There are moments in life when your inner alarm bells go off, and you just know that something is very wrong. You can’t quite rationalize it, but your gut is telling you that something awful has already happened or is about to occur. If you’ve experienced this, you are not alone.
#1
Today!
I work as an ER nurse and I took handover on a patient who had a little dizziness, a little nausea and a swollen abdomen. She was fairly bright, able to talk, nothing seemed too horrific. But she was turning a grim grey colour and breathing quickly.
Our average wait time today was two hours. I could have put her back in the queue and moved on. But I had a little dark feeling that there was something sinister happening here. So I called our most senior doctor out of a consultation and asked him to see her. Right now.
Ever heard of your abdominal aorta? Enormous blood vessel that can pouch out, suddenly rupture, and make you bleed out internally in minutes? It’s called a burst AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm). You’ve heard of it now. That’s what she had.
I’ve never seen one before. But now I have. Within five minutes she was barely responding. Within ten her blood pressure had dropped to a barely sustainable level. Within twenty minutes I was pouring blood into her and eight people were around the bed. Within an hour she was on an operating table clinging to life.
But because I raised the alarm, and because my team worked hard, that woman is still, somehow, alive. Feels good, man.
I work as an ER nurse and I took handover on a patient who had a little dizziness, a little nausea and a swollen abdomen. She was fairly bright, able to talk, nothing seemed too horrific. But she was turning a grim grey colour and breathing quickly.
Our average wait time today was two hours. I could have put her back in the queue and moved on. But I had a little dark feeling that there was something sinister happening here. So I called our most senior doctor out of a consultation and asked him to see her. Right now.
Ever heard of your abdominal aorta? Enormous blood vessel that can pouch out, suddenly rupture, and make you bleed out internally in minutes? It’s called a burst AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm). You’ve heard of it now. That’s what she had.
I’ve never seen one before. But now I have. Within five minutes she was barely responding. Within ten her blood pressure had dropped to a barely sustainable level. Within twenty minutes I was pouring blood into her and eight people were around the bed. Within an hour she was on an operating table clinging to life.
But because I raised the alarm, and because my team worked hard, that woman is still, somehow, alive. Feels good, man.
76points
#2
It was mothers day and I had woken up hungover and had to travel up to st andrews from Edinburgh from my girlfriend's, I had work in the morning that I could see far enough.
When I got on the bus, I sat down and suddenly felt a sharp pain in my shoulder, I thought nothing of it and fell asleep. I woke up and stared out at the grey little towns I passed through. I remember feeling very sad, I'd been away from home so long and I missed being with the family. The pain came back then and started in my elbow and fingers too. In that instant I started crying because I just knew that it was cancer, I was 24.
I pushed it to the back of my mind for weeks then saw my G.P, a physiotherapist and two shoulder specialists. I eventually convinced my self that it was a pulled ligament or trapped nerve but then after 2 months of waiting and a bone biopsy I was told I had a high grade stage 2 oesteosarcoma on my upper humerus.
Six months later, one successful forequarter amputation and some lung metastasis thrown in for fun and I'm sitting here completely bald, telling the internet I have cancer. Things are looking up though.
My love to each and everyone of you!
When I got on the bus, I sat down and suddenly felt a sharp pain in my shoulder, I thought nothing of it and fell asleep. I woke up and stared out at the grey little towns I passed through. I remember feeling very sad, I'd been away from home so long and I missed being with the family. The pain came back then and started in my elbow and fingers too. In that instant I started crying because I just knew that it was cancer, I was 24.
I pushed it to the back of my mind for weeks then saw my G.P, a physiotherapist and two shoulder specialists. I eventually convinced my self that it was a pulled ligament or trapped nerve but then after 2 months of waiting and a bone biopsy I was told I had a high grade stage 2 oesteosarcoma on my upper humerus.
Six months later, one successful forequarter amputation and some lung metastasis thrown in for fun and I'm sitting here completely bald, telling the internet I have cancer. Things are looking up though.
My love to each and everyone of you!
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45points
#3
Over 20 years ago when I 17 y/o or so, 2 of my buddies came to pick me up to get the night started. I got into the back seat of a geo storm, if you remember those it was a tiny car made of plastic.As soon I sat down I had a feeling of impending doom rushing over me. I had never felt that feeling before and never felt it since. I immediately was asked to be let out with some excuse and said we would catch up later. I get out and feeling quickly fades so I go on about day. About 2 hours later I catch up with my other friends and Im greeted to learn the 2 that came to pick me up earlier were involved in major car accident. Both were seriously hurt and in the hospital. This accident happened about 10 minutes after they tried to pick me up. They both survived. The car did not survive though and it was struck in the passenger side rear right were i was sitting. Im pretty positive by seeing the damage done that I would not have survived.
34points
The BBC stresses that your gut feelings won't ever be 100% fool proof. However, they can be an important guide with enough practice
As Healthline explains, gut feelings can evoke a wide range of different sensations. Some of them are similar to how you feel when you’re anxious, while others can be more positive.
A few ways that these gut feelings manifest themselves include goosebumps, feeling ‘butterflies’ in your stomach, nausea, tension in your body, sweaty palms or feet, sinking sensations in your stomach, and flashes of clarity.
You might also experience feelings of peace, safety, or happiness after making a decision. Or your thoughts keep returning to specific people or situations over and over again, indicating that something might be wrong.
However, your gut feelings don’t actually start in your gut! And they’re not mystical.
#4
What a question for today! Exactly one year ago today, we finally headed to the NICU with our "perfectly healthy, just sleepy" baby daughter who'd been discharged from labor and delivery a week before. I have had one healthy baby. This baby, I knew something was wrong with her right away. She never cried, didn't open her eyes, didn't nurse, didn't have ANY reflexes. Somehow this didn't set off any red flags during our two-day stay in the hospital after her birth. We were discharged and told that she was just "sleepy" because she was born at 37 weeks.
Well, we ended up dripping milk down her throat for an entire week, waiting for her to "come around." We took her to the pediatrician, had a home health nurse come, had a lactation consultant come... They all said the same thing. 37 weeks, sleepy, she'll get the hang of it, blah blah blah. I had been airing my concerns to anyone who would listen before she was even born. She NEVER moved in utero, only a wiggle every now and then to let me know she was alive. "All pregnancies are different, all babies are different, blah blah blah..." Well, one year ago today, I had a screaming breakdown to my husband: "SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THIS BABY AND YOU KNOW IT." He still wanted to believe everything would be okay, but he agreed to take her to the NICU.
Aaaaaand she was alternating between seizure and coma every 3-5 seconds, a "burst-suppression pattern" on EEG (look it up for a fun read) with a completely non-functioning brain. She developed and was born that way by some cruel and nonsensical twist of fate. Ohtahara Syndrome. 1 in 100,000 odds. She passed away two weeks later. If someone had listened to me, we never would've left the hospital and I wouldn't have spent a week trying to nurse a braindead baby.
Well, we ended up dripping milk down her throat for an entire week, waiting for her to "come around." We took her to the pediatrician, had a home health nurse come, had a lactation consultant come... They all said the same thing. 37 weeks, sleepy, she'll get the hang of it, blah blah blah. I had been airing my concerns to anyone who would listen before she was even born. She NEVER moved in utero, only a wiggle every now and then to let me know she was alive. "All pregnancies are different, all babies are different, blah blah blah..." Well, one year ago today, I had a screaming breakdown to my husband: "SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THIS BABY AND YOU KNOW IT." He still wanted to believe everything would be okay, but he agreed to take her to the NICU.
Aaaaaand she was alternating between seizure and coma every 3-5 seconds, a "burst-suppression pattern" on EEG (look it up for a fun read) with a completely non-functioning brain. She developed and was born that way by some cruel and nonsensical twist of fate. Ohtahara Syndrome. 1 in 100,000 odds. She passed away two weeks later. If someone had listened to me, we never would've left the hospital and I wouldn't have spent a week trying to nurse a braindead baby.
34points
#5
I was letting my dog back inside. She walked right past me with no tail wagging or happy smile, walked right through the kitchen without wanting a treat, and went straight to a doggy bed. I knew something wasn't right, and within 10 minutes we were in the car to the emergency vet. She had a tumor rupture apparently, it was clear what needed to be done. Still breaks my heart.
32points
#6
Not creepy or crimey or anything, but I'll never forget it:
Christmas 2002. I was home from my freshman year of college. The vibe in the house had been really strange and tense since I got back. On Christmas morning, my mom gives my dad a really heartfelt, personalized present. My dad gives my mom an expensive but generic-looking bracelet with some diamonds in it. She starts openly weeping. Something was not right.
He told us he was leaving the next day and moved out immediately, into the house of the coworker he had been sleeping with. It was not a good time.
Edit: REALLY did not expect all the upvotes on this one. So, to answer the multiple questions, we're all five by five. My mom spent a long time very depressed and not sure what to do with her life. I was angry for a long time; my younger siblings were angrier for longer. Mom is doing great on her own now and dad is happily married to said coworker. Way happier than he ever was with my mom.
Still some lasting bad feelings, but we're all pretty good.
Christmas 2002. I was home from my freshman year of college. The vibe in the house had been really strange and tense since I got back. On Christmas morning, my mom gives my dad a really heartfelt, personalized present. My dad gives my mom an expensive but generic-looking bracelet with some diamonds in it. She starts openly weeping. Something was not right.
He told us he was leaving the next day and moved out immediately, into the house of the coworker he had been sleeping with. It was not a good time.
Edit: REALLY did not expect all the upvotes on this one. So, to answer the multiple questions, we're all five by five. My mom spent a long time very depressed and not sure what to do with her life. I was angry for a long time; my younger siblings were angrier for longer. Mom is doing great on her own now and dad is happily married to said coworker. Way happier than he ever was with my mom.
Still some lasting bad feelings, but we're all pretty good.
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28points
The connection between your gut and your brain allows you to experience emotional things, such as gastrointestinal distress.
In the meantime, brain processes, such as collecting and processing sensory data from your environment, are constantly happening in the background.
You might have flashes of intuition that you’re in danger and move away. However, this isn’t mystical. It’s incredibly likely that your mind made some unconscious observations, and you moved away from the environmental risks without even realizing it.
#7
My brother and dad lived in a different state, and my brother was in the hospital recovering from an accident.
My first weird feeling was when I was booking the flight to see him and I was considering cancellation insurance. "What if something happens to my dad and I have to fly out sooner?" I shrugged it off. My dad was doing fine.
Two weeks later, my brother tells me that my dad was visiting and went home early because he had evidently caught something and wasn't feeling well. I got a really bad feeling and called him. It went to voicemail-- he did say he was going to bed early and it was about bedtime for him. I said I heard he wasn't feeling well and wanted to check in, and that I really really loved him. I felt weird, but my dad would've been royally PISSED if I called 911 to his house because he was under the weather and decided to sleep it off. I decided to wait until the morning.
Morning comes. Nothing. My brother sent his friend over. No answer. Friend goes in the house. My dad had passed away.
I wish I had called, it just didn't SEEM that serious and I have a penchant for overreacting. The last thing he told my brother was, "I'll be fine, I'm just going to bed".
The thing that got me was the voicemail. I looked through his messages. Mine was read. If nothing else, I know he listened to that voicemail. One of the last things he heard was me telling him I loved him.
Edit: Thank you for all of the kind responses. My dad passed from a heart attack, according to the coroner. It didn't sound like anyone could have helped even if they had found him right after it happened -- the coroner said, "It seemed sudden and not like he suffered at all". And if nothing had happened yet, he probably would've sent them away anyway because of his "I'll be fine" attitude.
I am grateful for a couple things. One, both of his parents passed before I was old enough to remember them, and he spoke openly about all of it (as well as his own mortality). I think that helped me tremendously in dealing with the same. Two, he was always sentimental. I knew that him hearing me say, "I really really love you, bye," meant something to him. I knew he felt the same way because he used to send me random messages about how happy he was to be a dad and how much he loved his kids.
From this experience and a couple others, I've learned to speak up when I feel something is off. I may be wrong, and I have been plenty of times, but nothing is wrong with calmly speaking my mind or taking precautions when concerned. Bad things can and do happen. It doesn't mean they will, and it doesn't mean I have to OVERreact when I don't know what's going on. But also, sometimes things just happen. Make sure the people you love and care about know you love and care about them.
My first weird feeling was when I was booking the flight to see him and I was considering cancellation insurance. "What if something happens to my dad and I have to fly out sooner?" I shrugged it off. My dad was doing fine.
Two weeks later, my brother tells me that my dad was visiting and went home early because he had evidently caught something and wasn't feeling well. I got a really bad feeling and called him. It went to voicemail-- he did say he was going to bed early and it was about bedtime for him. I said I heard he wasn't feeling well and wanted to check in, and that I really really loved him. I felt weird, but my dad would've been royally PISSED if I called 911 to his house because he was under the weather and decided to sleep it off. I decided to wait until the morning.
Morning comes. Nothing. My brother sent his friend over. No answer. Friend goes in the house. My dad had passed away.
I wish I had called, it just didn't SEEM that serious and I have a penchant for overreacting. The last thing he told my brother was, "I'll be fine, I'm just going to bed".
The thing that got me was the voicemail. I looked through his messages. Mine was read. If nothing else, I know he listened to that voicemail. One of the last things he heard was me telling him I loved him.
Edit: Thank you for all of the kind responses. My dad passed from a heart attack, according to the coroner. It didn't sound like anyone could have helped even if they had found him right after it happened -- the coroner said, "It seemed sudden and not like he suffered at all". And if nothing had happened yet, he probably would've sent them away anyway because of his "I'll be fine" attitude.
I am grateful for a couple things. One, both of his parents passed before I was old enough to remember them, and he spoke openly about all of it (as well as his own mortality). I think that helped me tremendously in dealing with the same. Two, he was always sentimental. I knew that him hearing me say, "I really really love you, bye," meant something to him. I knew he felt the same way because he used to send me random messages about how happy he was to be a dad and how much he loved his kids.
From this experience and a couple others, I've learned to speak up when I feel something is off. I may be wrong, and I have been plenty of times, but nothing is wrong with calmly speaking my mind or taking precautions when concerned. Bad things can and do happen. It doesn't mean they will, and it doesn't mean I have to OVERreact when I don't know what's going on. But also, sometimes things just happen. Make sure the people you love and care about know you love and care about them.
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27points
#8
When I was in college I had a really weird class and work schedule that resulted in me usually taking my dog for her nightly walk around three or so in the morning. There was a giant parking structure for the college right by its baseball field and I would usually cut through there and let my dog run around on the field, before circling back to my apartment.
One night on the way over, I heard a faint humming in the parking garage, followed by some sort of weird almost alarm sounding noise. Being the horror movie victim that I am, I started walking towards the sound, which meant walking down to the lowest level, which was one below street level. When I got down to the ramp my dog started to get visibly stressed, whining and sort of bouncing around, looking at me repeatedly. I started to really get stressed out at this point, but pressed on.
When I got down the ramp, I looked around and saw behind it a small golf cart, which on its own wasn’t that weird because the school’s maintenance staff used them all the time. This golf cart, however, was on and running, which was producing the humming noise, but with no driver. I walked over to it and behind it was one of the home depot buckets tipped over, with trash scattered around. Before I could really wonder what was going on, I heard the alarm sort of sound again, only this time I recognized it.
I went a little further around to the elevators and found a man unconscious inside one, blocking the door, which was repeatedly try to close but couldn’t. Once I was down there near it I knew what the sound was because we used to block it in the dorms all the time waiting for friends. At this point my dog was going nuts. I put her leash over one of those parking poles to stop people from hitting things and approached the man. I didn’t know CPR at the time, but I checked if he was breathing. He was so I quickly called 9/11, fortunately I had service and the campus police station was literally a two minute walk from there.
A couple police officers arrived quickly and began to administer CPR, and an ambulance arrived shortly after. I had to hang around for awhile and explain what happened. The stressful part was not finding out if he was okay until several days later. I called the campus police station and they said they couldn’t share his specific medical situation, but told me he was okay and would likely return to work at some point. I’m guessing he had a heart attack but I’ll never know for sure. I never saw him again.
Edit: thanks for all the stuff!
One night on the way over, I heard a faint humming in the parking garage, followed by some sort of weird almost alarm sounding noise. Being the horror movie victim that I am, I started walking towards the sound, which meant walking down to the lowest level, which was one below street level. When I got down to the ramp my dog started to get visibly stressed, whining and sort of bouncing around, looking at me repeatedly. I started to really get stressed out at this point, but pressed on.
When I got down the ramp, I looked around and saw behind it a small golf cart, which on its own wasn’t that weird because the school’s maintenance staff used them all the time. This golf cart, however, was on and running, which was producing the humming noise, but with no driver. I walked over to it and behind it was one of the home depot buckets tipped over, with trash scattered around. Before I could really wonder what was going on, I heard the alarm sort of sound again, only this time I recognized it.
I went a little further around to the elevators and found a man unconscious inside one, blocking the door, which was repeatedly try to close but couldn’t. Once I was down there near it I knew what the sound was because we used to block it in the dorms all the time waiting for friends. At this point my dog was going nuts. I put her leash over one of those parking poles to stop people from hitting things and approached the man. I didn’t know CPR at the time, but I checked if he was breathing. He was so I quickly called 9/11, fortunately I had service and the campus police station was literally a two minute walk from there.
A couple police officers arrived quickly and began to administer CPR, and an ambulance arrived shortly after. I had to hang around for awhile and explain what happened. The stressful part was not finding out if he was okay until several days later. I called the campus police station and they said they couldn’t share his specific medical situation, but told me he was okay and would likely return to work at some point. I’m guessing he had a heart attack but I’ll never know for sure. I never saw him again.
Edit: thanks for all the stuff!
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26points
#9
Once when I was little, we went fishing on a sunday with my uncle, an aunt(uncle's and mom's sister) and my two cousins. See, my uncle was a very successful man, we were really close since he lived a block away from us. He even took me to his job one day, where I met his boss. That day is what made me chose the path I'm following now, the degree I'm trying to get.
Anyway, we went fishing and I hadn't had that much fun in a while, but I had this feeling of impending doom, like I knew that scene wouldn't ever happen again, that it was temporary. That was the first time that I felt that way, I was 9.
It really was the last time since my uncle fell ill two days later(tuesday), passing away on the friday at around 9pm. I wasn't allowed to see him in the hospital, so that sunday really was the last time I saw him. Nothing was ever the same after his passing, there were three(unrelated) divorces within the family including my parents and the aunt that went with us. I mean, all of this could've(probably would've) happened had him not passed, but it's my last memory of easier times, everything slowly fell apart after that.
Anyway, we went fishing and I hadn't had that much fun in a while, but I had this feeling of impending doom, like I knew that scene wouldn't ever happen again, that it was temporary. That was the first time that I felt that way, I was 9.
It really was the last time since my uncle fell ill two days later(tuesday), passing away on the friday at around 9pm. I wasn't allowed to see him in the hospital, so that sunday really was the last time I saw him. Nothing was ever the same after his passing, there were three(unrelated) divorces within the family including my parents and the aunt that went with us. I mean, all of this could've(probably would've) happened had him not passed, but it's my last memory of easier times, everything slowly fell apart after that.
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25points
As a rule of thumb, your gut feelings are linked to specific situations or people and lead you toward specific decisions and actions.
However, anxiety is less defined and tends to focus on the future. It can also focus on things that you can’t actually change or control.
Meanwhile, paranoia is, at its core, irrational, and should be avoided.
#10
I befriended an elderly man after a middle school project about WWII (he served on the USS San Francisco) and I continued to visit with him weekly or so all the way through high school.
His house was on the way home from school and I would often call to tell him I was coming and then drop by after practice. Being a 92 year old man, he didn’t have a ton going on, but occasionally had appointments and such that took him out of the house.
One day I called and he didn’t pick up the phone (not super strange, given the aforementioned appointments). But I just had this sinking feeling in my chest that no matter how long I waited, he wasn't going to pick up the phone.
Got a call the next day from my middle school teacher (who also regularly checked in with him) telling me that he had passed away.
I got to speak at his service and I’ll always remember our time together. RIP Gene
His house was on the way home from school and I would often call to tell him I was coming and then drop by after practice. Being a 92 year old man, he didn’t have a ton going on, but occasionally had appointments and such that took him out of the house.
One day I called and he didn’t pick up the phone (not super strange, given the aforementioned appointments). But I just had this sinking feeling in my chest that no matter how long I waited, he wasn't going to pick up the phone.
Got a call the next day from my middle school teacher (who also regularly checked in with him) telling me that he had passed away.
I got to speak at his service and I’ll always remember our time together. RIP Gene
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22points
#11
Came home very late one night. My parents and sister were already asleep. House felt funny. Dogs were barking in a strange way.Looked around and noticed that my stepmother's car was not in the driveway but her purse was in the kitchen. My dad's wallet was not on it's usual place. Caught someone creeping around in the back yard, the commotion woke everyone up. Creeper was one of my sister's friends. Turns out, her friends decided to break in due to the fact that my parents never lock the doors and the dogs all knew them, steal my dad's cash and credit cards and take my stepmother's car for a joyride. Since she drove a Toyota Corolla, I have no idea why.
We found the car in the next subdivision. Why creeper-boy was not with his buddies? He was figured he could double back and spend some "quality time" with my sister, and my timing was just about perfect. He ended up rolling on his buddies and getting a reduced sentence. His parents were pissed at me more for injuring their little boy than they were at him for breaking into people's houses and stealing cars.
We found the car in the next subdivision. Why creeper-boy was not with his buddies? He was figured he could double back and spend some "quality time" with my sister, and my timing was just about perfect. He ended up rolling on his buddies and getting a reduced sentence. His parents were pissed at me more for injuring their little boy than they were at him for breaking into people's houses and stealing cars.
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20points
#12
The highway that I take home from work had just been repaved and none of the lines were painted on yet, except for the lines in between each lane - there were no lines painted for the shoulders yet, but plenty of space to pull over to the shoulder part of the highway without impeding traffic.
On one particular day, there was a city truck parked in the "shoulder." I got over to the left lane to give them plenty of space, but knew that the guy on the driver's side opened his door way too wide for being next to 70+mph traffic and was walking way too close to that traffic. I immediately thought that that wouldn't end well.
I get home, and as I'm watching the news an hour later, there was a crash on that highway, at that spot I passed, involving the driver of the city truck. Someone hit him. He passed away on the scene.
They (I'm assuming his coworkers, friends, and family) put up a memorial of him at the exact spot that I passed him. To this day, I still get over to the left lane when I'm "passing" him.
The lines for the shoulders were painted on the next day.
Edit: This happened in Ohio a few months ago, late summer I think? So we pass on the left, which is why I gave him room by getting over to the left lane. Move over or slow down is a law here. I move over when possible, slow down when moving over is not possible. I’d rather not be the cause of someone not going home to their family that night. I’m not sure what happened to the guy that hit him, but a quick search of his name revealed that no charges were in the works a few days after this happened. I think of the dude daily as I pass his memorial, and hope he didn’t suffer too bad.
On one particular day, there was a city truck parked in the "shoulder." I got over to the left lane to give them plenty of space, but knew that the guy on the driver's side opened his door way too wide for being next to 70+mph traffic and was walking way too close to that traffic. I immediately thought that that wouldn't end well.
I get home, and as I'm watching the news an hour later, there was a crash on that highway, at that spot I passed, involving the driver of the city truck. Someone hit him. He passed away on the scene.
They (I'm assuming his coworkers, friends, and family) put up a memorial of him at the exact spot that I passed him. To this day, I still get over to the left lane when I'm "passing" him.
The lines for the shoulders were painted on the next day.
Edit: This happened in Ohio a few months ago, late summer I think? So we pass on the left, which is why I gave him room by getting over to the left lane. Move over or slow down is a law here. I move over when possible, slow down when moving over is not possible. I’d rather not be the cause of someone not going home to their family that night. I’m not sure what happened to the guy that hit him, but a quick search of his name revealed that no charges were in the works a few days after this happened. I think of the dude daily as I pass his memorial, and hope he didn’t suffer too bad.
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20points
How much do you trust your gut instincts? Are they more often right or have they ever led you seriously astray?
Have you ever had a feeling that something was very wrong, and it turned out to be correct? What are the biggest dangers that your intuition has protected you from in the past? Do you know anyone who has avoided major accidents because they trusted their gut?
If you feel like sharing your stories with other readers, you can do so in the comments.
#13
I’m already a nervous flyer. One time I was taking a flight on American Trans Air from Phoenix to Vegas or vice versa...don’t remember. Anyway, the engines started up and all of the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I could swear that the engine on my side of the plane sounded funny. Just as we started to taxi, the engine blew up. Flames and thick black smoke started coming out of it. They shut down the engines and had us disembark. They offered us an alternate flight. I walked as fast as I could to the rental car counter.
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18points
#14
I hadn't been feeling well for a few weeks. Shortness of breath despite being pretty athletic and could feel my heart pounding. I saw my doctor who suggested anxiety, prescribed some meds, and sent me on my way.
But I just...had this feeling. A few days later I woke up and had trouble walking to the bathroom without losing my breath. I don't know why it even came to mind but all I could think was 'something is wrong. this isn't anxiety. I need to go to the ER.'
So I walked myself to the hospital and asked if it was possible I had a blood clot. Was reassured that if it was a clot in my lung there was no way I could have walked to the hospital. Convinced them to test me anyway annnnnnd it was a pulmonary embolism.
Listen to your instincts, friends!
EDIT (this is long, so feel free to skip!)
Since my comment has a lot of replies and questions, I wanted to clarify some things. Sorry I couldn’t take the time to respond to you all individually but I have pregnancy induced carpal tunnel (yep, I am a lady! Lots of you asked) and I think typing that much might actually make me want to cut off my own hands.
So my story is obviously quite simplified and I think my particular situation was fairly atypical. That being said...I think if you have a health concern it is always better to have to checked out—worst case scenario is it will be nothing and you will be reassured and can stop worrying!
My saga actually started out as right sided arm/chest pains. Because I was a pretty avid swimmer, my doctor initially assumed (as did I) that I had injured a muscle/tendon. When it didn’t get better, he ordered some blood work (to check for vitamin deficiency but crucially, not a d-dimer). When that came back clean but my pain was getting worse, I started to get quite worried that something more sinister might be at play. It was at this point my doctor decided my issues were down to anxiety and although I returned a few times to insist something else must be wrong all I ended up with was prescriptions for Zoloft, ambien, Valium and hydrocodone
I don’t think I am a particularly anxious person (or at least, I wasn’t before this) but I tried to accept that my symptoms (which were getting worse despite my zombie cocktail of medicines) might be physical manifestations of anxiety. What really woke me up was the morning I had trouble walking to my bathroom. In weeks I had gone from someone who swam several miles a day to someone who became out of breath walking down a hallway. That was the morning I went to the ER.
In regards to the ‘you can’t have a blood clot if you walked in here’—this was some paraphrasing on my part. The longer version is that because I walked in there, and already had a diagnosis of ‘anxiety’ in my patient file, the assumption was that I was probably just a hypochondriac. I think the fact that my resting heart rate seemed normal (although I knew it was high for me ) seemed to support this and me asking ‘could this be a clot?’ (My cousin had previously had an estrogen induced clot) probably sent up some ‘this girl reads too much Web MD’ flags.
What I did appreciate was that the PA assigned to me did not make me feel like I was wasting time. Although he also suggested it could be anxiety, he agreed if that was the case then ruling out a clot should in theory help me feel better. This reasoning may have saved my life! The first thing they had me do was walk around while hooked up to a heart and oxygen monitor. They could see my heart rate rise alarmingly just walking around the room, and (I think? I don’t remember for sure) my blood oxygen may have been dropping? This prompted him to order a D-Dimer and they ended up sending me for a CT angiogram before the results even came back.
The CT annoyed me at the time (I was worried my crappy insurance would try and fight me on it/ the stuff they give you makes it feel like you’ve wet yourself) but it is ultimately what diagnosed my PE.
I was very lucky. My PE had been caused by the undiagnosed clot in my upper arm (an uncommon spot and the cause of all of my pain). It was still small and may not have gotten worse...but it also easily could have, or more or the original clot could have broken off. I didn’t have any of the usual clot symptoms in my arm (no swelling or redness) and no one thought to check my d-Dimer before I actually asked if it could be a clot even though I had just recently switched to an estrogen based birth control and had taken several back to back international flights.
I spent the next few months on blood thinners and visiting a hemotoligst and thrombosis clinic to rule out genetic factors. Because my clot was probably in part precipitated by estrogen, I don’t have to be on blood thinners for life (but I also can’t take hormonal birth control). I am pregnant now and back on blood thinner injections, but I should be able to stop these 6-8 weeks post partum.
To those of you who lost a loved one to a PE—I am so very sorry for your loss. Since this happened to me I have read a clot of stories where people were not so lucky as I was. I feel incredibly fortunate that I listened to my instincts.
I also want to address the fact that I am a woman—Just from all the comments it’s easy to see that chest pain in women and young people is too often attributed to things like anxiety without ruling out other things first. Although my doctor made some initial attempts to find a cause for my symptoms, after 2 ‘guess agains’ that was what he jumped to. Because of this notation on my file it made me really have to push at the ER to be taken seriously.
Anxiety can absolutely have physical symptoms,but I would still say it is important to always trust your gut in these matters. Even if you turn out to be overreacting, the worst that can happen is that you’ll go home feeling reassured.
But I just...had this feeling. A few days later I woke up and had trouble walking to the bathroom without losing my breath. I don't know why it even came to mind but all I could think was 'something is wrong. this isn't anxiety. I need to go to the ER.'
So I walked myself to the hospital and asked if it was possible I had a blood clot. Was reassured that if it was a clot in my lung there was no way I could have walked to the hospital. Convinced them to test me anyway annnnnnd it was a pulmonary embolism.
Listen to your instincts, friends!
EDIT (this is long, so feel free to skip!)
Since my comment has a lot of replies and questions, I wanted to clarify some things. Sorry I couldn’t take the time to respond to you all individually but I have pregnancy induced carpal tunnel (yep, I am a lady! Lots of you asked) and I think typing that much might actually make me want to cut off my own hands.
So my story is obviously quite simplified and I think my particular situation was fairly atypical. That being said...I think if you have a health concern it is always better to have to checked out—worst case scenario is it will be nothing and you will be reassured and can stop worrying!
My saga actually started out as right sided arm/chest pains. Because I was a pretty avid swimmer, my doctor initially assumed (as did I) that I had injured a muscle/tendon. When it didn’t get better, he ordered some blood work (to check for vitamin deficiency but crucially, not a d-dimer). When that came back clean but my pain was getting worse, I started to get quite worried that something more sinister might be at play. It was at this point my doctor decided my issues were down to anxiety and although I returned a few times to insist something else must be wrong all I ended up with was prescriptions for Zoloft, ambien, Valium and hydrocodone
I don’t think I am a particularly anxious person (or at least, I wasn’t before this) but I tried to accept that my symptoms (which were getting worse despite my zombie cocktail of medicines) might be physical manifestations of anxiety. What really woke me up was the morning I had trouble walking to my bathroom. In weeks I had gone from someone who swam several miles a day to someone who became out of breath walking down a hallway. That was the morning I went to the ER.
In regards to the ‘you can’t have a blood clot if you walked in here’—this was some paraphrasing on my part. The longer version is that because I walked in there, and already had a diagnosis of ‘anxiety’ in my patient file, the assumption was that I was probably just a hypochondriac. I think the fact that my resting heart rate seemed normal (although I knew it was high for me ) seemed to support this and me asking ‘could this be a clot?’ (My cousin had previously had an estrogen induced clot) probably sent up some ‘this girl reads too much Web MD’ flags.
What I did appreciate was that the PA assigned to me did not make me feel like I was wasting time. Although he also suggested it could be anxiety, he agreed if that was the case then ruling out a clot should in theory help me feel better. This reasoning may have saved my life! The first thing they had me do was walk around while hooked up to a heart and oxygen monitor. They could see my heart rate rise alarmingly just walking around the room, and (I think? I don’t remember for sure) my blood oxygen may have been dropping? This prompted him to order a D-Dimer and they ended up sending me for a CT angiogram before the results even came back.
The CT annoyed me at the time (I was worried my crappy insurance would try and fight me on it/ the stuff they give you makes it feel like you’ve wet yourself) but it is ultimately what diagnosed my PE.
I was very lucky. My PE had been caused by the undiagnosed clot in my upper arm (an uncommon spot and the cause of all of my pain). It was still small and may not have gotten worse...but it also easily could have, or more or the original clot could have broken off. I didn’t have any of the usual clot symptoms in my arm (no swelling or redness) and no one thought to check my d-Dimer before I actually asked if it could be a clot even though I had just recently switched to an estrogen based birth control and had taken several back to back international flights.
I spent the next few months on blood thinners and visiting a hemotoligst and thrombosis clinic to rule out genetic factors. Because my clot was probably in part precipitated by estrogen, I don’t have to be on blood thinners for life (but I also can’t take hormonal birth control). I am pregnant now and back on blood thinner injections, but I should be able to stop these 6-8 weeks post partum.
To those of you who lost a loved one to a PE—I am so very sorry for your loss. Since this happened to me I have read a clot of stories where people were not so lucky as I was. I feel incredibly fortunate that I listened to my instincts.
I also want to address the fact that I am a woman—Just from all the comments it’s easy to see that chest pain in women and young people is too often attributed to things like anxiety without ruling out other things first. Although my doctor made some initial attempts to find a cause for my symptoms, after 2 ‘guess agains’ that was what he jumped to. Because of this notation on my file it made me really have to push at the ER to be taken seriously.
Anxiety can absolutely have physical symptoms,but I would still say it is important to always trust your gut in these matters. Even if you turn out to be overreacting, the worst that can happen is that you’ll go home feeling reassured.
16points
#15
My wife and I were renting for a few years when we decided to take the steps to buy our own house. We had enough for a deposit and had a mortgage quote arranged. We went to look at a number of houses and found one that we really liked so decided to put our offer in. We were told that this was most likely going to be accepted but they were going to wait a couple of days before deciding.
That evening I sat in bed reading when I had a horrible feeling that something wasn’t right. The next day I told my wife that I wasn’t sure about it and convinced her that we needed to retract our offer, so we did.
The next 2 weeks were a nightmare. Within 2 days of pulling out of this offer my wife was made redundant (totally by surprise) and she hadn’t been working at the company long enough to get much of a payout. A week later our car broke down and was beyond repair (barring spending more than the car was worth). We really struggled for the next year or so and would never have been able to pay off a mortgage.
We are in a much better place now but we know that if I hadn’t had that moment we would have been screwed.
That evening I sat in bed reading when I had a horrible feeling that something wasn’t right. The next day I told my wife that I wasn’t sure about it and convinced her that we needed to retract our offer, so we did.
The next 2 weeks were a nightmare. Within 2 days of pulling out of this offer my wife was made redundant (totally by surprise) and she hadn’t been working at the company long enough to get much of a payout. A week later our car broke down and was beyond repair (barring spending more than the car was worth). We really struggled for the next year or so and would never have been able to pay off a mortgage.
We are in a much better place now but we know that if I hadn’t had that moment we would have been screwed.
16points
#16
October 6, 2017. Was a little bit after midnight and had just gotten off of FaceTime with my girlfriend. Put my phone on Do Not Disturb like I do every night. Plugged it and went to sleep. About half an hour later, I popped awake and felt like I needed to look at my phone. Was glad I did. Very good friend of mine had called me (phone never rang because of Do Not Disturb). Instantly knew something was very wrong. In the few years we’ve known each other, she had only physically called me once or twice before that. She left me a voicemail saying to call her back as soon as I got her message... her mom passed away of a heart attack that night and she wanted to tell me. Was almost a year to the day after her fiancé (now husband) lost his mom.
Got to attend their wedding last month. Seeing them have a memorial to their moms in the middle of the ceremony very much made me cry. (I still have the voicemail. Can’t bring myself to delete it).
Got to attend their wedding last month. Seeing them have a memorial to their moms in the middle of the ceremony very much made me cry. (I still have the voicemail. Can’t bring myself to delete it).
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16points
#17
My dad did something like this while driving. Car load of family, zipping along as he was prone to doing. Then, just before a blind corner, slowed right down for no apparent reason. Like, slowed *a lot* more than necessary. A second or two later another car comes around the corner on our side of the road.
Would have been a head-on had dad not felt the uncanny urge to ease up.
Would have been a head-on had dad not felt the uncanny urge to ease up.
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15points
#18
At a family reunion I met my uncle's new wife for the first time. When I first saw her face a very cold feeling ran thru me, a 'don't get to know her she won't be here long' thought ran thru my head at the same time. This 12 year old's reaction must've been weird as she, her husband, and my father looked at me like 'WTH dude'. Guess my poker face was weak. :-(
Two months later she passed due to a traveling blood clot from her hip surgery. Was so sad as she was so excited and happy; new love, new lease on life as her hip pain would finally be gone and this happens. Uncle was crushed as you'd imagine.
Two months later she passed due to a traveling blood clot from her hip surgery. Was so sad as she was so excited and happy; new love, new lease on life as her hip pain would finally be gone and this happens. Uncle was crushed as you'd imagine.
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15points
#19
This isn't my story, but my mom's.
This was back in the 1970s. My mother was married to my father in India after having done medical school and her residency, and shortly after, immigrated to the U.S. and they both left their entire families behind. They knew very few people in the U.S. and they were both dirt poor. My mother had to also redo her entire residency, and when she finally landed a residency position, she was the only female resident at the hospital in upstate NY at the time. The other doctors were also very racist and looked down on her because she was from India, and not used to standing up for herself against a bunch of white male egotistical physicians. Needless to say, she was already kind of depressed and missing her family terribly. She would cry a lot and told my dad she wanted to go back home to India.
Anyways, one day my mother just got more and more agitated, and it got to the point where she was crying her eyes out insisting something was wrong, and she had to immediately go home to India. She thought something had happened to her dad.
Keep in mind, again, my parents had no $ at all - they were barely surviving here in the U.S. and whatever extra money they did have, they were sending home to India. There simply was no $ for a flight back to India.
Anyways, my mom is hysterical and starts packing a bag insisting she has to go back, something happened, she just has a terrible feeling. My dad thinks she's basically looney tunes and just having a serious breakdown at this point, but lets her go since he thinks she will not get better until she does. She catches the first flight back home, which has a connection in NYC. While in NYC awaiting her flight to Bombay, my mom's cousin's husband calls my dad at home from India and tells him that her little brother and his fiancé were in a bad motorcycle accident and she needs to come home to India right away since they might not make it. My mother later called my father from NYC to check in before she got onto her next flight to Bombay, and he had to tell her the news. By the time she landed in Bombay, the cousin's husband picked her up and told her that her brother and his fiancé had already passed away while she was flying over. Somehow, my mother had known that something was very wrong. My uncle and his fiance were on his motorcycle when they were hit by a drunk driver, who then fled the scene. They lay there bleeding on the roadway for hours until someone finally found them and took them to the hospital, where they both later passed away.
To this day, the whole thing still weirds my dad out completely. He's not the superstitious type and still does not understand how my mom knew something terrible had happened to her beloved baby brother.
That's story #1.
Story #2 - circa 2002 - my mother had a dream that I was pregnant. I was only 19 at the time. She told my uncle, who lives in Houston, about this dream. He told her she's nuts, no way I'm pregnant. She said in the dream she saw a little boy playing in the living room, and my deceased uncle came to her in the dream and told her this was my son and that she was going to be a grandmother. The child also looked just like me.
So my mother tells my uncle about this dream, he laughs at her and calls her crazy. Suddenly, my mother is pestering me about birth control like CRAZY. I kind of blow it off and tell her she's nuts. Two weeks later, I find out I'm 6 weeks pregnant. When I'm about 18 weeks pregnant, my mom tells me he'll be a boy, not a girl, and he'll be born on 9/18. I'm like, OK Mom, whatever. The following week we confirm he's a boy and pick out his name. I then kind of forgot about her prediction for the day of his birth. My due date was 9/11 and I felt like it was a bad luck day and didn't want him to be born on that day. My mom told me, "Don't worry, he'll be born on 9/18, not 9/11."
I completely forget all about this until the evening of 9/18, after he was born. After my kiddo was born, I'm lying there holding him when suddenly my mom reminded me, "See? I told you he'd be born on 9/18."
I'm completely astonished and asked her how she knew that.
She told me my deceased uncle had told her in the dream she had. 9/18, my son's due date, was the anniversary of the uncle I never met passing away. That's how she knew what day my son would be born.
This was back in the 1970s. My mother was married to my father in India after having done medical school and her residency, and shortly after, immigrated to the U.S. and they both left their entire families behind. They knew very few people in the U.S. and they were both dirt poor. My mother had to also redo her entire residency, and when she finally landed a residency position, she was the only female resident at the hospital in upstate NY at the time. The other doctors were also very racist and looked down on her because she was from India, and not used to standing up for herself against a bunch of white male egotistical physicians. Needless to say, she was already kind of depressed and missing her family terribly. She would cry a lot and told my dad she wanted to go back home to India.
Anyways, one day my mother just got more and more agitated, and it got to the point where she was crying her eyes out insisting something was wrong, and she had to immediately go home to India. She thought something had happened to her dad.
Keep in mind, again, my parents had no $ at all - they were barely surviving here in the U.S. and whatever extra money they did have, they were sending home to India. There simply was no $ for a flight back to India.
Anyways, my mom is hysterical and starts packing a bag insisting she has to go back, something happened, she just has a terrible feeling. My dad thinks she's basically looney tunes and just having a serious breakdown at this point, but lets her go since he thinks she will not get better until she does. She catches the first flight back home, which has a connection in NYC. While in NYC awaiting her flight to Bombay, my mom's cousin's husband calls my dad at home from India and tells him that her little brother and his fiancé were in a bad motorcycle accident and she needs to come home to India right away since they might not make it. My mother later called my father from NYC to check in before she got onto her next flight to Bombay, and he had to tell her the news. By the time she landed in Bombay, the cousin's husband picked her up and told her that her brother and his fiancé had already passed away while she was flying over. Somehow, my mother had known that something was very wrong. My uncle and his fiance were on his motorcycle when they were hit by a drunk driver, who then fled the scene. They lay there bleeding on the roadway for hours until someone finally found them and took them to the hospital, where they both later passed away.
To this day, the whole thing still weirds my dad out completely. He's not the superstitious type and still does not understand how my mom knew something terrible had happened to her beloved baby brother.
That's story #1.
Story #2 - circa 2002 - my mother had a dream that I was pregnant. I was only 19 at the time. She told my uncle, who lives in Houston, about this dream. He told her she's nuts, no way I'm pregnant. She said in the dream she saw a little boy playing in the living room, and my deceased uncle came to her in the dream and told her this was my son and that she was going to be a grandmother. The child also looked just like me.
So my mother tells my uncle about this dream, he laughs at her and calls her crazy. Suddenly, my mother is pestering me about birth control like CRAZY. I kind of blow it off and tell her she's nuts. Two weeks later, I find out I'm 6 weeks pregnant. When I'm about 18 weeks pregnant, my mom tells me he'll be a boy, not a girl, and he'll be born on 9/18. I'm like, OK Mom, whatever. The following week we confirm he's a boy and pick out his name. I then kind of forgot about her prediction for the day of his birth. My due date was 9/11 and I felt like it was a bad luck day and didn't want him to be born on that day. My mom told me, "Don't worry, he'll be born on 9/18, not 9/11."
I completely forget all about this until the evening of 9/18, after he was born. After my kiddo was born, I'm lying there holding him when suddenly my mom reminded me, "See? I told you he'd be born on 9/18."
I'm completely astonished and asked her how she knew that.
She told me my deceased uncle had told her in the dream she had. 9/18, my son's due date, was the anniversary of the uncle I never met passing away. That's how she knew what day my son would be born.
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15points
#20
When I was in 6th grade, I got a weird tingly feeling in my molars and felt like something was just off about my day. The feeling was really strong around recess time for the younger elementary students (1st thru 3rd had recess about 15 minutes before the 4th thru 6th students). My brother was in 2nd grade at the time and I remember looking at the clock and just thinking I felt really off.
School day ends and I get picked up by my dad, not my mom, which was unusual. We head to the hospital where my brother had been hospitalized with a pretty nasty double break in his left arm. I asked what happened and was told that he broke his arm at recess that morning and had been brought in for surgery to straighten the break or something to that effect.
Years later I got the same feeling, and for some reason thought of my father. Thankfully he was only in a fender bender that day.
School day ends and I get picked up by my dad, not my mom, which was unusual. We head to the hospital where my brother had been hospitalized with a pretty nasty double break in his left arm. I asked what happened and was told that he broke his arm at recess that morning and had been brought in for surgery to straighten the break or something to that effect.
Years later I got the same feeling, and for some reason thought of my father. Thankfully he was only in a fender bender that day.
15points