Diagnosis

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I was diagnosed when I was 19.  I didn't have the classic splotches....looking back, my hair color changed and being the fair-skinned young man that I was, I started tanning rather than burning.  Started vomiting when stressed, then recovered.  My pediatrician felt that I was stressed over family situation and it was psychological.  I was forced to see a psychiatrist, but just refused after a few visits.  I knew it wasn't that.  Then I became very ill, vomiting for several days, unable to keep food down.  My Dad had spoken to his Dr about my symptoms.  His Dr had diagnosed a patient with Addison's when we was doing his residency.  That Dr felt that I had Addison's.  Anyway, I was vomiting and doing very badly - couldn't get out of bed.  My parents called an ambulance, and put me in the hospital. When I got there, the nurses couldn't get a BP on me and it took several tries to get iv's going (I think they had 3 or 4 in me).  The Dr at the hospital felt I had appendicitis because my stomach was so sore from the vomiting.  My father's Dr strongly advised them to give me steroids prior to surgery because he felt I had Addison's.  He truly saved my life.  Nope, I didn't have appendicitis.  After that they tested me for Addison's.  The first test came back negative and they said I really needed to think about this being a psych issue.  I was crushed, but the next day the second test came back positive.  They felt the steroids I was on had caused the false positive. Further testing showed I had Addison's.  Thank God for my Dad discussing it  with his Dr, and with that Dr insisting on the steroids.  

I got setup with an amazing endocrinologist, and though it took me a while to get the meds straightened out, and a few 'crisis' trips to the hospital, I eventually learned how to manage the beast.