Signs & Symptoms of Hypopituitary Disease

Sometimes called hypopituitarism, hypopituitary disease is a medical condition where your pituitary gland does not produce enough of the hormones needed for your body to function properly. The signs and symptoms of hypopituitary disease vary depending on what hormones are deficient.

Hormone Deficiencies

• Hormone deficiencies possible from hypopituitary disease include a shortage of gondatropins or the hormones that help produce sex hormones, growth hormones, and hormones that stimulate your thyroid and prolactin.

Types of Symptoms

• Deficiencies of gondatropins causes infertility, changes in menstruation, vaginal dryness, impotence and shriveling of the testes. Shortages of thyroid-stimulating hormone produce symptoms like confusion, cold intolerance, weight gain, constipation and dry skin.

Time Frame

• Prolactin deficiencies from hypopituitary disease normally only cause symptoms in nursing mothers who may suffer from an insufficient milk supply due to shortage of the hormones. Growth hormone deficiency usually produces symptoms, including dwarfism or stunted growth, but these symptoms only occur in children, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Signs

• The most common signs of hypopituitary disease are found in blood work, which reveals that levels of pituitary hormones are in short supply, explains the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Complications

• Left untreated, shortages of thyroid-stimulating syndrome has the potential to cause adrenal gland insufficiency, which causes additional symptoms, such as low blood pressure or blood sugar levels, fatigue and decreased tolerance for stress, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.