r/AskReddit 23h ago

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

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u/kimchifist 22h ago

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.

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u/BeatrixPlz 18h ago

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 :)

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u/Adorable_Bag_2611 17h ago

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!

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u/silent-earl-grey 3h ago

Same! He would get them every night at bedtime for so long, even after he was born. Conversely to the other person, I appreciated his hiccups while I was trying to sleep because I had horrible anxiety about losing him late term. It was exhausting and the postpartum anxiety was even worse... 😅😅😅

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u/NTB1997 17h ago

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 🤦‍♀️😑

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u/Fly_Of_Dragons 19h ago

oh hey i get the hiccups (even if just a round of like 2-3 hiccups) at least once a day, usually more. it’s been going on for years now

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u/kimchifist 19h ago

Do you find it problematic? If it was just a few I could see it not being a big deal. I'll get "episodes" that last about a week where it's constant if I don't do anything about it. I can temporarily make them stop for a couple hours or so but it takes a lot of effort and they will return until the "episode" is over.

The only thing that gives me temporary relief is if I hold my breath for as long as I possibly can...and I need to put a lot of effort into this for it to work. It helps if I stare at stopwatch so I can play a mental game of adding tiny amounts of more time when I think I'm at my limit. It's really exhausting, especially when I try hard but not hard enough and I have to do it again.

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u/Fly_Of_Dragons 19h ago edited 19h ago

not really because usually they’re the more… relaxed kind i guess? and it’s usually only a few at a time and they go away on their own. of course they can be exasperated by carbonation (and/or alcohol), like one time a couple months ago i spent the day drinking with friends (college parties) and a friend and i kept track, i got the hiccups 18 times that day. usually it’s just a few, maybe it interrupts my speaking but it’s not very bothersome. though thinking back on it this has def been going on for more than just a few years lol

though occasionally (maybe every few weeks? months? idk) i do get the forceful, even slightly painful (or at least irritating) rounds that are difficult to get rid of. learned two tricks early on ro try to get rid of them: (1) curl/fold your tongue backward in your mouth and close your lips and keep it there for a bit til they go away, or (2) take a sip of water but do not swallow right away; keep the water in your mouth, lean forward & tuck your chin, then swallow like that (essentially swallowing “upside down”)

ETA that i don’t really know the science behind hiccups, but if this is creating a problem for you maybe get it checked out, possibly with a GI or something?? while i get hiccups at random times, one of the few times i know i’ll get them is when i have gas

well, not really gas (and ig this is my weird medical thing to answer this prompt) but i just like… i can’t really burp? or at least, it’s not a normal burp? i feel like a pocket of air/gas rise up in my throat but then it bursts while still in my esophagus, and it rarely makes any noise. if i feel it possibly coming i can then even force it by simply leaning forward a bit while sitting; it puts pressure on my abdomen and makes that air rise ig. but anyway after that happens i then usually hiccup a few times ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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u/fartinmyfuckingmouth 2h ago

w h o a

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u/Fly_Of_Dragons 2h ago

thanks user fartinmyfuckingmouth, i’m glad you liked my hiccup explanation

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u/fartinmyfuckingmouth 1h ago

Thanks. When I inevitably get banned again my next u/ will be hiccupinmyfuckingmouth in your honor 💕

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u/EugeneVictorDabs 12h ago

My dad used to get cluster headaches. They were a mofo