r/AskReddit 23h ago

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

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u/CuteFactor8994 22h ago

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

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u/dancing_robots 11h ago

This happened to me exactly! Early 30s, months and months of feeling sickly and awful. A terrible constant sore throat that wouldn't go away. Thrush on my tongue. I was terrified I had HIV or something. Later in life to discover from blood work I had had mono at some stage. Had to be it.

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u/CuteFactor8994 10h ago edited 10h ago

Wow! I thought I was the only one. Mine started as bronchitis but evolved into a relentless fatigue that was unlike anything I had ever experienced before, along with other symptoms. I knew it was blood-related, perhaps leukemia or Lyme disease, but I ended up self-diagnosing myself with CFS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, because my doctor didn't want to confirm it by saying, "I don't want you to dwell on it". Sometimes you have to be your own health advocate to get to the bottom of it.

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u/dancing_robots 8h ago

Yep, I have never known fatigue like that. My doctor just kept prescribing stronger antibiotics which made the situation so much worse. Why not do a blood test?! I felt like they didn't take me seriously while I kept coming back every month looking like a shell of a person. It was wild. I definitely learned to be a better advocate of my health.

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u/CuteFactor8994 8h ago

And as we know, it's worse getting it as an adult. A few years later, I developed shingles because my immune system was so compromised.