2. Decreased Appetite and Weight Loss
The dysfunction of the adrenal glands due to Addison’s disease has a profound effect on your appetite and body weight. With less adrenaline available for energy demands, metabolism slows down to a near standstill.
Your body goes into a sort of survival mode where it conserves as much energy as possible for metabolic function and to keep your vital organs working. The production of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, is suppressed and the body no longer experiences feelings of hunger.
As the weeks go by, the calorie deficit between your food intake and metabolic energy demand begins to strip away body fat and muscle to obtain a fuel source. It’s possible for people living with Addison’s to lose ten to twenty pounds of body weight in just a month or two. Once you have begun treatment for Addison’s, the medications will restore the hormone balance in your body. Ghrelin production improves, and your appetite steadily returns.