Sheehan’s Syndrome And The Symptoms to Look For

Sheehan’s Syndrome And The Symptoms to Look For

8 September, 2010 (17:38) | Diseases | By: Health news

Sheehan’s Syndrome can be difficult to diagnosis. Many women can suffer for years before they receive the help they so desperately need. Sheehan’s Syndrome is caused by severe blood loss during or after childbirth. The blood loss during and post childbirth can be particularly damaging to the pituitary gland. The loss of blood to the pituitary gland may destroy hormone-producing tissue. When necrosis of the pituitary gland occurs the pituitary may lose some or all of its function.

The characteristics of hypothyroidism usually develop gradually. A dry, waxy type of swelling (myxedema) may take years or decades to become apparent. The severe ACTH deficiency is associated with fatigue, chronic hypo tension with fainting, and the ability to respond to stress.

Below list is an overview of symptoms. When a woman has Sheehan’s Syndrome she may have one or many of these symptoms. The disease of Sheehan’s Syndrome can be a difficult diagnosis because many of symptoms are similar to other diseases or aliments.

  • Fatigue
  • Slow mental function
  • Salt Cravings
  • Extreme weight gain (from having Hypothyroidism)
  • Extreme weight loss
  • Infertility
  • Lack of libido
  • Abdominal pain
  • Lack of appetite
  • Low blood pressure
  • Dizziness and fainting
  • Difficulty or inability to breast-feed (failure of lactation)
  • Difficulty staying warm
  • Insomnia
  • Lack of menstrual bleeding
  • Loss of pubic and axillary hair
  • The clinical features of Sheehan Syndrome are highly variable and depend on the areas of the pituitary gland that has died (necrosis). Patients that have a smaller proportion of the pituitary tissue damaged may not develop symptoms until weeks or even years after the childbirth.

    There appear to be two forms of the disease; a chronic form and an acute form, depending on the amount of damage to the gland’s cells. The acute form reflects considerable damage so that symptoms become apparent soon after delivery. In chronic cases, the volume of damage to the pituitary is much less and symptoms may not appear for months or years after delivery. In both the chronic and acute forms, there may be signs of diabetes insipidus (DI) such as abnormal thirst for and intake of water, as well as high volume of output of urine.

    A frequent symptom of Sheehan’s Syndrome is associated with failure of lactation after a woman gives birth. Other symptoms can include: menstruation not begin again, sexual interest (libido) is diminished, pubic hair does not grow back, hair in the armpits (axilla) slowly disappears, and breasts and genitalia atrophy (diminish in size). However, for some women, menstrual periods do recur and subsequent pregnancies have been reported.

    The characteristics of hypothyroidism usually develop gradually. A dry, waxy type of swelling (myxedema) may take years or decades to become apparent. The severe ACTH deficiency is associated with fatigue, chronic hypo tension with fainting, and the ability to respond to stress.

    Immediate medical treatment should be sought if a woman suspects she may have Sheehan’s Syndrome and is experiencing symptoms of ACTH deficiency. Severe ACTH deficiency can cause an Adrenal Crisis to occur. An Adrenal Crisis is a life threatening situation and treatment needs to be given immediately.