If you’re anything like me, you spiral down the deep, dark opening of We bMD each time you experience also the mildest of clinical signs and symptoms. But occasionally, a suspicion in fact ends up being right. So, Redditor musikcookie asked, “Doctors of Reddit: What was the wildest self-diagnosis a patient was actually right about?” Here’s what individuals stated.
1.“I had a patient who came into the Emergency Department with vague mild abdominal pain whose friend recently died of colon cancer. She was convinced she must have it, too. I told her cancer wasn’t contagious like that, but I ordered a CT scan because she was so insistent on reassuring her. She had a huge colon mass. It was a very bizarre case.”
2.“I had a little cough in junior high that just wouldn’t go away. My grandmother was convinced it was whooping cough. I felt fine… It was just an annoying cough. She made me go to the doctor and told the doctor that she thought I had whooping cough…”
“…The doctor informed her that it hadnât been in our area in over 10 years so she doubted that was the case. My grandma forced her to test me for it anyway. Turned out I was positive and considered patient zero. The whole school basically ended up getting it, and we had to shut down for two weeks until it went away.”
–Emergency- Economy654
3.“A woman in her 40s came in and told me she was having seizures. I asked how she knew, and she said her right hand would periodically stiffen. There was no loss of consciousness or other symptoms associated with classic seizures, but I ordered tests anyway. Turns out, she had been having multiple focal seizures.”
4.“I’m a phone triage RN for a family practice. I had a female in her early 60s who we talked to often. She called one time in a near panic attack, convinced she had terminal cancer. She was a very nice lady, but she suffered from high anxiety. She was really not in terrible health otherwise…”
“She wasn’t even feeling unwell and had the vaguest set of symptoms. She scheduled her same day with her PCP, who ordered a CT of her abdomen to hopefully help alleviate her concerns… Nope. Metastatic pancreatic cancer. She was dead within six weeks. I’ll never forget taking her initial call and trying to calm her down.”
— Wobbly_Joe
5.“When I was in labor with my second child, after 15 hours of hard labor and three hours of pushing (with an epidural, but I’d been having contractions every six minutes for four weeks around the clock, but nothing was progressing). I remember looking at my husband and saying, ‘I know why women die in childbirth’ right before I passed out…”
“…I woke up in the OR as they were doing my C-section. My doctor was on the way to the hospital, and they called her to tell her what I said and what happened. She said she screamed at them to get me into surgery ASAP because it was an absolute emergency. I was right. My body was going into shock and shutting down. Had they waited 15 minutes for her to get to the hospital, neither my kid nor I would have made it. He’s turning 11 next week and has a nine-year-old little brother.”
— Gloomy_Carrot_7196
Iuliia Burmistrova/ Getty Images
6.“I was right about having a pituitary microadenoma that causes Cushing’s disease. I asked multiple doctors to help me with various symptoms, including a neurologist, and it was missed for years. Finally, a wonderful endocrinologist agreed to test my cortisol, which was sky high…”
“…I’m now 18 months out of surgery, and Iâve lost 110 lbs, no longer diabetic, blood pressure is great, no more kidney stones (I had eight), hair has grown back, glaucoma is gone, etc. Many doctors just wanted to diagnose obesity instead of seeing it as a symptom of something else.”
— Antique_Albatross
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7.“I diagnosed my husband’s brain tumor, leading to emergency surgery. After a month in and out of the ER, his personality changed; he couldn’t stay awake, was diagnosed with a B12 deficiency, dehydration, frequent vomiting, and his vision looked ‘weird.’ Still, he could never explain it (it turns out his peripheral vision was gone), and a swollen optic nerve â probably just high BP from ophthalmology…”
“…After a weekend where I could barely wake him up, he went back to the ER, where he waited four hours in the waiting room. I asked him if anyone had done a CT or MRI of his brain (I assumed they had), but they had not. I told him to insist on a CT because I had a wild sneaking suspicion. Two hours after being called back, he was in an ambulance on his way to a different hospital with a neuro ICU to get scheduled for emergency brain surgery. Massive tumor with dangerous obstructive hydrocephalus.”
— ActiveIn reliant
8.“My dad was a paramedic back in the day. Decades later, he suddenly had mom call 911, he swore he needed to get to the hospital. Then he walked out to the ambulance and told the paramedics he was having a heart attack and they had to go right now. He got in the ambulance himself and seemed fine â and coded on the 10-minute ride to the ER. He lived 15 more years because the paramedics believed him when he said he was going to die.”
9.“I work as a medical lab tech. We had a patient who came in insisting that her neighbor was poisoning her. Everyone dismissed her, assuming she had some kind of paranoid psychosis. She remained in the ER on a psych eval. I ran all the standard labs on her, and they were normal, but this patient would not budge…”
“…She was admitted to psych on a hold. At this point, one hospitalist decided ‘why not’ and ordered labs to test for several heavy metals and ethylene glycol. Her ethylene glycol level was 32. THIRTY-TWO. I don’t know if she was legit being poisoned by her neighbor or if it was self-induced, but damn, that patient taught me a vital lesson that day.”
— Wrong_Character2279
10.“My aunt and uncle had a Border Collie that would bury his nose in my uncle’s back when he was sitting on the couch or recliner. He would walk up, sniff, and keep sniffing until my uncle would shoo him away. A bit later, he would come back, sniff again and just stare at my uncle…”
“…A few weeks later, my aunt was watching one of the local news channels, and they featured a dog that could smell Parkinson’s, and she jokingly told my uncle about it. He mentioned their dog constantly sniffing one spot and one spot only on his back, so he went to a high school friend who was a dermatology doctor. He said it didn’t look right and did a biopsy on it. Sure enough, he had skin cancer, but they caught it early, and all he ended up with was a scar on his back.”
— AnatidaephobiaAnon
Alberto Menendez Cervero/ Getty Images
11.“Iâm a nurse, but just had a patient who came in for a colonoscopy due to constipation and pain with bowel movements. He told me before the test, he felt like there was something ‘catching’ on the left side of his abdomen when he pooped…”
“He thought, ‘Maybe I have a big polyp there.’ Sure enough, he had a 2.5 centimeter polyp that we removed from that exact area. I’ll never get to find out if that catching sensation ever went away for him, but I thought it was interesting that he was right.”
— madicoolcat
12.“Patient here. I told my family GP (who Iâd seen since I was a kid and who worked with and saw both my parents as patients for years) that I thought I had reactive hypoglycemia. He scoffed. ‘You donât have that. Why would you think you have that?’ I told him my symptoms…”
“…He was doubtful but told the nurse to get me a Coke and made me chug it. Sent me to roam around the hospital for a bit, then get bloodwork and return. I returned, and his first words were, ‘This is so aggravating.’ ‘DoesâĤthat mean I have it?’ Yup…”
— chekhovsdickpic
Virojt Changyencham/ Getty Images
13.“I was having on-and-off pain in my lower abdomen in a super specific place. Certain things exacerbated it (digestion, sex, exercise), and when I went to my PCP, I told her, ‘I can circle for you with a sharpie where it hurts…”
” …My medical professional cleaned it off given that it was periodic, noting it was most likely a muscular tissue pull or IBS, however after a little pressing on my component, I purchased imaging. The radiologist right away drew me for a follow-up with a cosmetic surgeon due to the fact that I had a golf ball-sized cyst on my ovary (right under the circle I had actually attracted) a measure of sophisticated endometriosis. I ensured to inform my PCP at my following follow-up …”
— mamaneedsacar
14.” I understood my companion had leukemia concerning a week prior to I can persuade him to visit the medical professional. He was hemorrhaging and wounding actually quickly and had petechiae. I wished to most likely to immediate treatment where I understood the CBC was done swiftly onsite, however he rather wished to wait to visit his key …”
” … I took him to his key and had a bag loaded for the health center in the trunk. The medical professional informed him it was likely a B12 shortage however that he would certainly do bloodwork to place my mind comfortable. I asked if the CBC was done onsite or otherwise, and he stated it was sent.
I asked if he intended to hurry the CBC. He obtained angry and stated, ‘There is absolutely nothing the CBC can reveal that would certainly transform my therapy strategy.’ Then he informed my companion he required to quit me from googling. We obtained a telephone call that evening from the laboratory that his WBCs were precariously high and platelets were precariously reduced, and I needed to take him to the emergency room right away. I did, and he was identified with intense leukemia.”
âPsmpo
Emilija Manevska / Getty Images
15.“One of my dearest buddies from intermediate school was struggling with definitely ravaging clinical problems. She went from being intense and successful in college to quiting prior to finishing due to the fact that her wellness decreased. She shed the task that paid her a wonderful quantity … generally, her whole life broke down. She was informing me concerning the brand-new strange point occurring with her …”
“.She had some weird anemia that was discovered to be the outcome of unusually reduced ferritin in her blood, which is what allows your red cell to lug iron. That was when something clicked in my mind: awful digestion problems, strange anemia, persistent infections in her spleen that needed a splenectomy, sunburn to a scorching factor in much less than a half-hour, a detected hatred sulfa medicines, awful responses to carbamazepine, retinol offered her a suppurating skin breakout. I’m a premed failure, and among the first-rate I tackled my course to premed was a basic program on unusual problems and illness. One of the ones we talked about in our acquired conditions course sector was porphyria.
There’s a very easy means to inform if somebody has porphyria: have them pee right into a clear plastic or glass mug and subject it to route sunshine. In hours to days, the pee of individuals with porphyria will certainly transform from clear or yellow to a white wine red or purple. So I asked her if she trusted me sufficient to do something strange and informed her to obtain a clear plastic non reusable mug from her kitchen area, pee in it, and placed it on her windowsill where no one can see it. And if anything concerning it alters, please inform me. Approximately 4 hours later on, she called me on the phone shouting that her ‘piss transformed purple-red like a goddamn vampire,’ and I informed her she required to visit the medical professional and obtain examined for porphyria. She obtained the outcomes 2 weeks later on, and I was right.”
— Ranger_Chowdown
16.“My spouse and I had actually been adhering to up time and again with the doctor for some moderate however endless signs and symptoms our boy was experiencing: arbitrary throwing up, fatigue, moderate high temperature that reoccured, after that lastly leg discomfort and hopping …”
” … I assumed he was panicing to believe cancer cells, however his medical professional lastly purchased us to the kids’s health center. Their emergency room confessed us to the oncology ward after a day of various examinations. It took a week to figure out that it was intense lymphoblastic leukemia rather than one more cancer cells. Took our little five-year-old nearly 3 years to sound the bell. We have actually been off therapy for 4 months, and it’s been unique.”
âSunburntLyra
Bevan Goldswain / Getty Images
17.” I obtained mono at 16. It really did not disappear. I was obtaining reappearances two times a year where my lymph nodes would certainly swell, and I would certainly get ill similar to the very first time, my blood examinations revealing obvious red positives for mono pens. I obtained my tonsils out in my 20’s, and the mono appeared to decrease. Two years later on, I obtained just the same signs and symptoms.”
“Swollen lymph nodes, exhaustion, all the remainder. I mosted likely to the immediate treatment. The took one take a look at the bumps under my arms and suggested me antibiotic hanker in-grown hair. I informed him concerning the mono– he rolled his eyes and informed me they were contaminated in-grown hairs. I demanded a blood examination, also if I needed to pay of pocket. Blood examinations returned, and not just was I favorable for mono, the pens were 19 TIMES the regular numbers for a favorable situation.”
— creepy-cats
18.” I appropriately old my medical professional that I had dengue high temperature. I had actually simply returned from Puerto Rico and had every one of the signs and symptoms besides blood loss. The medical professional disregarded my tip and informed me that I had the influenza. After a couple of days, he yielded and had me obtain a blood examination. And it was dengue high temperature!”
19.“Halfway via my cancer cells therapy, I informed them it was back. No one however my mommy paid attention to me. After 2 months of continuous informing them they had actually done a check, it ends up that of course, I had cancer cells once more, and it was obtaining near being incurable. The trainee medical professional discovered to pay attention that day.”
20.“My close friend identified herself with HIV. She had swelling around her neck, and the physicians weren’t locating anything. She Googles her signs and symptoms, calls me, and claims she assumes she is HIV-positive. I invest the phone call attempting to soothe her down and informing her to obtain examined, however that most likely isn’t it. Her medical professional additionally informed her there was no other way, however she demanded obtaining examined. Yep, she was right.”
— RashIfYou Please
Whether you’re a doctor or you were the patient, what is a shocking medical self-diagnosis that ended up being correct? Tell us in the comments or in this anonymous form.
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