Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of Sheehan's syndrome typically appear slowly, after a period of months or years. But sometimes problems appear right away, such as the inability to breast-feed.

Signs and symptoms of Sheehan's syndrome occur because of having too little of the hormones the pituitary gland produces. Signs and symptoms include:

• Difficulty breast-feeding or an inability to breast-feed
• No menstrual periods or infrequent menstruation
• Inability to regrow shaved pubic hair
• Slowed mental function, weight gain and difficulty staying warm as a result of an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism)
• Low blood pressure
• Low blood sugar
• Fatigue
• Irregular heartbeat
• Breast shrinkage

For many women, Sheehan's syndrome symptoms are often thought to be caused by other things. Fatigue, for instance, is commonly experienced by new mothers. You might not realize you have Sheehan's syndrome until you need treatment for thyroid or adrenal insufficiency.

It's also possible to remain relatively symptom-free if you have Sheehan's syndrome, depending on the extent of damage to the pituitary gland. Some women live for years without knowing that their pituitary gland isn't working properly. Then an extreme physical stressor, such as severe infection or surgery, triggers an adrenal crisis, a serious condition in which your adrenal glands produce too little of the hormone cortisol.