3 days ago
Doctors And Patients Are Sharing The 'Mild' Symptoms That Actually Could Be A Sign Of Something Very, Very Major
Recently, I saw a post on the popular Ask Reddit page from user BenneIdli asking, "Doctors and former patients: what is a mild symptom that you should take a second opinion on just to rule out something major?" While this isn't medical advice, I definitely think it's worth it to be aware of any potential mild symptoms that can morph into something far more dramatic; so, I decided to share. Here are some of the most useful and interesting answers:
hands and feet. My mum had a tumour in her pancreas, and this was the symptom her GP (a fantastic GP) took as a sign to get further testing. I don't think she would be here now if it weren't for him taking it seriously."
"The itchy hands and feet were caused by a buildup of bilirubin in her bile ducts, caused by the tumor in her pancreas. She ended up having a Whipple procedure done, and they found the cancer early, no further treatment, and it's been 11 years, full recovery."
—u/crankyT27
"Pancreatic cancer is the absolute worst. Glad they found it early and that your mom made a full recovery! 🫶"
—u/noracordelia
2."If you (or your mom) have already been through menopause but your period 'comes back' even just once, INSIST on testing. Post-menopausal uterine bleeding is uterine cancer until proven otherwise."
—u/WeAreNotNowThatWhich
"Yup. My mom had gone through menopause 10 years prior, when suddenly she started bleeding again. The assistant told her this wasn't anything to worry about and told her to wait.
A month later, she finally got an appointment and was immediately sent to the hospital. Full-blown ovarian cancer. Her uterus was basically filled to the brim with cancer.
We got so lucky. It hadn't spread, and they were able to take out everything without any repercussions (besides a horrible-looking scar).
Fuck that assistant."
—u/Blackneomil
Related:
3."My father recently died of acute myeloid leukemia. Keep in mind, he vehemently refused checkups or doctors' visits for any reason. Seemingly innocuous symptoms clustered together can be a sign of a much bigger issue, as I have learned. From my memory, he slept way too much (fatigue)."
"He had frequent colds that he kept taking over-the-counter medicine for. He had weakness that we didn't catch. Close to the end, he had stomach issues for many days (I discovered this by chance). The sudden, alarming weight loss was the last straw. I forced him to the hospital and he was dead in less than a week. Separately, all those issues are usually nothing serious, but in this instance, they were a huge warning sign that he chose to ignore.
—u/Here_for_tea85
4."Sudden weight loss."
—u/lazuli_s
5."Doctors told my mom she 'just had arthritis' when she kept complaining of back pain. She had a large tumour on her spine and died less than two months from it finally being found. Always get multiple opinions."
—u/LibbyBaby2000
6."My OB/GYN once noted that my thyroid seemed a little big, but shrugged it off once my blood tests came back normal. It was cancer."
Pop TV / CBC Television
"That was discovered later on. Thankfully, it was a slow-growing and easily treatable type, but still a case for following up on anything that seems even slightly odd."
—u/MadamNerd
7."Being more tired than usual. People tend to think they're just getting older, maybe overworked, maybe stressed, etc., but it could be an easily fixed thing like a vitamin deficiency, or it could be something serious but treatable like hypothyroid, or any number of things that are urgent and need attention. Sleep apnea, heart disease, etc."
—u/NotMyNameActually
Related:
8."Increasingly heavy periods."
—u/TheYankunian
"Increasingly lighter periods, too."
—u/hummusy
9."Night pain in the hips or back (or really any bone, but those are big ones) and more specifically, pain that wakes you up at night, especially in kids. Nothing will get you an MRI faster in the pediatric ortho world."
—u/ohKilo13
10."Thought I had random heartburn that only showed up when I walked up stairs. No chest pain, just a tight belt feeling and a little jaw ache. I went to urgent care, and troponins were positive. It was a heart attack. If 'indigestion' shows up with exertion or comes with jaw or arm weirdness, get checked fast."
NBC
—u/Reasonable_Dance_469
11."A wart that just keeps coming back after treatment."
"Eventually they took a biopsy, and suddenly it went from 'oh, this is annoying' to 'I might die in three months' for my father. It was Merkle Cell Carcinoma and luckily only took part of a limb rather than his whole life."
—u/UncomfortablyHere
Related:
12."Bleeding after sex. Pain during sex. Ladies, make sure you have your smear tests. Please."
—u/GingerbreadMary
"Agree. Had those symptoms and ended up having stage 3 cervical cancer at 22 years old."
—u/Ambitious_Phrase3695
13."Blood in stool may indicate intestinal bleeding that can lead to death within hours."
—u/PassengerNo2022
14."When your 'just a headache' starts waking you up at night, get that checked."
—u/Suspicious_Level3366
"Pretty much any pain that is significant enough to wake you up from a sound sleep is something to get checked out, not just headaches."
—u/twistedscorp87
15."Sharp pain in sternum shortly after drinking even a small amount of alcohol."
"I thought it was just kinda weird, was dismissed by a GP twice as probably just a strain or injury, and finally a third GP sent me for an ultrasound, which suddenly turned into a battery of more serious out it was an obscure but known symptom of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Was stage 4 by that point, but chemo did its thing and here I am 16 years later."
—u/bazpoint
16."Pulsatile tinnitus — hearing a dull thudding or wooshing sound in your ear that matches your heartbeat. It's normal to have your heart pounding in your ears immediately after strenuous exertion, but if you can hear your heartbeat in one or both ears at rest, that is concerning."
"What you're hearing may be a bruit (pronounced 'bruey'), a sound caused by turbulent bloodflow. Something may be compressing one of your arteries, such as a swollen lymph node or a tumor. Or something has changed the shape of a blood vessel. Whatever the cause, it warrants immediate investigation.
I had a bulbus dissection of my left internal carotid artery, and pulsatile tinnitus was the only symptom."
—u/MrBarraclough
17."Tooth infection can lead to heart attack, who would have known?! (I'm not a doctor, but it happened to a friend and he nearly died.)"
—u/Cultural-Chart3023
Related:
18."Sudden loss of balance. It was my dad's only symptom of a stroke. Luckily, he recovered, but he needed a cardiac catheterization and was found to have heart failure as well."
—u/StrongArgument
19."Skin bump that bleeds. Yeah, skin cancer does that."
—u/que_he_hecho
finally: "Back pain. My dad kept going to his doctor about his back hurting, and was told to just take Robaxacet. He turned jaundiced, went to the emergency room, and stayed for three days getting out to be cancer. Less than six months later, he was dead."
—u/Quirky_March_626
If you made it to the end of this article, congratulations! I myself am sitting here horrified, but I'm glad I read these — it's so important to know the red flag symptoms to look out for.
If you have any thoughts, tell me about 'em in the comments — even better if you have a story of your own to share. Or, if you have a story to share but prefer to remain anonymous, you can check out this anonymous form!
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