# It happened to me: medical oddities **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 9, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311 "2018-03-09T23:56:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/21 "2018-03-10T14:38:11Z")
I snapped off my left wrist bone. Yes, snapped it completely off, and it was sitting about two inches up on my arm. The wrist specialist they called in said that’s almost impossible to do, and it was only the second time he’s seen it done. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/22 "2018-03-10T18:30:36Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > A few years ago an incompetent f\*#kwad of a dentist extracted my tooth and punched a hole through the roof of my mouth and into the ancillary sinus cavity. Someone I know was had his adenoids removed. A few days later his wife noticed that he had been asleep/laying in bed for almost 24 hours and when he was up he was complaining of horribly paid. She brought him in to the hospital and it turned out that during the surgery the doctor nicked a bone and it allowed an infection to get into his brain. The end result was a lobotomy to remove the infection. He’s 100% not the same person he was before. He lives in a group home, his very well off business went under, his emotions are screwed up, and I’m sure there’s plenty of other issues as well. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/23 "2018-03-10T18:50:48Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > I have oddities so bizarre I rarely tell anyone about them. > > I can taste some words. And sometimes when I feel strongly about something, I get a tingle inside my nose. Tasting words, hearing colors, and other such sensations is a real condition called synesthesia. It’s fascinating. I don’t know about the tingling in the nose. My nose itches like crazy when I brush my teeth.😕 ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/24 "2018-03-10T18:56:17Z")
I had epilepsy. My right temporal lobe was atrophied and dysfunctional, so out it came. I never got any pathology for it so I don’t know why. I am hypoglycemic. Don’t know why. I get tachycardia. Don’t know why. Only one doctor has ever tried to get to the bottom of any of these, but he accepted the first test result as definitive. ---
**Author:** ![yellow\_sausage\_bandit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yellow_sausage_bandit/32/394_2.png) [@yellow\_sausage\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellow_sausage_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/25 "2018-03-10T19:04:28Z")
I often sneeze when starting to think about 1 particular sexual fantasy. > **[Sexually induced sneezing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexually_induced_sneezing)** > > Sexually induced sneezing or sex sneeze is a phenomenon characterized by sneezing during orgasm or sexual arousal. > The person experiences sneezing as a result of sexual thoughts, arousal, intercourse, or orgasm. > Sneezing occurs independent of external nasal stimuli or allergens, and may occur at any point during a sexual experience. > Both men and women are affected by the phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/26 "2018-03-10T19:28:44Z")
Sometimes I get one or more symptoms of a cold without feeling like I have a cold. The weirdest one was the time I slept 18 hours straight. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/27 "2018-03-10T20:34:32Z")
I grow cutaneous horns out of my arm. I have conscious control of opening my eustachian tubes (not all that rare) including being able to do it without swallowing and being able to swallow without doing it (pretty rare). I can blow bubbles out my tear duct. I never had any wisdom teeth, sprouted or hidden. I have a rare genetic mutation that supposedly causes me to metabolize corticosteroids differently. I have quadrilateral space syndrome, and am not an athlete. I don’t like dill or Carol Burnett. Apparently there are only, like, a dozen people with either of these dislikes, and I’ve got them both. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/28 "2018-03-10T21:01:08Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > … > I don’t know about the tingling in the nose. My nose itches like crazy when I brush my teeth.😕 Me too! I have always wondered about this. It’s annoying. Also, I am allergic to aloe vera. As in, if I don’t have a sunburn, applying it will give me one. A blistering one. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/29 "2018-03-10T21:45:25Z")
I have the visual auras – ocular migraines – too, plus a slight synesthesia (some words have a flavor). I also have a wierd little issue: I occasionally get very minor sinus infections, so mild I barely notice them. But the side effect is that I get very sleepy. The other day I fell asleep for a moment while eating breakfast and later had an ocular migraine (which often happens when I’m sleepy). Once I actually lost about a half hour: I was driving into the supermarket parking lot, things went blurry and the next thing I knew I was at the kitchen table eating dinner. I had no memory of shopping, even though I purchased things and clearly weighed buying certain items. I had a couple of scans - CAT and MRI - which showed nothing out of the ordinary. Hasn’t happened again. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/30 "2018-03-10T22:37:28Z")
The lil’wrekker was born without 2 of her adult teeth. The baby teeth are still in place, on the bottom, the first molars on each side. She’s 18yrs old. The Dental surgeon who removed her wisdom teeth said it’s common, if they come out she will have to have implants. I forget what it’s called but I only look out of one eye at a time. Sometimes when I am tired and I look at someone’s face they look over their shoulder like I am looking at someone behind them. It’s disconcerting at times. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/31 "2018-03-10T22:42:06Z")
> [@yellow\_sausage\_bandit](#): > > I often sneeze when starting to think about 1 particular sexual fantasy. Does it involve orange bacon? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/32 "2018-03-10T23:16:39Z")
I’ve twice had incidents of Viral Labyrinthitis. Since the labyrinth (inner ear nerve) is responsible for balance, it sends you into a fit of dizzyness even if you’re just sitting still. I got it really bad the first time and had a neighbor take me to the hospital where they sent me to the ER. Since the symptoms are the same as a brain tumor or a stroke, the place goes into a fit of activity. I had a CAT scan but everything was negative. There was a neurologist there and she looked at the tests and said “that’s Viral Labyrinthitis, I’ve seen it a few times in the last few weeks.” I thought I was dying and all the tests made me feel worse. They finally gave me some air sickness meds and told me to wait it out. It stopped and all I had was a headache the next day. I had another one a few years later. It’s been ten years ago now. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/33 "2018-03-11T00:14:15Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Second time was when I had a microdiscectomy (removing part of a herniated disc which was causing severe sciatica). Woke up with a morphine drip attached, with a button to press when I needed it. No pain. The nurses wouldn’t take the drip out, because it was going to be absolute agony, and I’d need it later. They kept coming and asking for my pain rating and when I said ‘zero’ they checked the morphine level, saw I really wasn’t using it, and looked very confused. It was over 24 hours (of them pretty much going ‘Any moment now it’s going to be agony!’) before they finally agreed that I apparently didn’t need it, and took the drip out. A friend who had the same surgery rated the day after as the most painful day of his life. The worst I got was a sort of mild discomfort, like a bruise which has mostly gone but still aches a bit if you poke it. This happened to a friend of mine last year after she had a hip replacement. All she needed was a few doses of ibuprofen. It was quite a pleasant surprise. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@MonkeyCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyCat)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/34 "2018-03-11T17:43:23Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Sometimes we get little medical quirks that don’t really mean much; but they can be perplexing at times. > > At three different times in my life, my internal thermostat has gone wildly haywire for a few hours. It happens, on average, about once every ten years. > > When it happens, I get tremendously cold, and I absolutely CANNOT get warm, no matter what I do. It’s a strange experience to put on a sweater, a winter coat, and crawl into bed with two doubled blankets over that, and still be shivering. The last time it happened, I was not at home, and no prospect of getting home any time soon. My car at the time did have a good heater, however. I was driving, so after a while I pulled over, and just sat with the heater on full blast. It got to the point where I was quite literally shivering hard and simultaneously sweating! I know that sounds like something out of Ripley’s, but that’s what happened. > > After about 2-3 hours, roughly, the situation corrects itself, and I can go on like normal. > > Does anybody else have any medical oddities they would like to share? Are you kidding me?!?!? Ambivalid hasn’t touched this thread yet?! Um… Well, you two have something in common, at least. Though his problem is nearly constant and daily. My oddity, if it’s even medical, is sound can torture me. My brain clicks into an irritated mode and the smallest noises seem to grow louder, and I curse furiously in my mind to keep from running from the room. I have a hard-of-hearing brother, by the way. He came over last week and said how he thought his hearing impairment was a blessing because sounds get to be too much and he can just turn his hearing aids off. I started bouncing in my seat and gesturing wildly when he said it, at Ambivalid, as if to say, “See?! I’m not insane!” The fact he has the same issue makes me wonder if it is more than purely psychological. Then again, he has so many issues it’s all just a ball of knots that no one can unravel. (ADHD, autistic, hard of hearing, PTSD, etc) ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/35 "2018-03-11T18:03:40Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t like dill or Carol Burnett. wait a minute :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/36 "2018-03-11T20:54:28Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > When it happens, I get tremendously cold, and I absolutely CANNOT get warm, no matter what I do. It’s a strange experience to put on a sweater, a winter coat, and crawl into bed with two doubled blankets over that, and still be shivering. The last time it happened, I was not at home, and no prospect of getting home any time soon. My car at the time did have a good heater, however. I was driving, so after a while I pulled over, and just sat with the heater on full blast. It got to the point where I was quite literally shivering hard and simultaneously sweating! I know that sounds like something out of Ripley’s, but that’s what happened. > > After about 2-3 hours, roughly, the situation corrects itself, and I can go on like normal. I’ve had that exact same thing happen to me, 3 or 4 times, always at night. I’ll wake up cold, and in the process of getting up, putting on fleece sweats, getting back into bed and pulling as many covers on me as possible, I start shivering really hard. Sometimes I manage to go back to sleep. I’ll wake up a few hours later burning up because of all the insulation I have on me. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/37 "2018-03-11T22:49:23Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Sometimes we get little medical quirks that don’t really mean much; but they can be perplexing at times. > > At three different times in my life, my internal thermostat has gone wildly haywire for a few hours. It happens, on average, about once every ten years. > > When it happens, I get tremendously cold, and I absolutely CANNOT get warm, no matter what I do. It’s a strange experience to put on a sweater, a winter coat, and crawl into bed with two doubled blankets over that, and still be shivering. The last time it happened, I was not at home, and no prospect of getting home any time soon. My car at the time did have a good heater, however. I was driving, so after a while I pulled over, and just sat with the heater on full blast. It got to the point where I was quite literally shivering hard and simultaneously sweating! I know that sounds like something out of Ripley’s, but that’s what happened. > > After about 2-3 hours, roughly, the situation corrects itself, and I can go on like normal. > > Does anybody else have any medical oddities they would like to share? Once every ten years, eh? You lucky boy you. Welcome to my life 24/7 for the past year. And it’s worse than what you describe, because not only do I get bone-chillingly cold to the point that I cannot warm up, I _simultaneously_ feel overheated and break out in freezing cold sweats (I know that sounds literally impossible but it’s not, I promise you). It is seriously the worst thing ever. Hell on earth. And the doctors cannot figure out what the problem is. I’ve had everything checked out, blood tests, biopsies, ultrasounds, you name it. It’s not my liver, it’s not my thyroid, it’s not my pancreas, it’s not gallstones. I’ve been seen by multiple specialist and none of them can find anything wrong with me. It’s hopless. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/38 "2018-03-12T00:37:40Z")
I think it the pituitary gland. IANAD. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/39 "2018-03-12T01:25:30Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I think it the pituitary gland. IANAD. YMMV. It’s worth checking out. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311/40 "2018-03-12T02:30:55Z")
For the last six months I’ve dealt with an eczema-like skin condition that occasionally gets so severe, I’ll wake up and feel my TEETH itching. Don’t have any idea how common that is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-happened-to-me-medical-oddities/810311.md?page=3)