Symptoms: In most cases, occasional overdosing will not produce any obvious symptoms but will decrease the plasma cortisol level and increase the number and percentage of circulating neutrophils. The number and percentage of lymphocytes and eosinophils will decrease concurrently. Habitual overdosing may cause hypercorticism and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal suppression.
Treatment: Withdrawing budesonide or decreasing the dose will abolish these effects, although the normalization of the HPA axis may be a slow process.