Yahoo Lifestyle "Ignoring This Can Be Life Or Death": Medical Pros Are Sharing The Common But Serious Symptoms They See Patients Often Ignore Before It Got Too Bad
It's a new year, so it's another opportunity to improve our health and make those doctor's appointments for annual checkups. I know this is not the most fun way to kick off your 2025, but it's important. To further drive home this point, medical professionals of the BuzzFeed Community shared the common things patients often overlook, and you don't want to be one of these people. Here is what they had to say:
1."Labor and delivery nurse here. If you think something is off, and you feel weird like your baby isn't moving, you get swollen, you have persistent pain on your right side under your ribcage, a headache that just won't go away, spotting, weird discharge colors, smells, leaking fluid — call or come in! We'd always rather see you and it be nothing than have you delay, and it results in a tragedy. Maybe you just peed yourself or maybe your water broke. Better safe than sorry."
2."Doctor here. Here are my main symptoms that are worth a check-up. Weight loss without any cause. It can be from diet, side effects from medications, or preexisting conditions, like thyroid problems. It is worth a checkup if you see some drastic changes in your clothes. Losing your appetite with weight loss can raise some red flags. Another symptom is being tired. A simple blood test can tell us so much about this and hopefully get you back on track to feeling better quickly."
3."Pediatric nurse here. If an infant is under three months and has a fever, they must be seen immediately. For those older than three months, fevers are not as big a deal but don’t ignore fevers under three months. Also, kids are a lot more affected by dehydration than adults. If your kid is vomiting/diarrhea and can’t drink and is not peeing, they need to go to the ER."
4."Registered nurse here. If you take an ACE inhibitor for blood pressure (lisinopril, enalapril, basically any -pril) and have noticed random, intense gastrointestinal issues, it might be the meds. Every so often, ACE inhibitors can cause wicked side effects on your gut, resulting in everything from diarrhea to ascites (a condition that occurs when fluid collects in the spaces in your belly). It’s easy to ignore as 'I ate something bad' but can have long-term effects."
5."As someone who didn't know they were severely anemic, I recently spent 12 days in the hospital because my anemia got so bad that I wasn't able to eat or drink enough to sustain myself. I nearly passed out and/or puked walking from one room to the other, and I had a headache with visual abnormalities for more than a month. My lips ended up the same color as my skin. I couldn't walk by myself on the way to the hospital. It was so bad my doctors gave me a CT scan to make sure my brain wasn't bleeding! GET STUFF CHECKED OUT, no matter how small it might be. If I'd gone to the doctor with 'constant headaches, visual interference, nausea and loss of appetite' after a week or two of the headache, I might not have ended up in a hospital ward for almost two weeks in the run-up to Christmas."
6."Do not ask an internist, a family medicine specialist, a nurse practitioner, a physician assistant, etc., to tell you if a spot is skin cancer. They get minimal training to diagnose skin cancer. The only reliable opinion is that of a dermatologist. I know several people who died from skin cancer after being falsely reassured by their primary care provider."
7."Registered Dental Assistant here. Please teach your children good dental habits at an early age. Instead of asking your child to brush their teeth and assuming they do it, ensure they do it by helping them. If they can’t write their name neatly, they don’t have the dexterity to brush their teeth properly. Teach them the importance of floss as well! A small cavity as a child likely turns into a larger filling as an adult, which doesn’t last forever and will need to be replaced eventually, which means a crown and/or root canal and, in some cases, pulling the tooth all together. So many adults come in and say that the importance of brushing and flossing wasn’t stressed in their home growing up, and they have to get a lot of dental work done as adults. Much dental work can be avoided if preventative measures are taken at home at an early age."
8."Stress and depression, including domestic violence, should also be routinely screened for. While these issues can be sensitive subjects, ignoring them can be life or death."
9."I had back pain for decades, thinking it stemmed from a fall on some stairs. Finally, two years ago, I asked for a CT scan and found both arthritis and two herniated discs. One nerve was pinching against the disc. Though frightened, I agreed to a nerve block injection in my spine. It's been nine months with no pain. Angry at myself for not asking for that CT scan decades ago. We need to advocate for ourselves and ask more questions."
10."Please get second opinions too. I had intense jaw pain that started up near the temporomandibular joint before radiating down my mandible and eventually my teeth. I was told it was TMJ and I just suffered for months. Finally got an emergency dental appointment after biting down on a chocolate chip caused my tooth to break. It ended up being an infection, and I was told if I had waited any longer for treatment, I could have gone septic. Thankfully, the next time I experienced the symptoms of oral infection (I broke my tooth from eating a steak that had bone shards in it despite being a boneless steak), I immediately went to urgent care to get started on antibiotics. The doctor looked at me and immediately prescribed them and asked if I was in pain. He told me at the appointment it looked like I had a jawbreaker lodged in my gum."
11."Physical therapist here. Often times, we get patients that rely too heavily on the 'image,' the X-ray or MRI, for example. This image is a snapshot in time that doesn’t always necessarily dictate the presence of a pathology. It can be missed or misconstrued. Several research studies show that people with a similar level of 'disc degeneration' have different outlooks on their pain level. That’s because pain is a multifaceted beast that cannot be pinned on 'one thing.' For example, I’ve had many patients tell me, 'They can’t do something because of their 'slipped disc.' A large part of movement dysfunction comes from the chronic pain cycle and our psychological levels (I.e., stress)."
"The TLDR story: don’t rely on an image as the definition does your body's abilities. Focus on bringing yourself to wellness regardless of the image. Eat right. Reduce inflammatory causes (smoking, stress, alcohol, fatty foods), and exercise often."
12."I had a coworker who lost about 20 pounds over two months and couldn't figure out why. He was a smoker, and as soon as he told me this, I told him to tell his doctor. He had a colonoscopy a month later and found out he had stage three colorectal cancer. Within six months, he was dead. Another thing to consider is if you're a man and any close male family members like your dad, brothers, or uncles have had prostate cancer, you need to get started being tested in your 40s, if not earlier. Check your PSA (prostate-specific antigen) every six months. My dad and my brother have both had prostate cancer and had theirs removed. I am continually plagued with somewhat high PSA levels and have had two needle biopsies a few years apart, with both times a wonderful negative for cancer. But I still have to watch it. If you have a prostate and you're over 40, get it checked."
13."If you suddenly lose sight in an eye, go to the ER immediately. My husband didn’t, stayed at work, and felt fine except for the eye issue. He walked blocks to Madison Square Garden in New York City hours later and then died from a hemorrhagic stroke in a restaurant."
14."Severe, acute onset, persistent headache when headaches aren’t normal for you. I had a new patient (acupuncturist) a few years back who came in for a week-long, acute onset, 9/10 headache. I sent him to the ER. Thank goodness, because he had a ruptured aneurysm."
"Also, if you’re a non-MD medical provider in private practice, get comfortable sending people to the ER. Trust your gut and remember the warning signs you learned in grad school. I’ve sent several people over the years, and while a couple turned out to be nothing, the rest may have had different outcomes if they hadn’t gone."
15."Learn the signs of a stroke. Look for slurred speech, facial numbness/droop, and unbalanced coordination. Knowing the signs saved my dad back when he had a minor stroke back in 2017. He had a bigger one this year, and the symptoms were much worse, and now he can't talk. Don't ignore the symptoms."
16."As a certified nursing assistant, I noticed a resident at the elder care facility where I worked had black bowel movements. I told the nurse I was working under, and he said this resulted from a medication the resident was on. I was concerned but skeptically accepted the nurse's explanation. The next day, the resident seemed confused, and their behavior was odd, but the nurse assigned to my wing wasn't concerned when I reported it. Thankfully, a different nurse walked by his room and pulled me aside to ask about the resident. I told her what I'd noticed and reported that day and the day before. She agreed that something was seriously wrong, so the resident was sent to the hospital. Turns out he had internal bleeding in his intestines and was bleeding out. His stools were black because of blood — which is what I'd initially suspected, and that's why I reported it to the first nurse. He would have died if that nurse hadn't listened to me."
17."For diabetic patients with a good awareness of their blood sugar levels, sudden changes in their numbers. If you're suddenly significantly higher or lower than usual with no changes to diet or meds, it could mean infection or a sneaky injury."
18."I'm a cath lab nurse, which means I do interventional radiology (IR). We see a lot of cancer patients in IR. I have put ports in women who were as young as 22 for chemotherapy and not just for breast cancer. Cancer sucks. It's vicious and painful, and I can't believe how many people rolled through the lab with a new diagnosis of stage 4 when there were clear signs before them coming in with a vague complaint. I had a 30-something woman who came in with 'abdominal pain,' but she looked 11 months pregnant and emaciated everywhere else and had +4 edema. I had another girl with 'arm pain' from a new breast cancer diagnosis with clearly visible tumors in her armpits and extreme upper extremity edema with venous thrombosis."
"Get routine checkups (if you can). Pains or other symptoms that never seem to go away or get worse, unintentional weight loss, new hard or bulging places on your body — if it's not normal for you and it's not going away, please get it looked at."
19."Always take the full course of antibiotics you’re prescribed. Even when you’re feeling better on day 3/7, FINISH THEM."
20."Women’s health nurse practitioner here. If you’re post-menopausal (over a year with no period) and you’re suddenly having anything resembling a period again, get checked out ASAP!"
21."We need to know all medications, whether they are prescribed, over the counter, or even ones you only take as needed or once in a while. It is common for prescription and OTC meds to interact with other medications. Please don't forget to tell us about your vitamins and supplements. When we ask if you drink, we are not asking if you are an alcoholic; again, certain meds don't go well with alcohol. Please don't get offended when we ask this question."
If you're a medical professional and have advice to contribute, share it with me in the comments below!
