Some patients may have gastrointestinal complaints with abdominal pain, and constipation is common. It has been suggested, although not proved, that the constipation may be caused by very large amounts of metenkephalin that are produced by the tumours.
Patients with phaeochromocytomas not uncommonly present to psychiatrists with anxiety. In addition, glucose intolerance may be provoked by the excess catecholamine secretion, and such patients may therefore come under the care of the diabetologist.
