Question: Does blood pressure always return to normal after Cushing’s is resolved? If not, why would it still stay high if my Cushing’s is gone?

Answer: Blood pressure does not always normalize when Cushing’s syndrome is resolved. It is likely that long-standing hypertension, regardless of its cause, changes the blood vessels so that hypertension persists after the original cause is removed. Another possibility, especially in patients older than 40 years, is that they would have developed “essential” hypertension even without Cushing’s syndrome and that there is no causal relationship between the two disorders. Even if the hypertension does not normalize, it is often easier to control when Cushing’s syndrome is resolved, so fewer medications may be needed.

By Dr. Lynnette Nieman MD (Spring, 2004)