“Could Be Chipotle. Could Be Cancer”: 30 Medics Share Seemingly Harmless Signs That Shouldn’t Be Overlooked

*cries in IBS*

Months???

😂 I remember one Thanksgiving I went to the ER because I was seeing blood when I.. well, you know. It wasn't until after the doc had performed an...exam, and said it wasn't blood and asked if I had been eating anything red that I remembered the bright red velvet cake I'd been eating bites of all day. I just closed my eyes and hung my head in shame. Meanwhile he couldn't stop laughing.

have had a cough now for over 5 months

How likely is it for a chronic stuffed nose to be cancer

I met a nurse the other day who told me her heart attack story. One day, in the middle of her shift, her lower jaw started hurting. She thought, "That's funny. All of my teeth couldn't have gotten infected at once." She told a coworker and they said, "You need to go down the hall and talk to Dr. So-and-so right now." Her "widow-maker" artery was 80% occluded.

Another one is weird pain in the armpit or back. Mum went to the doctor thinking something was wrong with the lymph node under the left arm and ended up having a double bypass.

I'd say "jaw ache", but a sudden toothache in a spec ific tooth is a good reason to see a dentist pronto.

Well I'm in trouble. I get weird migraines that give me random tooth aches an pain in my neck and jaw any time the air pressure changes too much too quickly...

Yes, even in toes.

And take a detector on holiday too, how many times have you read about people dying in their holiday homes or rentals?

In this kind of situation, I'm more worried about my pets. :(

My parents have log burners and my dad learnt how to sweep them as they found finding a chimney sweep to do it was getting harder and harder and so it saves them money now he has the equipment and ensures their chimney is clear. They also have carbon monoxide alarms in all the rooms where they have log burners. I have no gas in my house (too rural) but have a gas fire on wheels with portable gas so attached a carbon monoxide reader to the side. Cost me like £10 and my friend called me 'old' for buying one and "worrying so much" sorry I value my (and my cats) lives more than you! Also if you're going away on holiday where they have fires, take on in your case. Legally they probably should have one, but two working alarms are better than no working alarms and a leak. You read of so many people dying in tents (don't cook in your tent!) or holiday homes from gas

For other countries, 999 is like the UK/Oceania version of 911 or other universal emergency hotlines.

Soon as I realised the house didn't have a Carbon Monoxide detector, I went and got one. Might only have a gas furnace in the house and no other gas appliances, but even that is enough of a risk. I've been in a house with a gas leak before, and that is really terrifying, I'm not risking a CO leak.

Funny enough, if you cough up blood you will have to wait in the ER, be told by multiple doctors “oh it is never from the lungs, it is always from the esophagus and then gets into the lungs” and then go through the scoping of the esophagus finding nothing, and by the time they scope your lungs it is “huh, yeah we found some clotting so it was from your lungs, but apparently it healed so we have no idea why”. The advice is - 1) when it is from your lungs you will know because you will have a sudden and urgent need to cough and you will expectorate a goodly amount and 2) be your own advocate and demand the right tests when you KNOW the doc is wrong.

Went to the ER 3 times over a timespan of 6months. Always had IBS but this was new. They couldn't find where the blood came from and it was a lot every time. Always spent a few days in the hospital and was sent home with '' spontaneous self healing ''. It didn't happen again after that. Still suffer from IBS and it turned out to be the first sign of fibromyalgia which was diagnosed years later after my body crashed completely..

Oddly, I don't see this often as a medical doctor. If you cough up blood, also call 911. Could be gastrointestinal, could be respiratory, could be an unknown cyst in your sinuses ruptured (weirdly, that happened to someone I know)... Sudden blood bad. Worry about pride later.

Had a cardiac ablation at 24 for SVT. Femoral artery access. Woke.from surgery with a banging headache (prob from the Heparin). Was sent home. Vomited 2 hours later and felt an instant "give" in my groin despite bracing v as requested. Immediate saddlebag on the leg from the bleeding, blood seeping out through the pores of the skin. Travelled by ambulance back into hospital (40 min) only to be discharged again. Next morning, the surgeon called and he was furious, requesting that we come back immediately. Turned out ok in the end but it literally took 6 months for the haematoma to dissolve completely.

BoredPanda, you didn't censor "shat", you dumb a*****e.

Fantastic job OP for persisting and taking her to the hospital!

Hubby had one October 7, 2022. Family in kitchen prepping dinner & my mom noticed a slight droop in his face, I saw he couldn't use R arm. Happened fast. Got him to hospital in time (less than 45 minutes) for him to get the stroke treatment that stops damage (2 hour window). Life flighted to get surgery to remove clot. Came home 4 days later (average is 7-10 depending on severity). Only needed speech therapy. He initially fought going to the hospital, but glad dad forced him to!

F.A.S.T. - face, arm, speech, time to call for help. Face, ask them to smile at you, look for difference between sides. Arm, have them close their eyes and put their arms out to side, look for one lower than the other. Speech will likely sound different in either sound of voice or rhythm or content of what they're saying. If any of these are present or especially all 3 it's sign of a stroke. With stroke minutes count, time lost is brain lost, don't wait.

Here is what I learned last month. No one, NO ONE, over the age of 65 should take Benadryl or any medication that has PM on the end of it (Tylenol PM, etc). I thought my mother was having a stroke. Had a stroke? She didn't understand the concept of pants. It was like she had instant dementia. She used to pop benadryl like tic-tacs to help her sleep. Doctor told me later that he sees it all the time. Had a patient of his that was on her way to hospice before the family told him about the benadryl she always took. People self medicate and don't think to tell the doctor about all of the over the counter meds they take. PLEASE make sure the seniors in your life are not taking anything like Benadryl or Tylenol PM. Unless their doctor says its okay.

Good looking out! Favorite grandchild identified, will amended

And if it is "normal" for you to bleed this heavily, at least go to your GP and check your iron levels.

To be told "have you considered you might be making it up?"

Ya, been there, done that. Suddenly my period lasted two weeks, the next one 3 weeks. Went to the gyn right away. Got an ultrasound, and then she told me that it's because I'm overweight. I've been overweight my whole life, and never had that problem. She was very rude too, so I never went back to her. In the next two years I've been to 3 other gynecologists and 2 hospitals. Got more internal ultrasounds than I needed, but never a diagnosis, and my period got worse and worse, the longest lasted for 10 weeks straight, and once I had one so heavy that I lost 3 liters of blood within 6 weeks. Still don't know what's wrong with me, but at least it's down to almost normal blood loss.

Also, girls if you are having extreme cramping, you're in a lot of excruciating pain during your menstruation, if it's effecting effecting your day to day life, have to call in sick for work every month? That's not normal! Please look up the symptoms of endometriosis and adenomyosis. I was 15 when it started, seen more Gp's I've could've wished for. It took me roughly 20 years to get someone to listen to me. My first surgery took 8 hours to remove all the endometriosis tissue and 20cm colon. And am not done yet. The damage that it done on my body wouldn't have been this big if someone would have listen sooner.

Nurse told me to quit being a baby about heavy periods….. doctor found tumors! Trust your self… pursue answers!

This is sound advice, but if you're in the USA, I can imagine people thinking twice about going to the hospital, what with their health care system, or should I say, lack of health care system?