Hydrocortison Orion Side Effects

No adverse reactions are anticipated from substitution therapy with physiologic doses.
Short-term hydrocortisone therapy even at high doses is generally harmless.
In long-term high-dose therapy, adverse reactions occur frequently. Hydrocortisone has the same adverse reactions as other glucocorticoids. It also has a mineralocorticoid effect. Hydrocortisone causes adrenocortical insufficiency in long-term high-dose therapy. Therefore, stress, e.g. surgery or infection, can cause hypotension, hypoglycemia, or even death, unless the steroid dose is increased to adjust to the stress.
Glucocorticoid withdrawal syndrome will follow abrupt withdrawal of long-term steroid therapy.
Symptoms include, e.g. fever, myalgia and arthralgia, weakness, nausea, elevated intracranial pressure, and hypotension. Highdose hydrocortisone therapy causes symptoms of Cushing syndrome: moon face, lipid accumulation in the neck, tendency to bruises, ecchymoses, and striata.
Glucocorticoids increase susceptibility to infection, and they may mask symptoms of infection. They prolong tissue healing and scar formation. Osteoporosis and diabetes occur in as many as 50% of patients on glucocorticosteroid therapy. In addition, cataract, elevated intraocular pressure, aseptic bone necrosis, nephroliths, muscle weakness, skin atrophy, tendency to thromboses, hypokalemia, hyperlipidemia, and increased appetite occur. The risk of gastric ulcer increases slightly in corticosteroid therapy.
High-dose glucocorticoid therapy can cause psychiatric adverse reactions, e.g. depression, psychosis, and insomnia. It retards growth in children, impairs semen quality, and can cause amenorrhea.
Glucocorticoids have been reported to have caused allergy and anaphylactic reactions.
Hydrocortisone can aggravate cardiac insufficiency and hypertension.