# Is there a word for an unusual sensation that's not a symptom of something?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 23, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657 "2012-10-23T20:24:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657/1 "2012-10-23T20:24:19Z")

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Suppose I experience some body sensation that I’ve never experienced before. I don’t want to refer to it as a symptom, because it may not be symptomatic of anything. It may be perfectly normal, but I had not experienced it before, or noticed it before. So it’s not a symptom in that sense. Is there a term I could use to refer to this event without implying that there is some abnormality causing it? I think I must be overlooking something quite basic here.

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**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657/2 "2012-10-23T20:34:07Z")

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funny feeling. (i know it’s two words and also could include symptomatic sensations)

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**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657/3 "2012-10-23T20:43:44Z")

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Transient \<itching, tingling, etc\> of the \<body part\>

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**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657/4 "2012-10-23T21:30:25Z")

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affection, ailment, complaint, condition, complex, diagnostics, disorder, infirmity, malady, problem, prognostics, sickness, sign

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**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657/5 "2012-10-23T21:50:18Z")

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Hmmm. Maybe _condition_, for something continuing. But the thing itself? I think a description may be the best solution. No such word may exist.

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**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657/6 "2012-10-23T22:35:56Z")

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This is not a sophomoric joke.

I experienced a body sensation that I’ve never experienced before. It was perfectly normal, but I had not experienced it before.

It was an orgasm.

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**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657/7 "2012-10-23T22:48:29Z")

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I think the word “sensation” is close to what I’m looking for.

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**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657/8 "2012-10-23T23:22:28Z")

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That’s the term I would use generally, depending on how it was described.

USCDiver, MD

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**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657/9 "2012-10-24T00:58:02Z")

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Anomaly?

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657/10 "2012-10-24T06:07:32Z")

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Try being my age (67) and diabetic. I call them “sensory glitches,” and they range from the feeling of a mosquito on my arm, to being stabbed by a large needle in my foot. My life is filled with them.

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**Author:** ![allotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@allotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allotrope)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657/11 "2012-10-24T06:23:29Z")

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[jamais vu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamais_vu) technically fits the bill but it’s not used that way - and is technically limited to sight.

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**Author:** ![allotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@allotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allotrope)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-an-unusual-sensation-thats-not-a-symptom-of-something/638657/12 "2012-10-24T06:32:46Z")

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> [@panache45](#):
>
> Try being my age (67) and diabetic. I call them “sensory glitches,” and they range from the feeling of a mosquito on my arm, to being stabbed by a large needle in my foot. My life is filled with them.

I’m pretty sure that/those are called [peripheral neuropathies](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001619/).

[They can be treated](http://www.medicinenet.com/peripheral_neuropathy/page3.htm#is_there_any_treatment_for_peripheral_neuropathy). I know someone who used to take [gabapentin](http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/32/2/e20.full) (related to pregabalin - one of the drugs in the list).