Medical workers of Reddit, what is the rarest disease you have seen a patient correctly self-diagnose?

1. Subarachnoid hemorrhage. Guy straight up walked up to the desk and said “I got a headache out of nowhere. I think it’s one of those spider hemorrhage things.” We didn’t take him serious until the CT came back. To be fair, he was walking fine, talking fine, and didn’t have any light sensitivity. Said pain was 5/10. Dude just could really handle pain well.
   — rainbowsieger


2. I worked at a pediatric clinic and we had a mom properly diagnose her 9 mo old baby with Tay-Sachs disease. He wasn’t progressing developmentally and ended up passing away at 18 mos.
   — More_again


3. I would say that it was the allergy to meat after being bitten by a lone star tick. It was an young kid maybe 8-9 years old. He would only eat tacos per the mom. He had tacos that night and had no other foods that day out of the norm, nor new medicine, lotions, detergents, shampoos in his routine. He had urticaria (hives) up and down his arms. Mom did remember recently pulling a tick that didn't look like a deer nor dog tick and felt it looked like a lone star tick.. I had no better diagnosis for the lady and referred her son to an allergist. I had never heard of this allergy before the mom told me about it. [an article about the syndrome ](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/06/21/lone-star-tick-bites-can-cause-rare-meat-allergy-some-people/415809001/)
   — Dyspaereunia






4. Very fucking jealous of all these docs whose patients are helping out with the diagnosis. Mine are all "I have chest pain in my toe when I poop".
   — dryyyyyycracker


5. Not a medical worker but I am a rare case of WebMD being right about cancer. Felt a lump in my throat for upwards of a year and a half but doctors kept telling me it was in my head. They stuck cameras down my throat, and nothing. It took an ultrasound after myself giving up and my PcP saying my thyroid felt slightly enlarged for a doctor to find it. One ultrasound and a biopsy later they found out I had stage 2 papillary thyroid cancer that metastasized to 18 lymph nodes. Edit: words
   — Lahtnesor


6. I had an 11 year old girl who did’t move her bowels for a week...A WEEK...tell me she thought it was her “girl parts” that weren’t working. After a full work up and finally a CT of her abdomen and pelvis (which I hate doing on kids because of the level of radiation) I found out her uterus was so full of blood it was causing a full on bowel obstruction. Her hymen was so imperforate (closed up) she couldn’t menstruate and all the blood just stayed in her uterus. She required an emergency hymenectomy and was sent home the next day. Hot damn if she didn’t call it from the get go.
   — Sanfranshan






7. 5th year med student here, diagnosed myself with lymphoma. Everyone thought I was being a classic paranoid med student, but turns out I was right. Finished chemo 2 weeks ago
   — Thethx


8. Bird mite infestation. The lady wasnt taken seriously at first, came off as psych. Nope...birds built a nest in her a/c ductwork.
   — Opiniaster


9. A nurse friend brought her newborn to the pediatrician in '63 and told him her son had Wilms' Tumor. The guy blew her off and told her she was a nervous mother and a "little bossy boots". Kid was starting to crump when a peds onc guy noticed and saved the baby. She dumped the pediatrician.
   — Liv-Julia






10. Patient here. Self-diagnosed a (still unknown) fungal infection inside both eyes. Took making them glow with my rock lamp to get attention. Kept seeing strands in both eyes, then WOW that uv lamp. Ended up on one hell of a cocktail to save my sight. Kids, don't wash your eyes with riverwater in a tropical rainforest. Just say no.
    — geopolit


11. When my oldest was born he peeled a little, like babies may do, but it kept getting worse and he was flaky and had scales. The pediatrician told me he had dry skin and to lotion him. Dr google claimed it was a condition called ichthyosis, but that was super rare so no one believed me. Anyway, fast forward 6 months and a referral to a dermatologist later, he’s got ichthyosis. Also after my first was born I had excruciating pain just under my rib cage, mostly after I ate. Tums did nothing. Gas ex did nothing. Do a little googling, it sounds like gallbladder attacks, only it’s on the wrong side. Go to my gp, get an ultrasound- my gallbladder was full of stones. Get a referral to a surgeon who drags he feet for a month claiming it can’t be my gallbladder, the pain is on the wrong side. Meanwhile I have attacks after every meal and stop eating except ginger ale and club crackers. Lose over 10lbs. Call the surgeon daily in tears. Finally he agrees to operate, but right before the procedure tells me that once my gallbladder is gone I’ll still have problems. Wake up from surgery and find out my gallbladder was worse than they thought so it needed to come out anyway. 2.5 years later and I haven’t had any more “attacks”. Guess it was my gallbladder after all.
    — lck0219