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35 People Who Treated Their Bodies Like Disposable Experiments Share Their Regrets
Interview
Growing up, many people had an impression of invincibility. My hearing will never deteriorate, it’s fine to get by on five hours of sleep a night and a sedentary lifestyle will never get to me! Well, if it all works out for you, congratulations, but it’s generally better to learn from others' mistakes than your own regrets.
People online detail the things they now regret putting their bodies through at some point in life. So get comfortable as you scroll through, remember to stand at for around fifteen minutes once an hour, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Not what I did but what I didn't do. Take care of my teeth. I should have gotten orthodontic as soon as I started working. I am 65+ have crooked teeth and cavities and cannot afford dental because medicare does not cover it. Fixed income and old age sucks. TAKE CARE OF YOUR TEETH!
Brian Droste 6 months ago
As a youngster I didn't take care of my teeth as I got a little bit older I started to take care of my teeth and over time I got better at it. I have really great teeth and only need to brush and floss once a day.
RELATED:
#2
Didn't protect my hearing starting at dances in junior high. Now I live with the scream of tinnitus on a daily basis that I would do anything to get rid of.
Tim Douglass 6 months ago
I'm fully deaf in one ear. Our brains are weird. With no auditory input from that side it just decides it needs to make something up to fill the silence - viola'! - tinnitus. To make it more fun it gets louder if what I hear on the working ear gets louder. So if I'm in a crowd it really screams at me. I really, really, miss silence.
#3
Pushed through the pain. I thought intense pain was just part of intense exercise. Turns out, I had an undiagnosed connective tissue disease, and am now a wheelchair user at 50. Pain is your body telling you something, and that message should never be ignored.
Bored Panda got in touch with the netizen who posted the question and they were kind enough to share why. “I had an orthodontic procedure done that resulted in detriment to my overall health. In the process of having braces put on, the orthodontist suggested that I extract 4 premolars, and this is what caused a lot of my health problems now.”
“It is unfortunate because even if I am willing to pay a lot of money just to have my mouth returned to the way it was before, there is just no concrete process to reverse the damages that have been done and bring my body back to how it was before the procedure. Therefore, I posted the question to gauge whether or not there are others who have health problems or bad body procedures that not even giving one's entire lifesavings or a lot of money will be able to bring back their bodies to the optimum health of before.”
#4
Not loving it and enjoying it.
All I could think was “I’m too fat” “I’m too ugly”. “I’m not good enough”. Now I’m much much bigger, I was hit by a drunk driver so I’m also disabled and when I look back I can’t believe I thought that about my body at that time.
April Pickett 6 months ago
It doesn't matter what your weight was or is. Most women do that to themselves anyway.
#5
Having breast implants for 23 years caused the scar tissue that interfered with muscle function. Implants removed in 2019 and now 5 plus years later and thousands of dollars on physical therapy not covered by insurance I can actually put my own hair into a ponytail!! Anything you put in your body will create scar tissue! Don’t do it. Learn to love your body as is and find someone that loves the natural you. Today’s society has no idea the amount of long term pain and physical damage they are doing to themselves in the name of vanity!!
Mari 6 months ago (edited)
Indeed. Breast implants, b*m implants, fillers, botox are just doing harm for your body. Did you see the plastic surgeon ?(most of them aren't very handsome) Why don't they change their own face and body? Because they know: every operation is a risk, they don't wanna take risks for vanity. And they know that the effect is only temporary or harmfull for your health.
#6
In 2010 after years of fighting against depression , i tried to commit s*****e by self immolating myself.
Results?: While i didnt die (thankfully) i got burn injuries on 50% of my body and spent 4 months in hospital and underwent 14 skin transplants surgeries. Despite the painkillers the pain was so intense that i prayed god countless time, to let me die because i coundn't take it anymore. When i got released from hospital, i started my rehabilitation journey that just like my time in hospital was extremely painful and my depression got even worse after i saw what i had done to my body. 15 went by and while depression is something i will always have to live with, i regained confidence and i'm working hard to achieve my goals.
To all the people who are suffering and think to end it all: Please talk to someone. As long as you're still alive there is always hope.
Hippopotamuses 6 months ago (edited)
Oh. This is horrible. Frankly. I can't think of a worse way to sēlf-harm. Good on you for going through so much during this journey, and not giving up. I can only imagine how difficult this must have been
We were also curious to hear their thoughts on why the post was so popular. “I have not considered this. However, many people took their precious time to post their incidents for sharing. Therefore, readers can learn from others' experiences or converse with someone who has a similar predicament as them. Great team effort to share knowledge, joy, encouragement, and very real life situations with effects lasting an entire lifetime.”
#7
Not dive in the shallow end of the pool, and break my neck.
#8
When i was 21 I fell asleep while driving and flipped my jeep, I broke 3 vertebrae in my back and 2 in my neck. It's amazing I wasn't paralyzed. Dr said I would have significant back problems when I got to around 40. I'm 44 now, still working without any restrictions, but I have spent a lot of time in my life now stretching and exercising my back to prolong my working ability and quality of life. I put everything i can afford in my 401k, I would definitely give up my 401k to not be crippled later in life be it sooner or later.
Hippopotamuses 6 months ago
I don't know what 401k is, but good on you for looking after yourself.
#9
Wearing high heels (4+ inches) everyday for work in my 20s. Did a number on my knees in my 30s - they would hurt when I do activities I enjoyed like hiking.
Now in my 40s, the knee pain got better after switching to zero drop, minimal footwear, but would still hurt at times. I’m hoping it doesn’t get too bad when I get older….
Lastly, we wanted to know if they had any favorites from the responses. “I actually saw a comment from someone who had the exact same situation as me, and that person shared that they spent an obscene amount of money to try and reverse it, but it has not been achievable in returning the mouth to the way it was before.”
#10
I had a wart on my hand that was there for years and I could never get off the shelf medications to work.
So I got some strong vinegar and repeatedly applied it with a damp piece of cotton ball. Over time the skin in the area started to get really damaged but I kept going even though there were open sores/wounds on my hand because I wanted to nuke the wart too.
Turns out that all I did was create permanent scarring on my hand *surrounding the wart* but the wart was still there. Ended up going to a doctor to freeze it off which is what I should have done in the first place. I was raised in a household with parents that were deathly afraid of doctors and thought they should be avoided as much as possible.
Uncle Panda 6 months ago
The virus covers your entire hand. The part you see is just the semi-transient high point of the current population.
#11
When I was 9, I got water stuck in my ear from a beach trip. None of the usual tricks to get it out were working, so I plugged my nose and blew as hard as I could. I completely decimated my eardrum which has resulted in countless infections and hearing loss. Don’t do it!!
Hippopotamuses 6 months ago (edited)
Wow. I was actually taught that I had to do that when I'd been in the water, and when ascending and descending in a plane. It sounds like I dodged a bullet.
#12
Weight gain. So easy to put on so hard to get off.
Reemerger 6 months ago
Spent the better part of the last 25 years being overweight. Managed to lose +20 kilos in the last 1 1/2 years by shifting my meals to earlier in the day and consciously avoiding high-calorie foods and snacks. Could've done all that all those years but only recently mustered the discipline to actually see it through. Bad habits are persistent.
“Another example is when a health professional prescribed the wrong dosage of medicine to someone and after taking the medication there were horrible lifelong side effects. Each life situation shared is a gem, and I recommend each and every one when time allows for reading,” they shared.
#13
Get a procedure to fix my TMJ dysfunction. It's very rare, and now I'm an example in a medical journal. The botox they injected into my TMJ travelled in a nerve and paralysed/damaged my soft palate. I sounded like a speaking deaf person for 4 months, and I feel my speech regress when I'm sick. It's never gotten better. That was 5 years ago.
I still struggle with eating and drinking because my soft palate is damaged.
#14
Having had a double mastectomy/top surgery right after I turned 20. It’s almost 11 years later and I wish I hadn’t surgically altered my body. I regret it and I’m forever stuck this way now, I wish I had listened to my therapist about doing treatment for my multiple years worth of sexual abuse based PTSD, I was already a self harmer for years at this point and thought I knew what was best for myself with transitioning but I ran so hard with it must be gender dysphoria. … It didn’t fix my issues, I masked it with something new, my body dysphoria is still persistent as it’s been my whole life, I still take testosterone to this day but.. I just wish I could go back and help younger me that just wanted to feel safe and okay. I miss my old body and who I was.
#15
Drinking every day.
I started drinking every day because I could not deal with the stress from the pandemic. I tell myself that I really had no other outlet - cant smoke w**d due to asthma making me hack my lungs out whenever I breathe in anything other than air; did not want to try anything harder because they are illegal. I just wanted the pain of every day to go away.
4 years later I'm drinking at least a third of a handle of vodka every single night and barely feeling a buzz from it. I want to stop, I truly do. Its so hard. Alcohol is so much more addictive than people think. And going cold turkey can legitimately k**l you, which makes me want to try tapering off. Every day I think to myself "I'm only going to pour one shot an hour. That's all I'm allowed to drink." And every night I end up pouring myself more somehow.
If you want to drink alcohol, that's fine. Do it socially. Do it with friends. Don't do it alone, don't do it every day.
I don't even want to think of what my liver looks like right now.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 6 months ago
The tolerance buildup that almost always inevitably happens with add!ction is brutal. When I struggled with add!ction (coca!ne and barbiturates) I got to the point where I was taking higher and higher hits/doses just to feel a FRACTION of the high I'd felt with smaller amounts in the first few months of using. ODing becomes a serious possibility. I fortunately did not OD, but I literally put myself into debt buying coca!ne because of my add!ction. Luckily my cat snapped me out of it when I hit rock bottom, and I've been clean for almost 5 years. If you're struggling with add!ction, my fellow pandas, you've got this. Find your reason to be stronger than your need to use. <3
“Each person has hardship; no one is spared. Therefore, it is imperative for each person to be grateful for each day and each natural aspect of life and to not take anything for granted-- it sure makes living a whole lot easier and joyful with this mindset.”
#16
I insisted on a vaginal birth instead of a c-section when I was struggling to deliver my son. They ended up doing an episiotomy and using forceps after I pushed for 8 hours. Ended up with a 4th degree tear, muscle atrophy, and lifelong damage that will get worse when I hit menopause.
I was so stubborn. I wish every day that I either didn't have an epidural or that I had a c-section.
Colleen Glim 6 months ago
The judgement around C-sections needs to stop! As long as the end result is a healthy baby, you should NOT feel like you missed out because your baby wasn’t born vaginally. And anybody who believes that a C-section makes you less of a mother can pound sand
#17
Tanning beds. WTF was I thinking? I just liked the warmth and solitude. It was my me time. I was so dumb and oblivious. I had never been in a sauna. That could’ve done the same for me without the melanoma and skin aging.
#18
Had Botox injections in Bangkok, in a clinic that was located in a shopping mall (MBK Center).
I have no idea what they injected me with. It gave me horrible allergy and constant 24/7 itching. At first, it was located only in the injection region. I literally had to press my fingernails there and slightly scratch, otherwise it drove me insane, as it never stopped.
And after a few weeks, these itching particles started to travel to other places in my body like 24/7 itchy stardust. So now it wasn't just my wrinkles above my nose that I felt the need to press my fingernails into, it was my full body.
Being completely allergy free for the first 35 years of my life turned into MCAS in less than a week and taking 3-4 antihistamins daily. I take them ever since, otherwise the itching in my body becomes unbearable.
All it took was one injection session. Aaanndd... everything completely wrecked. And it wasn't even doing anything to my muscle nerves, so it's a mystery what they actually injected. I have a photo with "the doctor" but cannot add it here.
Forrest Grump 6 months ago (edited)
As Murray Head would say, "One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble. Not much between despair and ecståsy. One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble. Can't be too careful with your company."
#19
Let a man with zero emotional intelligence have access to it.
#21
Telling my 14 year old self that they were perfect and to not let our mother convince us to have plastic surgery.
I grieve what my nose would’ve looked like every day. I look at pictures of little me and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with my nose except, as my mother put it, it being a “jewish nose” like my father’s.
The shape was a bit different, that’s all.
#22
Heavy d**g use between ages 14-21, really set my developing self up for some problems I'm currently dealing with still today at 28. Clean since 21, bar a little bit of devil's lettuce here and there.
D***s really f**k you up, especially when you use them to cope with trauma from a*****e family members and the like. At least in my experience..
#23
Started vaping. I had never struggled with addictions before, and I liked the social/sharing aspect. 4 years later, I have issues with circulation to my fingers and toes, a constant dry and itchy nasal system, and random shooting lung pain. I quit cold turkey 13 days ago after the lung pain got really bad and scared me, but I can't believe that despite that I am still craving it whenever something goes slightly wrong or I have a drink with friends. I hear it gets easier though.
Hippopotamuses 6 months ago (edited)
Vaping rapidly took over from smoking where I live. No real restrictions, but some anti-tobacco groups seemed to think it was the panacea for all NZ's smoking ills, and so did the, then, government. Well that backfired spectacularly. Now we have school kids who would never have smoked, vaping. Because it's cool!
#24
Eating myself into obesity following a breakup. I was 75kg prior ate myself into 130kg. Now sitting at 110kg. I'm ok in life but with working odd hours I don't commit to a healthy lifestyle and it just didn't need to be this way.
Hippopotamuses 6 months ago (edited)
I've been out of action because of a broken leg for almost a year.. with complications. After going from 100kg to 127kg, I can understand how people get locked into an obesity cycle. I want to exercise through walking, but my knees hurt a lot when I do. I have to really force myself to walk for exercise. I never expected this situation to affect me because I exercised regularly up until my late 50s! I'm now 63. It doesn't take a lot to upset your life's equilibrium.
#25
Got surgery to improve my vision, but developed a post-surgical infection and ultimately lost my vision in the eye I was trying to fix.
Huddo's sister 6 months ago
I'm so glad my eye surgery (to stop brain fluid leaking in) didn't do damage, since I was 6 and they had never done laser surgery on a child before. Thankfully the only issue was the laser was too weak and it had to be repeated. It worked well for the capability at the time, closed the hole and encapsulated the fluid. All was good until about 15 years later, when it started impacting my vision and I had another surgery which actually drained the fluid as well as closing it with a laser. Reading the consent forms, there was a lot that could go long, but in my case I really needed it to stop my sight deteriorating further, not just to make vision better.
#26
“Powder brows,” which are just face tattoos that they lie and say are semi permanent. They turned black/gray after a few days (never faded at all) and I’m pale and blonde. Waited years to remove them because I was too scared to ruin my face even more. Just had my fifth laser removal session. They are orange now because removal takes forever and the ink slowly fades from black to red to orange to yellow. Then, you may not be able to get rid of yellow. Powder brows are such a scam. Also, I wish I didn’t get my other two tattoos.
Uncle Panda 6 months ago
I know a woman who got permanent eyeliner tattoos. It looks nice when she wears makeup but if she isn't, she looks surprised all the time. She mentioned some regret.
#27
TLDR; ALWAYS DO YOUR ANNUAL EXAMS
dark humor tldr; my a*****e husband who tried to k**l me leading to our divorce actually played the homicide long game with me by cheating on me while I was pregnant, giving me HPV from it, and me getting cervical cancer from it.
I had a nodule on my cervix after I had my last child. I did not find it until after my ex husband and I became intimate again when it was safe after birth. I went to the gyno. I was 24. I told her I felt the bump, it wasn’t there before I gave birth and not after birth that I knew of either. I told her my husband was certain that “it must be something related to giving birth…” like it wasn’t our third kid 🙄 and…my stupid a*s didn’t really believe him, which is why I went to the gyno to make sure. She made me feel gross about noticing the nodule “how did you even feel your cervix? What do you mean? How do you know??” And she basically forced me into admitting that my husband and I were doing a bit of mutual side by side fun when I felt it. She humiliated me. She said I’d already had my pap for the year, and if I *really* wanted to have another one I “could, but you’ll have to pay for it out of pocket.” She made me feel humiliated, and said it was basically no issue, and blew me off and made me feel disgusting. It made me afraid to go to the gynecologist again, and *my ex convinced me that there was no reason to continue my annual check ups because “there was nothing wrong, and we we’re monogamous, so nothing would ever come of it*”
Welp. In the fallout of my a*****e divorce, it was found out that he had cheated on me. I got tested to make sure he didn’t give anything to me, but I NEVER GOT A PAP OR INTERNAL EXAM because he had s****************d me, and I was traumatized as f**k.
After years of therapy, I finally got up the courage to go in for a proper annual; internal exam, pap, and all. It came back with abnormal cells. This was 9 years after I found that nodule. NINE! I had to go for a biopsy. As I walk in, the NP says “don’t worry, it’s only deadly if we don’t catch it fast. Like if you’ve had it for 10 years.” I say “…it’s been 9…” and we were all just kinda somber after that.
Biopsy came back bad. Had to go to a special oncologist. He wanted to do another internal, and sees the nodule, which is not where the biopsy was taken from. He asks about it, and I tell him the above story. He says “eh, it’s probably benign, but we’ll take it for testing just in case.” When it came back, it was “the worst affected area…it’s had to have been there for years.” That nodule is what made me need to have a conical biopsy, so I could never effectively carry kids again if I wanted. It also caused me to need a hysterectomy, which makes the prior point moot anyway. I had a weird autoimmune reaction to having the biopsies that caused my ovary to swell to the size of a baseball. I was on bedrest for months to not get tortion from the ovary. I was in and out of the ER throughout to be ruled out for emergency surgery for the d**n ovary multiple times. I spent months thinking I was going to die at any wrong turn, literally. Like, if I turned wrong, I could twist it and die. !Oh, totally forgot to add, they thought with the timeframe that the cancer may have moved to my ovary, especially because of the crazy ovary symptoms I was having, taking my potential survival chances after surgery and radiation down to 15%. So, that was fun.
I then had the hysterectomy. Finally. I got home after hospital recovery…and bled out. I literally almost died. I bled half my blood volume into my abdomen.
All in all this entire debacle lasted from a February to the actual hysterectomy in June, to not being released from hospital until early July, to being bedridden during recovery from the blood collection and a follow up infection there til late August. I also had to keep following up with hematology because I kept bleeding like crazy without anyone really understanding why. I wasn’t “normal” and able to move normally again until October-ish. If I recall correctly, walking around for Halloween with my youngest was still a bit of an issue.
If I had just stuck to my gut when I first felt that bump. If I had just insisted I needed that pap and paid out of pocket. If I had just listened to my gut and gone back for my annuals. If I had just sucked it up after the r**e and gone in for a proper f*****g r**e exam. If I had just gone to ANY annual after that. If I had known that STD panels DONT COVER HPV; you need a g*****n pap for that. If I had just known, or been braver, or angrier, or f*****g anything it all could have been avoided. If I could have hated him the way he hated me. If if if if if.
I spent months with doctors telling me I could die at any moment and my issue was “urgent…but not *emergent* until you are actively dying, so we can’t do the surgery yet.” All while on bedrest. All while getting more biopsies and s**t thrown at me. All as an *only* parent to three, not single parent. My mom had to move in with me temporarily to help me with the kids because I literally wasn’t allowed to do anything but walk to and from the bathroom. It scared *the s**t* out of my kids. It scared the s**t out of me. It scared the s**t out of my moms and my dads. And it all could have been avoided if I just did my d**n annual gyn exams and got my paps.
Hippopotamuses 6 months ago (edited)
This is beyond tragic. No woman should have this happen to them. Unfortunately BP censorship is set to minimise this content. I have no idea what the long word in the 3rd paragraph is. It appears to be significant. Please BP, these are people's stories. Stories of triumph over terrible odds. Don't diminish them by censoring words which are far less offensive than the actual event. It's disrespectful and diminishes the impact their stories. I hope that someone at BP actually reads some of these comments. If nothing else, to take the social temperature of BP followers. I realise that you are Lithuanian speakers, but your staff clearly are fluent in English. Don't leave this to a bot. I believe you are better than that!
#28
LASIK. My vision reverted and I can’t wear contacts now due to extreme dry eye.
#29
When I was younger I was climbing walls on a castle and lost my footing, so I jumped down 25ft and smashed my heels. I had recently been approached to join a football teams academy so my life would possibly be way different if that never happened.
Edit: I was 15yrs old at the time. Myself and a group of friends had walked a couple of miles outside the village to this castle because at the time, there wasn't really much to do for people our ages. I spent two weeks in hospital after the accident. My bedroom got moved downstairs because I was in a wheelchair for 6 months afterwards and crutches for about 5 months. It now hurts a lot being on my feet so I need to try and get regular breaks and sit down or I start limping. I am now 36, there's a high chance that I will be needing a cane to walk in the next couple of years. I do play football now and then but nowhere near the ability I had and the impact on my feet means I do limp for a couple of days after.
Edit 2: I want to say thanks for the upvotes, this is my most upvoted comment ever.
Lil be lil 6 months ago
As kids we did as A dare jumping from the highest level of the stadium seats. I did it at least 3 times at 11 or 12, maybe my older brother hurt himself because the dares stopped. I think it was 10 feet or so. I had arthroscopy on one hip and I feel like I'm getting arthritis in the other. I am over 70.
#30
Yeah putting on weight. Don’t do it guys, there’s irreversible damage, real self hatred sometimes and it restricts either what you can do or what you’ll allow yourself to do. You’ll hate pictures of yourself and despise when people want to do a group photo, you’ll talk yourself out of opportunities and it’s so hard to shift the weight. You’ll also never be able to be taken fully seriously at the doctors, the first thing they’ll do is to tell you to lose weight as if it’s a miracle cure to everything.
#31
Started picking at my skin. It started with the little bumps on my arm, developed over the years to my whole body. I learned years after I started that I actually have OCD. Eventually started pulling and plucking hairs too. Now I have full blown dermatillomania and trichotillomania about 10ish years after I started :( I don’t know how to stop, it’s a bad combo of the OCD compulsions and habit.
Big Chungus 6 months ago
I have a skin picking habit (thank you general anxiety and slight OCD) to help soothe my anxiety. I have gotten bad enough to cause sores and bleed everywhere. I hope this person finds some help soon
#32
I’d get my fake b***s taken out. i’ve only had them about 4 years and i hate them.
#33
Not getting fit when I was younger.
Charles McChristy 6 months ago
You can get fit at nearly any age. I'm doing it at almost 50, and I've been at it since I was 40.
#34
I’m covered in tattoos, which I started getting at 18 because I was a part of that scene. Now I’m a very humble, outdoorsy person that doesn’t care about being perceived as cool. I don’t regret them all but wish I wasn’t so heavily tattooed now.
Heather Menard 6 months ago
I'm 55 and started when I was 50 I didn't do it to be cool I did it for me. I don't regret any of them
#35
Joined the US Military. I do not recommend it unless you're prepared to destroy your back and knees (at minimum) and potentially deal with a lifetime of PTSD. The US military is so good at traumatizing people that they don't even have to deploy you to do it!
Ruth Watry 6 months ago
I have family who put in 20+ years and had great careers and are now living good lives. Brother and cousin in the Air Force and brother in the Navy.
#36
Untreated consecutive concussions. My memory is s**t now.
Also didn’t rehab a knee injury in my early 20s properly and now my back and hip are paying for it.
#37
Bulimia. ☹️
I didn’t ever think it was a good idea per se, but when I started in 7th grade I had no idea the absolute disaster it would do to my body. Thankfully I have always had good dental insurance bc I’ve needed it; most of my back teeth have essentially crumbled out of my mouth and are all crowns (plus one implant). I think I only have about 4 teeth left that are not crowns.
#38
Possibly cutting myself? I’m not like super bummed about the scars but they have limited me from pursuing some looks based careers the way I’ve wanted to.
#39
Getting an IUD. Insertion was traumatic, two years of hell followed before I finally got it removed. Gained over 50lbs, was pouring with sweat constantly and ruined my mental health. Within 3 months of getting it removed everything was back to normal (and the weight coming off rapidly gave me gallstones).
Huddo's sister 6 months ago
My sister got an IUD to help with her period, but it just made it worse. Weeks of bleeding with only a few days in between. She got it taken out a few months after. Now she is on the pill, but it's hard to know if the weight gain was the IUD, pill, antidepressants or lack of exercise due to fibromyalgia pain. She also gets constant sweating, but at least her period is under control.
#40
Not taking care of my teeth. And eating myself to 281 lbs, which, even though I'm now 150lbs, has left its evidence behind.
#41
Severe restriction/ anorexia. I'm in recovery now, but the wild swings of body weight and stress of being malnourished for extended periods has *f****d* my system, and the older I get the more things pop up that are commonly associated with eating disorder history. I would give anything to not have the side effects I will live with the rest of my life.
#42
Depo Provera shot. I can’t take most forms of estrogen birth control, and I have extremely long and heavy periods. I was 18 at the time, and my gyno mentioned the Mirena IUD would be a great option. I tried the IUD, but about a week later, my body rejected it. I was young and didn’t know that I am entitled to a second one per the manufacturer, and my gyno didn’t tell me I could try again. Instead, he offered the Depo Provera shot. He made it sound really enticing and failed to mentioned any side effects. I worked and went to school full time, so the idea of not having to worry about a pill sounded great. I said sure and he gave me a shot the same day. I was on my period when I received the shot.
Fast forward 3 months, and I’ve gained 40 lbs (40. Pounds.), and I’ve had my period for the entire duration. Because I was young, busy, and naive, I waited until the appointment to receive my second dose to mention the weight and period. The doctor said that they’re probably unrelated and gave me a second shot. I gained an additional 20 lbs, and I had my period for another 3 ish months. I cancelled my next appointment, and I just refused to go to a doctor for 3-4 years.
The weight gain crushed me. It was so fast and I already struggled with really low self esteem. I also developed a lot of stretch marks (which I’m fine with now), and my food cravings completely changed. It took a long time for me to stop wearing long sleeve t-shirts and sweaters year round. The physical and mental toll took a really long time to recover from.
#43
Allowed a violent a****r to determine my worth.
Though my mental state regarding my worth is excellent.... my body is paying a heavy price in my advanced years.
#44
Participating in a psychedelic clinical trial and getting a neurological disorder as a result. D***s aren't for everyone, folks.
#45
I sprinted down the stairs in my current house when I first moved in, while in socks. I ended up slipping and falling so hard I dented my butt.
I went to my doctor right after and she said it was irreversible without surgery. I legitimately separated the fat in my butt by falling so hard. It hurt terribly for weeks, took months to heal, and I’m constantly reminded by it when I look in the mirror. I know it’s superficial, but it bothers me a lot. I call it damaged goods lol.
#47
Listened to loud music on my Walkman in the late 70s. Enough to go through several pairs of headphones per player because I blew them out.
Now I use hearing protection when I cut my lawn.
#48
In 7th grade I repeatedly slammed my head into a steel locker door at school, trying to hurt myself. I have zero doubt that it did some damage to my brain. My life savings is only a four digit number, that's pretty cheap for neurosurgery.
Hippopotamuses 6 months ago
Seventh grade. I guessing that that's about 12 years old. Someone 'should' have noticed and intervened!
#49
Destroying my body. Climbing skydiving dirt bikes whitewater, pretty anything that had the potential for injury I was in! So 55 now. Heart attack at 42, broken 35 bones some multiple times. And now just in pain all the time.
#50
Skin picking.
I started at 9yo after a traumatic event, never stopped. My upper body is so scarred a doctor once asked me if I have neurofibromatosis. And the skin on my arms is basically numb by now.
#51
Nothing. As a former self harmer and ed sufferer, I wouldn’t change any of it. I still have physical leftover signs, but I’ve overcome a lot mentally. The scars serve as a reminder that things get better and people can grow and change. .
#52
WHAT...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Turned down the music when I was a kid. 48 years with tinnitus. I cannot remember what silence sounds like.
#53
Had aseptic meningitis but didn’t realize it and it gave me brain damage because I let it fester for like 6 weeks. Life ruined.
#54
I was/am lazy. Now I’m weak and my knees and feet hurt when I do anything.
#55
I should have just given in to a 2nd section, not tried to do a vbac after a c section. A doctor didn't warn against a vbac, but they were extra puhsy with a csection, which I had a hard time with the first time around (12 years between kids) and didn't want to deal with that awfulness. I opted for a trial of labor to encourage my body to go through the "natural" route to cause the least amount of stress, backed up by a midwife. Well, labor went slowly but smoothly until it didn't. I ended up vomiting all over the OR, passing out and almost dying from a ruptured uterus. My baby was born in my abdomen and unresponsive, and the uterus was so destroyed that it took 4.5 hours of surgery (5 if you count the csection portion), 2L of lost blood, and I lost my entire uterus (hysterectomy) due to the massive hemorrhaging from the rupture. My baby is healthy, but I deeply grieve the loss of my ability to have any more. I'm not even in my 30s.
#56
Not brush my teeth when I was 6.
#57
Tried to catch my grandmother who was falling and hurt my shoulder for life.
#58
45 years of terrible diet, no exercise and a decade plus of alcoholism, will lead to a lot of minor, chronic conditions as well as all the big stuff you're warned about.
I haven't been able to s**t clean for several years, think it's a partial/internal prolapse. Sometimes stuff manages to squeeze through but often I have to stick a finger up there to move the squished together parts of my r****m out of the way.
#59
TW for SH and ED- gets pretty graphic and I do mention calories at one point.
I cut myself for ten years. When I say 'I cut myself' people tend to think superficial/light wounds.
Obviously NO shame to those people- everything is serious, everything is important, and that is just as serious as people who go deeper.
However, my wounds were not superficial. I started at eleven, and they were at the time- by the time I hit fourteen I was escalating and was hitting the dermis layer. I was finally accepted into therapy (after being turned away at twelve for self harm), and was told I wasn't 'cuttting deep enough to be a concern'. (UK, NHS-funded services). They never brought it up again, so I just hid it better and continued.
By seventeen I was hitting 'subcutaneous fat'. Again, all cuts pose risk- all are infection risks, all are damage to your body. However the risk is substantially higher for infection at this level. Naturally, I didn't take care of my injuries. It was a daily thing- often it was the first thing I'd do when I woke up, last thing I did before bed. I'd carry razors to my s****y part time job (hotel cleaner) and would do it on my breaks. Between classes. I'd walk around with 200+ open wounds, most to fat depth, at any given time. All the time.
Most people will tell you the thing they regret is the scarring. Honestly? I don't give a f**k. My body has been this way for so long, I think I'd feel very strange without them. For a while after I quit, I think I'd have traded in for smooth skin, but nah.
What I WANT to change is the health issues I've developed because of it. Nerve damage is one. But the biggest issue was the fact I bled so much, so often, to the point in the end I quite literally didn't bleed unless I went pretty deep. My blood was a weird orange colour, I looked like I was dying. I couldn't stand without passing out, constant heart palpitations. I've been 'clean' a few years now, and I still have issues with it. My hair thinned to the point I was starting to bald a bit, and my final year self harming was combined with an eating disorder- I ate less than 500 calories daily, every day. So that just sped up the balding haha. It never ready grew back, and I'm hella self conscious about it now. I'm in constant pain and I can't help but think it's probably partly because I was wilding out like that back in the day.
I am clean now though, eating disorder is 'recovered'. I'm still 'crazy', but I am at least not engaging in those behaviours anymore. I don't believe people talk enough about the long-term health issues that come from s*******m. I don't think it's been overly studied, and I'm aware I was kind of stupid with it, but still.
#60
Not really something I wanted to do but when I was 13 I fell and hit my face on a bench. One of my front teeth broke off completely and had to get glued back. It fell out again 2 or 3 times after that and then had to get glued back again and again.
Right now I am still living somewhat paranoid about it falling out again. It’s been at least 10 years since the last time but I am still conscious about it and the stuff I eat.
I regret walking next to that bench.
JK 6 months ago
Same. Tripped up, yes up the stairs. A couple of decades later the crown couldn't be reattached any longer. So I ended up having it pulled and now I have what is called a "Maryland bridge" which connects my front tooth, a fake tooth and then to my third tooth. I guess it is my central incisor (front) fake is the lateral and it then connects to my canine. I had to look that up.
#61
Actually nothing (maybe a little less sun exposure or drinking).
That said, I was really beautiful in my 20’s, so I’d give my life savings to look like that again. And to appreciate that short amount of youth before it’s gone. When I was younger, I just thought I’d be pretty forever. But then your late 30’s hit (aging) and it’s a pretty big blow to your confidence. At least for me it has been. .
#62
Fractured my spine at age 20. Never worked full time again. My life savings would be a bargain to get my ability back.
#63
I got my eyebrows microbladed. Ten years ago they were telling us "it will fade in a couple of years since it's only in the outer layers of the skin". I don't know why I believed that. It's a face tattoo lol. Ten years later, my brow bone is orange and I have to cover it up with concealer. Maybe it will fully fade one day...
#64
Forgot to pop in earplugs on the motorcycle one f*****g time - didn’t really catch it until about an hour later and now I have tinnitus.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Charles McChristy 6 months ago
Yeah, no. That doesn't happen from one time riding without earplugs, unless you ride some obnoxiously loud POS. In that case, serves you right. No one should have to listen to your bike from half a mile away.
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BookFanatic 6 months ago
I wish I'd done more physically challenging and risky stuff when I was younger. I played it safe my entire life because I didn't want to rock the boat or stand out. Now I'm in my late 40s and it's hard to accept I've missed my wild phase.
mria alternativa 6 months ago
I'd say an answer was missing from the poll: cost and shame. Cost can be both in money and time, and most people don't like going to the doctor, even less for something even remotely embarrassing.
BookFanatic 6 months ago
I wish I'd done more physically challenging and risky stuff when I was younger. I played it safe my entire life because I didn't want to rock the boat or stand out. Now I'm in my late 40s and it's hard to accept I've missed my wild phase.
mria alternativa 6 months ago
I'd say an answer was missing from the poll: cost and shame. Cost can be both in money and time, and most people don't like going to the doctor, even less for something even remotely embarrassing.
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