beast En español →
Cushing’s syndrome: too much cortisol, the signs, steroid medicines, the tests, and the treatment
For anyone who has been told they may have too much cortisol, anyone who has taken steroid medicine for a long time, anyone sent for cortisol tests, and the people who love them. It passes on, by name, what the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, part of the NIH) says: what Cushing’s syndrome is and who it affects, the signs and the health problems it can lead to, how steroid medicines and tumors cause it, the tests, and the treatment. It builds the words to say, and prints a card for your notes. Nothing is saved.
A word with a dotted line under it, like this, opens its official definition, quoted from a U.S. government glossary.
Right now
- Chest pain, a face that droops, an arm that goes weak, a swollen painful leg, or sudden trouble breathing? Call 911 now; you do not need to be sure (ours: NIDDK lists heart attack, stroke and blood clots among the problems Cushing’s syndrome can cause, but its page names no 911).
- Taking a steroid medicine? Never stop it or lower it on your own; ask the doctor who prescribed it (ours).
- Thoughts of suicide? Call or text 988, any hour, free (ours).
More help
- On this site: Adrenal insufficiency and Addison’s disease (too little cortisol, and coming off steroid pills) · Prolactinoma · Heart, blood and hormones: find the right page.
- Alongside it: High blood pressure · Prediabetes · Osteoporosis · When the heaviness won’t lift · My medicines.
- When it is hard to pay: When you need a doctor and can’t pay. Getting ready: Get ready for your appointment.
- In an emergency: When it might be a heart attack · When it might be a stroke · Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
Your heart, blood pressure, blood sugar, thyroid or blood, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for a heart attack or stroke, blood pressure, AFib, heart failure, cholesterol, diabetes and prediabetes, the thyroid, anemia, sickle cell and menopause, on one list.
Other guides on this site that go with this page
Free to read. We chose these ourselves; no professional did. Each guide was written with AI and has not been reviewed by a professional. They are general information, not advice.
- When you can’t afford your medicine: what to ask, the programs that help, and buying online safely: when you can’t afford your medicine: what to ask, generics, assistance programs, Medicare’s Extra Help, a plan that says no, and safe online pharmacies.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 20, 2026 on NIDDK’s (NIH) page Cushing’s Syndrome (last reviewed May 2018), with one line from its page Adrenal Insufficiency & Addison’s Disease (that suddenly stopping corticosteroids after taking them for a long time is the most common cause of adrenal insufficiency overall). The numbers (about 40 to 70 people out of every million; usually aged 30 to 50; about three times as many women as men; more than 10 million Americans taking glucocorticoids each year; 8 out of 10 cases not caused by the medicines; a cure rate as high as 90 percent with a highly experienced surgeon; 6 to 18 months; a 6-week period; the test times) are NIDDK’s, and we add none. Ours: 911 for chest pain, signs of a stroke, a swollen painful leg or sudden trouble breathing, and 988 (NIDDK’s page names neither); never stopping or lowering a steroid medicine on your own; asking a surgeon about their experience; the lines to say; the card; the links to our other pages; and the order of the steps. What we left out: NIDDK’s section on clinical trials, its references, and its pictures. Nothing you tick or type here is saved or sent.