Reddit's Worst Medical Horror Stories

48 Comments

1. 2:42 most replayed? 🤨

2. I went to the dr because i was depressed and they just told me i needed a boyfriend. I got a new dr

3. When my wife was 13 she went to her doc to find out why she was getting headaches (they’re just chronic migraines) and the doc refused to do anything except a pregnancy test that came negative

4. Neurologist told me that my back pain, numb legs, and uncontrollable twitching in my legs is because I am overweight, this was even after getting an MRI and being told that I have two herniated disks. Apparently they are not herniated enough to cause concern. Still not sure what’s wrong. But I got a nerve study and my nerves are above average because of my sport.

5. Last year I went to the ER after having a Bat (the animal flying kind) hit me in the head. The ER felt a bump on my head but didn't see a bite and told me to come back if I had any swelling. They refused to give me the rabies vaccine due to the fact it "hurts really bad". I went home and called the nurses line for another hospital. They told me there was a chance I had been exposed to rabies and to go to the ER. My dad drove me 45 minutes to the next hospital and they gave me the vaccine and told me rabid bats are very common in my area.

6. 7:15 The sun can shine there.

7. One of my worst ones was I went to my PCP about my blood pressure (I've been through a few because they keep leaving the area to practice elsewhere) My previous PCP was concerned that I was prehypertensive and suggested the usual exercise, lower sodium intake yadda, least invasive methods first. Current PCP when I pointed out in class (I'm going to nursing school) my BP was around 180/120 a few times while we were practicing and my instructor verified and looked extremely concerned. His nurse told me it was 134/84 and when he came in I asked for him to reevaluate it he said "I don't see how it'll be different…but okay." I told him what it was running at at school, so he pumped it up higher and made a face while saying "oh." took it again on the other arm. said "OH." and wrote me a script for Norvasc. With family history, lifestyle choices and a few other things I'm at risk for hypertension but he still chose to be agitated when I asked for a reevaluation…Still having blood pressure issues but he keeps downplaying and ignoring it…

8. Watching this just makes me glad that non of this hit me(yet) and my grandmother was a doctor

9. Reddit? Yeah, I call BS in some of these r/thathappened

10. 4:38 As a nurse, the way I practice is "Treat the patient like you would want yourself to be treated."

11. More videos with your nephews please!!

12. Oh another one! I went to the ER afraid I had an impaction. Was diagnosed with regular constipation. No imaging done. I was sent home with bowel prep.

    Less than 36 hours later I was unable to keep anything down, had stopped passing gas, and was in a lot of pain. Had to go to er by ambulance because I couldn't get a ride. I had an obstruction. Fecal matter and fluid had backed up to right below my stomach. Dr couldn't believe no imaging was done given my symptoms. I saw the head of the department the 2nd time, so I doubt that attending had a pleasant week.

    I was severely dehydrated, my electrolytes were off, I hadn't eaten in three days, and I'd barely slept that week.

13. My Dr had been monitoring me for hypothyroidism. I'd be just above the medication threshold, then just below. I moved and got a new Dr. I told him I was due for my thyroid to be checked. He assured me that there was nothing wrong with my thyroid. If anything was wrong, I'd be on medication!

    Same Dr, a few years later. I'd told my family about the above incident, and a few newness switched, but my dad was still seeing him. That Dr referred him to cardiology and a few days later he was having a quad bypass. Turns out, he'd mentioned chest pain a few times and the Dr blew him off! Nearly killed my dad.

14. At 12 I was experiencing weird autonomic dysfunction but only when my period started each month. My pediatrican and two specialists I was referred to gave me a bs, half-assed answer that made no sense to explain my symptoms. Finally got an answer from another specialist which made sense. Unfortunately there was not a lot we could do but manage symptoms and it got better on its own and once I was old enough to be put on birth control. But I will never forget my pediatrician (old, very traditional Russian lady) tell me "well, this will probably get better once you have your first kid." Ma'am. I was twelve. Even if I did want kids, way to tell me "eh just deal with it for another 15-20 years." Also, when I said I didn't even want kids, she proceeded to argue with me about that. Yeah.

15. My grandma has told me about when she was pregnant with my mom. It was the 60s and she was 20 years old, and my grandpa was in the navy and had been station in the Philippines. So they were living on an airforce base and they didn't have a dedicated OBGYN there. What they had was a pathologist. So this man whose patients are generally deceased and therefore don't usually require him to have a good bedside manner is examining her while smoking a cigar. He was very rough with her and missed her pre-eclampsia until it was almost too late. Sometimes the stories she tells me really give me a whole new respect for her, and make me grateful I've never had an experience like that one.

16. Me as an asthmatic, tachycardia A-fib, and weighloss surgey stomach. When I get left sholder pain, I get anxiouse 😭. Any of my conditions can give me left sholder blade pain.

17. My Doctor told me he couldn't help me with my insomnia except to give me sleeping pills. Like insomnia is a symptom of many illnesses besides just being stress etc related but he didn't want to look into the reason why I couldn't sleep just wanted to give me pills that don't even long term fix the problem and often cause lots of bad side effects. I have plenty of other issues that likely all lead to some sort of larger medical issue but he treats every one (if he even treats them) as separate issues so who knows what is actually wrong with me. He retired so I don't even have a Doctor to go to so I'm just dealing with everything as best I can and hopefully I someday get assigned a new doctor or I guess I get bad enough to need to go to the ER and maybe then I'll find out what is wrong… or die I guess.

18. here's a fun one- I have ME/CFS and POTS. It takes most women with these conditions over a decade to get diagnosed. It's always told off as hysteria or a migrating womb or wanting attention or something bizarre. I got diagnosed in two years because when my health collapsed I went right to my wonderful lovely GP who I have a great rapport with, and he talked to me, ran some tests and then said, "No, I have no idea what is going on here. This is messed up. We're gonna refer you to some specialists because this is not normal at all." Have I mentioned how much I love this Doctor?

19. I used to have horrible sinus infections many many times a year. Not a single doctor ever said, "Heyyyy this is too much amoxicillin for one kid to be on, maybe we should LOOK at your sinuses?" Not once. Infection after infection is just "normal" right?
    Finally as a young adult I had one that wouldn't go away for months and I was getting very physically ill. So at an ENT's office I broke down crying and begged the techs to please do a scan. "Something is WRONG." They took the scan, got very pale and quiet and said they were gonna go get the surgeon for his diagnosis of the image. Silent Sinus Syndrome is when a sinus closes itself and the face is basically slowly imploding as the stuff that's been closed up goes bad and gets septic and in the maxillary sinuses it can move your eyeball and ruin your vision. I was hurried into an operation the next week. Insurance didn't want to cover it without – you guessed it- a prior authorization. I told them, "Look, I am getting sicker by the day and I don't want to die of sepsis, so I'll get the surgery and YOU can pay ME back afterward!" Took ages to work that out but we did. Now I can breathe through my nose when I sleep! I LOVE my ENT surgeon.

20. Oooooh I got a good one. 1st time going to a therapist, therapist said me drinking diet soda was messing with my internal energy and poisoning me.

    I already go to church once a week, I'm not here for spiritual health, I'm here for mental health.

21. my worst one was at an endocrinology appointment where my a1c was above optimal. she essentially told me (at 15 years old), that if i didn’t fix it CPS would come, remove me from my family and deport my parents… Me and my family were born and raised in the US. She continued to use fear tactics against me while I was sobbing and crying and begging her to stop. I ended up running out of the office and building itself, and sobbed in the car. It was so bad my mom filed a complaint (she was with me), and I had to meet with a therapist.

22. I have atrial fibrillation, but since I don´t really seem like the typical AF patient, I've often gotten dismissed by doctors. Once I went to the ER with extreme palpitations, was given two shots for migraines. Then noticed the nurse had the wrong chart, spoke up about it, but was sent home anyways with no examination whatsoever.

23. if your doctor starts suggesting religion to cure you . . . RUN!

24. SO this wasnt anyones fault but it was scary. So it starts at (cant remember the date) but we were at comiccon. My sister wasnt eating much at the time and she fainted. as an older sibling i was SO SO SO scared. Around a week later i went to the doctor cuz i had a cold. she came with us and fainted whilst i was taking a freaking PEE SAMPLE. yeah. a traumatic 5-ish hours in the hospital later we went home. That was the worst day (dad was drunk AGAIN, mom got alc tests bc he said he wasnt, he threw it on thefloor, dog ate it, took tog to vet, dog was ok though, wasnt able to contact my dad bc he was passed out dr8nk, didnt know if he was alive or not, the whole thing with my sister) but yeah, it was cuz she wasnt eating enough. shes ok now though but iy was very freaking traumatic

25. My grandmother had a stroke a few years back, got rushed to the hospital. she started to recover and even was ready to come home, but she had another stroke a few days later. nurse says she was "Being paranoid and is not having another stroke." she is now disabled and has severe vocal damage with a limited vocab

26. Hellow, I'm a fellow reddit story poster, i have been doing for 12 days, I'd really appreciate some help.

27. I work in mental health and have some horror stories. Teenage girl cut her wrists and the er nurse sewed her up in the waiting room without painkillers while publicly berating her, that was probably the worst one for me

28. My mother ended up having to have a large portion of her large intestine removed afte she kept getting very bad divaticulitis and not long after the surgery the stitches on her lower stomach opened. Her surgeon didn't want to see her once about the gaping hole and kept telling her to just patch it up and wait for it to heal. After probably two – three weeks of it being open she was unable to reach him and instead got his nurse who told my mum to dip a Q-tip in saltwater and rub it around the inside of the wound to try to clean it. My mother not being a complete moron and having some basic knowledge of infections decided not to and instead went to a different doctor. After that visit the wound managed to close in about a week from memory. The surgeon also made a follow up appointment with her after the surgery which was a phone consult and 80% of the ridiculous cost of the surgery was for his aftercare services.

29. I love that question about pain. "If I told you nothing was wrong, would that be enough reassurance?" It's a perfect question. I was experience hand and foot pain for MONTHS before I saw a rheumatologist. On the day that I saw her, I had been having a good run with the pain. She asked how bad it was right now on a scale of 1-10, and I said a 3. On that day. She didn't ask me about the worst it ever got. If she'd asked that question, I would have said "no, absolutely not. I can't carry things, cook, clap, walk for too long etc". Constant pain can get in the way no matter how bad it is.

30. Here is my worst: I went in because I felt genuinely sick, it was hard for me to breathe and I had a fever. Not only were the ambulance guys telling me it was 'nothing', but the doctor I saw at the time accidentally overdosed me on my own meds (they refilled them for me while I was there) and ended up near-catatonic for a whole week. Literally couldn't stay awake, couldn't stand up either. Tried to go back and tell them about it, but got the same doctor and was told to just go home.

31. Listen the doctor and jesus thing I could definitely believe. I was in counciling when I was a middle schooler and they told my parents to get me into church and I'd be fine…

32. This is something small, but barlier this year, I’d been with my mom for a follow up to get sutures removed after a knee replacement. The doctor was having trouble finding the right spot, and even cut my mom’s skin until I offered a pair of my mother’s reading glasses. The doc then said she’d forgotten her own glasses in her office which was baffling to my mom and I.

33. i went in for a pacemaker device change and replacement wires. a simple procedure, right? woke up with a midline chest incision cos the doctors punctured my heart.

34. Not my story but a buddy of mine had some brain scans mixed up with another patients. At first he was fine. But after the doctors noticed the mistake a couple weeks later, he had a brain tumor. Fortunately it was small and benign but I mean… VA doctors are a special kind of stupid. They get paid 3x less than other doctors. And it's free healthcare so vict… patients don't have many rights when things go wrong.

35. I got beat up in a domestic violence situation once and my arm hurt really bad so I went into a clinic to see if it was broken or something. It wasn’t, just really banged up. The doctor said “you’re lucky it wasn’t that bad” but it wasn’t just the arm I had bruises everywhere

36. I had an IUD a couple years ago and before i had it removed I started experiencing random stabbing pains all the time. My friend had a bad experience with hers flipping and needing surgery, eventually losing her ability to become pregnant. I was concerned mine might be flipping as well. I pushed the gynecologists to get me in asap to have it removed for only for the gynecologists to be like "huh, looks like it was out of place". Like she didn't belive me that I was having problems with it.

37. I had the 'similar name'warning on my file at the ER once. I totally got it: I was puzzled for one second when they called 'Anne-Sophie Duval' instead of 'Sophie Duval' (fake names but exact same similarities). When I saw another person stand up, I understood that it wasn't a mistake on their part. It was uncanny.
    At least, it was easy to tell us apart, as we had probably 40 years of age difference.

38. IT HAVE HOLES

39. @DoctorMike – I'd be curious to see your thoughts on the terrible medical treatment and horrific death of Queen Caroline of Ansbach, wife of King George II of England – YouTube channel History Calling did a great breakdown of this story

40. And you wanna know why some people refuse to go to the hospital or a doctor? This why. There are too many bad doctors that don’t do their job correctly, or are just bad people.

41. if you haven't had to manipulate a doctor into thinking that they were coming to a conclusion on their own, are you even chronically ill (sarcasm obvs)

42. When I was having pain in my appendix area I went to the ER, when I did have an enlarged appendix (not appendicitis though) I got called and idiot.

43. The only reason this experience was bad was because I was 4-5 years old. I bit my nails a lot when I was little and my mom took me into the hospital and all i really remember was crying because they were shoving (?) – knife under my nail

44. My tia went to go get a hysterectomy because of her endometriosis, continues to have periods and doctor told her it as normal. she only got worse untill she finally went to get a second opinion. the doctor left part of her ovaries in.

45. The story about being called ugly reminds me of a horrid trip to a specialist.

    I'd gone to A&E with a suspected broken finger, which was diagnosed as broken. The Dr I saw was honest and said due to how my finger looks (I have a rare condition that causes my fingers to be permanently bent) he didn't know how to strap it and was referring me to a specialist. I see the specialist a few days later and he spent 20 minutes telling me I was "deformed" and how he was going to "fix" my deformity. When I said I just wanted my finger not broken he became abrupt and passed me to a nurse. I left the appointment (with my finger strapped up) in tears and rang my dad crying I was deformed. I've never been bothered about my Ingersoll but that Dr made me feel awful.

    As for my condition, the nurse finally gave me a name for it, and I finally met another person with it, at the age of 32. And I'm not ashamed of my "deformity"

46. Here's my worst one not for me but for my dad I took him to the VA in our hometown several times over a period of six months and they kept telling him every time he's just constipated that he needs to take a laxative six months almost to the day I took him in he broke out in a fever of 105 Fahrenheit they rushed him to KU he had a gallbladder that was no longer functioning and was completely septic and he had stones in his liver Ku told us that if he would have been checked out properly six months beforehand he would not have been septic he had to learn to walk again and he had to deal with his balance being completely permanently messed up from it and notone doctor at the VA apologize to him

47. For some reason neurologists seem to have big egos 🤦🏻‍♀️

48. I’ve had the “pray away the bad stuff from two different doctors!

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