85 Times People’s “Weird Quirks” Were Actually Health Issues
I thought I had just a bunch of bad habits—I could never stop rolling my eyes or making weird throat noises no matter how much I tried. Tourette’s, ladies and gentlemen. It got a lot worse once I got to college and was under more stress.
To find out how this thread started in the first place, we reached out to Reddit user u/minbye, who was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda about what inspired them to start this conversation. “I myself have a few health issues that influence my day to day life, so I think about them a lot,” the OP shared.
“For one, I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety three years ago. Now I’m on medication and going to therapy to work through my problems,” minbye continued. “Even though I’ve been in therapy for so long, I still learn a lot of new things. And the topic of my thoughts, feelings and reactions being just symptoms, and not actually me or my ‘quirks,’ is a big one in my life.”
Repeating words in my head since I was a child. Then one day I went to the ER and I was extremely anxious and the doctor gave me an anti-anxiety pill and I noticed that ended the repetitive thought and words.
As a kid I wanted to be carried everywhere (like piggyback rides, etc) for way too long. Like I was an almost 5’ tall 8 year old asking to be carried on vacation. My feet hurt after walking more than like, two blocks. My mom took me to a podiatrist to prove there was nothing wrong with me and it turns out I had severe fallen arches and plantar fasciitis and needed corrective insoles to fix my gait. She took me for ice cream after that appointment.
“I found out that it’s very important to understand the difference [between quirks and symptoms] in order to be successful in battling the problem,” the OP continued. “So as I was trying to fall asleep, I was just reflecting on my day and thinking about this when I thought that it might be interesting to hear what others have to say about this. I honestly didn’t think I would get so many answers.”
Nearly every period, I would get a terrible pain in my backside, like a stabbing pain which would make me stop wherever I was. I also had a twisting back pain on the left side of my back. The doctors dismissed it as “periods are painful” and “there’s a wide range of normal”. Finally had an MRI in my 30s and I have Stage IV endometriosis with deep infiltrating lesions. Adhesions had stuck my bowel to my uterus and also strangled my left ureter so that my kidney couldn’t drain properly and was swollen. On the mental health side, I got so used to feeling like I was a hypochondriac with a low pain threshold that, to this day, I automatically assumed I’m being melodramatic when I’m ill.
We also asked minbye why they believe so many of us assume our health problems are actually just quirks. “We often normalize the things we live with — being scared to talk on the phone, not having the energy to get out of bed, regular migraines or even lack of appetite,” they noted.
“I often see posts where people share their stories saying, ‘don’t we all?’ about the things that they do or feel, and learning that they are not actually a universal experience,” the OP continued. “As Dostoyevsky said, ‘Man grows used to everything, the scoundrel.’ For that reason, I find it almost impossible to understand that something’s wrong even if it’s obvious, as long as it’s not a sudden change.”
Growing up, when I got my first period at 15/16 they were extremely painful to the point I would pass out and couldn’t walk properly. My dad refused to talk about periods and my mum and sister said I was exaggerating and that I was making it up so I figured it must just be me. Fast forward to today and five GPs later who didn’t take it seriously, turns out I have endometriosis.
Sometimes if I was really tired or jetlagged I’d wake up and for a few seconds the room would look larger than it actually was or I wouldn’t recognise things that were totally familiar even know I knew they were things I’d seen before (jamais-vu, reverse Deja vu). Turns out I had epilepsy without realising for years. I later developed other types of seizures.
“Reading the answers to the question was actually a great experience — seeing the stories of people changing their lives after finding out what’s wrong, sharing their experiences with each other and realizing they’re not the only ones,” the OP shared.
“I still think about many of the answers, but the one that really stands out for me is the comment by u/lemonlemoncherry. They told about how they would always have irregular periods and didn’t think much of it. Turned out they had a brain tumor,” minbye noted. “Thankfully, it was benign and shrunk with medication, so they’re fine now.”
I would let all my friends feel “the ball in my boob” in high school. One day I told my mom – she immediately called the doctor. Fast forward the next month and I had surgery to remove a tumor. It ended up being benign.
My friends and I thought my basement was haunted but I was the only one who really believed it, because I had seen figures there. Yeahhhhhh… house wasn’t haunted, lol. Somehow it took me years of mental illness before I made that connection.
I apologize for disappearing; honestly I never expected anyone to see this silly little story and the interest freaked me (and my anxiety) out for a sec. I mentioned this further downthread but wanted to answer your question directly as well.
I have been “diagnosed” with schizophrenia, depression, GAD, etc. etc. I have had a long history of evolving signs and symptoms of mental illness and don’t feel connected tied to a particular diagnosis. At a certain point, when you’re sick enough to have basically a treatment team of therapist/psychiatrist/GP, etc., they tend to address things symptom-by-symptom instead of giving one med for one diagnosis (which is not sufficient for some people), so it’s not something that’s specifically on my mind much. I do have a diagnosis for insurance and record-keeping purposes that is kind of their best-guess categorization and as someone downthread guessed, it’s Bipolar 2.
The OP also says that they’ll be more willing to book doctor’s appointments after reading through all of the experiences on this list. “I was always quite anxious about my health, but now I can’t stop thinking about tumors and stomach problems,” they told Bored Panda.
“I’m genuinely glad I posted that question,” minbye added. “I learned a lot myself, and I watched people share important information with each other in the comments, so I really hope it helped someone.”
I used to make sure that any sentences I said were a multiple of 3 . It then evolved to 6, 12, 24, 48 and 96. I would say words to myself to round them to those numbers.
lookoutitspam:
OCD gang, lol. Just diagnosed and put on meds last week. My special number is 10. Steps have to be in multiples of 10, can’t cross from carpet to tile, etc. without having taken a number of steps that’s a multiple of 10. Gotta tap my fingers on stuff 10 times.
My parents thought I ignored them a lot because I often didn’t listen as a young child. Turns out I had severe chronic ear infections that caused a surge of ear wax to clog up my ears and put pressure on my eardrums so bad that I was practically deaf. I had to have surgery to fix it.
We also were lucky enough to get in touch with Senior Emergency Physician Dr. Shahina Braganza to hear her thoughts on this topic. She shared a few odd quirks that can sometimes mean medical issues are present.
“For example, extreme flexibility or hyper mobile joints [can be] part of a connective tissue disorder (e.g. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome) or episodes of odd behavior (e.g. Temporal Lobe Epilepsy that manifests not as jerky limb movements but affects a part of the brain related to memory and emotion),” Dr. Shahina explained. “Or beige cafe au lait skin spots, which can be related to a condition called neurofibromatosis.”
My inability to focus in school on subjects I didn’t care for, chronic lateness, poor impulse control… ADD, of course. Unfortunately, no one considered that possibility when I was young, because supposedly “only boys had that.” 😐
“These quirks can be interesting on their own, but if they are connected to a diagnosis, they can be related to other concerns,” the doctor continued. “For example, people with connective tissue disorders can be prone to organ or blood vessel abnormalities. Because each human body is so wonderfully unique, there are no real trademark signs.”
When I was about 13/14 I used to complain about stomach aches and sore throats A LOT. My parents thought I was faking it to stay home from school and the doctors blamed everything on anxiety/periods.
Turns out I have a hiatal hernia. My stomach acid was leaking into my throat when I was lying down at night and was starting to damage my oesophagus.
Food cravings that went beyond just silly little hankerings and became extreme to the point of damaging my teeth, causing rapid weight gain or giving me kidney stones.
Turns out food hyperfixation is a symptom of ADHD. Once a food hit just right at the right time, it was all I could think about and wanted eat for weeks or months.
While it may not always be necessary to take a trip to your doctor, Dr. Shahina does believe it’s important to get curious about your body. “The ‘something different’ may just be part of your make-up and you may otherwise feel great, or you may also notice other features or changes e.g. energy levels, tendency to bruise or bleed more easily, or change in your mood. Definitely seek professional advice if you are concerned,” she explained.
Holy s**t I was just talking to my mom about this. I thought I was just bad at sports and very specifically any sort of sustained activity.Think track, soccer, basketball, etc. Just thought I got more tired faster than other people cause I was lazy or whatever.
Went running with my mom one time in my early twenties in the cold and she heard me wheezing afterwards
Asked if it was always like that to which I said yes. Took me to a doc and turns out I have exercise induced asthma.
I do indeed get winded faster than other people but it’s not a laziness thing. No idea what would’ve happened if I found out during like middle school or something.
Rehearsing conversations and their potential branches before speaking to someone, being obsessed with textures and touch, *needing* to shave every hair from the neck down. Otherwise, I could feel them being moved and compressed by my clothes.. oh, and using quotes and references in 90% of my conversations. Turns out they’re not ‘quirks’, and coupled with my ‘issues,’ they make me rather autistic. I wish I knew 20 years ago!
Dr. Shahina also noted that it may be useful to look for patterns or trends once you notice a quirk. “Are you more tired than you used to be? Is it getting worse? And as for the quirk itself, e.g. if it’s a lump or a skin lesion, is it changing in appearance, is it getting bigger in size, is it getting painful?” she asks. “How your quirk is behaving over a period of time is vitally useful information to share with your doctor to help them work out how concerned we need to be, what tests to conduct, and how closely to monitor the person.”
I was a fidgety kid and would do odd things like whisper words under my breath every time I spoke, say certain words a lot, tap things, make sounds. I mostly grew out of it but when I woke up in my 20s with sudden onset motor and vocal tics (by which point I’d almost forgotten what an odd kid I was) I went to a neurologist and it turns out I have Tourette’s syndrome. It was only when he asked if I had any unusual habits as a child it clicked that I’d had it all along.
Growing up my mom’s side of the family always claimed the women were special and like witches. We could see ghosts, hear their voices, etc. I have so many stories of seeing ghosts, or watching things move that shouldn’t have. I hear a lot of random voices, once someone whispered in my ear “can you hear me?” When I was alone. Turns out we’re all either bipolar (me, with added depression for fun!) Or schizophrenic. The ghosts are more fun though.
The expert also wants to assure readers that not every quirk is medically concerning. “It is tempting to think that if you have a quirk, it needs to be checked out immediately. And sometimes it does – please see above!” Dr. Shahina says.
“But if your health care professional had a knee-jerk response to extensively investigate every quirk, first, our healthcare systems would run out resources to treat the seriously ill among us,” she continued. “Second, some investigations require exposure to radiation, dyes or surgical procedures and these can cause harm themselves. And finally, the scans we do may show up a whole heap of things that were never going to cause us any problems, but now we need to work out what to do with them, potentially exposing us to procedures we didn’t need.”
Needing constant naps. I was already on a stimulant for my ADHD but my body demanded that I nap for two hours just four hours after I woke up in the morning (after receiving a full ten hours). Turns out I’m narcoleptic!
“Having said that, if your health care professional doesn’t seem to be getting how worried you are about your quirk, then listen to your gut and keep escalating your concerns,” Dr. Shahina shared.
“Perhaps seek another opinion, until you feel that your health is safe. The patient-doctor relationship is always a partnership,” the expert added with a smile.
Constantly got yelled at by teachers for not listening and got spanked at home for it. Everyone thought I just didn’t care or that I was stupid. One day, a doctor decides I need a hearing test, and it turns out there is a bunch of fluid built up in my ears, and without tubes, I’d be completely deaf.
The only person who apologized to me was my mom, and that took 15 years.
Always had weird looking nails since I was a kid. Like kind of flat, wavy and with vertical lines.
Occasionally, I would get extreme random pain in my knees. I had Purpura (aka Henoch-Schonlein syndrome) when I was 18 months old.
Anyways, I live a normal life and play sports until, fastforward to my mid twenties, I start getting sausage fingers after every volleyball practice. I must have an injury or carpal tunnel, I think.
Many doctors and tests later, turns out I have psoriatic arthritis.
My arms bent backwards and would freak other kids in my classes out sometimes. It was a silly party trick until I got diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and couldn’t walk after I became an adult.
I could hear my eyeballs move in my head, it sounded like light sand paper. I could also hear other body noises, such as digestion and my heart bea. I was medicated for decades due to my ” hallucinations.”
Turns out I had a little hole in my skull between my inner ear and my brain. It caused a “third window” that amplified my internal body noises. After surgery, I no longer hear my eyes move, and I’m no longer on medication.
All my life when I was growing up I was always uncoordinated. I had no balance (I was never able to skate), my coordination was terrible, I had scoliosis, and hearing loss and a hand tremor. My whole body was just “not right”. I fought against all that very hard – I became a bike racer, I’ve done Ironman triathlons, I’ve hiked the AT. (Yeah, I am sure I was compensating). But finally in my 50’s, after a bout of severe foot neuropathy, I was diagnosed with a congenital neuromuscular disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth or CMT which demylenates the peripheral nerves and really screws with the body’s biomechanics. I was fighting a huge uphill battle the whole time.
My previously straight hair got curly in March, the same time I was hit be depression and anxiety. No prior issues with depression or anxiety. Fast forward many months that included therapy and SSRI’s. I get hot flashes and start on Estrogen, my Dr tests my hormones and I’m solidly in the middle of perimenopause. I weaned off the SSRI’s and have no more depression/anxiety. Pretty sure the depression was caused by low estrogen. So my curly hair was an indicator of a change in hormones and caused a cascade of other issues.
Often times found myself falling in the middle of the day and needing a nap. Plus, struggling to keep weight in check, cold sensitivity, and dry skin.
Cue the diagnoses of hashimoto’s thyroiditis, anemia, and low iron/vitamin D
Recently, unexplained abdominal pain unrelated to my periods, wasn’t found on ultrasound and requires CT scan… likely endometriosis.
Just thought I was a tired, sleepy person. Always amazed by how much energy people had every day, but I have always enjoyed couch potato activities so I assumed it was a “me problem” and I was just built that way. Thought I must be lazy.
Well. It was a me problem. A stomach problem. My body was using all my energy trying to digest food and draining me of vitality. I went on a simplistic diet and just BOUNCED BACK. Oops. Turns out stomach dysfunction runs in the family. Now I’m trying to get fit, I got a new job with all that energy, and I’m making a cross country move!!
Hey you reading this, the person with no energy for anything. Maybe you’re depressed – but maybe there’s a physical problem!! Get checked out!!
Periods got heavier as I got older. Just assumed it was part of aging, until my doc ordered an ultrasound. Fibroids caused the heavy bleeding.
I was always annoyed at the other kids my age because they were so childish. And I always got praise from my teachers for my problem solving skills and they all used to say the same thing: that I was “thinking outside the box”. It was such a weird concept for me to receive praise for something that just seems like an obvious solution to a problem, and people reacted as if I was some kind of genius, I just couldn’t fathom that other people would miss the details that were obvious to me.
This, coupled with not picking up on social cues, hardly ever showing body language or facial expressions, monotone voice, staring a lot, more advanced vocabulary than my peers, not understanding sarcasm, analyzing jokes to death because sometimes jokes aren’t logical and people found me annoying for doing this, treating plushies as if they had actual feelings, preferring to play with pets rather than other kids, reading non-fiction during the morning readings when all the other kids read like mystery books, severely disliking certain fabrics and textures, being hypersensitive to noises and light….
I’m surprised that people don’t usually notice that I’m autistic.
Oh, you know, I always thought that my weird habit of obsessively counting things was just my unique charm. It turns out it was actually a symptom of OCD.
Not me, but I helped someone on reddit get diagnosed with EDS. They posted a picture of their fingers bent in a strange way and said they didn’t know why they could do it when others can’t, so I asked if they had it. They responded saying they took a survey and had 80% of the symptoms and had made an appointment to get formally screened.
Hypnogogic hallucinations. For my entire life, I would hear things while I was trying to fall asleep. Anything from screaming to strange music to people talking in the next room. Over the years I just got used to it the best I could. When I started seeing a sleep doctor for my apnea, they were asking a lot of questions, and I mentioned this. It led to some other questions and tests, which led to a narcolepsy diagnosis. I don’t have the classic presentation, but I have very disordered sleep/wake cycles.
It was always bothersome. I never knew it actually *meant* anything.
I have always had flexible joints which has caused me problems since I was a child. I recently got diagnosed with ADHD and my doctor told me that there’s a high correlation between ADHD and hyper mobility syndrome and/or generalised joint hyper mobility. My flexibility was a hint that I didn’t realise was a hint until now.
i’ve got two my senior quote was “i need a nap.” i was the lazy one who was always tired. kind of a joke between my friends and i. got to college and it got worse despite the fact that i was sleeping more. turns out i have inappropriate sinus tachycardia (a form of dysautonomia) that causes fatigue and a bunch of other fun stuff that i thought was normal. second one, i’ve always had a lot of little quirks that i kept to myself, like the sound of a woman angrily yelling gibberish repeating in my head periodically. i always thought it was kinda funny. turns out my generalized anxiety disorder was actually OCD and it was just a really weird recurring intrusive thought.
Did you know bad spacial awareness and randomly talking in accents are signs of ADHD and not just being a weirdo?
I know that now.
Being “double jointed.” Which isn’t a real thing, what I actually was (and still am) is a woman with Ehlers Danlos syndrome.
I don’t know if this counts as physical health but some days I’d just be really clumsy, drop things, spill things, get my words all mixed up and say the opposite of what I mean – mum tells me I was diagnosed with dyspraxia when I was 12, told me when I was 30.
My toenails used to frequently split. One time my wife witnessed this and said “that’s not normal”.
Yadda yadda yadda, I had been iron deficient for like 12 years. Within two weeks of supplementing iron, I became much less disabled.
I would always sit with my legs in the shape of a W. Turns out that is also a sign of autism.
Bipolar here. I used to be able to stay awake without being tired and people always were amazed by that at work, turns out I was just manic.
I’ve never been able to burp Turns out that’s a medical condition called Retrograde Cricopharyngeus Dysfunction, or RCPD Only treatment is to get Botox injected into the Cricopharyngeus muscle in your throat Never knew why I get nausea all the time randomly thought I was just weird my whole life.
Used to never have irregular periods. Didn’t think much of it, I was always active and running so I figured it was because of that.
Turns out it was a brain tumor messing with my hormones 🙂
I played volleyball as a kid and was a great server. When I was 13 I served the ball and immediately felt horrible lower back pain. I went to complain to my mom and she totally blew it off since my dad and grandpa both suffer from low back pain. Fast forward through the volleyball season and I was still suffering with pain everyday. My mom finally took me to the doctor since I was complaining so much and one x-ray proved I have spondololisthesis which is common in gymnasts, football players, and other people where they extend a lot. Turns out I needed a spinal fusion and months of physical therapy.
Sensory issues and selective mutism as a child were diagnosed as Generalized Anxiety Disorder when I was an adult. Guess who got diagnosed with autism at 36? Meeeee!!!
My handwriting was terrible, balance sucked and I would have tremors especially in my hands after vigorous exercise.
I thought I had Parkinson’s.
It was just mild cerebral palsy, which is non progressive, and I’ll have it for life. Definitely beats having Parkinson’s, especially as a teen.
It turns out the odd sleeping postures, learning to read a year early,
having obsessions with things that led to me isolating myself for hours, being a complete shut-in, being a hypochondriac about bodily sensations and germs, anxiety about being late and following the rules, and getting really angry when my things were moved, not showering or brushing my teeth, getting constantly irritated by sounds in public places… and other such childhood issues were autism.
Now I understand why I spent my entire teens and 20s obsessing and stressing over simple things and having to work up the courage to do things like talk to shop staff or use a credit card rather than cash to pay for things. I was chronically unemployed for 7 years because the idea of using a computer and making my home Wi-Fi potentially unsafe prevented me applying for anything. I had screaming panic attacks / tantrums if people ordered things online, and I wouldn’t be able sleep for days. I’ve spent 5 years sleeping on the sofa and getting 3 hours a night because the “vibe” of my bed isn’t right and makes me itchy. My parents suspected it for over a decade before they told me to get tested at 29.
Misophonia, I was convinced I was just annoying by feeling bouts of stress and almost pain from certain noises. Turns out : Autism.
When I was in high school I would randomly get obsessively focused on brushing my teeth, especially at the gums of my front bottom teeth. It would randomly just ‘click’ and all I could think of was the almost feel-good pain you feel when you brush your gums with a tooth brush. I couldn’t stop thinking about it till I physically brush my teeth, to the point of bleeding, then rinsed with mouth wash that contains alcohol. The pain from the alcohol is what finally got me to stop hyper-fixating. I always thought it had to do with me not taking care of my teeth that well normally that I would need to over compensate when I remembered.
For years the feeling went away till I was younger in my career. One day that ‘click’ happened and for almost a week, it would take everything out of me to not brush my gums all day. At the end of it I had a panic attack.
I suffer from high anxiety, which has caused a couple panic attacks since high school, and even adrenal failure. The hyper-fixation is just a warning sign. Now anytime I get the feeling of “pulling my teeth out” I know I have a serious issue I need to address concerning my anxiety.
I just wanted to lay around, turns out I had depression and I was low in iron.
My whole life, I have dealt with becoming “obsessive” over new things – like when I hear a new song I like, I will listen to it hundreds of times on repeat and not get tired of it. New hobby? It consumes my being.
I have also had a running “daydream story” since about middle school. It’s an ongoing story with characters I made up (and a self insert of course), and I used to listen to music and imagine fight scenes and things like that.
It turns out, both of those things are symptoms of ADHD, especially in women. I never got tested as a kid because my mom believed that “none of her kids have a mental illness.” 🤷🏻♀️
Craving milk. Apparently it’s an oddly common thing for folks with bipolar.
Not understanding social cues. I could pick up on some, but it’s hard for me when someone is being sarcastic with a straight face because to me, they’re being serious about it. That and I usually rehearsed what I would like to say before making any calls.
Apparently those, coupled with other stuff like my mental train is absolutely chaotic are actually ADD symptoms that was overlooked because I could get by ok in most settings. It’s a relief knowing that it’s not ‘just me’.
I didn’t like playing outside as a kid. Turns out… ALLERGIES.
I was sensitive to light and often the way the glare of the light bending was very odd, this was going on for years and every time I went to my exam the doctor said it was astigmatism and I just need to keep wearing glasses pretty much all the time. Last year I decided to go to a different doctor and turns out it wasn’t that, she said I have a rare eye condition called Keratoconus that causes the cornea of your eye to bend like a cone and over time as it gets worse can cause blindness. There is a procedure called Cross-linking that helps prevent the condition from getting worse and at times can even slightly fix the condition. I’m still recovering as it can take up to a year for it to fully “heal”.
Crying over not being able to understand most math no matter how simply it was explained to me -> dyscalculia
Growing pains, twisting my ankles and spraining my wrists often, legs giving out etc -> EDs
Bullied but unaware that I was being bullied half the time basically just struggling a lot socially, being labeled and “old soul” and “mature for my age” because I only knew how to talk to adults -> autism
I was not being lazy on childhood walking tours and hiking trips; I had flat feet and was in pain, therefore needing more frequent breaks. (Diagnosed age 11 or so.)
My daily back aches and the several- week period where I couldn’t move my legs properly weren’t growing pains; I had a herniated disk in my lumbar spine that was compressing a nerve root. (Diagnosed at age 19, but the nerve damage is permanent.)
I was not bursting into tears every time something unexpected happened because I “wanted my own way all the time”; I have generalized anxiety disorder. (Diagnosed at age 20.)
I wasn’t unable to tolerate a Pap smear because “virgins always find this uncomfortable, it goes away once you’ve had a man’s penis inside you.” The aforementioned nerve damage had affected my pudendal nerve, too, causing a condition known as vulvodynia.
It may not surprise you to hear that I’ve needed 2 years of trauma therapy specifically surrounding medical trauma and fears of not being believed.
I didn’t crawl as a baby. Ever. I never learned how to crawl. At around 8 months old I could speak sentences while most other kids hadn’t said their first real word. I had a “strange stare”, (not my words) whatever that means.
I was a very shy and lonesome kid with difficulty making friends. I was constantly dehydrated to some degree because I would often forget to drink. I had a strong resistance to cold temperatures. I just straight up refused to speak to anyone I didn’t like, even if they were talking to me. I was picky with eating. My parents didn’t think anything of it as I was academically talented and pretty smart for my age. Classmates treated me like disease even though I hadn’t done anything.
At about 14 I was finally diagnosed with autism.
People were often shocked I could drink a liter of coffee and sleep right after. I just thought it was a cool little trait. But I really just have ADHD, people are still surprised a lot but now I got an explanation.
I’m never scared. I have only one memory of ever being scared in my life before I started therapy in my early 40s. Other people have commented on how I don’t have any fear, and I’ve objectively noticed that in some situations I’ve been in that I should be scared but I wasn’t at all.
Turns out it’s because I have a dissociative disorder as a result of childhood abuse and my fear is walled off in a handful of alters. The threshold for one of those alters to take over for me is a pretty extreme level of fear so when that happened I either didn’t remember when that alter was out or I just didn’t feel the fear because I had no access to it. Brains are fascinating.
I’d have to say words over and over again because they “didn’t feel right coming out of my mouth” I would repeat a word out loud or under my breath until it “felt right.” I still rewrite notes many times because my handwriting was “not correct.” I skin pick so bad I’ll be bleeding and in pain but can’t stop because it’s not “smooth” yet, my fingers are always torn to shreds. I physically gag when articles of my clothing especially socks touch my skin and it doesn’t feel right. I’d check to make sure my alarm was on so many times I would go to sleep much later than I planned. I also count damn near everything. My family wasn’t believers in mental health.. at all. I went a long time thinking my actions and thoughts were normal.
I was diagnosed with extreme OCD in my teens and I am now heavily medicated for it. I still have obsessions and compulsions but not as bad. I’m able to live somewhat of a normal life now. I still have episodes where it consumes me.
I was 4..constantly sucking in my stomach..doctor told Dad it was just a bad habit..this was the 1970s. Numerous tics/ obsessions and compulsions later..years later…turns out I have OCD.
Turns out that, no, it’s not normal or quirky to have “visions” about being an angel and thinking that you were an angel in a past life and I do, in fact, have psychosis. It’s also not normal to be afraid of mirrors and your own reflection because you think it’s going to kill you! That’s not anxiety, babes, that’s psychosis!
It’s also not normal to have horribly violent intrusive thoughts whenever someone smacks their lips or eats too loudly around you. That’s misophonia. I thought everyone found it that annoying.
When I was younger I used to make a lot of sounds and stick my tongue out, and just randomly spit. Mum thought I was being a knob, got told I had tourrette’s syndrome. Mad to think sometimes that I have it.
This one is recent sooooo…. I thought my head shape was normal until someone just casually mentioned that I struggle finding hats not because my head is big but because it’s oddly shaped, kinda flatter than a normal person apparently, at the back. Then brought up that they bet it was related to the severe neglect I had in infancy (was left alone in the crib for days at a time. Parents used to say I was such a ‘good baby’ because I had just learned to not bother crying). That took a bit to decide how to feel about.
I always had “weird knees” which I found out was Osgood-Schlatter disease. It’s not too much of a problem, I just have very sensitive knees.
I ate a lot of ice cubes for a year. It was intrusive, and I had a cup full of ice cubes at all times. It felt like an addiction. And then I got a blood transfusion (about 2 pints needed) because I was severely anemic. I’m also Type 0 positive, with a host of autoimmune issues. I waited for hours in the hospital until they found blood they could give me.
Turns out I was anemic because of andenomyosis, my uterus was 3x the normal size, and one of the worst cases they’ve seen. So I also got a hysterectomy.
I haven’t chewed ice cubes since.
Being unable to bite down on a piece of onion because the crunch bothers me unless it’s cooked to the consistancy of mush, taking jokes a bit too literally, not understanding why a former friend never just told me her issues with me, being able to info dump about niche topics for an hour or more, insisting on sticking to my routine way of doing things even if they arent the most logical or efficient, isn’t just a combo of ADHD and anxiety and depression.
It’s also autism.
For someone who’s suspected my dad is autistic as well, I was in denial of having AuADHD for a long a*s time.
My whole life I thought I was just bad at exercise despite being a pretty thin person. I threw up almost every time I tried any sort of cardio.
Had a free personal training session and they
saw my “episode” (feel sick/lightheaded, throw up, sit/lay down, recover) and told me to go get checked out.
Turns out I have autonomic dysfunction triggered by exercise and my blood pressure plummets dangerously low during.
One day I had intense pain in my right wrist, nothing else. Turned out to be a heart attack which destroyed my mitral valve.
I’d get weird sensations with some odd visuals as well, but nothing super disruptive and my doctor at the time wasn’t worried, and testing would have been really expensive and unpleasant. Turns out I’ve been having seizures for 5-6 years that have now gotten worse, and I need to figure out why ASAP. Don’t ignore neurological symptoms or let someone, including doctors, tell you they don’t matter.
I noticed a blind spot in my left eye and originally thought it was related to driving toward the sun, kind of like when you look at a light bulb and a black negative image remains when you look away. It turns out I broke a blood vessel in the back of my eye due to job stress.
Cravings to eat chalk, stone and dried mud for years. Turns out I was severely iron deficient.
No urges for them now 🤢
My ability to exercise was suffering. Even a couple of warm up sets would make me so queasy I’d feel like I could puke. I thought it was poor sleep and diet.
My urine was a little dark. I thought I wasn’t drinking enough water.
I’d wake up covered in sweat. Like, soaked to the point that it looked like I took a shower in my pyjamas and crawled back into bed. I thought I was just hot.
Eventually I briefly passed out while walking around at a Dave and Busters with my girlfriend. An ambulance was called. They didn’t see anything wrong but offered to take my to the hospital which I declined.
My girlfriend *demanded* I make a Dr appointment the next day. If not she threatened to call my mom and get her to berate me too. So to make her happy I made an appointment. Dr didn’t see anything out of the ordinary but ran some blood tests to be sure. The next morning, I was at work and the Dr called to tell me my RBC count was reading “3”, which he assumed must have been a mistake because I shouldn’t even be capable or walking with it testing that low but I should go the the ER to be sure. I told my boss what was up and he gave me the go ahead to leave and I drove myself to the ER. Told triage the result of the test, and they too said it sounded like the test was faulty and they ran their own. The test was right, and everyone was shocked that a person could be so anemic while still able to stand upright.
My spleen was “cleaning” my blood of my red blood cells as it apparently thought they were faulty. It was also over 3 lbs in size (a normal spleen is roughly a quarter lb). The sweating and dark urine was caused by my kidneys failing due to the extreme anemia. My inability to exercise was due to there not being enough red blood cells to carry oxygen through my body under the increased load. The doctors I saw in the hospital told me that had I continued to ignore the symptoms I’d have likely died of a heart attack within a week or so.
I would say the aches and pains I’ve had since I was a kid. When you’re a woman, you’re always told you have to deal with pains since it’s a part of life.
After an episode of Uveitis last year, that sped to a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis.
I don’t like being told to do. I understand that most people don’t but mine is extreme. Mine is so extreme that if I try to boss myself around I have to rebel against myself and not do it.
Turns out I have Pathological Demand Avoidance. This stems from my ADHD but every task is an insurmountable chore because I feel such pressure to do it. Forcing myself to shower is the worst part of my day.
That grinding a barely passing grade in college, fueled by s**t tons of coffee and cigarettes to stay alert (almost between every damn lecture), wasn’t just me being fundamentally lazy and unmotivated, despite loving my degree.
It was full blown ADHD. Caffeine and nicotine were the pseudo-stimulants I unknowingly “self-medicated” with, until I was diagnosed with ADHD and given proper stimulant medication.
Since getting on medication, I barely drink coffee nor smoke cigarettes anymore. Cravings are rare, and even in the event of a smoke relapse, the sensation of smoking a cig doesn’t quite “fulfill a void” like it used to, nor does it make me want to go buy a pack and start again for good.
Feeling like I don’t have a body. Turns out I have Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder due to maladaptive coping from SEVERE childhood trauma.
As a kid my hands would hurt like needles stabbing me when I wrote and in gym class my feet would feel like I was walking directly on bone. Nobody believed me. I did in school suspension for refusing to participate, even Saturday school for all the missing class work cause my hands would hurt so bad. Everyone thought it was just an excuse. Took a neurologist, rheumatologist and my primary care doctor to finally diagnose me with a rare autoimmune disease called Mitchell’s disease. It’s extremely painful. I never got the apologies from the school faculty but my mom finally understood why when she woke me up for school I would cry that my hands and feet hurt.
[ad_2]
I thought I had just a bunch of bad habits—I could never stop rolling my eyes or making weird throat noises no matter how much I tried. Tourette’s, ladies and gentlemen. It got a lot worse once I got to college and was under more stress.
To find out how this thread started in the first place, we reached out to Reddit user u/minbye, who was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda about what inspired them to start this conversation. "I myself have a few health issues that influence my day to day life, so I think about them a lot," the OP shared.
"For one, I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety three years ago. Now I’m on medication and going to therapy to work through my problems," minbye continued. "Even though I’ve been in therapy for so long, I still learn a lot of new things. And the topic of my thoughts, feelings and reactions being just symptoms, and not actually me or my 'quirks,' is a big one in my life."
Repeating words in my head since I was a child. Then one day I went to the ER and I was extremely anxious and the doctor gave me an anti-anxiety pill and I noticed that ended the repetitive thought and words.
As a kid I wanted to be carried everywhere (like piggyback rides, etc) for way too long. Like I was an almost 5’ tall 8 year old asking to be carried on vacation. My feet hurt after walking more than like, two blocks. My mom took me to a podiatrist to prove there was nothing wrong with me and it turns out I had severe fallen arches and plantar fasciitis and needed corrective insoles to fix my gait. She took me for ice cream after that appointment.
"I found out that it’s very important to understand the difference [between quirks and symptoms] in order to be successful in battling the problem," the OP continued. "So as I was trying to fall asleep, I was just reflecting on my day and thinking about this when I thought that it might be interesting to hear what others have to say about this. I honestly didn’t think I would get so many answers."
Nearly every period, I would get a terrible pain in my backside, like a stabbing pain which would make me stop wherever I was. I also had a twisting back pain on the left side of my back. The doctors dismissed it as "periods are painful" and "there's a wide range of normal". Finally had an MRI in my 30s and I have Stage IV endometriosis with deep infiltrating lesions. Adhesions had stuck my bowel to my uterus and also strangled my left ureter so that my kidney couldn't drain properly and was swollen. On the mental health side, I got so used to feeling like I was a hypochondriac with a low pain threshold that, to this day, I automatically assumed I'm being melodramatic when I'm ill.
We also asked minbye why they believe so many of us assume our health problems are actually just quirks. "We often normalize the things we live with — being scared to talk on the phone, not having the energy to get out of bed, regular migraines or even lack of appetite," they noted.
"I often see posts where people share their stories saying, 'don’t we all?' about the things that they do or feel, and learning that they are not actually a universal experience," the OP continued. "As Dostoyevsky said, 'Man grows used to everything, the scoundrel.' For that reason, I find it almost impossible to understand that something’s wrong even if it’s obvious, as long as it’s not a sudden change."
Growing up, when I got my first period at 15/16 they were extremely painful to the point I would pass out and couldn't walk properly. My dad refused to talk about periods and my mum and sister said I was exaggerating and that I was making it up so I figured it must just be me. Fast forward to today and five GPs later who didn't take it seriously, turns out I have endometriosis.
Sometimes if I was really tired or jetlagged I'd wake up and for a few seconds the room would look larger than it actually was or I wouldn't recognise things that were totally familiar even know I knew they were things I'd seen before (jamais-vu, reverse Deja vu). Turns out I had epilepsy without realising for years. I later developed other types of seizures.
"Reading the answers to the question was actually a great experience — seeing the stories of people changing their lives after finding out what’s wrong, sharing their experiences with each other and realizing they’re not the only ones," the OP shared.
"I still think about many of the answers, but the one that really stands out for me is the comment by u/lemonlemoncherry. They told about how they would always have irregular periods and didn’t think much of it. Turned out they had a brain tumor," minbye noted. "Thankfully, it was benign and shrunk with medication, so they’re fine now."
I would let all my friends feel “the ball in my boob” in high school. One day I told my mom - she immediately called the doctor. Fast forward the next month and I had surgery to remove a tumor. It ended up being benign.
My friends and I thought my basement was haunted but I was the only one who really believed it, because I had seen figures there. Yeahhhhhh... house wasn't haunted, lol. Somehow it took me years of mental illness before I made that connection.
I apologize for disappearing; honestly I never expected anyone to see this silly little story and the interest freaked me (and my anxiety) out for a sec. I mentioned this further downthread but wanted to answer your question directly as well.
I have been "diagnosed" with schizophrenia, depression, GAD, etc. etc. I have had a long history of evolving signs and symptoms of mental illness and don't feel connected tied to a particular diagnosis. At a certain point, when you're sick enough to have basically a treatment team of therapist/psychiatrist/GP, etc., they tend to address things symptom-by-symptom instead of giving one med for one diagnosis (which is not sufficient for some people), so it's not something that's specifically on my mind much. I do have a diagnosis for insurance and record-keeping purposes that is kind of their best-guess categorization and as someone downthread guessed, it's Bipolar 2.
The OP also says that they'll be more willing to book doctor's appointments after reading through all of the experiences on this list. "I was always quite anxious about my health, but now I can’t stop thinking about tumors and stomach problems," they told Bored Panda.
"I’m genuinely glad I posted that question," minbye added. "I learned a lot myself, and I watched people share important information with each other in the comments, so I really hope it helped someone."
I used to make sure that any sentences I said were a multiple of 3 . It then evolved to 6, 12, 24, 48 and 96. I would say words to myself to round them to those numbers.
lookoutitspam:
OCD gang, lol. Just diagnosed and put on meds last week. My special number is 10. Steps have to be in multiples of 10, can’t cross from carpet to tile, etc. without having taken a number of steps that’s a multiple of 10. Gotta tap my fingers on stuff 10 times.
My parents thought I ignored them a lot because I often didn’t listen as a young child. Turns out I had severe chronic ear infections that caused a surge of ear wax to clog up my ears and put pressure on my eardrums so bad that I was practically deaf. I had to have surgery to fix it.
We also were lucky enough to get in touch with Senior Emergency Physician Dr. Shahina Braganza to hear her thoughts on this topic. She shared a few odd quirks that can sometimes mean medical issues are present.
"For example, extreme flexibility or hyper mobile joints [can be] part of a connective tissue disorder (e.g. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome) or episodes of odd behavior (e.g. Temporal Lobe Epilepsy that manifests not as jerky limb movements but affects a part of the brain related to memory and emotion)," Dr. Shahina explained. "Or beige cafe au lait skin spots, which can be related to a condition called neurofibromatosis."
My inability to focus in school on subjects I didn’t care for, chronic lateness, poor impulse control… ADD, of course. Unfortunately, no one considered that possibility when I was young, because supposedly “only boys had that.” 😐
"These quirks can be interesting on their own, but if they are connected to a diagnosis, they can be related to other concerns," the doctor continued. "For example, people with connective tissue disorders can be prone to organ or blood vessel abnormalities. Because each human body is so wonderfully unique, there are no real trademark signs."
When I was about 13/14 I used to complain about stomach aches and sore throats A LOT. My parents thought I was faking it to stay home from school and the doctors blamed everything on anxiety/periods.
Turns out I have a hiatal hernia. My stomach acid was leaking into my throat when I was lying down at night and was starting to damage my oesophagus.
Food cravings that went beyond just silly little hankerings and became extreme to the point of damaging my teeth, causing rapid weight gain or giving me kidney stones.
Turns out food hyperfixation is a symptom of ADHD. Once a food hit just right at the right time, it was all I could think about and wanted eat for weeks or months.
While it may not always be necessary to take a trip to your doctor, Dr. Shahina does believe it's important to get curious about your body. "The 'something different' may just be part of your make-up and you may otherwise feel great, or you may also notice other features or changes e.g. energy levels, tendency to bruise or bleed more easily, or change in your mood. Definitely seek professional advice if you are concerned," she explained.
Holy s**t I was just talking to my mom about this. I thought I was just bad at sports and very specifically any sort of sustained activity.Think track, soccer, basketball, etc. Just thought I got more tired faster than other people cause I was lazy or whatever.
Went running with my mom one time in my early twenties in the cold and she heard me wheezing afterwards
Asked if it was always like that to which I said yes. Took me to a doc and turns out I have exercise induced asthma.
I do indeed get winded faster than other people but it's not a laziness thing. No idea what would've happened if I found out during like middle school or something.
Rehearsing conversations and their potential branches before speaking to someone, being obsessed with textures and touch, *needing* to shave every hair from the neck down. Otherwise, I could feel them being moved and compressed by my clothes.. oh, and using quotes and references in 90% of my conversations. Turns out they're not 'quirks', and coupled with my 'issues,' they make me rather autistic. I wish I knew 20 years ago!
Dr. Shahina also noted that it may be useful to look for patterns or trends once you notice a quirk. "Are you more tired than you used to be? Is it getting worse? And as for the quirk itself, e.g. if it’s a lump or a skin lesion, is it changing in appearance, is it getting bigger in size, is it getting painful?" she asks. "How your quirk is behaving over a period of time is vitally useful information to share with your doctor to help them work out how concerned we need to be, what tests to conduct, and how closely to monitor the person."
I was a fidgety kid and would do odd things like whisper words under my breath every time I spoke, say certain words a lot, tap things, make sounds. I mostly grew out of it but when I woke up in my 20s with sudden onset motor and vocal tics (by which point I'd almost forgotten what an odd kid I was) I went to a neurologist and it turns out I have Tourette's syndrome. It was only when he asked if I had any unusual habits as a child it clicked that I'd had it all along.
Growing up my mom's side of the family always claimed the women were special and like witches. We could see ghosts, hear their voices, etc. I have so many stories of seeing ghosts, or watching things move that shouldn't have. I hear a lot of random voices, once someone whispered in my ear "can you hear me?" When I was alone. Turns out we're all either bipolar (me, with added depression for fun!) Or schizophrenic. The ghosts are more fun though.
The expert also wants to assure readers that not every quirk is medically concerning. "It is tempting to think that if you have a quirk, it needs to be checked out immediately. And sometimes it does - please see above!" Dr. Shahina says.
"But if your health care professional had a knee-jerk response to extensively investigate every quirk, first, our healthcare systems would run out resources to treat the seriously ill among us," she continued. "Second, some investigations require exposure to radiation, dyes or surgical procedures and these can cause harm themselves. And finally, the scans we do may show up a whole heap of things that were never going to cause us any problems, but now we need to work out what to do with them, potentially exposing us to procedures we didn’t need."
Needing constant naps. I was already on a stimulant for my ADHD but my body demanded that I nap for two hours just four hours after I woke up in the morning (after receiving a full ten hours). Turns out I’m narcoleptic!
"Having said that, if your health care professional doesn't seem to be getting how worried you are about your quirk, then listen to your gut and keep escalating your concerns," Dr. Shahina shared.
"Perhaps seek another opinion, until you feel that your health is safe. The patient-doctor relationship is always a partnership," the expert added with a smile.
Constantly got yelled at by teachers for not listening and got spanked at home for it. Everyone thought I just didn't care or that I was stupid. One day, a doctor decides I need a hearing test, and it turns out there is a bunch of fluid built up in my ears, and without tubes, I'd be completely deaf.
The only person who apologized to me was my mom, and that took 15 years.
Always had weird looking nails since I was a kid. Like kind of flat, wavy and with vertical lines.
Occasionally, I would get extreme random pain in my knees. I had Purpura (aka Henoch-Schonlein syndrome) when I was 18 months old.
Anyways, I live a normal life and play sports until, fastforward to my mid twenties, I start getting sausage fingers after every volleyball practice. I must have an injury or carpal tunnel, I think.
Many doctors and tests later, turns out I have psoriatic arthritis.
My arms bent backwards and would freak other kids in my classes out sometimes. It was a silly party trick until I got diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and couldn’t walk after I became an adult.
I could hear my eyeballs move in my head, it sounded like light sand paper. I could also hear other body noises, such as digestion and my heart bea. I was medicated for decades due to my " hallucinations."
Turns out I had a little hole in my skull between my inner ear and my brain. It caused a "third window" that amplified my internal body noises. After surgery, I no longer hear my eyes move, and I'm no longer on medication.
All my life when I was growing up I was always uncoordinated. I had no balance (I was never able to skate), my coordination was terrible, I had scoliosis, and hearing loss and a hand tremor. My whole body was just “not right”. I fought against all that very hard - I became a bike racer, I’ve done Ironman triathlons, I’ve hiked the AT. (Yeah, I am sure I was compensating). But finally in my 50’s, after a bout of severe foot neuropathy, I was diagnosed with a congenital neuromuscular disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth or CMT which demylenates the peripheral nerves and really screws with the body’s biomechanics. I was fighting a huge uphill battle the whole time.
My previously straight hair got curly in March, the same time I was hit be depression and anxiety. No prior issues with depression or anxiety. Fast forward many months that included therapy and SSRI's. I get hot flashes and start on Estrogen, my Dr tests my hormones and I'm solidly in the middle of perimenopause. I weaned off the SSRI's and have no more depression/anxiety. Pretty sure the depression was caused by low estrogen. So my curly hair was an indicator of a change in hormones and caused a cascade of other issues.
Often times found myself falling in the middle of the day and needing a nap. Plus, struggling to keep weight in check, cold sensitivity, and dry skin.
Cue the diagnoses of hashimoto's thyroiditis, anemia, and low iron/vitamin D
Recently, unexplained abdominal pain unrelated to my periods, wasn't found on ultrasound and requires CT scan... likely endometriosis.
Just thought I was a tired, sleepy person. Always amazed by how much energy people had every day, but I have always enjoyed couch potato activities so I assumed it was a “me problem” and I was just built that way. Thought I must be lazy.
Well. It was a me problem. A stomach problem. My body was using all my energy trying to digest food and draining me of vitality. I went on a simplistic diet and just BOUNCED BACK. Oops. Turns out stomach dysfunction runs in the family. Now I’m trying to get fit, I got a new job with all that energy, and I’m making a cross country move!!
Hey you reading this, the person with no energy for anything. Maybe you’re depressed - but maybe there’s a physical problem!! Get checked out!!
Periods got heavier as I got older. Just assumed it was part of aging, until my doc ordered an ultrasound. Fibroids caused the heavy bleeding.
I was always annoyed at the other kids my age because they were so childish. And I always got praise from my teachers for my problem solving skills and they all used to say the same thing: that I was "thinking outside the box". It was such a weird concept for me to receive praise for something that just seems like an obvious solution to a problem, and people reacted as if I was some kind of genius, I just couldn't fathom that other people would miss the details that were obvious to me.
This, coupled with not picking up on social cues, hardly ever showing body language or facial expressions, monotone voice, staring a lot, more advanced vocabulary than my peers, not understanding sarcasm, analyzing jokes to death because sometimes jokes aren't logical and people found me annoying for doing this, treating plushies as if they had actual feelings, preferring to play with pets rather than other kids, reading non-fiction during the morning readings when all the other kids read like mystery books, severely disliking certain fabrics and textures, being hypersensitive to noises and light....
I'm surprised that people don't usually notice that I'm autistic.
Oh, you know, I always thought that my weird habit of obsessively counting things was just my unique charm. It turns out it was actually a symptom of OCD.
Not me, but I helped someone on reddit get diagnosed with EDS. They posted a picture of their fingers bent in a strange way and said they didn’t know why they could do it when others can't, so I asked if they had it. They responded saying they took a survey and had 80% of the symptoms and had made an appointment to get formally screened.
Hypnogogic hallucinations. For my entire life, I would hear things while I was trying to fall asleep. Anything from screaming to strange music to people talking in the next room. Over the years I just got used to it the best I could. When I started seeing a sleep doctor for my apnea, they were asking a lot of questions, and I mentioned this. It led to some other questions and tests, which led to a narcolepsy diagnosis. I don't have the classic presentation, but I have very disordered sleep/wake cycles.
It was always bothersome. I never knew it actually *meant* anything.
I have always had flexible joints which has caused me problems since I was a child. I recently got diagnosed with ADHD and my doctor told me that there’s a high correlation between ADHD and hyper mobility syndrome and/or generalised joint hyper mobility. My flexibility was a hint that I didn’t realise was a hint until now.
i’ve got two my senior quote was “i need a nap.” i was the lazy one who was always tired. kind of a joke between my friends and i. got to college and it got worse despite the fact that i was sleeping more. turns out i have inappropriate sinus tachycardia (a form of dysautonomia) that causes fatigue and a bunch of other fun stuff that i thought was normal. second one, i’ve always had a lot of little quirks that i kept to myself, like the sound of a woman angrily yelling gibberish repeating in my head periodically. i always thought it was kinda funny. turns out my generalized anxiety disorder was actually OCD and it was just a really weird recurring intrusive thought.
Did you know bad spacial awareness and randomly talking in accents are signs of ADHD and not just being a weirdo?
I know that now.
Being “double jointed.” Which isn’t a real thing, what I actually was (and still am) is a woman with Ehlers Danlos syndrome.
I don’t know if this counts as physical health but some days I’d just be really clumsy, drop things, spill things, get my words all mixed up and say the opposite of what I mean - mum tells me I was diagnosed with dyspraxia when I was 12, told me when I was 30.
My toenails used to frequently split. One time my wife witnessed this and said "that's not normal".
Yadda yadda yadda, I had been iron deficient for like 12 years. Within two weeks of supplementing iron, I became much less disabled.
I would always sit with my legs in the shape of a W. Turns out that is also a sign of autism.
Bipolar here. I used to be able to stay awake without being tired and people always were amazed by that at work, turns out I was just manic.
I’ve never been able to burp Turns out that’s a medical condition called Retrograde Cricopharyngeus Dysfunction, or RCPD Only treatment is to get Botox injected into the Cricopharyngeus muscle in your throat Never knew why I get nausea all the time randomly thought I was just weird my whole life.
Used to never have irregular periods. Didn’t think much of it, I was always active and running so I figured it was because of that.
Turns out it was a brain tumor messing with my hormones 🙂
I played volleyball as a kid and was a great server. When I was 13 I served the ball and immediately felt horrible lower back pain. I went to complain to my mom and she totally blew it off since my dad and grandpa both suffer from low back pain. Fast forward through the volleyball season and I was still suffering with pain everyday. My mom finally took me to the doctor since I was complaining so much and one x-ray proved I have spondololisthesis which is common in gymnasts, football players, and other people where they extend a lot. Turns out I needed a spinal fusion and months of physical therapy.
Sensory issues and selective mutism as a child were diagnosed as Generalized Anxiety Disorder when I was an adult. Guess who got diagnosed with autism at 36? Meeeee!!!
My handwriting was terrible, balance sucked and I would have tremors especially in my hands after vigorous exercise.
I thought I had Parkinson's.
It was just mild cerebral palsy, which is non progressive, and I'll have it for life. Definitely beats having Parkinson's, especially as a teen.
It turns out the odd sleeping postures, learning to read a year early,
having obsessions with things that led to me isolating myself for hours, being a complete shut-in, being a hypochondriac about bodily sensations and germs, anxiety about being late and following the rules, and getting really angry when my things were moved, not showering or brushing my teeth, getting constantly irritated by sounds in public places... and other such childhood issues were autism.
Now I understand why I spent my entire teens and 20s obsessing and stressing over simple things and having to work up the courage to do things like talk to shop staff or use a credit card rather than cash to pay for things. I was chronically unemployed for 7 years because the idea of using a computer and making my home Wi-Fi potentially unsafe prevented me applying for anything. I had screaming panic attacks / tantrums if people ordered things online, and I wouldn't be able sleep for days. I've spent 5 years sleeping on the sofa and getting 3 hours a night because the "vibe" of my bed isn't right and makes me itchy. My parents suspected it for over a decade before they told me to get tested at 29.
Misophonia, I was convinced I was just annoying by feeling bouts of stress and almost pain from certain noises. Turns out : Autism.
When I was in high school I would randomly get obsessively focused on brushing my teeth, especially at the gums of my front bottom teeth. It would randomly just ‘click’ and all I could think of was the almost feel-good pain you feel when you brush your gums with a tooth brush. I couldn’t stop thinking about it till I physically brush my teeth, to the point of bleeding, then rinsed with mouth wash that contains alcohol. The pain from the alcohol is what finally got me to stop hyper-fixating. I always thought it had to do with me not taking care of my teeth that well normally that I would need to over compensate when I remembered.
For years the feeling went away till I was younger in my career. One day that ‘click’ happened and for almost a week, it would take everything out of me to not brush my gums all day. At the end of it I had a panic attack.
I suffer from high anxiety, which has caused a couple panic attacks since high school, and even adrenal failure. The hyper-fixation is just a warning sign. Now anytime I get the feeling of “pulling my teeth out” I know I have a serious issue I need to address concerning my anxiety.
I just wanted to lay around, turns out I had depression and I was low in iron.
My whole life, I have dealt with becoming “obsessive” over new things - like when I hear a new song I like, I will listen to it hundreds of times on repeat and not get tired of it. New hobby? It consumes my being.
I have also had a running “daydream story” since about middle school. It’s an ongoing story with characters I made up (and a self insert of course), and I used to listen to music and imagine fight scenes and things like that.
It turns out, both of those things are symptoms of ADHD, especially in women. I never got tested as a kid because my mom believed that “none of her kids have a mental illness.” 🤷🏻♀️
Craving milk. Apparently it's an oddly common thing for folks with bipolar.
Not understanding social cues. I could pick up on some, but it’s hard for me when someone is being sarcastic with a straight face because to me, they’re being serious about it. That and I usually rehearsed what I would like to say before making any calls.
Apparently those, coupled with other stuff like my mental train is absolutely chaotic are actually ADD symptoms that was overlooked because I could get by ok in most settings. It’s a relief knowing that it’s not ‘just me’.
I didn’t like playing outside as a kid. Turns out… ALLERGIES.
I was sensitive to light and often the way the glare of the light bending was very odd, this was going on for years and every time I went to my exam the doctor said it was astigmatism and I just need to keep wearing glasses pretty much all the time. Last year I decided to go to a different doctor and turns out it wasn’t that, she said I have a rare eye condition called Keratoconus that causes the cornea of your eye to bend like a cone and over time as it gets worse can cause blindness. There is a procedure called Cross-linking that helps prevent the condition from getting worse and at times can even slightly fix the condition. I’m still recovering as it can take up to a year for it to fully “heal”.
Crying over not being able to understand most math no matter how simply it was explained to me -> dyscalculia
Growing pains, twisting my ankles and spraining my wrists often, legs giving out etc -> EDs
Bullied but unaware that I was being bullied half the time basically just struggling a lot socially, being labeled and “old soul” and “mature for my age” because I only knew how to talk to adults -> autism
I was not being lazy on childhood walking tours and hiking trips; I had flat feet and was in pain, therefore needing more frequent breaks. (Diagnosed age 11 or so.)
My daily back aches and the several- week period where I couldn't move my legs properly weren't growing pains; I had a herniated disk in my lumbar spine that was compressing a nerve root. (Diagnosed at age 19, but the nerve damage is permanent.)
I was not bursting into tears every time something unexpected happened because I "wanted my own way all the time"; I have generalized anxiety disorder. (Diagnosed at age 20.)
I wasn't unable to tolerate a Pap smear because "virgins always find this uncomfortable, it goes away once you've had a man's penis inside you." The aforementioned nerve damage had affected my pudendal nerve, too, causing a condition known as vulvodynia.
It may not surprise you to hear that I've needed 2 years of trauma therapy specifically surrounding medical trauma and fears of not being believed.
I didn’t crawl as a baby. Ever. I never learned how to crawl. At around 8 months old I could speak sentences while most other kids hadn’t said their first real word. I had a “strange stare”, (not my words) whatever that means.
I was a very shy and lonesome kid with difficulty making friends. I was constantly dehydrated to some degree because I would often forget to drink. I had a strong resistance to cold temperatures. I just straight up refused to speak to anyone I didn’t like, even if they were talking to me. I was picky with eating. My parents didn’t think anything of it as I was academically talented and pretty smart for my age. Classmates treated me like disease even though I hadn’t done anything.
At about 14 I was finally diagnosed with autism.
People were often shocked I could drink a liter of coffee and sleep right after. I just thought it was a cool little trait. But I really just have ADHD, people are still surprised a lot but now I got an explanation.
I’m never scared. I have only one memory of ever being scared in my life before I started therapy in my early 40s. Other people have commented on how I don’t have any fear, and I’ve objectively noticed that in some situations I’ve been in that I should be scared but I wasn’t at all.
Turns out it’s because I have a dissociative disorder as a result of childhood abuse and my fear is walled off in a handful of alters. The threshold for one of those alters to take over for me is a pretty extreme level of fear so when that happened I either didn’t remember when that alter was out or I just didn’t feel the fear because I had no access to it. Brains are fascinating.
I’d have to say words over and over again because they “didn’t feel right coming out of my mouth” I would repeat a word out loud or under my breath until it “felt right.” I still rewrite notes many times because my handwriting was “not correct.” I skin pick so bad I’ll be bleeding and in pain but can’t stop because it’s not “smooth” yet, my fingers are always torn to shreds. I physically gag when articles of my clothing especially socks touch my skin and it doesn’t feel right. I’d check to make sure my alarm was on so many times I would go to sleep much later than I planned. I also count damn near everything. My family wasn’t believers in mental health.. at all. I went a long time thinking my actions and thoughts were normal.
I was diagnosed with extreme OCD in my teens and I am now heavily medicated for it. I still have obsessions and compulsions but not as bad. I’m able to live somewhat of a normal life now. I still have episodes where it consumes me.
I was 4..constantly sucking in my stomach..doctor told Dad it was just a bad habit..this was the 1970s. Numerous tics/ obsessions and compulsions later..years later...turns out I have OCD.
Turns out that, no, it's not normal or quirky to have "visions" about being an angel and thinking that you were an angel in a past life and I do, in fact, have psychosis. It's also not normal to be afraid of mirrors and your own reflection because you think it's going to kill you! That's not anxiety, babes, that's psychosis!
It's also not normal to have horribly violent intrusive thoughts whenever someone smacks their lips or eats too loudly around you. That's misophonia. I thought everyone found it that annoying.
When I was younger I used to make a lot of sounds and stick my tongue out, and just randomly spit. Mum thought I was being a knob, got told I had tourrette's syndrome. Mad to think sometimes that I have it.
This one is recent sooooo.... I thought my head shape was normal until someone just casually mentioned that I struggle finding hats not because my head is big but because it's oddly shaped, kinda flatter than a normal person apparently, at the back. Then brought up that they bet it was related to the severe neglect I had in infancy (was left alone in the crib for days at a time. Parents used to say I was such a 'good baby' because I had just learned to not bother crying). That took a bit to decide how to feel about.
I always had "weird knees" which I found out was Osgood-Schlatter disease. It's not too much of a problem, I just have very sensitive knees.
I ate a lot of ice cubes for a year. It was intrusive, and I had a cup full of ice cubes at all times. It felt like an addiction. And then I got a blood transfusion (about 2 pints needed) because I was severely anemic. I'm also Type 0 positive, with a host of autoimmune issues. I waited for hours in the hospital until they found blood they could give me.
Turns out I was anemic because of andenomyosis, my uterus was 3x the normal size, and one of the worst cases they've seen. So I also got a hysterectomy.
I haven't chewed ice cubes since.
Being unable to bite down on a piece of onion because the crunch bothers me unless it's cooked to the consistancy of mush, taking jokes a bit too literally, not understanding why a former friend never just told me her issues with me, being able to info dump about niche topics for an hour or more, insisting on sticking to my routine way of doing things even if they arent the most logical or efficient, isn't just a combo of ADHD and anxiety and depression.
It's also autism.
For someone who's suspected my dad is autistic as well, I was in denial of having AuADHD for a long a*s time.
My whole life I thought I was just bad at exercise despite being a pretty thin person. I threw up almost every time I tried any sort of cardio.
Had a free personal training session and they
saw my “episode” (feel sick/lightheaded, throw up, sit/lay down, recover) and told me to go get checked out.
Turns out I have autonomic dysfunction triggered by exercise and my blood pressure plummets dangerously low during.
One day I had intense pain in my right wrist, nothing else. Turned out to be a heart attack which destroyed my mitral valve.
I’d get weird sensations with some odd visuals as well, but nothing super disruptive and my doctor at the time wasn’t worried, and testing would have been really expensive and unpleasant. Turns out I’ve been having seizures for 5-6 years that have now gotten worse, and I need to figure out why ASAP. Don’t ignore neurological symptoms or let someone, including doctors, tell you they don’t matter.
I noticed a blind spot in my left eye and originally thought it was related to driving toward the sun, kind of like when you look at a light bulb and a black negative image remains when you look away. It turns out I broke a blood vessel in the back of my eye due to job stress.
Cravings to eat chalk, stone and dried mud for years. Turns out I was severely iron deficient.
No urges for them now 🤢
My ability to exercise was suffering. Even a couple of warm up sets would make me so queasy I'd feel like I could puke. I thought it was poor sleep and diet.
My urine was a little dark. I thought I wasn't drinking enough water.
I'd wake up covered in sweat. Like, soaked to the point that it looked like I took a shower in my pyjamas and crawled back into bed. I thought I was just hot.
Eventually I briefly passed out while walking around at a Dave and Busters with my girlfriend. An ambulance was called. They didn't see anything wrong but offered to take my to the hospital which I declined.
My girlfriend *demanded* I make a Dr appointment the next day. If not she threatened to call my mom and get her to berate me too. So to make her happy I made an appointment. Dr didn't see anything out of the ordinary but ran some blood tests to be sure. The next morning, I was at work and the Dr called to tell me my RBC count was reading "3", which he assumed must have been a mistake because I shouldn't even be capable or walking with it testing that low but I should go the the ER to be sure. I told my boss what was up and he gave me the go ahead to leave and I drove myself to the ER. Told triage the result of the test, and they too said it sounded like the test was faulty and they ran their own. The test was right, and everyone was shocked that a person could be so anemic while still able to stand upright.
My spleen was "cleaning" my blood of my red blood cells as it apparently thought they were faulty. It was also over 3 lbs in size (a normal spleen is roughly a quarter lb). The sweating and dark urine was caused by my kidneys failing due to the extreme anemia. My inability to exercise was due to there not being enough red blood cells to carry oxygen through my body under the increased load. The doctors I saw in the hospital told me that had I continued to ignore the symptoms I'd have likely died of a heart attack within a week or so.
I would say the aches and pains I've had since I was a kid. When you're a woman, you're always told you have to deal with pains since it's a part of life.
After an episode of Uveitis last year, that sped to a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis.
I don't like being told to do. I understand that most people don't but mine is extreme. Mine is so extreme that if I try to boss myself around I have to rebel against myself and not do it.
Turns out I have Pathological Demand Avoidance. This stems from my ADHD but every task is an insurmountable chore because I feel such pressure to do it. Forcing myself to shower is the worst part of my day.
That grinding a barely passing grade in college, fueled by s**t tons of coffee and cigarettes to stay alert (almost between every damn lecture), wasn't just me being fundamentally lazy and unmotivated, despite loving my degree.
It was full blown ADHD. Caffeine and nicotine were the pseudo-stimulants I unknowingly "self-medicated" with, until I was diagnosed with ADHD and given proper stimulant medication.
Since getting on medication, I barely drink coffee nor smoke cigarettes anymore. Cravings are rare, and even in the event of a smoke relapse, the sensation of smoking a cig doesn't quite "fulfill a void" like it used to, nor does it make me want to go buy a pack and start again for good.
Feeling like I don’t have a body. Turns out I have Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder due to maladaptive coping from SEVERE childhood trauma.
As a kid my hands would hurt like needles stabbing me when I wrote and in gym class my feet would feel like I was walking directly on bone. Nobody believed me. I did in school suspension for refusing to participate, even Saturday school for all the missing class work cause my hands would hurt so bad. Everyone thought it was just an excuse. Took a neurologist, rheumatologist and my primary care doctor to finally diagnose me with a rare autoimmune disease called Mitchell’s disease. It’s extremely painful. I never got the apologies from the school faculty but my mom finally understood why when she woke me up for school I would cry that my hands and feet hurt.
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