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50 Things People Thought Were ‘Normal’ About Their Bodies Until They Realized They Weren’t
Human beings have a lot in common, from the need for meaningful relationships to the innate drive for creativity. Even our biology is similar. Or is it? Sure, our hair and eye color might differ, just like our height and build. But sometimes the differences go far deeper—and unnoticed for a very long time.
Redditor u/amistakewasmadehere turned to their fellow internet users with an intriguing question. They asked everyone about the things about their body that they thought were completely normal but turned out to be quite the opposite. We’ve collected the most interesting tales to share with you, Pandas. Scroll down to have a read.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I have bad ankles. I once asked my mom if bad ankles run in our family. She told me that nothing runs in our family. I asked her “because of the bad ankles?”
RELATED:
#2
I thought everyone had the same hearing I did. Then the pandemic hit and suddenly my hearing got worse. Turns out I needed hearing aids and the reason my hearing "got worse" was because I could no longer read people's lips due to the masks.
#3
The first year of menstruating I had intensely painful periods and severe constipation. The periods would last two weeks, with two weeks in between each one. Everyone told me things would calm down and even out. Then one night, at a friend’s sleepover, I was in so much pain that I was sobbing on the bathroom floor. My parents rushed me to the hospital. Everything I was describing, pain-wise, made it sound like I was in labour. But I was 14 and still very much a virgin.
After a week of tests and painkillers, they finally figured out the issue; I then had surgery to open up my second uterus and cervix, which had been sealed shut by a membrane. I had been having periods for a year and had built up like 2 liters worth old blood in my sealed second uterus. So once that was drained out and I was put on major antibiotics, I got to go home and tell all my friends that I had two uteruses.
I was also born with one kidney. Not sure if that’s related, but I sure am a mess down there lmao
Biological oddities occur due to random mutations. Some of them can be responses to a particular environment, increasing an individual’s chances of surviving and thriving there. Other abnormalities, however, offer no clear advantage over anyone else. However, a few can be quite a disadvantage if they cause pain or make the person constantly feel uncomfortable. There’s also the fact that others can ostracize you due to these differences to consider.
For instance, having 16 wisdom teeth instead of the standard set of 4 might make someone extremely uncomfortable due to growing pains. Meanwhile, the person’s peers might think that this is immensely weird and might even bully them. On the flip side, they find it super cool and take an even bigger liking to them. You can’t always control how people react to you and your body.
#4
That your brain never stopping is not normal. It’s actually a sign of hyperactivity.
The first time I took meds and I only thought of one thing at a time? Overwhelming.
That Goth Demon (zey/zem) 1 year ago (edited)
I get this but I'm not hyperactive, my mind just thinks alot edit: forgot to add that I probably have ADD
#5
Aphantasia or the absence of a mind’s eye. When I found out that people can picture stuff in their head I was amazed.
I was also 45.
#6
Since I was kid I was aware of the running commentary in my head. My mind is consistently thinking about one thing and then bouncing off to something else, "talking" over something that happened last week or running through an interaction I expect to have tomorrow. I will zone out mid-conversation and have even been in meetings where I miss chunks of things because my mind has gone off on what I need to do when I get home.
I asked some friends and family if they experience the same and they gave me a side eye. Apparently an inner voice narrating your day is not normal. I can't imagine what it is like to have a quiet mind when people say they can just sit there and have nothing going on inside.
Stephanie Did It 1 year ago
What OP describes in the last sentence would terrify me! I hear about people with no internal dialogue and it sounds like a waking coma.
However, what you can do is change how you react to how people treat you. A large part of thriving in society comes down to emotional resilience. It’s about loving yourself, knowing your worth, and loving yourself independently of whether the rest of the world adores or abhors you.
You ought to strive to accept the things about yourself that you cannot change and then focus on cultivating healthy habits. Not to sound too cheesy, but you have to be your biggest cheerleader and supporter. Far too often, we give into negative self-talk. This saps our confidence and leaves us doubting ourselves. The world’s far too big and diverse for us to be doubting ourselves just due to a handful of genetic quirks.
#7
The way that my eyes see car headlights at night. I thought everyone saw it that way, but apparently it's not normal, and is due to astigmatism. Check [this](https://beta.ctvnews.ca/national/health/2019/4/1/1_4360754.html) out to see what I mean.
SquiddoDiddo 1 year ago
Yep I have astigmatism (slight but it still happens) and this is what I see at night! A little less bad tho…
#8
When I'm around a large group of people, I have a hard time remembering everything that happened when I get home and I'm alone. This is without drinking. Thought that was normal. But I mentioned it to my friend.
Turns out I have horrible social anxiety and essentially, I mentally check out in settings where I'm uncomfortable.
#9
Feeling the compulsion to sneeze when seeing the sun.
Chocolate llama 1 year ago
Oh one of my colleagues has that. We call it his superpower because in principle this makes him a solar-powered bio-weapon
Body image coach Jessie Barnes told Forbes that body confidence is the ability to “feel at home in your body,” no matter your size or shape. “It's the understanding that your appearance is simply not the most important feature of who you are as a person and that there is no such thing as a 'perfect' body,” she explained.
“When you live with body confidence, you free up a tremendous amount of energy that you can then focus on your goals, your mental health, and on connecting with the people you love. On the surface, it may seem like it’s about wearing a bikini confidently (and that part is fun!) but the real benefit comes in allowing you to live a life aligned with your true values.”
Cultivating this body confidence might take some effort. For one, you have to separate your idea of self-worth from your appearance. You have to begin seeing yourself and others as people who have a lot more going on in their lives and far more to offer than just how they look at this particular moment.
#10
I thought I was bad at running because my throat would seize up and get painful whenever I ran for more than a minute. I mentioned this to my doctor when I was 30. Turns out I have asthma.
#11
Had an online friend who seen a IRL photo of me and messaged me asking if I had a speech impediment. When I asked why, he said I have a weird shaped chin/jaw (obviously less bluntly, didn’t come across as offensive). He then randomly asked me to send him a pic with my tongue sticking out.
That’s how I found out I’m tongue tied. Nobody in my family/life ever acknowledged my speech impediment or extra short tongue until some random guy on the internet said I have a weird chin and diagnosed me. Wtf.
#12
For a long time I figured that everyone felt horrible after every meal, and that I was just a huge baby for complaining about how badly my stomach hurt all the time.
Turns out, I was just a severely lactose-intolerant child born into a very credulous family at the height of the 90's "kids must have a giant glass of cow milk with EVERY SINGLE MEAL or they'll die of rickets or end up in a gang" craze. To this day my mom forgets (or "forgets", I'm not sure) about this every time I go back home to visit, and will make some dairy-heavy meal/dessert and then act like I'm choosing not to eat it just to hurt her feelings. Like, no, sorry, I already spent a dozen years medically underweight due to being violently ill after every meal, I don't feel any urge to return to that state of affairs now.
Mobey Drunk 1 year ago
Sounds like your mom is a toxic family member that needs to be cut out of your life
Kirsten Kerkhof 1 year ago (edited)
I'm not sure that's not a bit harsh. My grandma was raised to believe milk was nature's most perfect food. We could talk about lactose intolerance till the cows came home (hah), but she insisted on everyone having at least a pint of dairy because it was healthy. I ended up just taking two lactase/lactaid tablets and not upset my otherwise very kind granny.
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Crissy Newbury 1 year ago
Lactose intolerance + IBS. Not funny. Fortunately I’m now vegan and problem solved.
Jeremy Bolanos 1 year ago
A friend had a similar problem. She started wearing a t-shirt to dinners that said something like "I can not have dairy, forget at your own risk"
Deborah Clark 1 year ago (edited)
Gotta love that 80s 90s parent logic. Grew up with a gall bladder that was basically on it's last legs by the time I was ten and completely dead inside of me by twenty four. Every single meal my mother made was loaded with fat. I basically lived in my restroom. Told me until I was forced to get it out that I just had a nervous stomach. We had insurance.
Carolyn Lively 1 year ago
Try those lactaid pills. They contain the enzyme needed to break down milk products that your body doesn't produce. I've had great success with them.
KittyMommy 1 year ago
Depends on the person and how much dairy they've had recently. Person I know can use them if she's behaved herself lately. But if she's had several meals in a week with dairy the pills aren't going to help
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Heffalump 1 year ago
I always amazes me when people tell about their parents doing things like this. If your mother refuses to "remember" (with or without quotes) that you have a medical condition, acts hurt when you remind her, and the rest of the family are letting her get away with that s**t, WHY ARE YOU EVEN GOING HOME?
#13
Dermatographia. I have really sensitive skin with an overactive histamine response. When I’m gently scratched with a blunt object, I get a hive in the shape of the scratch. I can write my name in hives on my forearm.
Alethea Fletcher 1 year ago
I have that.. less easy these days as I take strong daily steroids and antihistamines due to asthma and anaphylaxis.
#14
That I had 8 wisdom teeth grow into the extra space in the back of my jaw (two for each side, top and bottom) that all grew in just fine after 20... Only to find out on my last trip to the dentist that I have 8 more growing in sideways...
The normal amount of wisdom teeth is 4. Not 16.
#15
Cataplexy, I lose the ability to grip/hold things, chew, sometimes even stand when laughing. Basically, my muscles s**t the bed whenever I start laughing too hard. Me, my sister, and my dad have it. My sister has even dropped her children because of it (don’t worry more of a gradual release than a full blown drop and no one was hurt) I grew up thinking it was entirely normal, and my mind was blown when I found out it was not. I asked the next 10 people I saw, friends, coworkers, drug dealer if they got weak while they were laughing and they looked at me like I was crazy.
#16
I can taste words.
For example, if someone says three, an image of a cupcake immediately comes to mind and I sometimes will start salivating.
The same word has always had the same food association. It’s called [Lexical–gustatory synesthesia](https://www.livescience.com/1141-insight-people-taste-words.html)
#17
I have a double uvula. That little hangy thing in the back of your throat... Mine looks like a ballsack. I thought that's just what they looked like cuz like, how often do you look in people's throats? I remember seeing cartoons as a kid where they'd zoom in on a character's mouth when they are screaming or something... And I just thought the artists were lazy, drawing a simple droopy line. But no, that's what most people's look like.
When I was in my 20s I went to the doctor for something unrelated and she checked my throat and just said "huh you have a double uvula. Neat!" I went home and told my roommates and they all had to look in my mouth. I thought they would think the doctor was the weirdo but they were all shocked... I'll never forget one saying "you've got balls in your throat!"
#18
“Sharp” poops. (This got lengthy. TL;DR at the bottom.)
I’d never had regular daily bowel movements. At best, a couple times a week, but not multiple times every day, and when I would go, I was in and out in under 2 minutes. When I was younger, I just thought everyone else was weird. By the time I was a teenager, I thought I was just odd or chronically constipated. Went to the pediatrician, and they found nothing wrong. “Eat more fiber, drink more water.”
In my 20s, I’d gone to a new doctor to see about it, and they’d always suggest increasing fiber, trying a stool softener, and drinking more water.
Mid 20s, I started having “sharp” poops. I’d feel a sharp, almost dragging sensation and would eventually have a bowel movement later in the day or the next day. I figured they were just hard turds or I was dehydrated again.
Over time, I’d started to notice blood on the tissue. I brought it up to another doctor again and was told more of the same, and after a small exam (finger and glove), it was suggested I might have internal hemorrhoids or be pushing too hard. More fiber, more water, stool softeners.
Late 20s I’d developed the unique talent to know whether the overwhelming urge to go after the sharp poops would actually be a real poop or just on-the-toilet meditation. Asked a doctor, same story.
By my early 30s, instead of meditation there’d be blood floating in the toilet; sometimes liquid, sometimes sort of like collagen. (It actually describes as similar to red currant jelly)
I went to the doctor for what I thought was intestinal blockage and mentioned I thought I had ibs-c or something and she referred me to a gastroenterologist.
He thought things were weird enough to schedule a colonoscopy which was early for my age but they got my insurance to cover it, so I went.
Turns out, I had stage 1 colon cancer. There was a huge, pedunculated (attached to a stalk, like a mushroom), polyp that would dip into my r****m and retract back up into my sigmoid colon. It was bleeding at the head and had caused my intestine to telescope in on itself. They found it and removed it while I was under for the colonoscopy. Apparently the cancer started at the top of the polyp and was working its way down the stalk. It was about 1 cm away from the base when they found its and removed it. It probably wouldn’t have been the same if it wasn’t found then.
TL;DR- it was colon cancer.
#19
I get itchy as soon as I get overheated. Like an all over body itch. There's no rash that pops up, I just get very very itchy.
#20
I guess regular people don’t practice facial expressions for specific emotions in the mirror? How they didn’t diagnose my autism until I was 36 is a mystery.
XanthippeⓐWulf🇨🇦️️🇬🇧 1 year ago
I was thankfully diagnosed when I was very young, but yeah, I feel ya'. It's not that I (or many others like this) don't feel the emotions we emulate, I spontaneously laugh, cry, etc. when those emotions are warrented, but sometimes nt people emote when (in my mind) it doesn't seem logically necessary as part of "normal" social interaction. I've often had to be reminded to make my face match my feelings. Sometimes I wish I could just tap my head and make emojis pop out .
#21
I have perfect pitch. Somehow, a discussion about it never happened so I went through 2.5 years of band learning notes and tuning the way I thought everyone else did.
To make a long story short, I found out when my dad was trying to play a tune by ear, kept missing a note, and I finally yelled at him that he should be playing X note, which led to my parents freaking out & quizzing me, and me freaking out because I thought they were playing dumb. It took months and coming across a National Geographic article before it fully sank in that I had an entirely different relationship with sound than anyone in my social circle.
XanthippeⓐWulf🇨🇦️️🇬🇧 1 year ago
I also have what is termed "perfect or absolute pitch." This is actually how I've learned to speak so many languages. I've always been able to hear music, and then play it back pretty immediately, but oddly I've never had much interest in making music. I can, however, learn languages and speak as accurately as a native in much the same way. I am fascinated by how words sound, especially in different languages and dialects. I am also great at emulating voices. When I was a kid, people outside my family used to act like my perfect pitch was some sort of Rain Man thing because I'm autistic, but I've met a few nt people who share the ability, and I'm sure there are many more out there. Elton John comes to mind, so that's not such bad company to be in 😉
#22
I’ve got ‘alternating exo’ the eye doctor called it. I can choose which eye I can see out of and can switch as I please, which ever eye is not “picked” “turns off” and I don’t see out of it since I chose the other eye. Since i've been able to do it all my life both of my eyes can operate alone so if I lose one it won’t be as bad adjusting. Pretty nice actually but the ‘exo’ makes me hate selfies cuz whichever eye isn’t picked drifts outward which is noticeable to me at least :( That’s not the only one I can think of to lol edit; Yes I know there’s surgeries to fix the drift but my eye doc said that it might cause more problems and it’s minimal enough that I can live comfortably. I don’t have any issues with bumping into things I couldn’t see or dealing with small things
Stephanie Did It 1 year ago
My vision allows me to see the tiny capillaries within my eyes, even the blood cells rushing through them like wee frantic cars in tunnels. It happens when I'm relaxed and viewing a light-colored background. My eye doctor says it's normal for some people, but if I talk about it most folks think I'm making it up.
#23
Pain in your stomach and esophagus when you're hungry. Apparently that's acid reflux, not hunger.
#24
Apparently most people don't have much in the way of toe dexterity, I am monke down there.
#25
In my late 30s, I was diagnosed with a minor Arnold Chiari Malformation. It is a genetic condition from birth which causes increased pressure on the brain stem which can lead to a lot of weird things. My wife was reading up on the condition and asked if I had any problems sneezing. I thought this was an odd question because I have a lot of allergies, so I said no. She asked what it felt like when I sneezed. I said, you know...your vision goes white and you get dizzy, worried about falling down, sometimes an instant headache...but it passes in a second or two. Her eyes got wide like saucers and her mouth dropped a little. I remember saying, "Now that I say that out loud, I'm guessing that is not normal?" Her reply was "Not normal at all!"
#26
Nobody told me this…I ended up learning this on my own in my early 20’s.
I have a third nipple. I always thought it was a mole on my rib cage and I actually used to like it and kinda thought it was cute. As soon as I discovered the truth, I immediately started to dislike it.
And it’s funny but it actually does make me feel exposed when I’m wearing a bra or bikini and one of my nipples is showing. Lol.
WindySwede 1 year ago
Wonderd how that looked, searched for it - with 'safty search off', maby not the best way to start the morning. To much strange pörn (for me).
#27
Thought I had great vision - until I tried glasses and found that everything was so much sharper and more vivid! Apparently my left eye has a vision defect but my right eye learned to compensate so I never realized!
Penguin Panda Pop 1 year ago
I have this but with opposite eyes. I was in my mid-thirties before I realised the vision in my right eye is blurry. Put up with headaches for an entire year before going to an optician.
#28
I once took part in a study as a paid participant. The doctors used ultrasound probes to examine the blood vessels on my face. They commented on how strange my face's blood vessels were, they struggled and puzzled a little while examining my face. Then they handed me more cash and asked whether I would be willing to donate my body after I died to a medical study. (They were polite and respectful throughout the whole process, just seemed excited?)
Edit: They didn't tell me what's wrong, so idk either. And my face looks perfectly normal, at least from the outside.
#29
I was blowing up balloons with someone once and silently judging them for not being able to do it in a single breath. Turns out I’m the freak who just has mental lung capacity for some reason.
OhnoI’vebeencensored 1 year ago
If you do a lot of aerobic exercise that would explain it. I cycle 125+km weekly and used to run for hours each week (before kids). I was one of the fastest in my running club, a bit of a lucky ‘natural athlete’ and I would notice on cold nights after hard runs my visible plume of breath was much bigger than everyone else’s. I also had an ECG for a medical for work and the doctor told me he could tell I have a big heart… awww ❤️
#30
I thought feeling your heart beating was normal, even in a sedentary state. Turns out, I had a heart murmur (patent ductus arteriosis) and didn’t find out until I was 30. All those years of multiple doctors listening to my heart and finally a doctor detected it. After I had the procedure to close it, I told my dad I feel great, I don’t feel my heart beating in my chest. He was shocked I lived like that for so long. I thought it meant I was alive and well. ETA: I didn’t mean to freak y’all out. To clarify, I could feel my heart pounding lying down or just sitting and could hear it too. Think of how you can feel and hear it while working out or when you’re anxious. Mine was like that 24/7 (at a normal heart rate) and I thought it was normal. Many can see and feel it if you focus. I more mean it was always noticeable even when I wasn’t focusing on it
Subtlelikeawreckingball 1 year ago
I have this. Diagnosed at 39 with a murmur after my brother died suddenly from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy at 36. Went in to see if I had it too (it's genetic) and found the murmur. It's mild enough to obviously been missed for 39 years but now I'm to be monitored for it probably the rest of my life. But I have this- thought it was totally normal to hear/feel my heart beating while resting. Got really intense while I was pregnant too.
#31
My jaw pops whenever I open my mouth. I thought it was normal for your jaw to just "unhinge" because how else could you open your mouth wide? Turns out, nope.
#32
Not me but a friend. She said “you know how sometimes you’re exercising and your whole body goes completely numb and you can’t breathe?” I was like “no?!?!”
Yeah. She was in heart failure. Luckily she was able to get treated in time.
#33
My tongue has a bunch of cracks and craters in it and is not smooth.
Sherri Steinert-brown 1 year ago
I have the same tongue the doctors called it geographic tongue . I'm the only one who has it in my family and there were 8 of us then I had 6 kids and none of them have it. So not sure where it all started. The only thing that hurts it is mouthwash. But I love show my tongue at party's freaks everyone out l
#34
Period pain that doubles me over. I thought every woman just dealt with this much pain until my doc told me it was in fact, not normal.
Yvonne Dauwalder Balsiger 1 year ago
Keep that doctor! Unfortunately, still way too many times it's the other way around - woman in pain knows something is not normal, doctor doesn't take her pain seriously
#35
I have bones in the bottom of my mouth — mandibular torii. I was in my 20s before a dentist commented on them being uncommon! Finally explained why x-rays of my teeth were always so painful!
Judy Reynolds 1 year ago
Same here! But how often do you look inside other people's mouths, so you think what you have is normal, and everyone has pain when getting dental xrays.
#36
Sometimes I can feel and hear my spinal fluid moving in my neck and the base of my head. It sounds like a rain stick.
Jan Rosier 1 year ago (edited)
Me too, same as my dear wife. She describes it as silver beads rolling down her spine, I more like the 'drops of mercury'-analogy.
#37
My tolerance for alcohol. I went years of heavy alcoholic drinking with no one realizing I was doing it. I just didn’t get sloppy or slurry or unable to do normal tasks. I was drinking 8 - 10 drinks a day. It was easy to lie to myself and think I had no problem because I was excelling at my job, getting certifications and licenses, and generally being a good member of society. I never understood why some folks had three or four drinks and were out of it. It all finally catches up to you though. I always kind of knew it wasn’t normal but I didn’t realize how bad it was until I finally went to rehab and experienced withdrawal that included auditory and visual hallucinations and shakes that even the meds didn’t fully control. To this day I have acquaintances that have no idea I was blasted every time I talked with them. A lot of alcoholics say this but their friends and family say “we knew something was wrong but never said anything.” My friends and family were almost doubtful when I told them I had a problem. My wife figured it out first. But not because of how I acted, because she saw the evidence in the form of empty vodka handles hidden before I could toss them. I truly flew under the radar for maybe years of being constantly drunk day to night. In those three years I had a kid. Got promoted at my job twice. Had hobbies. Got licensed for my profession in two different states without anyone knowing I was drinking morning to night. Like I said, easy to lie to yourself that way.
Javelina Poppers 1 year ago
Morphine has zero affect on me when given as a pain killer, I could overdose from the amount of the opioid and still be in pain. Found out when I had my gall bladder removed and the doctors said there are some individuals that this happens to, but it's extremely rare.
#38
Strawberry Legs. I have a ton of small dark spots on my legs and I thought that's just what legs look like. Apparently hair follicle or clogged pores that are exposed to air after shaving your legs can oxidize and turn dark. There are even treatments to get rid of it because they can be a major insecurity but I've never bothered.
ToGo 1 year ago (edited)
I've got this, doesn't bother me. I exfoliate before shaving so I just assume it's because my hair is so dark. I never even thought about it til it was all over the internet a while back, this "strawberry legs" thing. Look, I already shave my legs for society, deal with the dots.
#39
If I’m sorta tuned out or focusing on something and I hear a sound behind me or to one side, I can literally feel my ears attempt to turn toward the sound (like many animals do, such as cats). My ears don’t actually move around, but there’s some automated reflex that tries to do it. I mentioned it to my wife (in an innocent statement that began with “you know how you can feel your ears try to move to pinpoint a sudden sound?”) and she looked at me as if I have 6 eyes. I haven’t found anyone else since then who knows what the hell I’m talking about.
#40
I’m very buoyant. I have a hard time sinking to the bottom of a pool at all no matter how hard I try, and float completely with almost no effort for very long lengths of time.
Sandy D 1 year ago
Same for me. More now, I'm sure because I have excess fat, and fat floats. But ever when I had normal body fat amt, I could / can be in the deep water, in standing positron, feet down, head up? I can float (tread?)n without moving except to reposition myself if I float forward or back. I could literally be in water, "treading" indefinitely
#41
My stomach hurts every day. I brought this up with some coworkers like oh you know just my stomach hurting like normal. They said that's not normal. Turns out I have extreme anxiety and I shouldn't be eating cheese.
#42
Being able to see in the dark. Not complete darkness, but as long as there's just a little bit of light, I can see fine where others can't see anything.
Ian whaples 1 year ago
you have extra rod cells in your eyes, my guess is that you cannot distinguish as many colors as others.
#43
I have a big head. I've never once found a hat that fit. Not even a toque.
#44
Inverted nipples. never really thought much about them, until i saw boobs in various settings (media i.e. movies, and in person) and none of their nipples looked like mine. i guess no specific person has ever pointed it out to me, i just don’t ever see them anywhere so i still feel weird about them.
Stephanie Did It 1 year ago
Please have them checked by your OB/GYN. Inverted nipples can possibly be an indicator of certain medical conditions.
#45
Growing up I had large bone spurs growing from the back of both feet. Just like spurs on cowboy boots, but pointed. Used to use them as weapons when I’d fight my brother as a kid lol. I thought everyone had them. Lost a shoe size (and a weapon) when I got them removed. Kinda miss them.
#46
When you come inside from the cold it isn’t normal to feel dizzy. When you bend over or over exert yourself it’s not normal for your ears to whoosh. It’s not normal for your vision to ‘roll’ when looking at patterns, or to always have a fair number of floaters or little flashing lights. Diagnosed w IIH in 2019, had these things for as long as I can remember…just figured they were normal.
#47
I knew I always had a stuffy nose, but didn't think much about it. Got onto medicine that finally helped, and my nose cleared up a bit and I could smell a little better in high school. Didn't realize how bad it had affected my sense of smell until college, though. I had a chemistry lab where we had to determine the scent of some liquids (it's been too long for me to remember what they were); I couldn't smell anything until I breathed through my mouth. I was suddenly able to figure out each one. That's still how I "smell" things.
Edit: so I wrote this and then went to bed, and it exploded while I was asleep. So here are answers to 2 of the most popular things.
My doctors are aware I am like this, and my septum has been checked. It's not off enough to cause the problem. I just have a long list of incredibly annoying allergies that cause the issue. For example, I'm allergic to just about every green plant.
Always check with your doctor about what will specifically help you, but I have to take an OTC allergy pill year round, but if I take the same one for too long, it stops working. I rotate every three months through Zyrtec, Allegra, and Claritin. I also take Dymista nasal spray. Singulair is technically for my asthma, but it seems to help open my nasal passages too. And it isn't perfect, but I can breathe through my nose most of the day now.
#48
I thought I had one big ball when I was a kid. I read they are normally different sizes in puberty class. At 12 got my first sports physical. Hernia.
#49
Lower Back dimples, I got teased in middle school when we went to a water park. My partner loves them.
Awkward Momma Panda 1 year ago
I have the dimples on my lower back. The coolest part is that all of my children have them too! That’s right, all five of my kids got back dimples from their momma 😊
#50
I constantly have to flex my muscles. Not in the douchey "check me out ladies" kind of way, but in a more frustrating "I need to move this muscle in the next 3 seconds or I will feel like I am being tortured" kind of way. Constantly rotating my shoulders, flexing shoulder blades, neck, arms, wrists, ankles, legs, wherever. Makes it hard to sit still or sleep.
Only seriously noticed when I slept with my first partner, who was very confused as to why I wouldn't stop twisting and flexing for at least 2 hrs before falling asleep. I just figured everyone got that feeling. Being under a weighted blanket, feeling my arm or leg fall asleep- both feel like utter torture and will make me scream and writhe about. Would love to know what the hell this is and how I deal with it, because so far I have no clue.
What do you think ?
Scarlett 1 year ago
I thought it was normal to get lightheaded and loose your vision every time you stood up after sitting. Turns out I have anemia.
Sky Render 1 year ago
I have quite possibly the strangest anatomical anomaly ever: a double genital tubercle. I was born with two tailbones, two anuses, and two sets of genitals. The crazy part is, I also have XX/XY mosaicism, and as a result they developed separately: the upper male, the lower female. It's wild.
Tiffany Hinde 1 year ago
While they were in the process of diagnosing me with blood cancer last year I had to have a whole battery of tests. I went to have an ultrasound scan to check my liver and spleen. The tech also wanted to check on my kidneys...when finished she turned to me and said "well...everthing looks normal including your third kidney which I assume you already knew about." Errr....no?!?! Needless to say, since then it has always been an interesting conversation topic! 😂
Ansi 1 year ago
I also have a third kidney. 😀 I wish I knew how well it worked and if it then would be possible to donate it.
Load More Replies...
Nicolai Zoëga 1 year ago
Took a while before I realised, it was not normal to not remember or be able to describe people's faces , turns out I have facial blindness , meaning I simply can not recognise faces not even of Family members...
shanila.pheonix_ 1 year ago
i have hyperhydrosis (excessive sweating). it actually only occurs in 1% of the worlds population. its genetic(thx a lot dad :/) in my case. i also have only one dimple instead of two(idk i think its rare)
talliloo 1 year ago
my dad: has had a couple of serious injuries/medical issues but his healing ability is off the charts. he had a tumor on the top of his heart about the size of a golf ball. they cracked his chest on monday & released him on wednesday because his incision looked a week old. the tumor itself was weird as it consisted of 2 different kinds of cancer. the interior was a type that was known for rapidly growing but the cancer that surrounded it kept it in check. he is still the talk of the onocology dept. family joke is that it won't be something serious that takes him out but something like a banana peel.
KT 1 year ago (edited)
I have an auditory memory. I can recall conversations from as far back as childhood, I can identify and remember the lyrics to any song by the first few bars if Ive heard it before any time in my life. I can also recognize people and actors by their voices. Though waking up with a new earworm every day gets to be annoying .
Sky Render 1 year ago
Is that not normal? Huh. That might explain why I tend to get very frustrated with others not remembering the exact wording of dialogue or conversations I've heard...
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Tomato Froggo 1 year ago
I feel pain in dreams. I don’t really even know how it works, but when I get hurt in dreams I feel it. It really sucks and made me hate sleeping, because it’s usually nightmares that end with me getting hurt/dying…
Sky Render 1 year ago
Those are the worst! Combined with night terrors, too...
Load More Replies...
Lydsylou 1 year ago
I have a weird memory for building layouts, I can remember the floor layout of my old preschool from 10+ yrs ago and other unmemorable places like the route including the number of rooms on the left and right hand side, the lobby and joining rooms and basically every room I went into in the hotel I visited at the age of 4. Those are probably the 2 weirdest because they are so far back but I do remember the room layout of every single building I have entered since the age of about 3.
Sky Render 1 year ago
That gets extra fun as you get older! Especially as your ability to memorize new locations gets less perfect over time and you start to panic when you get "lost" in an otherwise familiar space briefly.
Load More Replies...
Cobalt One 1 year ago
I have a somewhat precise sense of hearing and when someone is walking behind me, if they’re close enough I can see a mental image of them and how they’re moving. It kind of looks like parchment paper with brown ink, and it’s proven to be useful if someone tries tapping me on the opposite shoulder that they’re on. Also with certain people if they get within ~100-30 feet of me, I can actually pick out their individual smell.
FaceTime Audio 1 year ago
I can often tell when someone else has been in my house because it smells weird. Downside is I’m hypersensitive to smell, and most perfumes/hairsprays/face washes give me headaches from the smell.
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Wysteria_Rose 1 year ago
Okay, but does anyone else get nightmares when they get hot in their sleep? I like being covered up with a single light blanket but if I use the heavier ones, I WILL have nightmares. Every time I wake up from one, I'm burning up from being covered too much. My brother has this too. When I mention it to people, they say they've never heard of it.
xWILTED_ROSEx 1 year ago
I think I read something that said if the back of your head/top of your neck gets really hot, you'll have more vivid dreams especially nightmares
Load More Replies... Lydsylou 1 year ago
Whenever I tense one muscle I have to tense the other (for example if I squeezed my left hand into a fist then I would also have to do it to my right hand) it's super annoying and I thought it was normal but the other day I found out that it's not.
Kiri 1 year ago
I have something similar. If I close my eyes to go to sleep and my left is closed first i have to reopen both eyes and close them at the same time so they feel even.
Load More Replies...
glowworm2 1 year ago
I have a sacral dimple--which is basically a little indent just above my butt cheeks. Thought it was where my tailbone was.
Sky Render 1 year ago
Used to think that's what I had. Then I realized: 1. It's the size of a US quarter in diameter, 2. It's very deep (and deeper still beneath the skin graft; I jammed a 2-inch needle in there to sound its depth once and never hit anything) and 3. Whenever I contract my a**s, it also contracts in the exact same fashion. It's actually a sealed second a**s.
Load More Replies...
howdylee 1 year ago
I have a port wine stain birthmark on my arm. It's pink when I'm comfortable temperature, but it turns purple when I'm cold.
Hey! 1 year ago
Interesting. I'll check my husband's. His is on his foot and looks like a map.
Load More Replies... Lydsylou 1 year ago
Thought of another thing that makes me unique and weird! Sometimes just when I'm going to sleep I suddenly feel like I'm falling and jolt myself awake. Idk if that's normal but it does t feel natural to me
Sky Render 1 year ago
That used to happen to me all the time when I was young! I rarely have it happen any more. I also used to have a strange flavor pop up in my mouth out of nowhere when trying to fall asleep, which I can only describe as "rubbery and blue".
Load More Replies...
Shankshaw Redeemer 1 year ago
I have Raynaud's Disease. My right index finger turns white and stays cold feeling until I can warm it up. It's painful and takes forever to warm. It happens due to cold and stress. It's quite annoying but all-in-all, not all that bad considering some of the other ailments, anomalies, and such listed here.
Stormblessed 1 year ago
Found out I have a lot of these. I thought everyone had a few of them, but I knew the car lights thing was special (but nearly everyone I know has it)?
Bowtechie 1 year ago
It was chronic appendicitis for me. I developed gluten intolerance around the same time so I just thought it was a normal symptom to feel like you were trying to digest a broken machete if your food got cross-contaminated. Took 3 ER trips over 4 years and a doctor's "hunch" to finally get me a CT Scan and find the problem. Turns out my appendix had moved too so no one thought to check for appendicitis immediately since my pain was always in the center, not off to one side like usual. Since they took it out I've never had the knife pain and if my food gets contaminated I have the normal digestive issues. Still sucks, but sucks a lot less than the appendix problem.
FaceTime Audio 1 year ago
My hips subluxate, all my fingers bend back over 90, my elbows go in a bit, my shoulders can pop but not at will really do hard to demonstrate, my thumbs are bendy, my toes are bendy, my ankles are really weak to the point where I can’t rollerblade or ice skate without immense pain (I can stand comfortably on them, and often when I walk one just gives out and I trip a bit, but it’s not too bad), with my knees straight and feet together I can put my palms flat on the floor, I can’t yawn on command nor do I yawn when I see others yawn, I’ve got tiny hands but my thumb goes past the palm horizontally (long fingers generally), I can suck in my stomach a LOT so that my ribs become a cave, and sometimes if I move wrong I fell stuff get pushed out of being stuck between my ribs. I’ve got a strange body. Also, I could read fluently at 4.5 years, but couldn’t tell right from left until I was 9 or 10 (pointing would work, but saying left/right wouldn’t. Still have some difficulty with that).
mysterious(all pronouns) 1 year ago
I took a horticulture course last year, and while I was working on pruning/deadheading one of the plants, my hands were weirdly itchy. I didn't think it was that weird, and continued as normal. The third time this happened, my hands broke out into a rash. So, that's how I found out I'm allergic to the plant Verbena Estrella. It's a very pretty plant, I see it a lot in planters.
Livingwithcfs 6 months ago
I have a super sniffer, I can smell things others seem obvious too - smell off before it's off. Drives me nuts because I always smell dirty to myself but apparently no one else can smell me
Livingwithcfs 12 months ago
I'm a super smeller. I can smell off before it's off. I can smell an individual before I see them. It's usually a pain because most of the time most things are ever so slightly going off. I also have an extra vertebrae in my spine
Narelle Hussy 1 year ago
Didnt realise i was almost blind in one eye until at the age of 13 watching my 15yr old sister put on eye make up, closing one eye when she put on eye shadow and repeating with the other eye.. asked her how she could see and she responded "see what" with a cranky look on her face, turns out i have Myopia, it was never noticed, and i thought my vision was normal..
R Dennis 1 year ago
I have always been able to do complex calculations in my head. In school, you had to "show your work" and I had to convince teachers that the answer WAS my work. I thought doing steps was just to fill time. I couldn't help people with math homework because I thought the answers were obvious. Turns out I was just a freak. I used to have my stepkids challenge me by giving me four digit x four digit multiplication problems as they typed it into a calculator and I always had the answer before they hit "=".
Jacob B. 1 year ago
Ever since I was young, I remember my heart would race every once in awhile. Nothing long, 5-15 seconds. One day, it was 10 minutes with no sign of stopping, drove to the ER (didn't want to pay for the ambulance, got to love the Health Care system in the USA). Long story short, they had to use the difibulator and shock me. Few months later, got an operation that ended it for good. If I ignored it, could have had a stroke.
Scarlett 1 year ago
I thought it was normal to get lightheaded and loose your vision every time you stood up after sitting. Turns out I have anemia.
Sky Render 1 year ago
I have quite possibly the strangest anatomical anomaly ever: a double genital tubercle. I was born with two tailbones, two anuses, and two sets of genitals. The crazy part is, I also have XX/XY mosaicism, and as a result they developed separately: the upper male, the lower female. It's wild.
Tiffany Hinde 1 year ago
While they were in the process of diagnosing me with blood cancer last year I had to have a whole battery of tests. I went to have an ultrasound scan to check my liver and spleen. The tech also wanted to check on my kidneys...when finished she turned to me and said "well...everthing looks normal including your third kidney which I assume you already knew about." Errr....no?!?! Needless to say, since then it has always been an interesting conversation topic! 😂
Ansi 1 year ago
I also have a third kidney. 😀 I wish I knew how well it worked and if it then would be possible to donate it.
Load More Replies... Nicolai Zoëga 1 year ago
Took a while before I realised, it was not normal to not remember or be able to describe people's faces , turns out I have facial blindness , meaning I simply can not recognise faces not even of Family members...
shanila.pheonix_ 1 year ago
i have hyperhydrosis (excessive sweating). it actually only occurs in 1% of the worlds population. its genetic(thx a lot dad :/) in my case. i also have only one dimple instead of two(idk i think its rare)
talliloo 1 year ago
my dad: has had a couple of serious injuries/medical issues but his healing ability is off the charts. he had a tumor on the top of his heart about the size of a golf ball. they cracked his chest on monday & released him on wednesday because his incision looked a week old. the tumor itself was weird as it consisted of 2 different kinds of cancer. the interior was a type that was known for rapidly growing but the cancer that surrounded it kept it in check. he is still the talk of the onocology dept. family joke is that it won't be something serious that takes him out but something like a banana peel.
KT 1 year ago (edited)
I have an auditory memory. I can recall conversations from as far back as childhood, I can identify and remember the lyrics to any song by the first few bars if Ive heard it before any time in my life. I can also recognize people and actors by their voices. Though waking up with a new earworm every day gets to be annoying .
Sky Render 1 year ago
Is that not normal? Huh. That might explain why I tend to get very frustrated with others not remembering the exact wording of dialogue or conversations I've heard...
Load More Replies... Tomato Froggo 1 year ago
I feel pain in dreams. I don’t really even know how it works, but when I get hurt in dreams I feel it. It really sucks and made me hate sleeping, because it’s usually nightmares that end with me getting hurt/dying…
Sky Render 1 year ago
Those are the worst! Combined with night terrors, too...
Load More Replies... Lydsylou 1 year ago
I have a weird memory for building layouts, I can remember the floor layout of my old preschool from 10+ yrs ago and other unmemorable places like the route including the number of rooms on the left and right hand side, the lobby and joining rooms and basically every room I went into in the hotel I visited at the age of 4. Those are probably the 2 weirdest because they are so far back but I do remember the room layout of every single building I have entered since the age of about 3.
Sky Render 1 year ago
That gets extra fun as you get older! Especially as your ability to memorize new locations gets less perfect over time and you start to panic when you get "lost" in an otherwise familiar space briefly.
Load More Replies... Cobalt One 1 year ago
I have a somewhat precise sense of hearing and when someone is walking behind me, if they’re close enough I can see a mental image of them and how they’re moving. It kind of looks like parchment paper with brown ink, and it’s proven to be useful if someone tries tapping me on the opposite shoulder that they’re on. Also with certain people if they get within ~100-30 feet of me, I can actually pick out their individual smell.
FaceTime Audio 1 year ago
I can often tell when someone else has been in my house because it smells weird. Downside is I’m hypersensitive to smell, and most perfumes/hairsprays/face washes give me headaches from the smell.
Load More Replies... Wysteria_Rose 1 year ago
Okay, but does anyone else get nightmares when they get hot in their sleep? I like being covered up with a single light blanket but if I use the heavier ones, I WILL have nightmares. Every time I wake up from one, I'm burning up from being covered too much. My brother has this too. When I mention it to people, they say they've never heard of it.
xWILTED_ROSEx 1 year ago
I think I read something that said if the back of your head/top of your neck gets really hot, you'll have more vivid dreams especially nightmares
Load More Replies... Lydsylou 1 year ago
Whenever I tense one muscle I have to tense the other (for example if I squeezed my left hand into a fist then I would also have to do it to my right hand) it's super annoying and I thought it was normal but the other day I found out that it's not.
Kiri 1 year ago
I have something similar. If I close my eyes to go to sleep and my left is closed first i have to reopen both eyes and close them at the same time so they feel even.
Load More Replies... glowworm2 1 year ago
I have a sacral dimple--which is basically a little indent just above my butt cheeks. Thought it was where my tailbone was.
Sky Render 1 year ago
Used to think that's what I had. Then I realized: 1. It's the size of a US quarter in diameter, 2. It's very deep (and deeper still beneath the skin graft; I jammed a 2-inch needle in there to sound its depth once and never hit anything) and 3. Whenever I contract my a**s, it also contracts in the exact same fashion. It's actually a sealed second a**s.
Load More Replies... howdylee 1 year ago
I have a port wine stain birthmark on my arm. It's pink when I'm comfortable temperature, but it turns purple when I'm cold.
Hey! 1 year ago
Interesting. I'll check my husband's. His is on his foot and looks like a map.
Load More Replies... Lydsylou 1 year ago
Thought of another thing that makes me unique and weird! Sometimes just when I'm going to sleep I suddenly feel like I'm falling and jolt myself awake. Idk if that's normal but it does t feel natural to me
Sky Render 1 year ago
That used to happen to me all the time when I was young! I rarely have it happen any more. I also used to have a strange flavor pop up in my mouth out of nowhere when trying to fall asleep, which I can only describe as "rubbery and blue".
Load More Replies... Shankshaw Redeemer 1 year ago
I have Raynaud's Disease. My right index finger turns white and stays cold feeling until I can warm it up. It's painful and takes forever to warm. It happens due to cold and stress. It's quite annoying but all-in-all, not all that bad considering some of the other ailments, anomalies, and such listed here.
Stormblessed 1 year ago
Found out I have a lot of these. I thought everyone had a few of them, but I knew the car lights thing was special (but nearly everyone I know has it)?
Bowtechie 1 year ago
It was chronic appendicitis for me. I developed gluten intolerance around the same time so I just thought it was a normal symptom to feel like you were trying to digest a broken machete if your food got cross-contaminated. Took 3 ER trips over 4 years and a doctor's "hunch" to finally get me a CT Scan and find the problem. Turns out my appendix had moved too so no one thought to check for appendicitis immediately since my pain was always in the center, not off to one side like usual. Since they took it out I've never had the knife pain and if my food gets contaminated I have the normal digestive issues. Still sucks, but sucks a lot less than the appendix problem.
FaceTime Audio 1 year ago
My hips subluxate, all my fingers bend back over 90, my elbows go in a bit, my shoulders can pop but not at will really do hard to demonstrate, my thumbs are bendy, my toes are bendy, my ankles are really weak to the point where I can’t rollerblade or ice skate without immense pain (I can stand comfortably on them, and often when I walk one just gives out and I trip a bit, but it’s not too bad), with my knees straight and feet together I can put my palms flat on the floor, I can’t yawn on command nor do I yawn when I see others yawn, I’ve got tiny hands but my thumb goes past the palm horizontally (long fingers generally), I can suck in my stomach a LOT so that my ribs become a cave, and sometimes if I move wrong I fell stuff get pushed out of being stuck between my ribs. I’ve got a strange body. Also, I could read fluently at 4.5 years, but couldn’t tell right from left until I was 9 or 10 (pointing would work, but saying left/right wouldn’t. Still have some difficulty with that).
mysterious(all pronouns) 1 year ago
I took a horticulture course last year, and while I was working on pruning/deadheading one of the plants, my hands were weirdly itchy. I didn't think it was that weird, and continued as normal. The third time this happened, my hands broke out into a rash. So, that's how I found out I'm allergic to the plant Verbena Estrella. It's a very pretty plant, I see it a lot in planters.
Livingwithcfs 6 months ago
I have a super sniffer, I can smell things others seem obvious too - smell off before it's off. Drives me nuts because I always smell dirty to myself but apparently no one else can smell me
Livingwithcfs 12 months ago
I'm a super smeller. I can smell off before it's off. I can smell an individual before I see them. It's usually a pain because most of the time most things are ever so slightly going off. I also have an extra vertebrae in my spine
Narelle Hussy 1 year ago
Didnt realise i was almost blind in one eye until at the age of 13 watching my 15yr old sister put on eye make up, closing one eye when she put on eye shadow and repeating with the other eye.. asked her how she could see and she responded "see what" with a cranky look on her face, turns out i have Myopia, it was never noticed, and i thought my vision was normal..
R Dennis 1 year ago
I have always been able to do complex calculations in my head. In school, you had to "show your work" and I had to convince teachers that the answer WAS my work. I thought doing steps was just to fill time. I couldn't help people with math homework because I thought the answers were obvious. Turns out I was just a freak. I used to have my stepkids challenge me by giving me four digit x four digit multiplication problems as they typed it into a calculator and I always had the answer before they hit "=".
Jacob B. 1 year ago
Ever since I was young, I remember my heart would race every once in awhile. Nothing long, 5-15 seconds. One day, it was 10 minutes with no sign of stopping, drove to the ER (didn't want to pay for the ambulance, got to love the Health Care system in the USA). Long story short, they had to use the difibulator and shock me. Few months later, got an operation that ended it for good. If I ignored it, could have had a stroke.
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