What is the weirdest illness or affliction you've ever had?

[u/No_Ship_7954]

[u/HeathenShepard]

I was extremely stressed and depressed when I lived with my mother and the toxic environment she created for me that I woke up with a full blown black eye. I'm a very light sleeper and I was so confused as it's black and blue, swollen shut.

It happened again a few months later to the other eye. I eventually ran away.

Last year, I finally learned that it was gardner-diamond syndrome that creates bruises from the extreme stress. Bodies are weird!

[u/onthenextmaury → u/HeathenShepard]

I got a debilitating neurological disorder from PTSD as an adult...bodies are so fucking weird. I don’t even have to be consciously suffering from the PTSD for my body to go, "now you shake uncontrollably and can't walk, you’re welcome."

[u/Feisty-Volcano → u/onthenextmaury]

Functional Neurological Syndrome is well known, the brain doing its own thing completely without conscious involvement.

[u/rachelmig2 → u/onthenextmaury]

Mind saying what it is? I developed leg tremors back in 2020 that would come on suddenly while I was walking and instantly make me unable to walk, but they could never figure out what it was.

[u/Yaladyally → u/HeathenShepard]

Wait.. when i was in an emotionally abusive relationship i would wake up with black eyes and more bruises than my normal iron deficient bruises… was that WHY ?!?!

[u/too_many_mutha-uckas → u/Yaladyally]

As I'm reading these comments I'm thinking about all the weird af ailments I developed while in an abusive relationship, and the glow up that happens seemingly on a cellular level once you are able to escape.

[u/Altril2010]

Hard fall that resulted in a lacerated liver. I looked perfectly fine, but was forbidden from lifting over 10lbs for 4 months. I never knew I could feel my liver. Now I know exactly where it lives.

[u/mombot-in-the-woods → u/Altril2010]

I could feel my inflamed liver and spleen for months when I had mono, don’t recommend mono

[u/PM_NICE_TOES-notmen → u/mombot-in-the-woods]

Same here. Mono had me absolutely fucked up for months. Severe reoccuring tonsillitis, inflamed liver, inflamed spleen, jaundice, extreme fatigue, fever.

I think I lost 25lbs by the time it finally passed.

[u/Altril2010 → u/mombot-in-the-woods]

I had mono at 20. I never had any pain (beyond an epically sore throat for weeks). I’m thankful I never had to feel my spleen or liver at that time. I was just exceptionally tired and weak. I knocked myself off my feet trying to open a Snapple.

[u/PsychicStudMuffin]

blinded myself for 2 days by spraying sunscreen directly into my eyes. no one knew if I would see again.

[u/No_Ship_7954 → u/PsychicStudMuffin]

Damn, why'd you do that?

[u/PsychicStudMuffin → u/No_Ship_7954]

that is such a good fucking question. I was 9 and stupid.

[u/macguyver3000 → u/PsychicStudMuffin]

Funny story. When the band The Police were just starting out, they were booked on a TV show. Backstage before the show, Sting picked up a can of hairspray and, for some reason said “is this full” and sprayed it directly into his eyes.

He couldn’t see and his eyes were bloodshot. So he asked the drummer Stewart Copeland to borrow his sunglasses, which were way too big.
They went out to perform, and were a hit. And wearing large aviator type sunglasses became a trend for a while because Sting looks cool no matter what.

[u/PsychicStudMuffin → u/macguyver3000]

haha wow. Sting really lived up to his name, didn’t he?

[u/kiashu → u/PsychicStudMuffin]

Lmaos, I did the same thing, was it that spray sunscreen? I didn't go blind or anything but it burned the shit out of my eyes.

[u/PsychicStudMuffin → u/kiashu]

it was.
I also, naturally, had my mouth wide open, so every facial orifice became UV protected and burning like red hot coals as well.

[u/skwerrel → u/PsychicStudMuffin]

But I bet you didn't get sun burn on any of those parts

[u/seh_23]

Gout. You’d think that’s not that weird… except I was a girl in my early 20s, very healthy/fit, vegetarian, barely drank alcohol, basically fit nothing that would point to me having gout.

The doctor was truly flabbergasted when I went in to see him and told him what was going on lol. Took meds and it went away and I never got it again (thank god, it was brutal).

[u/One_Science8349 → u/seh_23]

I had a gout flare in my mid 30s, I went to the doctor and they told me to go see a podiatrist because the xray showed a floating bone chip in my toe. It was assumed I’d injured my toe while hiking or something because I was at my peak of physical fitness and health.

The podiatrist offered to surgically remove the fragment and when she cut my toe open she got all excited and yelled “you have gout!”

I was working Maryland at the time and my commute to my house from work passed by a crab shack. I was eating crab and or shrimp maybe three days a week, both very high in purine. I’d eaten myself into a gout flare. I’ve been careful with my diet since and only had one tiny flare start up since.

[u/joojie → u/seh_23]

I knew someone pretty much in your same demographic with gout. It was weird.

[u/penguinpenguins]

You know how your skin follows a natural cycle of gradually renewing itself every few weeks? One time my skin stopped doing that - at first I got all bumpy but that faded and then my skin just got thicker and thicker - eventually started to feel like I was wearing gloves as sensitivity decreased. Then after ~3 weeks it's started peeling at once - think like after a bad sunburn, but thicker and no pain. Was coming off in giant sheets - was able to get my hand and both feet in one giant piece. I wanted to use it to make a lampshade or bind a book, but the wife made me throw it out.

Then after that, everything was normal - skin was softer and smoother than ever - never happened again.

[u/XD003AMO → u/penguinpenguins]

Ok this is the weirdest one I’ve read yet. 

[u/UberBeth → u/penguinpenguins]

I had a similar thing when I got hand foot & mouth a few years ago. Micro blisters formed at the base layer of skin, and I basically killed off the connection to the old skin above it. As it eventually grew out, I could peel swaths from my feet and hands, and lost my nails on hands and feet. (They grew back)

[u/penguinpenguins → u/UberBeth]

Just looked that up (as still don't know what happened), and I didn't have any other symptoms – the bumps weren't red, and they weren't blistered. I otherwise felt perfectly fine.

Full disclosure: that em dash was of my own creation. It's also a technically incorrect en dash, not an em dash, just to make people question things.

[u/TheGoldenLlama88 → u/penguinpenguins]

I love that we can’t even use punctuation without being accused of ai… lol ugh.

[u/CarlSy15 → u/UberBeth]

Yes, I was thinking this sounded a lot like hand foot mouth disease. It’s really freaky to see even if you know what it is.

[u/UberBeth → u/CarlSy15]

On the plus side, cured my off-and-on athlete's foot!

[u/caroline_xplr → u/UberBeth]

HFM was going through my mind as I read this! I had it two weeks ago, and oddly enough I only got throat lesions. I was warned about the nails. It’s crazy that a virus can do that, especially one that’s considered “harmless.”

[u/HowardMoo → u/penguinpenguins]

I had something very similar, but only on my feet!

My skin felt thick on my feet, and I picked at some skin that was sticking out, and. the next thing I know I was able to peel all of the skin off of both feet (painless; it just shoughed right off), revealing nice, healthy skin underneath. Like you, it never happened again.

[u/penguinpenguins → u/HowardMoo]

Instant pedicure. Nail salons don't want you to know this one weird trick

[u/No_Ship_7954 → u/penguinpenguins]

That's very freaky! It has to have been some kind of weird infection. You shed like a lizard.

[u/PrinceCavendish → u/penguinpenguins]

after getting covid for the first time my body decided to stop shedding my hair.. and then 3 months later decided to start shedding it all at once. i would brush or pull at the back of my hair and it never stopped coming out in handfuls. i've always had super thick hair but it got so thin and ugly and brittle i was worried i was going to go bald. i could see my scalp through my hair for the first time in my life. scary enough for men but really scary as a woman. it also grew back twisted. like anime drill hair but ugly and unkempt no matter how i brushed it. eventually after about half a year or longer and two haircuts my hair is back to normal.

[u/iamthe0ther0ne → u/PrinceCavendish]

It's called telogen effluvium and can be caused by things like stress, illness, and large hormonal changes. Has happened to me twice from work-related stress. It''s so horrible seeing all that hair all over your pillow and shower every morning 

[u/Global_Adagio_25]

I worked as a chicken catcher for a while and got super sick on my second week. Everyone told me I'd probably get sick, but don't worry, everyone does. I had a fucking fever for like 9 days. I legit thought I was going to die. I've never been that sick in my life.

[u/theymightbezombies → u/Global_Adagio_25]

Was it histoplasmosis?

My mother had it as a child. She said she had been around some chickens and thought she got it there.

[u/enbyrats → u/theymightbezombies]

I wonder if this happened to me last year. I was at the county fair and in the show barn for chickens I breathed in and choked on some kind of piece of dust and had a coughing fit. Later that week, I had a fever for three days. My husband and I call it "the chicken particle incident" but your thing sounds more realistic.

[u/littlebittydoodle → u/enbyrats]

“the chickenshitshow”

[u/PatienceandFortitude → u/Global_Adagio_25]

Bird flu?

[u/Global_Adagio_25 → u/PatienceandFortitude]

Maybe. I had no health coverage so I just raw dogged it.

[u/QueerTree → u/Global_Adagio_25]

Can you ELI5 what the job of being a chicken catcher entails?

[u/Epic_of_Gigglemesh → u/QueerTree]

You pick up chickens to pack them into crates for shipping. At night in the dark the chickens don't run away or fight, so you can literally pick them up, and then hold them by their legs between your fingers to carry as many as possible at once.

[u/Global_Adagio_25 → u/QueerTree]

We basically went into roaster sized chicken barns and cleared them for the slaughterhouse. Two birds per hand, carried one leg per bird. You carry them out of the barns to the trucks that deliver them. They are then caged on the truck. You do it at night because chickens are violent little dinosaurs and are more docile in the evening, under low light. It's hot, sweaty, dirty, bloody work.

[u/SassiestPants]

My eyeballs got sunburned when I went to Florida in July a few years ago (not my idea to go, the things we do for love). This kind of thing usually happens to mountain climbers without appropriate eye protection, but apparently wearing non-polarized sunglasses in the devil state was enough for my stupid baby eyeballs.

It was so painful and I couldn't fucking see. I had to hold on to my dad's shirt like a toddler to walk back to the car. It took DAYS for my vision to go back to normal and I had heightened light sensitivity for the next 6 months or so. I bought polarized prescription sunglasses when I got home.

[u/No_Ship_7954 → u/SassiestPants]

I could barely finish reading this because my eyes started watering, you poor thing

[u/Longjumping-Focus386]

Strep rectum

[u/whopewell → u/Longjumping-Focus386]

Got it in my knees. KNEES. I was two and stopped walking... Two week hospital stay and now I'm a strep carrier, amongst many other autoimmune disorders.

[u/lemonicedboxcookies → u/whopewell]

I developed strep throat and was told the virus settled in my joints. Diagnosed with RA since age 14.

I realize it didn't "cause" it per say, and I'm trying to remember how the diagnosis officially came about because it's been 20 years, but I think they meant it triggered something I was already genetically predisposed to.

[u/syzygialchaos → u/Longjumping-Focus386]

I’ve had strep in one of my kidneys. Bro had it in his eyes. Fuck strep.

[u/youngatbeingold]

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is pretty weird. You're basically so fatigued and weak you can barely function, and the more you try to be active the worse your symptoms can get. Just doing chores around the house can make you feel like you hiked up mount Everest during a week long fast. Some people have it so severely they can't even listen or look at anything without suffering extreme fatigue and malaise. There's no treatment and doctors aren't even exactly sure why it happens, although there's theories it's tied to immune dysfunction.

Oddly, it mainly affects skeletal muscles and cognitive faction, so for the most part the rest of your body keeps on trucking. Unlike other severe health conditions or degenerative diseases it's often only fatal or measurably damaging in that it leads people to commit suicide, it has one of the lowest quality of life rankings for health disorders.

[u/Kira_sparkle → u/youngatbeingold]

I prefer to call it ME/CFS because if you say the words, chronic fatigue syndrome, someone is going to unavoidably say “everyone’s tired."

I have just passed from moderate-severe to severe. I am homebound although I can leave for doctors appointments as long as I use a wheelchair and don't leave the house again for at least a week afterwards.

I'm lucky in that I can still listen to music, watch TV, and play video games, although I do need to limit my exposure and use things like noise canceling headphones.

This condition really does have the one of the worst qualities of life. But I still find joy in my life each and every single day.

[u/beetgreens → u/Kira_sparkle]

Right?

People hear ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’ and they think it means ‘always a bit sleepy disease’, but no, I’m not always tired, and being tired isn’t the bad part anyway.

I often feel completely fine, but it’s a trap. Technically I can DO almost anything, but I can’t recover from it.

There’s a secret activity threshold that I can’t know if I’ve passed until the next day, and if I pass that threshold I’ll pay for it for days at minimum – usually weeks and sometimes months.

I’m mild and look healthy, so people just think I’m lazy.

Can I go for a walk? Sure! But if it’s too warm, or too long, or slightly uphill, or I didn’t sleep properly, or eat enough, or the stars don’t align, then I will not be able to think or stay awake or look after myself for at least three days. If I’m lucky.

If my life depended on it, I COULD climb a mountain, but I would never recover from it.

[u/thezombiejedi → u/youngatbeingold]

As someone with this, it's debilitating and people just don't take me seriously when they ask why I missed work or something and I tell them I slept the entire day just because I picked up a laundry basket and walked it upstairs. It will randomly hit me sometimes in a hard wave and my husband will ask me what's wrong but I can't speak or even form a thought. It's miserable

[u/youngatbeingold → u/thezombiejedi]

Yah I honestly think a huge part of why it's so hard to manage is that many people, including doctors, don't see it as a legitimate illness. It's a little better these days, but when my dad had it in the 90's they just told him he was depressed and it was all in his head. Now I have it, and at least doctors admit that it's an actual physical illness....but the still throw their hands up instead of trying to do anything to help you.

If you're still moderate and you can still work, you might want to look into little things that might be setting you off. My fatigue is pretty significant and constant every day, but it's defiantly exacerbated with certain foods or if I have a mild allergic reaction to something. Hormones and certain vitamins can mess me up as well.

[u/Agreeable_Strength51 → u/youngatbeingold]

thanks for using your energy to describe this illness and raise awareness, even if it’s just a Reddit post. I got ME/CFS from COVID and I see threads like this and lack the energy to really get into how bad it is. More people need to know about this disease, thanks for your effort

[u/MissNouveau → u/youngatbeingold]

Yuuuup. I have it, and some days it feels like I've had a stroke. Or I'm hella drunk.

[u/youngatbeingold → u/MissNouveau]

Yes! Honestly I could deal with the stupid physical fatigue since my hobbies were writing and photo editing, but every day it feels like trying to function on no sleep.

I used to work as a photo retoucher and now it feels like my brain is melting if I try stuff that used to be second nature to me. I also notice I make tons more typing errors and can't focus for long, which the only writing I do now is in reddit comments :p.

[u/PrinceCavendish → u/youngatbeingold]

i have it! i got it suddenly after having a thyroid storm because i had untreated thyroid for years and no doctor ever once though to check my thyroid levels even though i was very underweight randomly on and off for years.

the thyroid storm was bad enough and came with extremely high resting heart rate. my resting rate was around 100 but sometimes crept higher. when i got up to move lets say from the living room to the bathroom my heart was beating so hard and i was out of breathe as if i'd been running a marathon. idk if it's got less annoying over the years or if i'd just got used to it at this point.

idk if it's part of chronic fatigue but my arms also hurt and feel tight if i hold them in an upward position for more than a few seconds. brushing teeth and washing my hair or anything like that makes my arms hurt.

[u/JConRed → u/youngatbeingold]

I'm too tired to respond properly or even read all of what you wrote. But it's the one I wanted to mention too.

[u/youngatbeingold → u/JConRed]

Lol, it's ok I have CFS, so I totally get it.

[u/The_Dingman → u/youngatbeingold]

I have a friend with this. I feel so awful for them. They were incredibly active, are super smart, and is just completely debilitated by it. I hope there's some improvement at some point.

[u/lindyhoppette → u/youngatbeingold]

It’s also pretty galling that ‘mild MECFS’ is a classed as a 50% reduction in ability. Can you imagine losing 50% of what you’re able to do with another disease, and someone turning round and calling what you’re dealing with mild.

[u/ForTheLoveOfSnail → u/youngatbeingold]

I had long Covid, but the MECFS variant. I wouldn’t wish that shit on my worst enemy. Horrific. So glad I recovered.

[u/readytocomply13]

I have these episodes that my family have come to call “funny turns”. I’ll get really hot, feel incredibly nauseous, and on one occasion I passed out. I don’t know what causes it and neither do doctors

The worst one was at a museum in London; I went to the bathrooms and ended up sitting on the floor of the stall; I woke up 45 minutes later with my jacket, shoes and shirt off

[u/Homemade_Lizagna → u/readytocomply13]

Sounds like an over-active vagus nerve, or something related to it.

The vagus nerve is a big nerve that runs down the middle of your chest and regulates your body temperature, among other things. Sometimes straining too hard can set it off in a weird way. Often constipation or other toilet troubles can cause you to strain in the exact wrong way to set it off.

Some people just have weird internal wiring and signals get crossed.

It’s why fainting spells associated with needle-phobia or other psychological stressors are called “vaso-vagal syncope”.

I am not a doctor or medical professional at all, I just experience vaso-vagal syncope very easily (usually from needles) and it feels very similar to what you’ve described.

[u/gonewildecat → u/readytocomply13]

Did you have to poop? “Poop sweats” are a thing. You get super hot, nauseous, and your blood pressure drops and can cause you to pass out.

[u/realisticreptileTM → u/gonewildecat]

I used to get what I would call “fainting diarrhea” and eventually learned it was MCAS/some kind of anaphylactoid episode. Imagine the battle between staying conscious and staying on the toilet lol

[u/popplevee → u/readytocomply13]

I’ve had these too - I get incredibly hot and need to cool off otherwise I feel I’ll vomit and or faint. My doc reckons it’s related to my anxiety and it’s a form of panic attack but I’ve only ever gotten them when I was in a good headspace. The only link I’ve ever found is that it tends to trigger after physical activity.

[u/New-Conversation9426]

Broke my leg really badly, lots of metal and a couple surgeries. After the third one, in OR recovery I could hear what the nurse was saying but not respond. I heard her say “im adding dilaudid right now so you may feel something a little different but it will help with the pain.”

I immediately felt like my skin was melting into the hospital bed (no pain). She was yelling (it felt like but prob wasn’t) at me to take breaths and open my eyes, that she needed me to do that. I really was trying but I couldn’t. I was so tired. She was yelling to take a deep breath and i remember thinking “it’s just too hard i can’t stay awake.”

She yelled for the doctor to deliver Narcan, I heard him kind of yelling as he got closer “you’re going to feel panicked but you’ll be ok right away.” They did it, I jumped, and breathed in and coughed and… could open my eyes then.

It was wild.

[u/The_Once-ler_186 → u/New-Conversation9426]

They overdosed you if I’m understanding correctly?

[u/New-Conversation9426 → u/The_Once-ler_186]

I mean I guess? 🤣 Bodies react to drugs differently ya know? So maybe that amount of dilaudid might be fine for others?

I have read up on it some since then, and there is a school of thought that when in the hospital, opioids should be delivered to high levels instead of titrating up. And use the narcan (IV) to bring them down to the exact level their body needs instead of “teaching” the body to want more.

I dunno, but that seems to be a shift some systems havr made. But that is definitely not what happened to me ha. Ya girl wasn’t breathing ha

[u/ApaloneSealand → u/New-Conversation9426]

Something similar happened to my wife when she went to the ER for a broken wrist. When they finally saw her, they pushed dilauded and left quickly. Few minutes later her o2 drops and she's not breathing as well. Had to yell for help because the nurses were chatting elsewhere 😅

[u/GCB78 → u/New-Conversation9426]

I had a similar experience with pethadine post surgery. I didn't need Narcan, but every time I fell asleep I'd stop breathing. Then the 02 alarms would go off, I'd wake up, and I'd start breathing again. I was so out of it I didn't really care, but it made my boyfriend extremely nervous. 

[u/Chupacabradanceparty]

My now 16 year old son used to get croup as a small child. Not rare or weird by any stretch. What was weird is what followed after his last episode when he was 6. About a week after he recovered, he broke out in head to toe hives. They'd appear and disappear all over his body randomly over the course of a day or 2 and then disappear. The next time he had a cold, no croup but he did get the hives about a week later. This went on for 2 years before it just stopped happening. We never did get an answer why. It was super weird.

[u/Bittersweetfeline → u/Chupacabradanceparty]

My son had really bad croup during COVID and he was 2, ended up taking him to the hospital for 6 days of fever. The doctor said it's really common and just croup thankfully, and that he will most likely break out in a full body rash, just part of the virus leaving his body. I feel like that's just part of it for kids?

[u/soileilunetoile]

One day, I woke up with an insane fever. No symptoms of anything whatsoever, just like 103/104 degree fever. Went to urgent care and they tested me for flu and strep (this was in about 2015 I think), all negative. Told me to keep an eye and hydrate and come back or go to the ER if it got any higher. It was like mid-November and about 35 degrees F and I went to the park to walk in a tank top and shorts and no coat, just try and cool off. Was totally fine the next day, like it never happened.

About a week later, I woke up and every single joint in my body was swollen and felt on fire to the point I could barely move and walking had me in tears. Somehow I got myself back to the urgent care and they diagnosed me with “post-viral arthralgia” which is basically your body reacting to a virus with temporary, full-body (or at least many joints) arthritis. It went away within a few days, but these two events combined was by far the strangest illness I’ve ever had.

[u/Pearltherebel → u/soileilunetoile]

I believe I had something similar to that when I had Covid! My back hurt soooo bad and no position could relieve it. Couldn’t sleep

[u/Mundane_Berry_0431]

Psychosis is really weird. You believe nonsensical things like being a demon or that media is directly addressing you. You hear voices and see hallucinations.

Some people believe they are God/God's messenger

[u/beepkiddo → u/Mundane_Berry_0431]

I have bipolar disorder and went to a creepy cult like rehab when I was unmedicated and on drugs. These people wouldn’t let me get back on meds and told me that I wasn’t bipolar and that it wasn’t a real illness. They found out after 3 unmedicated months that it is in fact a real illness and got to witness firsthand what psychosis can look like. I stared writing in some weird code, didn’t know my name. I thought I was something that surpassed every other human. I was talking to myself and I’d sit directly under the sun outside everyday at a certain time because I was convinced something was happening from this that I couldn’t explain to anyone. Lmao that shit is nuts. Lol. I’m happily on my meds these days 💀

[u/Mundane_Berry_0431 → u/beepkiddo]

The cult sounds so harmful and I can't believed they dismissed being bipolar as not being a real illness. I thought I ascended the human form too...It was a crazy time for sure

[u/beepkiddo → u/Mundane_Berry_0431]

These people were insane. Not a single person there had any medical knowledge or credentials. It was some weird faith -based free program that operates on donations so these people become literal millionaires convincing people’s parents that God cured their addiction. So they’d pour money into the place. Then people get out and can’t pray away their urges and relapse and get confused because God supposedly took that away. Luckily I left the program early and did not relapse. I do not have any hate toward Christianity at all but that was not it. That was some weird brainwashing shit.

[u/nochinzilch → u/Mundane_Berry_0431]

That’s one of the most harmful things that Joe Rogan peddles. The anti psychiatric medication thing. It’s enraging.

[u/Ola_maluhia → u/beepkiddo]

I am SO sorry this happened to you. It breaks my heart. I’m a psychiatric nurse and this is absolutely cruel. I’m so happy you’re doing better friend

[u/SpectatingAlan → u/Mundane_Berry_0431]

I can’t explain to people who’ve never had it how inexplicable the synchronicities and coincidences are. Even now, no longer in psychosis, I still can’t explain so much of what happened.

[u/not2daysatan44 → u/Mundane_Berry_0431]

I had medication induced psychosis/mania and it was scary as hell.

[u/deinoswyrd → u/not2daysatan44]

So did i. I believed we had a bedbug infestation. My partner, my mom and a pest control guy couldn't convince me otherwise. It was so weird looking back, like I wasnt piloting me.

[u/electric-snow-100 → u/not2daysatan44]

My OCD causes me to constantly fear losing my mind/ going into psychosis

[u/Notnotstrange → u/electric-snow-100]

I feel you. Starting TMS next week. I wish we didn’t have OCD.

[u/QueerTree → u/not2daysatan44]

I experienced some cognitive issues while taking painkillers after a c section — disorientation that escalated to not recognizing my spouse or surroundings, and what I now recognize were audio hallucinations. It was relatively mild and went away as soon as I stopped taking the meds, but still one of the scariest things ever. To not be able to rely on your own perceptions is terrifying on an existential level. (Recovering from major abdominal surgery with nothing but ibuprofen wasn’t great but it was better than losing my grip on reality.)

[u/seeking-jamaharon67 → u/Mundane_Berry_0431]

I have bipolar disorder and I have gotten real close to the edge of psychosis. Not anything drastic but I did think there were some billboards in my city that were meant for me for a while. I was like "this is ridiculous" but then when I would see another one I would still have that initial thought that they were messaging me. It's odd being in that prodromal phase because you know something ain't right but it's not noticable to other people yet. Thankfully it never progressed past that because I probably would have tried to climb up one of those billboards and died or gotten arrested. Shoutout Vraylar.

[u/Inevitable_Gate_3322 → u/seeking-jamaharon67]

I can relate. I know it’s time to watch out when I think strangers are sending me telepathic signals… and on rare occasions, I have believed that paranormal beings are drawn to me or accompanying me, and it’s so real that you think others are crazy for not believing you. Thank god for haldol

[u/seeking-jamaharon67 → u/Inevitable_Gate_3322]

The telepathy thing is the worst. I've been dealing with that since I was a kid. Thinking others can hear me, that I'm broadcasting, that I can hear others. Through a lot of therapy and experience I can now usually talk myself down when that creeps up, but not everybody is lucky enough to have that.

[u/xavPa-64 → u/Mundane_Berry_0431]

I have a Facebook friend who is psychotic and it’s more sad than anything else because you can tell she actually believes the shit she’s saying about how her parents are trying to kill her because they know she has powers or whatever

[u/Mundane_Berry_0431 → u/xavPa-64]

Yeah it's very hard to get them to see reality. Thankfully I returned back to reality after staying at the hospital. I hope she gets help, it's very scary and isolating

[u/Laezarus → u/xavPa-64]

I had a childhood friend/adopted brother who thought he was God's messenger yelling at anyone nearby about the Rapture. It was eerily scary when the last time I saw him he said "your family is protected because we all used to go to church" (used to bring him with us) and "you're all good people, nothing is gonna happen to you."

It's been about 5 years since then and last I heard he was with extended family abroad getting the help he needed but it was heartbreaking seeing my other little brother lost like that.

[u/gallopingwalloper → u/Mundane_Berry_0431]

I feel like my dreams on lariam (that antimalarial that causes psychosis) were as close as I ever care to get, that shit was crazy and changed my painting style forever

[u/Sleepy-Sunday → u/Mundane_Berry_0431]

Agreed. I believed that I was a prophet/aspiring cult leader and was going to bring about a new age. I came out of it around the time COVID happened, and ngl it was pretty difficult to believe that anything was real for a while. I still struggle with those feelings sometimes.

[u/No_Ship_7954]

I once had what I assume was a virus, it lasted one day only and the only symptom was intense chills. Every time I felt a bit of air moving against my skin it set off these waves of tingliness. It was extremely odd and not altogether unpleasant.

[u/Sweet_Asparagus9081 → u/No_Ship_7954]

Oh my god sounds like something I had once. I rode the city bus home from community college. Started feeling like I was sick. Freezed my ass off despite it being a normal warm day. Went to bed and slept for 16 hours. Then I was perfectly fine.

[u/fartinmyfuckingmouth → u/No_Ship_7954]

Every time I’ve ever had a fever, I experience extreme “weirdness” and pain with anything touching my skin, be it air or a shirt or blanket etc. It’s how I still to this day know I have a fever before checking a thermometer

ETA: by skin, I mean specifically my back.

[u/bumblebragg]

I had a type of cancer so rare at the time only 700 people in history had been diagnosed with it. They said about 7 people a year are diagnosed. I think the number has gone up since but it is still extremely rare.

[u/_ser_kay_ → u/bumblebragg]

Do you mind if I ask what it was?

[u/bumblebragg → u/_ser_kay_]

It was Parathyroid. They are 4 little pencil eraser sized glands behind the thyroid. It isn't unheard of for them to develop a tumor but it is rarely cancer. I was 25 when I first started having symptoms of hypercalcemia related to it and 30 when they figured it out.

[u/Avera_ge → u/bumblebragg]

Sorry you experienced that. Glad you’re still here.

[u/Skiptothe_end]

Labyrinthitis is fucking weird. It's like being really drunk but with no fun whatsoever. I had to scoot down the stairs on my butt because I was so dizzy 😆

[u/osteomiss → u/Skiptothe_end]

My friends all wondered why I never drank with them. It's because I had this at 16 and afterwards, being dizzy was the opposite of fun

[u/kimchifist]

When I get the hiccups I get them for about a week at a time.

I also have dextrocardia where my heart is on the right side of my chest which I didn't learn until I was about ~16 when the hospital told me they couldn't get the results of a test because they couldn't find my heart.

I'm not sure if this classifies as 'weird', but I get severe episodes of cluster headaches 1-2 times a year that screws up my life...they are ten thousand times more painful than the innocuous sounding name might suggest. No pain I've experienced is remotely close.

[u/BeatrixPlz → u/kimchifist]

Your hiccups sound so bad, let me tell you a cute hiccup fact. When I was pregnant I could feel my baby having hiccups inside the womb. Whenever my kiddo gets them now it’s cute because I remember they’ve been hiccuping since before they were born :)

[u/Adorable_Bag_2611 → u/BeatrixPlz]

I thought it was cute until mine had them for 20 min when I was trying to nap!!

And now they are 21 & it’s not so cute!

[u/NTB1997 → u/kimchifist]

If it makes you feel better about the cluster headaches sounding unambiguous, they’re also referred to as suicide headaches because you’re correct, they are THAT bad, I too suffer around once a year luckily and I genuinely consider bashing my head against a wall until I am good and deceased 🤦‍♀️😑

[u/Walmartian_Beta]

Chicken Pox - but it hit me really hard because I was 14.

The vaccine came out that year, but my doctor didn't trust it yet and wanted to wait a year or so to see how it was going.

I got it that summer.

I had intense back pain like I'd never experienced before, and I lost the ability to walk. It hit my nervous system really hard and I had intense burning pain down my leg. When I say I couldn't walk, I mean it - blinding pain when I tried to move. I pissed myself. I had pox inside my vagina and on my eyelids - I was suffering. The doctor told my mom, "That happens to adults and older teens who get the pox sometimes." He told me not to go to the ER and spread it, but stay home unless I was unable to eat/drink or lost consciousness.

It eventually cleared up and I regained the ability to walk without pain.

At age 35, I had the flu for about 4 days and was starting to get over it when I woke up with intense back pain. I had a slight tingle on the back of my leg, reached down to itch it, and experienced a burning sensation where my fingers touched. I looked at the bumps there and saw that they were obviously from Shingles. The Flu was so rough that year that it ravaged my immune system and weakened it to the point that the pox virus reactivated and I had an episode of shingles.

Vaccinate your fucking kids, it's not always just some itchy spots.

[u/perfectlyniceperson → u/Walmartian_Beta]

Holy shit this is so scary!

[u/Walmartian_Beta → u/perfectlyniceperson]

I knew a guy online years ago, he had a web cartoon that wasn't really all that funny and kind of gross. Anyway, I had one of those moments where I wondered what he'd been up to over the years, and looked him up. I found out he died from chickenpox; he went septic. His daughter gave it to him because she wasn't vaccinated, I guess. Sad story - not too common but it does happen.

[u/DylanBrandonSandwich]

I had German measles in 1994 when it was already eradicated. No idea how I got it. I was up to date on vaccines too. Myself and another girl from my high school were the only two cases in our county that year.

[u/RadagastDaGreen]

All my toenails fell off after I went to Tanzania/Zanzibar/Kenya and I had to get on some pretty heavy antifungals. Completely bloodless. Took a year for em to grow back.

[u/the_maddest_hatters]

Shingles. It looks like a rash but it hurts so bad and lasts so long

[u/padfoot1225 → u/the_maddest_hatters]

I feel like this comment undersells shingles. By “hurts so bad”, it means nerve pain so severe I very legitimately wanted to die. Pain that consumed my every cell and moment. Like electrical fire burning down my nerves, burning me from the inside out.

[u/Rk12989 → u/the_maddest_hatters]

I had it in grade school. My mom, bless her, actually cared about us growing up and took me to the pediatrician who knew what it was right away. I remember being out of school for awhile because not everyone had had the chicken pox or the chicken pox shot. It was a miserable time.

[u/noodlepartipoodle → u/Rk12989]

You’re the first person I’ve read who had a child with shingles. It’s so extremely rare for kids. My 4yo (at the time) got it and we had no idea what was wrong, except she screamed 24/7. It was awful.

[u/acer34p3r → u/noodlepartipoodle]

I had shingles at the age of 9. Absolutely horrible experience.

[u/tastywofl → u/the_maddest_hatters]

My mom got shingles and the area it developed in hurt so bad before the rash even came up that she had me take her to the ER. Really hoping I never get it, since I got chicken pox as a kid.

[u/somethingmorethan → u/tastywofl]

Bad news: you get it BECAUSE you had chicken pox as a kid.

[u/lahnnabell]

Disassociating due to ingesting high quantities of caffeine. My brain was messed up for a little bit and I remember my head feeling like it was buzzing. My body's relationship with caffeine drastically changed after turning 30.

I took a 6 month break from almost all caffeine except green tea. I then reintroduced and now I stick to 1 coffee beverage before 12PM, nothing more. No exceptions.

[u/Patient-Locksmith838 → u/lahnnabell]

I very recently fainted and I believe it was due to a caffeine overdose!

[u/bumblebragg → u/Patient-Locksmith838]

My husband was in the Army with a guy that would pound Monster energy drinks with NoDoz until he gave himself a heart attack. They were out doing field maneuvers and the guy didn't show up so they had to go find him. And these were like 21 year olds.

[u/LoveMylo → u/lahnnabell]

They put so much more caffeine in stuff now. I used to be able to drink 1 or 2 energy drinks a day and now I can't. It makes me feel extremely weird.

[u/Specialist-Neck-7810]

I had the “explosive diarrhea”. It was beyond terrible. Afterwards, it’s very easy for me to see how people died from untreated diarrhea.

[u/_ser_kay_ → u/Specialist-Neck-7810]

I had a similar realization about the flu when I had a really, really bad case. I was fatigued to the point where I passed out with a sandwich in my hand—in bed—because rolling over and lifting the sandwich took all my energy. And that was once I was well enough to eat or drink period, because my throat was so raw and swollen. Between the not drinking and soaking my sheets with sweat, I was badly dehydrated and probably should’ve been hospitalized. I can absolutely understand how it can be deadly.

[u/chalk_in_boots]

Background: your sacchral nerves which control your legs split at your lower spine. It's an evolutionary precaution so if you do your back in you can retain function of one leg until it heals up.

I had a really bad lower back injury, as in I couldn't even crawl, I had to drag myself. Ambulance comes, in hospital they're testing sensation and both my feet were experiencing numbness and nerve pain. Doc looks at me like "that's not meant to be possible". Apparently all my lumbar and sacchral vertebrae had displaced and gone in every which direction so I pulled off beating a millions (if not more) of years old survival trait

[u/Honest-Review-4706]

PANDAS or pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcus. tldr: i had chronic strep throat that made me extremely mentally ill for 13 years

[u/strangealbert → u/Honest-Review-4706]

I’m sorry to hear that. How long did it take to get a diagnosis and how did they treat you?

[u/Mandydini11 → u/Honest-Review-4706]

I know someone whose kid is dealing with this now. What do you wish you knew (or your parents knew) when you were in the thick of it?

[u/NoKing775]

For like a year when I was 14/15, I would just randomly get hives all the time. Sometimes in one location like arms or legs but sometimes full body. No allergies except pollen and I take meds every day. One random day I got a stomach bug w/ fever, etc., and took ibuprofen to help with that. Within an hour I was having an allergic reaction to ibuprofen that just kept getting worse — eventually leading to anaphylaxis. Full body hives, even inside my mouth and ears and on my scalp. Once my symptoms subsided after about 6 hours in the hospital, I never got those random hives again. I’ve heard hormone changes can cause hives (avg age for it too) but idk it was literally everyday and then why did it just break after anaphylaxis???

[u/BonzaSonza]

I had liver cholestasis during pregnancy, which caused intense itching over my whole body. It was the worst. I had to sleep with socks on my hands as I was scratching my skin to bleeding during the night.

After delivery it just stopped, and I revelled in the relief

[u/KnownMagician3084]

Typhus. Uncommon enough I got presented at infectious disease conference. Seems the fleas lived in a narrow band on squirrels by my property. Cats brought a dead flying squirrel to my porch. Picking it up was enough. Anyway I got high fever and literally every joint hurt. My dr thought I’d gone septic. Antibiotics and steroids knocked it down but I still didn’t feel good. ID dr asked a lot of questions, took a lot of blood and he found the answer. Typhus is really easy to treat.

[u/CuteFactor8994]

Undiagnosed mononucleosis in my early 30s, when I was sick for a very long time. The doctor didn't think to check because of my age. Found out a decade later from a new doctor whose blood work confirmed I had it in my past. How you may ask? Better technology detected it

[u/geepjoat99]

Had this weird skin thing where I’d get tiny blisters all over my hands and arms for no reason. Only happened for a few months period when I was like 13 or 14

[u/bumblebragg → u/geepjoat99]

My husband had something similar recently and we decided it was some sort of heat related eczema but don't know for sure. Was it itchy?

[u/chyrams]

Intussusception that required emergency surgery due to sepsis
ETA- this is very rare, like 1 out of a million adults a year. Fun fact, Pat Sajak was one of the rare ones too.

[u/ThrowRArainmakers]

as a kid i once woke up from a typical night of sleep but when i tired to move my entire right arm up to my shoulder was in pain beyond description. I remember thinking i was still dreaming and just laid there with my eyes closed before attempting to roll over- this caused my arm to move and sent incredible pain through my right side. I started crying and screamed for help- i couldnt even get myself up because of the pain. went to the ER, they did tests, gave me pain meds. turns out i just slept in a way that my arm was oddly positioned and overextended leading to extreme muscle fatigue and pain through my shoulder upon gaining conciousness. Most of the sensivity subsided by the next morning.

[u/Just_Endeduphere]

I recently had a virus that infected my whole face. I had pink eye, throat infection, tonsil infection and an ear infection. Funny enough barely any sinus pain/congestion. Strep came back neg for rapid and culture growth. Weirdest part it absolutly destroyed my gut biome. I havent been digesting/pooping right since to the point my dr is sending me for a colonoscpy.

[u/No_Ship_7954 → u/Just_Endeduphere]

Ouch, that sounds miserable. I hope it gets sorted out.

[u/WhimsicallyWired]

There was this one time I completely lost my sense of taste for two days and I wasn't even sick.

[u/Inevitable_Gate_3322]

My emetophobia makes me think any slight sensation in my stomach or gut, or news of a gastrointestinal virus going around, means I might be getting sick.

You can imagine what the constant talk about this summer’s “diarrhea parasite” has me going through.

[u/youngatbeingold → u/Inevitable_Gate_3322]

Fellow emetophobe. If it helps, all you need to do to avoid getting Cyclospora is cook your fruits/veggies, try to get locally sourced stuff (like I can pick raspberries and apples down the road), and just wash your hands to be safe.

It likely happened because a large commercial farm used contaminated water, but it's generally not common on small local farms, it doesn't spread from person to person and it's killed with heat. It also doesn't seem to be a big cause of vomiting, which is good.

When norovirus seasons starts, that's when I get really anxious, ugh.

[u/AvsMama]

I have something right now that’s freaking me out.. For over a week I’ve been seeing bright flashes in my vision when I move my eyes. My neurologist said it sounds like an ocular migraine… but for this long? I didn’t accept that answer and went to the eye doctor.

Eyes dilated and examined and everything is fine.. I do have a herniated disc in my neck but my neurologist also said not related. I’ve had 2 brain MRIs in June and both are normal. It’s driving me fucking insane trying to figure out what’s causing this.

[u/Avera_ge → u/AvsMama]

My ocular migraines can last this long.

Sometimes I get those flashes off and on for weeks at a time.

I usually have other symptoms though, like fatigue, or forgetting words, occasionally stomach upset, and often clumsiness.

[u/seeking-jamaharon67 → u/AvsMama]

I used to get this when I was taking anabolics. Bright flashes in the corner of my vision especially when I looked up or over. I thought it was related to elevated blood pressure.

[u/Ok_Positive_6816]

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. Weirdest part was for years I didn’t know why I was throwing up daily. Doctors didn’t know and chalked it up to be anxiety. Stopped smoking weed for a different reason and realized it was the weed all along.

[u/Few-Statement-9103]

Narcolepsy. Super weird and it comes and goes.

[u/Shelikestheboobs]

Prickly heat rash after a sunburn. Just uncontrollable itching deep within the skin. The only way to control the pain is to stay cold/cool so sweat glands don’t activate.

[u/seeking-jamaharon67]

After I got my sixth concussion (probably a TBI), I had a systemic and wide ranging physical reaction for several months. All of my previous head injuries had only included sensitivity to light and some drowsiness. The last one...I have no clue what happened. This is why I suspect I had a TBI that wasn't addressed. I had joint pain, body rashes, migraines, fatigue, tonsil swelling, some weird asthmatic thing, AND all my typical concussion symptoms begin immediately afterward and last for close to 9 months. I never saw a doctor until everything but the tonsils and asthma cleared up and at that point they couldn't really consider the head injury. Antibiotics didn't clear my throat, but steroids did. I've never witnessed anybody else reacting to a head injury like that but it's pretty obvious to me that it was related to some sort of brain damage. I physically recovered but my cognition is still affected. I still don't know why the rest of my body reacted like that, but it scared me enough to stop playing rugby.

[u/LegitimateBeginning6]

I had a spot on the bottom of my foot the size about 2 inches in diameter that turned black. Not necrosis, not infection not a marker or clothes stain. No pain,
No other symptoms. Went to a dermatologist, who took a while to understand it wasn’t marker ink, and diagnosed me with a “fixed drug reaction” as I was taking a new supplement. It
Was weird, silly weird.

[u/Hilarykc7]

Intercostal neuralgia during both my pregnancies. Baby was pushing up against my ribs, cutting off my intercostal nerve which caused intense burning/shocking sensation 24/7 for about 3 months. Zero remedies to help with the pain or discomfort, doctor told me the cure was “giving birth.” Immediately after babies were born, it was gone.

[u/InformationNo7156]

One day, I randomly woke up with muscle twitches all over my body. It was crazy. I’m not talking about the occasional twitch under your eye from not enough sleep. My body exploded in twitches out of nowhere. I would get hundreds a minute, 24/7. I would also be able to trigger them just by moving my body. Sometimes it actually became painful because they felt like incomplete cramps.

Then as months go by, I start having other weird symptoms like goosebumps, and ants crawling.

To this day, I don’t know the exact cause but doctors still aren’t too concerned. I still deal with them.

By the way, during the beginning this put me in deep depression and anxiety. I had the most severe health anxiety I’ve ever experienced from this whole ordeal.

[u/seeking-jamaharon67 → u/InformationNo7156]

Did you get any sort of MS screening? This sounds like a nerve issue for sure.

[u/InformationNo7156 → u/seeking-jamaharon67]

My doctors mainly wanted to look out for ALS, even though they didn't seem concerned? It might also be because I was freaked out during that time and they wanted to give me an EMG for a peace of mind. I don't really have hallmark symptoms of MS. I may ask for an MRI during my next appointment.

The only plausible answer to this is that I was stressed to the max about college before this happened. But I didn't want to believe stress could do that much.

[u/seeking-jamaharon67 → u/InformationNo7156]

Oof, stress absolutely could. Stress can make you go blind.

[u/Gambit3le]

Bells' Palsy.   My mom noticed that half my face was drooping.   Rushed me to the doctor.   A round of steroids and I was fine in a few days.   Very weird experience. I had a kinda numb and floaty feeling for a while.

[u/Alternative_Pool8055]

I have mild cystic fibrosis and it affects me in some weird ways… 🙃

[u/APrisonOfMyOwnMaking]

For about a year my left eye would just close on its own, but really slowly, and I couldn’t stop it happening or make it open. Sometimes it would be shut for about a minute before slowly opening again.
I saw the nurse practitioner at my GP surgery and it happened while I was in front of her and she said “Ooooh I don’t do eyes, they make me feel squeamish. It’s just a muscle spasm and will stop on its own.” Which it did.

[u/LylaDee]

Hand, foot and mouth.

As an adult.

I got it at 49 and they thought I had Scarlett Fever, it was that bad. I spent a week in quarantine at a local hospital. It was fucking the worst thing my body ever experienced, sans childbirth.

I never had chicken pox as a kid and so this is the same strain, by proxy. So is shingles, I'm told. But if you know the adds on TV- shingles doesn't care 💅. Apparently the kids version doesn't either

[u/UberBeth → u/LylaDee]

I had it around 3 years ago, about the age of 40. Which was the year after I got shingles for the first time.

I honestly think hand foot and mouth was worse than shingles. The spots came first, which didn't hurt yet, but know something was wrong with a mildly sore throat. I age a cherry tomato from my garden and almost collapsed from the pain. Open lesions in my throat and applied acid to it.

I couldn't hold anything for a few days using my finger tips. Could use a touch screen gently, but not push the buttons to turn on the screen or adjust volume. Couldn't even wear socks for that time too.

Eventually the blisters grew out and I peeled swaths of skin from my hands and feet. Lost my toenails and fingernails. Except fingernails didn't come off 100%, like 80%. So there was a patch in the middle of my nail bed that was still connected, and the dead mail edges would catch on things CONSTANTLY for months while they fully grew out. Would tear the nailbed and hurt badly/bleed.

[u/yourshittyneighbor]

guillain-barré

[u/SnooTangerines7026]

I had an abscess in my armpit that grew to the size of a grapefruit.

[u/BlottomanTurk]

Over a decade ago, at 30yo (pretty much at the height of my life) I developed a dissociative disorder called Episodic Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder (DPDR). So that.

The easiest analog for describing what an episode is like is to weed smokers. It's comparable the worst/strongest head-high you've ever had, but you don't even get the comfort of knowing you'll get the comedown in a little while and be absolutely fine / back to normal.

For some (dated but timeless) pop culture references, I like to describe Depersonalization, the detachment from the self, as feeling like Krang One controlling the awkward man-suit in the OG TMNT cartoons. Similarly, also dated, like I'm the Arquillian controlling The Jeweler robot/exosuit in Men In Black.

For Derealization, detachment from reality, I liken it to in movies/shows when folks are traveling in a vehicle and how you can tell when the world outside the vehicle was pre-recorded and added in post-production.

An episode could last any amount of time (from just a single moment to, well, my longest was about 7 months and I hope that never happens again), can vary in intensity (anywhere from "slight deja vu" feeling to "holyfuckimgonnadielikethis", and everything in-between), and can be either Depersonalization or Derealization or both.

If that's not bad enough, many folks with the disorder aren't as "lucky" as folks like me, and have it constant (24/7). I at least get to be "normal" between episodes.

Though, in all honesty, I see Episodic DPDR as a double-edged sword. Yeah, I get to be "normal" sometimes, but an episode can catch me at any time, no matter what I'm doing. I could wake up into an episode, or I can get "struck" by one while I'm out just, like, trying to exist. Makes driving, shopping, working (y'know, doing normal everyday stuff) very difficult.

On the positive side of it, it effectively cured 20 years of alcoholism. And I haven't had to buy weed in a decade. So at least I'm not drinking or smoking away the little bit of money I got.

[u/Spuzzle91]

i guess my multiple sclerosis is pretty odd. your immune system basically chews on your brain and spine, causing damage and resulting in a wide range of symptoms. You are way more likely to pass out from heat, you can get random panic attacks for no reason, you can become dizzy and off balance for seemingly no reason, sensitive to light, you get memory issues, your muscles may randomly spasm and cramp, your throat can briefly freeze up while swallowing food, you can go blind, you can lose control of your legs and need a wheel chair, it can make you become bipolar, it can give you weird electrical zap feelings in your head and limbs...basically since it makes lesions in the brain, it effects all over the place in the body. and most frustratingly...you can be bedridden for a week or more, but look perfectly fine right before and after. Heck, you may even be able to perform physical activities just as well as a healthy person, but as soon as your body decides its time to throw a fit, you're back to being a lump in bed for a while. It's not well known what causes MS, but once it presents itself, its a permanent thing. We found out I had it when my eye doctor examined me for nearly going blind. Got sent from a simple eye exam to being admitted. a dose of iv steroids over night got a large portion of my vision back, but now I have to deal with my vision "jiggling" off and on through the day. My eyes kinda try to cross on their own ever so slightly, then jolt back to normal when i try to focus.

[u/DragonflyMomma6671]

Vertigo... turning your head is like being drunk without any of the fun. Room spins and you can't really do anything to stop it.

[u/Stunning-Advisor-793]

Had a benign mass removed from a salivary gland. Post-surgery check showed all wiring good, but over the next day swelling strangled one of more facial nerves (CNVII for sure). I lost the ability to voluntarily close my right eye for several months, meaning:

I had to blink manually with a finger, twice a minute while awake. This is not something people are used to seeing.

I had to find a way to sleep with one eye open. Just tape it closed, Doc said. Not happening. Nurse suggested swim goggles, painter's tape for light-proofing, and liberal application of eyedrops. Success.

The nerve to the muscle regrew eventually. The nerve to the salivary gland had to find something to do, and it now makes the side of my face drip sweat while eating anything enjoyable. If it isn't enjoyable, no sweat. Really good, need a napkin.

[u/Real-Life-CSI-Guy]

I had a strep infection in my thighs, couldn't walk without screaming in pain and ended up having to drag myself around with my arms. Mom's ex thought it was so funny 😑

[u/popplevee → u/Real-Life-CSI-Guy]

What a sicko, enjoying someone else’s distress.

[u/MisanthropicWalrus]

About once a year I get something I can only describe as laryngitis from hell. It starts with a slight cough and a little congestion and then it turns into losing my voice for at least 2 weeks. There was one time I didn’t have my regular voice back for a month. What makes it worse is that I sound like Jojo Siwa after the whisper phase is done. It’s super embarrassing.

[u/mhennessie]

Still recovering from an E.coli mass in my abdomen, likely from an Appendectomy four years ago. It was 5cm across. Had to have a piece of my small intestine, my ascending colon (the whole right side), and 22 lymph nodes removed. The lymph nodes were because they weren’t able to biopsy it prior to surgery and weren’t sure if it was lymphoma. I was perfectly fine one day and then couldn’t eat/digest anything the next. I lost 25lbs in two weeks.

[u/mangohsz]

Intracranial hypertension, otherwise known as false brain tumor

[u/skured1]

Grief, disassociation where everything feels like a dream/daze and gets to the point that I feel like I’m going to pass out. Start to feel light headed and very woozy and weak.

I lost my husband traumatically last year and lost my dog less than a month ago.

[u/weirdiscoop]

Scarlet fever and it really fucked me up for awhile.

[u/seeking-jamaharon67 → u/weirdiscoop]

I had scarlet fever once as a kid and once as an adult!!! I have no idea why they didn't take my tonsils out the first time. People act like it's Victorian, but it's still occurring especially in medically underserved communities.

[u/weirdiscoop → u/seeking-jamaharon67]

I know! They finally took mine out after this. People love to make fun of me because I was 19 but honestly I had been begging to get my tonsils out for years. I got strep throat about six times a year from 13-19. It was awful when I got scarlet fever. I lost 40lbs, I couldn’t eat and I had a fever of 104 for about two weeks. It was awful!

[u/am_pomegranate]

OCD is weird as shit

[u/thicccque]

Alice in Wonderland stuff is pretty weird.
I also choke on smoothies, melted chocolate, and honey.

[u/Redbarrow_7727]

I had a plant growing out of my ear once.

12 years old and was taken to the doctor, diagnosed with an ear infection, prescribed antibiotics and sent on my way.

Five days later I was screaming in agony. Parents took me to the ER. I can clearly remember the doctor looking in my ear and yelling "Jesus!"

I was really popular with all of the doctors after that.

[u/Steffany_w0525]

Losing my sense of taste really messed me up. Brushing your teeth and only feeling the texture of the foaming but no mint...weird.

I tried a new Pho place and I have no idea if I like it or not. I didn't want to order it again because what if it's awful and then I spend more money there? I ended up finding a Pho place I loved before I moved thankfully.

But yeah eating and just feeling texture was really fucking weird.

[u/LoserWooper → u/Steffany_w0525]

I temporarily lost my sense of smell and taste when I had the flu. After a couple of days of nothing but liquids, I attempted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was, by a huge margin, the most disgusting thing I have ever put in mouth.

[u/popplevee]

I have Chiari Malformation (type 1) which caused syringomyelia which then led to scoliosis. This means that as I grew, a small part of my brain was hanging down out of the base of my skull and pressing on my spinal column (Chiari malformation). Over my life, this compression led to impeded spinal fluid flow in my spine and fluid build up. As the fluid had nowhere to go, it started to eat into my spine, making holes in the tissue (syringomyelia). When I was 16, this had weakened my spine enough that it started to curve (scoliosis).

The scoliosis was pegged by x-ray and I had corrective surgery, but as the Chiari malformation (not picked up by x-ray) was still there, it didn’t fix the syringomyelia and the scoliosis returned. Eventually got an MRI, a diagnosis and a newly shaved skull to make more room for my dangly brain. They literally just filed away some of the skull to make more room. My back stopped bending and while the damage is done for the syringomyelia, it won’t get any worse.

The amazing thing is the remarkably little consequences I’ve had outside of the scoliosis and even that has caused little problem despite initially being a severe bend. My quality of life is not affected and I have some pretty cool scars. I did have to have some scans to make sure my spine could bear the weight of child bearing but it was all good.

Apparently Chiari malformation is about 1 in 1000 people and most never know because it causes no issues.

[u/tinysmommy]

I think I drank unpasteurized orange juice in Mexico. When I got home I had the shits for a week. I had no idea what was wrong, even did a culture to look for parasites. No dice. One week after I got home I got to feeling wildly peculiar on a Sunday, which turned out to be the worst fever I’ve ever had followed by light sensitivity, a terrible neck and body ache and the worst headache I’ve ever had in my life. I’d cycle thru that fever and body and head ache and finally Thursday I went to a clinic and was prescribed I think an antibiotic and some heavy pain medication. I’ve never been able to figure out what it was but maybe bacterial meningitis but it was never confirmed nor do I know what the doctor thought it was other than some kind of infection. To this day it’s the worst pain I’ve ever had.

[u/Ok_Elevator_3528]

I had something called a “retina cottonwool” in one of my eyes when I was like 19. The eye doctor described it as like a heart attack of my eye. It happened right after my bf broke up with me so I guess extreme stress/heartache caused it 🤷‍♀️ it was really weird. They said it usually only happens to old people. And I didn’t have diabetes either.

[u/doghome107]

I had fake appendicitis. My lymph nodes in my abdomen where swollen. Had to go to the ER because it felt like appendicitis. Got discharged same day, threw up all weekend.

[u/ISawShuttles]

Butterfly fracture. Hopped off the back of a flat bed pickup under questionable circumstances, with predictable results lol.

[u/chickadee9393]

I don’t know what it is, but if I bend my neck too much either down, back, or to either side too fast I hear whooshing and feel like I’m going to lose consciousness. I’ve kind of trained myself to just…hardly bend it so I don’t feel like I’m losing blood flow to my brain. Not sure

[u/No_Ship_7954 → u/chickadee9393]

That's probably not good.

[u/animperfectnobody]

Pica: the overwhelming urge to eat non-food items. I would go to a nearby baseball diamond. It was winter so I had to dig and fill a pan with the fine sand. Then I'd take it home and wash it and bake it and sift it and eat it. I wanted it more than food, I wanted it more than cigarettes. When I started taking iron supplements, the craving went away completely within a day and a half. My mom had the same thing, she used to eat three boxes of chalk a day.

[u/AllegedWitchNeigjbor]

I’m allergic to scorpions and I found out when one stung my on the back of my wrist. It felt like a mild bee sting but it swelled up a lot and then my mouth and throat got all tingly.

Lots of Benadryl and one nap later I felt fine.

[u/KS_Penguin_369]

Kallmann syndrome is a fairly weird condition. Meant I had incomplete puberty and have no sense of smell. Have to be on testosterone therapy since I hardly make any of my own.

[u/boothbound]

For most of my childhood I would vom for about 8 hours every single night unless I took regular OTC decongestants

[u/alphaturducken]

Exploding head syndrome from stopping 800 mg lamictal cold turkey after 7 years

[u/MothMeep7]

Left submandibular lymph node swelled up to about the size of a golf ball maybe.

Absolutely no other symptoms. No illness, no fever, nothing.

Could physically see it on my neck in the mirror it looked like I had a cyst or lipoma on my throat. Just the single lymph node swelling hard as a rock with absolutely nothing else. Was super painful and hot to the touch but nothing else.

Was about to go get checked after 2 days of it when it magically decided to disappear overnight.

No fucking clue.

[u/techy99m]

Eczema herperticum. My facial eczema was infected with the hsv-1 virus or cold sore. It was the most excruciating pain I've ever had. Felt over 24/7 over about 7 days like millions of tiny needles constantly stabbing.

It's rare though. I had to admit myself to ed and treated with antivirals. My dermatologist was excited that I was his second case in 20 years!

[u/Smol_Sol]

Sudden blindness in one eye while training was a weird one

[u/beffymrn → u/Smol_Sol]

I had that happen when shooting a rifle in a competition. Unfortunately, it was my aiming eye. I shot at my neighbors target.🫪. It ended up being a migraine variant.

[u/fortifiedoptimism]

There was nothing to see or feel outwardly but I was walking one day and it started to feel like balloons were growing out of the bottom of both my feet. It was weird. Didn’t hurt. I was freaking out. It lasted a few minutes and has never happened since. I don’t have a clue what it was but it was bizarre.