The human body can be comparable to a vehicle. It will develop mechanical issues over time, many of which are neglected because they aren’t easy to identify. It’s not until you visit a mechanic that you finally figure out exactly what the problem is.
Similarly, these people have dealt with illnesses they’ve brushed off as nothing serious. It wasn’t until they were checked out that they found out what was wrong with them, leaving them in shock, disbelief, and eventual relief. However, some weren’t so lucky.
These anecdotes were responses from a recent Reddit thread. If you went through anything similar, we would love to hear your stories.
#41
This is multilayered. Neuro tested me for a blood disorder to disprove my history of stroke. It was positive. He said it would NEVER cause me issues. I’ve had at least nine blood clots since then. I likely have had many more that didn’t try to off me.
Then stomach aches and 30% weight loss. I asked my GI if I should call my vascular surgeon. GI told me not to call vascular and to take an antidepressant.
I called vascular anyhow. They looked at the same scan and saw a new blood clot in my mesenteric artery. I had chronic mesenteric ischemia. I had a history of acute MI.
Even the blood disorder is untreatable. I’ve been on blood thinners for years and get blood clots regularly.
A huge deviation from all the doctors who acted like my symptoms were in my head or that there was no cause for concern.
Then stomach aches and 30% weight loss. I asked my GI if I should call my vascular surgeon. GI told me not to call vascular and to take an antidepressant.
I called vascular anyhow. They looked at the same scan and saw a new blood clot in my mesenteric artery. I had chronic mesenteric ischemia. I had a history of acute MI.
Even the blood disorder is untreatable. I’ve been on blood thinners for years and get blood clots regularly.
A huge deviation from all the doctors who acted like my symptoms were in my head or that there was no cause for concern.
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10points
#42
My great aunt started having vertigo and dizzy spells along with flashing lights in her eyes. Every doctor and the ER kept saying migraines and vertigo- then she started having confusion, doctors said she was just anxious about the symptoms and vertigo can leave you confused. They did a brain scan, nothing. Then, 3 months later she passed out during a “vertigo” spell, they took her to the ER and the neurologist refused to run any scans because “nothing would change on an MRI that fast- she got sent home with motion meds. Less than a month later she was rushed in again, this time they did scans- her brain was covered in lesions. They admitted her and told us it was probably encephalitis from a virus, then glioblastoma, then a million other things… finally they opened up her brain and after all of that it was Central Nervous System Vasculitis. Steroids managed it and the lesions went away. She still has memory impacts from the craniotomy and anxiety from the trauma…. But a wild ride!
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10points
#43
Me, 20F. Was in pain that would only get worse as the years went by... told to lose weight, exercise, eat right, take these vitamins, take a few extra pain pills.... yeah got diagnosed at 28 with ankylosing spondylitis. Now 35 and on meds for the rest of my life, infusions every 6 weeks and even then not always helpjng.
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9points
#44
Came home from Qatar after the World Cup in 2022 with a lingering cough. Went to the emergency room. When I told them I had ridden a camel while there, they freaked out and put me in isolation. They thought I had Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a severe respiratory illness. It is a zoonotic virus, meaning it can spread from animals to humans, primarily through direct contact with infected dromedary camels.
Turns out all I had was RSV.
Turns out all I had was RSV.
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8points
#45
Spent 5 days in hospital , abdomen hard as a rock, left w/ no answers. My G.I.’s office called a few days later for me to come in . I was scared because I’ve had 3 colonoscopies in 5 years and an endoscopy. My G.I. Was my ONLY doctor to look at the notes from my stay, the ultrasounds and MRI. She diagnosed me with Signiud diverticulitis and that I had a flare up. Thank you Dr. D.
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8points
#46
I had something that we thought was mysterious but ended up being incredibly common and, thankfully, easily fixed. I had an undiagnosed ulcer for about 18 months.
It never felt like reflux or stomach pain - it was, at its best, a deep gnawing ache in the center of my core and back. At its worst, it felt like the muscles along my spine were twisting in different directions and I felt so much pressure and ache in my core that it seemed like my ribs needed to snap to relieve it. It wouldn’t relieve it but the only way I could deal with it was to sit against something hard like the metal bed frame along the side of my mattress and just push my back into it as hard as I could. Most of the time I just contort and writhe in pain, looking for some kind of relief that never came. If you’ve ever reached back to unzip a dress or take off a bra, that’s the pose that I felt the need to be in most of the time.
The way the pain presented is part of why it went undiagnosed so long - thought it was muscle related, took ibuprofen, made it worse. I did physical therapy for it, took muscle relaxers and painkillers (prescribed for this pain!). I have a chiari malformation and we thought maybe it was from that, so I went to a neurosurgeon to see what they said. I was READY for brain surgery if that’s what it took to help.
Finally someone realized - oh. She’s losing blood and ridiculously low on iron, perhaps we should do an endoscopy. I ended up needing four pints of blood and an IV bag of protonix, plus a heavy daily dose of Prilosec for six months, but I was good as new once we figured it out. Every once in a rare while I’ll have reflux that triggers the same back pain, and I’m very thankful that I know what it is now.
It never felt like reflux or stomach pain - it was, at its best, a deep gnawing ache in the center of my core and back. At its worst, it felt like the muscles along my spine were twisting in different directions and I felt so much pressure and ache in my core that it seemed like my ribs needed to snap to relieve it. It wouldn’t relieve it but the only way I could deal with it was to sit against something hard like the metal bed frame along the side of my mattress and just push my back into it as hard as I could. Most of the time I just contort and writhe in pain, looking for some kind of relief that never came. If you’ve ever reached back to unzip a dress or take off a bra, that’s the pose that I felt the need to be in most of the time.
The way the pain presented is part of why it went undiagnosed so long - thought it was muscle related, took ibuprofen, made it worse. I did physical therapy for it, took muscle relaxers and painkillers (prescribed for this pain!). I have a chiari malformation and we thought maybe it was from that, so I went to a neurosurgeon to see what they said. I was READY for brain surgery if that’s what it took to help.
Finally someone realized - oh. She’s losing blood and ridiculously low on iron, perhaps we should do an endoscopy. I ended up needing four pints of blood and an IV bag of protonix, plus a heavy daily dose of Prilosec for six months, but I was good as new once we figured it out. Every once in a rare while I’ll have reflux that triggers the same back pain, and I’m very thankful that I know what it is now.
8points