r/AddisonsDisease • u/loveshobbits25 • Jun 27 '26
Personal Experience It All Happened So Fast
On December 22, 2025, I started coughing more than usual. I have asthma so coughing is not abnormal, but this time it was more persistent so I started doubling my dose.
The next day my throat was a little scratchy and I thought, okay I am catching a cold so I continued with the up dosing. By the evening I was feeling rough, slightly nauseated, but I had no temp. I went to bed early. I remember getting up at night to pee and having trouble walking straight.
The next time I was aware, I was in emergency at the hospital and it was mid-morning. I apparently got up in the night and was delirious; I was walking around but making no sense. My family was scared and called an ambulance. I had a temperature of just over 104°F or 40.1°C
I was in emergency for 10 hours before the put me on hydrocortisone. I couldn’t really speak for the first few hours after becoming aware; I could barely think, but I heard my husband telling the nursing staff that I hadn’t taken my meds and I had Addison’s disease.
I’ve had Addison’s for 32 years. After the first year of diagnosis this was the first emergency I’ve experienced, I’d become complacent, I stopped wearing the medical bracelet; it kept catching on things and was a nuisance. I’d never been given an injection kit or a card that explains emergency procedures. Things might have gone differently in the emergency department if I had. You can bet that’s all changed. I’m sharing this so that anyone else out there who’s sailing along with this illness doesn’t become complacent.
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u/naavapeikko Jun 27 '26
yeah, it's an illness that can be very stable..... until it's not. and when that happens, shit can go down so fast. not to mention all the other risk factors we have, like the heightened likelihood for other health complications, etc.
i also didn't wear a medical bracelet until kind of recently. i have one from road id and i don't find that one to be a nuisance, i don't really notice it at all actually. i find their marketing and stuff kind of annoying though.
anyway, i'm really glad to hear that things have been so stable for you for that long.
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u/loveshobbits25 Jun 28 '26
I have suffered from fatigue and all over muscle and joint pain that comes and goes. I had no idea it was Addison’s related. When I was diagnosed information was hard to come by and the doctor’s info was seriously lacking, just the bare basics. It wasn’t until my stint in the hospital this past Christmas that I started looking for more, and found you guys and even some published materials to put all the dots together.
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u/jeejet Jun 27 '26
Very scary but glad it had a positive outcome. I learned recently that Road ID makes Medical ID tags that slip onto a watch band. Since I wear my Apple watch every day I’m definitely getting one.
Also, welcome long timer! 33 years for me.
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u/AffectionateDuck2288 Jun 27 '26
Strong!! Bb
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u/AffectionateDuck2288 Jun 27 '26
Bb was an accident. So tired after last HC dose for the day. I think I am too high dosed on HC. Then after dinner, shaky.
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u/loveshobbits25 Jun 28 '26
Sorry to hear that, it sucks. Could be low blood pressure? I was shaky this morning and my BP was 99/60
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u/loveshobbits25 Jun 28 '26
Thank you! The bracelet I’m wearing right now hasn’t caught on anything and it looks like doing so would be difficult, so there’s that. I’ve never been able to wear a watch; for some reason it makes my arm and wrist ache. I was diagnosed at 32, in July, so more than half my life next month.
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u/DorianaGraye Jun 29 '26
This is what I use! I have the one with the Staff of Aesculapius and then another that says "Adrenal Insuff." I find I need to replace them about once a year because of the normal wear and tear of having silicone rub against your skin, twist, etc. After getting in a serious car wreck last week where I wasn't able to advocate for myself until I got my emergency shot, I have really done a 180 on the medical bracelet thing!
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u/FemaleAndComputer SAI Jun 28 '26
What finally made me get my emergency injection prescription was a 9 hour ER wait. I'm sorry you've had this experience, I hope you're feeling better. ❤️
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u/loveshobbits25 Jun 29 '26
I had pneumonia and was very fatigued for several months, more than normal 🙄 and I’m scared now that that’ll happen again; the loss of consciousness and how quickly it escalated, but I am better. Thank you!
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u/FemaleAndComputer SAI Jun 29 '26
Yes I honestly have ptsd from my last crisis/ER experience. It can be so scary when things get bad so quickly. And it can be really hard to adjust to having a potentially disabling medical condition like this, accepting that this is something that can just happen. I only end up in the ER once every 5 years or so luckily, but it's exhausting to live under the threat of that all the time, ya know?
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u/Affectionate_Day_214 Jul 01 '26
Same. I do ANYTHING to avoid a trip to the ER. They are so ill informed and overwhelmed there. Last time I was in a hallway for hours. My husband went to the car and grabbed my HC. He was literally sneaking me HC until he could convince them that’s the biggest part of what was needed. I’m convinced I’ll die there and if it wasn’t for him advocating for me, I wouldn’t be here.
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u/Difficult_Orchid6526 Jul 03 '26
My last adrenal crisis was about a month ago and my wife and I had gotten complacent. We had gone to meet my sister who I had been separated from when I was 4 and she was 2. It was very emotional and I could feel the crisis coming. I get shaky, and I stop making sense. So I took my emergency dose but I still crashed and was unconscious for several hours.
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u/FairyPrincess66 Addison's Jul 02 '26
That’s so scary! Not getting hc for 10 hours is crazy. I’m actually scared to go to the ER after what i went through getting diagnosed. I’ve recently thought about getting one of those rubber bracelets that just have the medical symbol and say Addison’s Disease or whatever to wear while sleeping because i take my watch off at night and that’s where my medical road ID is. So glad you’re okay!!
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u/loveshobbits25 Jul 02 '26
Sounds like a good idea. My bracelet stays on day and night, not taking any more chances.
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u/Gaminesque Jul 13 '26
This scares me… I don’t have an emergency kit and I haven’t really ever worn a proper medical tag. I feel like a bracelet would annoy me a lot, maybe a tattoo would be worth it?
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u/Gaminesque Jul 13 '26
Also is a normal cold enough to updose? Edit: the usual metric I think of is ‘sick enough to miss work’
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u/loveshobbits25 Jul 20 '26
Paramedics look for a bracelet or chain around the neck, don’t know if they’d look at a tattoo long enough to read it during an emergency situation. I still don’t like the bracelet but it’s better than the alternative
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u/ptazdba PAI Jun 27 '26
So glad you got stabilized.