Medical mysteries - xoJane

It Happened To Me: I Have a Rare Disease Which Causes Vaginal Itching, Scarring and Skin Fusing

Frances Marley — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:00:00 -0500

It began with intense vulvar itching that kept me up at night and caused me to scratch until I bled. My long fingernails were frequently caked with blood and skin as I clawed into bar soap in attempts to clean them.

It Happened to Me: I Have Fibromyalgia

Anna Hamilton — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 17:30:00 -0400

Some days, it feels like demons made of fire are gnawing on my muscles, or like knives are stabbing me in every major muscle and joint.

It Happened To Me: I Have Math Dyslexia

Alejandra Taylor — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:00:30 -0400

Since about fifth grade, math homework was an Olympic event in our household, complete with hysterical sobbing fits as I stared blankly at nonsensical columns of numbers that seemed to rearrange themselves each time I looked away.

It Happened To Me: I Have a Feeding Tube

Katie Lunsford — Tue, 29 May 2012 15:00:21 -0400

It hurt at first and it was uncomfortable to pump formula into my intestines. I dealt with clogs, pain and some infections from the new hole in my body.

It Happened To Me: Meningitis! Or, The Time I Became Mr. Burns

Wendy Heisler — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:00:26 -0400

We may have the brains to invent the wheel, but at the end of the day we're just water and soft tissue; sometimes all it takes is a stranger to sneeze in your direction to screw it all up.

It Happened to Me: I Couldn't Stop Peeing

Diane Shipley — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:00:20 -0400

Some people spend Christmas with their family. Others slump in front of the TV. This last Christmas, I mostly just peed.

It Happened to Me: My Birth Control Gave Me a Pulmonary Embolism

Sarah La Due — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:00:12 -0500

“Isn’t this bizarre?” I asked doctors in the hospital. They shook their heads and informed me that they regularly encountered otherwise healthy young women with blood clots, almost all caused by birth control.

It Happened to Me: Dirty Sex Got Me Hospitalized

Jenny Laws — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:00:08 -0500

My boyfriend and I are filthy. Unfortunately, so were his feet.

It Happened To Me: I Have Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Or Brittle Bone Disease)

Barbara — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:00:29 -0500

I am fragile enough that where you will sprain an ankle, I will probably break it in two places; where you tripped and took the landing on your wrist, I crushed the end of my radius.

It Happened to Me: I Learned to Love My Scars

Julie Sachs — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:00:09 -0500

I was born with a rare condition called craniosynostosis, which caused one of the sutures (soft spots) of my skull to close early. As is with many children diagnosed with craniosynostois, my skull grew in a lop-sided fashion.

I Almost Died When Doctors Didn't Believe I Was Sick

Sarah — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:00:08 -0500

It was not PMS, you dicks.