Adrenal Tumor: Symptoms, Causes, and What You Need to Know

When you hear adrenal tumor, a growth that develops on one or both adrenal glands, which sit just above your kidneys and control key hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Also known as adrenal mass, it can be benign or cancerous—and many people don’t even know they have one until it starts causing symptoms. These glands don’t just produce stress hormones—they regulate blood pressure, metabolism, and even your body’s response to injury. So when something grows on them, your whole system can get thrown off.

Not all adrenal tumors are dangerous. In fact, most are non-functioning, tumors that don’t produce extra hormones and often show up by accident during scans for other issues. But when they do make hormones, trouble follows. A tumor making too much adrenaline? That’s a pheochromocytoma, a rare tumor that can spike blood pressure to dangerous levels, trigger heart palpitations, and cause sweating so intense it soaks through clothes. A tumor flooding your body with cortisol? That’s Cushing’s syndrome, a condition that leads to weight gain around the midsection, thinning skin, muscle weakness, and mood swings. And if it’s overproducing aldosterone, you’ll get aldosteronoma, a tumor that raises blood pressure by making your body hold onto salt and lose potassium.

What triggers these tumors? In most cases, no one knows. They’re not caused by diet, stress, or lifestyle. A small number run in families, linked to genetic syndromes like MEN2 or VHL. But for the average person, it’s just bad luck. The real risk isn’t the tumor itself—it’s what it does to your body over time. High blood pressure from an aldosteronoma can damage your heart. Too much cortisol can lead to diabetes or osteoporosis. A pheochromocytoma can trigger a heart attack during routine activity.

That’s why diagnosis matters. Blood and urine tests can catch hormone imbalances. CT or MRI scans show the tumor’s size and location. And once found, treatment isn’t always surgery. Some tumors are monitored for years. Others need removal, especially if they’re large or hormone-active. The key is catching them before they cause lasting harm.

Below, you’ll find real-world guides on how these tumors are diagnosed, treated, and sometimes mistaken for other conditions. You’ll see how hormone tests work, what doctors look for in imaging, and why some patients are told to wait while others need immediate action. Whether you’re worried about unexplained weight gain, sudden high blood pressure, or strange symptoms that won’t go away, the posts here give you the facts—not the fluff.