Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Describe The Strangest Medical Condition They've Ever Had That They Didn't Even Know Was A Thing

People Describe The Strangest Medical Condition They've Ever Had That They Didn't Even Know Was A Thing
Image by Bokskapet from Pixabay

It's not hard to imagine most medical conditions.


We've seen enough medical dramas and movies, cataloguing what can go wrong with the human body. There are some conditions that can still surprise us.
The experience is most certainly different when you're the one in the doctor's office being told something is not working the way it's supposed to.

Reddit user, u/Menardmildred13, wanted to know what surprised you when they asked:

What medical condition did you have that you didn't even know was a problem?

Allergies can hit you out of nowhere. While typical allergies, either seasonal or food-related, aren't that surprising, sometimes it's how they manifest that can be truly alarming.

Well, Then, Stop Eating Cheese?

"I have a cheese allergy and get the cheese coughs. Still totally eat cheese."

Shevrock

"Are.. are cheese coughs different from regular coughing? Because it sounds like you start coughing up partially digested cheese which is pretty horrific and I might have nightmares now"

Meegs294

"No. My throat is trying to close. Which I guess is also horrific considering how often I eat cheese."

Shevrock

Switching It Up

"I thought I just had extremely sensitive skin and was prone to rashes, especially around my eyes - always had a permanent domino mask of irritated skin around my eyes. When I switched doctors my new one had me take allergy tests. Turns out in the last 5 years or so I developed a severe allergy to laundry detergent perfumes. I switched to a hypoallergenic detergent and it all went away."

plastickhero

Sometimes a surprising medical condition can be lived with for months, maybe even years, without popping up. Then one day you'll be inconvenienced by something you didn't know you inherited from a family member a long time ago.

Not Responding How You Want

"Low thyroid hormone levels which isn't all that strange or dangerous and easily managed by a simple medication."

"However my thyroid condition did not easily respond to the medication and symptoms of severe thyroid dysfunction showed up and got worse. They checked for nodules like thyroid cancer just by feeling my neck. Didn't notice anything."

"Turns out I have a very rare and aggressive form of Lymphoma and it was lodged in my thyroid destroying it and spread to my brain and lymph nodes before anybody had the wherewithal to start sticking my with needles and scanning me."

CastleOfBravo

Tearing Up Your Insides

"Celiac disease. I was having trouble with depression and chronic fatigue, so I got some blood tests which revealed that I had nutritional deficiencies related to the damage my intestines had sustained."

Hats668

How Does That Even Work?

"Ovarian torsion. Found out about it this weekend-when I had to go to a&e with a suspected case. Thankfully it turned out not to be, but still yikes."

"I knew of the testicular version, which is kind of understandable as they are... more exposed. Never would have thought the ol' ovaries could go for a spin, too. Apparently, in rare cases they just decide too."

troubledahling

Passing It On

"Von Willebrands Disease! It's like a variant of hemophilia that acts on a different factor. Had pretty bad, hours-long nosebleeds my whole life. They started getting worse as I got older. When I was 18, I got them bad enough that they started hospitalizing me and I would bleed enough I would pass out. After a year of fighting doctors who fully believed I was overreacting, I got blood tests- turns out my blood just doesnt clot anymore! And something as simple as having a bad enough nose bleed or period could very well kill me! Now I have to have emergency clotting factor pills that cost 200$ a pill on hand at all times so I don't die if anything happens and a medical bracelet."

"Also, it's genetic! Turns out most people in my family had it too, and multiple women died from childbirth and complications with their periods and just never knew it."

catinthexmastree

Our bodies are embarrassing. You can be perfectly fine one day, then the next be told you have a weird shaped tongue. It's a shame, really.

That'll Do It

"I had skin cancer...on my butthole."

"Yep, that's right. I got skin cancer on a place that had never seen the sunshine."

"Apparently it can totally kill you, but mine hadn't spread so I just had a simple (yet embarrassing) surgery and went on with my life. I was only 21 years old at the time."

NeedsMoreTuba

"How... how did they even catch this?"

bijouxette

"My butt started bleeding, so I went to the doctor."

NeedsMoreTuba

Flipped The "Off" Switch

"During a routine examination of my throat the doctor accidentally hit a nerve with their instrument, after which my heart stopped beating and they had to revive me. When I got back I heard my wife sobbing loudly, and there were 3 doctors and 5 nurses struggling with me."

"I had never in my wildest dreams thought that something like that could happen. It was a simple routine examination that doctors do all the time!"

"The human body is a fascinating thing indeed."

JRL1981

"Did they explain why that happened? Because I'd love to know"

iwillstealyourtoez

"Probably the vagus nerve. It courses down the outside of the esophagus into the abdomen ("vagus" means "wanderer"), and is also ennervates the heart. Activation of the nerve can cause the heart rate to drop quickly (sometimes called vagal-ing down), which can cause people to faint."

"Vaso-vagal syncope is a fascinating subject."

MedicalJargon-itis

Hey, Your Tongue? It's Weird.

"I was told at a recent dentist visit that I had a mild case of something called geographic tongue. They asked if I had ever been told that I had it before, and then went on to say it was not a big deal if it wasn't bothering me and you can't really do a whole lot for it anyway. So I was just left with a fact for this thread, and the knowledge that my tongue is slightly discolored in spots."

birdman361

Feeling even just the slightest bit off? Might be time to pay a visit to the doctor. Don't want that oddly shaped tongue to interfere with your life.

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Screenshot of Lisa and Dr. Mehmet Oz
The Katie Miller Podcast

Dr. Oz Accidentally Tells The Truth About The Trump Administration's Gaslighting—And Yeah, That Tracks

Speaking on the podcast of former Trump administration official Katie Miller, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump's administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, accidentally told the truth about the administration's gaslighting of the American public.

Oz admitted that people "might not like us" but then had a Freudian slip that says all you need to know about an administration that is called out on a daily basis for openly lying and obfuscating.

Keep ReadingShow less
Karoline Leavitt
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Karoline Leavitt Gets Awkward Reminder After Claiming Anything On Truth Social Is 'Directly From President Trump'

During the Wednesday press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt directly contradicted her boss, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump.

Leavitt told the White House press corps:

Keep ReadingShow less
Keke Palmer attends the 8th Annual American Black Film Festival Honors at SLS Hotel.
Savion Washington/WireImage via Getty Images

Keke Palmer Explains Why She's 'Almost 100% Sure' She's Asexual In Candid Post—And Fans Are Here For Her

Keke Palmer had the internet talking after revealing she is “almost 100 percent sure” that she’s asexual. The Emmy-winning actress shared the revelation in a sultry Valentine’s Day Instagram post featuring a chic pixie cut, a champagne-toned halter corset top, a thin gold necklace, and stud earrings.

But while the photos turned heads, it was her caption that sparked the conversation.

Keep ReadingShow less
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups; Brad Reese's Open Letter to Todd Scott
Julia Ewan/TWP/Getty Images; Brad Reese/LinkedIn

Grandson Of Reese's Founder Shames Hershey Co. For 'Replacing' Candy's Iconic Ingredients In Powerful Open Letter

Brad Reese, the grandson of H.B. Reese, who invented Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, is now speaking up about the quality of the product and his grandfather's original promise: real peanut butter and real milk chocolate.

When H.B. Reese invented the deliciously simple candy, he pointed out that using real ingredients wasn't a marketing tactic for him; it was a promise to the consumer that they knew what they were eating, and that what they were eating was real food.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk
Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images

X User Asks What The First Thing You'd Do If You 'Wake Up As Elon Musk'—And Everyone Had The Same Idea

Billionaire Elon Musk was widely mocked on his own platform after X user @buffys opened a veritable Pandora's box by asking what people would do if they woke up as him one day.

The question was simple:

Keep ReadingShow less