Hi All,
I have had addison's disease for about 15 years and have been on replacement hydrocortisone and florinef since. Because of my long-term steroid use, which I can and never will be able to avoid, I am concerned that when I get antibody tests for other illnesses/conditions, they will be false negative. There is a lot of information that states that steroid use can cause antibody tests to be false negative. This is because steroids suppress the antibody response and can cause less antibodies in the bloodstream. This doesn't mean you still don't have 'said' disease, just that your blood test won't show it.
I wanted to find out if anyone has experienced false negative blood tests w/ other illnesses or has had a hard time getting dx'ed because of the steroids. Now, we are on replacement steroids, but I have asked about 10 doctors about what the impact would be and NEVER get a straight answer. They really just don't know...and even really good doctors.
I can't be the only one that has dealt with this. Anyone have any experience?