Ever had what you consider to be a life changing experience?

frank1985

Being diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome

Taking Mescaline in my back yard on a hot summer’s day...beautiful experience

Winny_Pooh

Some negative ones but the huge one is a positive one:

Started meditation almost by accident 15 years ago. Became teetotal and also fixed most of my mental health issues overnight. Sorted out lots of unanswered questions, my doubts about life and set my moral compass straight.

thomasross20

Some sobering stories here. 
Very sorry to hear them.

blobb

Had a mystery virus when I was 8.

Spent 10 days in hospital, critical. Remember Mum telling me that when we arrived on the first night they rushed me to surgery suspecting something nasty. They wheeled me into the lift, then put a hand out to stop mum getting in "I'm sorry, you can't come" and the doors closed. She said that almost finished her there and then, watching your sick child taken away like that with the very real possibility you won't see them again.

I struggled for 10 days, nothing worked, I was deteriorating fast. All I really remember was seeing relatives and everyone buying me toys. It's only afterwards that you realise why they were doing that.

Long story short, the consultant said to me on day 10 - we have no more options (we had already had some Professor of tropical medicine from London have a go) so I've asked a friend of mine who is the only registered homeopathic doctor in the country to try.

He handed me a small potion, I drank it, and went home 2 days later.

[Before I was discharged, and this is the life changing bit, they asked me if I had been 'to the toilet' that day. I said no, then for some reason realised I had indeed visited the toilet that day. Too late, suppository administered! - with me screaming no, honestly I have been to the Loo, honestly, why won't you believe me...??!!?? ]

So I pulled through that one.

Fast forward a good few years, I smashed up my shoulder on a ski trip. Only it wasn't just my shoulder that was damaged. Nobody bothered to examine the rest of my neck at the time (don't get me started on what I think of the NHS). They missed a serious neck injury which unbeknown to me had affected my central nervous system, changed my behaviours and awareness of the world and eventually lead to me losing pretty much everything in life including my wife who I loved dearly, my house, my job and worst of all, my two spaniels which still makes me cry every day.

I tried to rebuild until a serious car smash pretty much finished the neck job the ski accident started.

So 7 years after the car crash here I am. Sitting at a computer desk with severe concussion and a shattered life. Wondering what might have happened if I hadn't drunk that potion

At least I've still got my guitars eh?

chillidoggy

Waiting for a thread-trumping response from DaLefty.

Emp_Fab

Mine is trivial compared to many others experiences, but for me, it was life-changing.  The completely unexpected descent into what I now refer to as 'madness'.  It started, totally out of the blue, in September 2011 with a sensation of a lump in my throat that wouldn't go away.  I remember being only a little bothered about it, but as time went on and it wasn't going away, I began to worry a little.  I ended up having a nasendoscopy, which found nothing, but the lump was still there.  This was diagnosed as 'Globus' (a harmless muscular issue), which, to me sounded like a "Well, we can't see anything else, so it must be this" diagnosis.  The sensation started to spread to my oesophagus, and now I was getting seriously concerned, but my GP didn't seem that bothered.  He referred me for an endoscopy.  Winter 2011 was hell.  Slowly, I became convinced that this might be cancer and I was in deep trouble.  My anxiety levels went through the roof, much like @Musicman20 's and that triggered all sorts of real, physical symptoms, which just added fuel to the flames and created a vicious circle of anxiety, stress, corresponding physical reaction, more anxiety etc.  I started bleeding from the back end, which as you might imagine, didn't help matters.  I was put on the waiting list for an arse-oscopy as well.

I remember being unable to sleep for more than a couple of hours.  Waking at all times of the night and trying to calm my racing mind by drinking loads of chamomile tea and laying on the sofa, listening to guided meditation videos on YouTube, trying to control my panic - which by now, it had turned into.  FFWD a few weeks of this hell and I ended up, on Feb 4th 2012, in the coronary care unit, having had a very real heart attack.

Things went semi-ok for a while - the lump in the throat went, but not in the oesophagus.  They wouldn't do the endoscopy for another six months as there is a risk for heart patients.  Eventually, they did it and found a hiatus hernia, which was likely causing acid reflux, which was likely the cause of the lump in the throad and the sensations in my oesophagus.  The arse-oscopy was normal.

NOW.... I'm post heart-attack and everything seems to have settled down.  Then, one day, I'm happily cooking dinner, and feel a sharp pain in my chest.  Oh-oh.....  It's not going away....  As I'm now acutely aware of anything in my chest that might be heart-related, I'm on the phone to 999.  A&E, chest x-ray, blood tests etc etc.  Nothing wrong with my heart it turns out, BUT - "we have found a shadow on your lung".  "Take these antibiotics and we'll xray you in a six weeks to see if it's just a chest infection".  Lung cancer was, and still is, my greatest fear, my uncle having died from it a few years previously.  Cue several more weeks of anxiety, chamomile tea, meditation videos, sleepless nights.  The follow-up appointment letter never arrived.  After some chasing, it turns out I was never put on the list for the second x-ray, but they would put me on now, but I couldn't jump the queue and would have to wait another six weeks !!!!!  Around this time, I was made jointly responsible for a large national project my company was piloting, so more stress.

I booked a holiday, and two days before, after endlessly haranguing the hospital, I eventually got my follow-up x-ray.  The consultant said he would phone me with the results the same day.  He did.  Clear.

However, contrary to what I expected, I didn't immediately shed myself of all my anxiety and jet off for a week in the sun, but mentally imploded - despite the good news.  I think by this stage, I'd lost the ability to have a handle on things.  I missed the holiday (and lost the money too as I hadn't got around to getting insurance at that point) and spent a week recuperating mentally.

I'm sorry this has been such a verbose post for a comparatively trivial story, but I've always been a windbag !

Health anxiety is a bastard.  What really doesn't help is the stigma attached to it.  The old name for it is 'Hypochondria' - which was always used in my formative years to pejoratively describe a shallow, self-centred fool.  Even to this day, that attitude persists - and even within the medical profession.  

I am, however, eternally grateful to have been spared the tragic experiences many others here have had thrust upon them.  I cannot begin to imagine how you could cope with that.  My heart goes out to you all.

ourmaninthenorth

Personal stories are never trivial Emp.

usedtobe

There’s a line in a Rodney Crowell song  that goes, “Prison bars imagined are no less solid steel.”

Musicman20

Emp_Fab said:

Mine is trivial compared to many others experiences, but for me, it was life-changing.  The completely unexpected descent into what I now refer to as 'madness'.  It started, totally out of the blue, in September 2011 with a sensation of a lump in my throat that wouldn't go away.  I remember being only a little bothered about it, but as time went on and it wasn't going away, I began to worry a little.  I ended up having a nasendoscopy, which found nothing, but the lump was still there.  This was diagnosed as 'Globus' (a harmless muscular issue), which, to me sounded like a "Well, we can't see anything else, so it must be this" diagnosis.  The sensation started to spread to my oesophagus, and now I was getting seriously concerned, but my GP didn't seem that bothered.  He referred me for an endoscopy.  Winter 2011 was hell.  Slowly, I became convinced that this might be cancer and I was in deep trouble.  My anxiety levels went through the roof, much like @Musicman20 's and that triggered all sorts of real, physical symptoms, which just added fuel to the flames and created a vicious circle of anxiety, stress, corresponding physical reaction, more anxiety etc.  I started bleeding from the back end, which as you might imagine, didn't help matters.  I was put on the waiting list for an arse-oscopy as well.

I remember being unable to sleep for more than a couple of hours.  Waking at all times of the night and trying to calm my racing mind by drinking loads of chamomile tea and laying on the sofa, listening to guided meditation videos on YouTube, trying to control my panic - which by now, it had turned into.  FFWD a few weeks of this hell and I ended up, on Feb 4th 2012, in the coronary care unit, having had a very real heart attack.

Things went semi-ok for a while - the lump in the throat went, but not in the oesophagus.  They wouldn't do the endoscopy for another six months as there is a risk for heart patients.  Eventually, they did it and found a hiatus hernia, which was likely causing acid reflux, which was likely the cause of the lump in the throad and the sensations in my oesophagus.  The arse-oscopy was normal.

NOW.... I'm post heart-attack and everything seems to have settled down.  Then, one day, I'm happily cooking dinner, and feel a sharp pain in my chest.  Oh-oh.....  It's not going away....  As I'm now acutely aware of anything in my chest that might be heart-related, I'm on the phone to 999.  A&E, chest x-ray, blood tests etc etc.  Nothing wrong with my heart it turns out, BUT - "we have found a shadow on your lung".  "Take these antibiotics and we'll xray you in a six weeks to see if it's just a chest infection".  Lung cancer was, and still is, my greatest fear, my uncle having died from it a few years previously.  Cue several more weeks of anxiety, chamomile tea, meditation videos, sleepless nights.  The follow-up appointment letter never arrived.  After some chasing, it turns out I was never put on the list for the second x-ray, but they would put me on now, but I couldn't jump the queue and would have to wait another six weeks !!!!!  Around this time, I was made jointly responsible for a large national project my company was piloting, so more stress.

I booked a holiday, and two days before, after endlessly haranguing the hospital, I eventually got my follow-up x-ray.  The consultant said he would phone me with the results the same day.  He did.  Clear.

However, contrary to what I expected, I didn't immediately shed myself of all my anxiety and jet off for a week in the sun, but mentally imploded - despite the good news.  I think by this stage, I'd lost the ability to have a handle on things.  I missed the holiday (and lost the money too as I hadn't got around to getting insurance at that point) and spent a week recuperating mentally.

I'm sorry this has been such a verbose post for a comparatively trivial story, but I've always been a windbag !

Health anxiety is a bastard.  What really doesn't help is the stigma attached to it.  The old name for it is 'Hypochondria' - which was always used in my formative years to pejoratively describe a shallow, self-centred fool.  Even to this day, that attitude persists - and even within the medical profession.  

I am, however, eternally grateful to have been spared the tragic experiences many others here have had thrust upon them.  I cannot begin to imagine how you could cope with that.  My heart goes out to you all.

Heck dude! Feel your pain! That’s some rough time you’ve had. The mind is crazy.

LuttiS

Going through personal hell is still hell..

Heartfeltdawn

Been hit by a drunk driver in 2002 when out walking. It knocked me out and mentally and physically crippled a friend of mine. It took seven years for the insurance company to settle his compensation case (several million quid). In the meantime, I had an undiagnosed brain bleed that lasted for seven years. The last two of those were awful, chronic fatigue was regular, horrible pain. I had several doctors tell me that I was psychosomatic or depressed over my divorce. Eventually the brain bleed got worse and the carotid artery occluded and cut off the oxygen supply to the right side of my brain. I collapsed and was told by a senior consultant the next day that by all metrics I should be dead. One year of rehab commenced to rebuild my vocabulary and numerical skills (the guitar took longer). 

Losing so much mental ability (albeit temporarily) forced me to be more logical and more organised. It was a great thing. It's actually only now that I feel totally musical again in terms of creating new stuff. I've started working with Ableton and Reaper properly and I'm really enjoying it. 

Emp_Fab

....and I wouldn't mind betting the driver got a 12 month ban and a suspended sentence.

The more stories I hear about doctors' misdiagnoses, the more you realise that the NHS isn't this incredible thing we should all be proud of.  The concept - yes - but the way it's been run into the ground with a lack of resources to provide a good service makes me angry.  How many times have you heard "The doctor said it was probably just x, but in the end it was z" ?  At no point in my experience was the concept of health anxiety even mentioned...  all I got was unbridled irritation from several GPs.  Even when I had my heart attack, the GP tried to make out that I had brought it on myself through excessive worrying.  Even while I was having the heart attack in A&E - I was largely ignored and repeatedly told that they didn't know what it was.  After half an hour they decided to get someone to come down to A&E from Cardiology.  The chap took one look at my ECG and said "You're having a heart attack - we've got to get you into surgery immediately".  That delay could have cost me my life... as it is, I can only surmise that it certainly contributed to the death of 20% of my heart muscle.  I'm also of the opinion that had the medical treatment of my mum been more attentive and focused, she would still be here.  Her death was avoidable and she died in their care.

Heartfeltdawn

A ban, yes. And a fine for leaving the scene of an accident. When he was picked up by the cops 7 hours after the incident, there was a human sized lump in his windscreen and he was four times over the drink drive limit. Not cool. 

stickyfiddle

Not quite on the level of some here, but I moved to the Middle East and changed careers almost 5 years ago. Utterly terrifying but positive on the whole and has definitely been a great adventure throughout. NOT how I expected life to turn out having grown up in a small town in Norfolk...

On a less positive note, celiac diagnosis was significantly less than fun. It requires a massive shift in attitude towards food and is frankly miserable at times. 

Emp_Fab

@Heartfeltdawn He was four times over the limit SEVEN HOURS AFTER??!!!

Heartfeltdawn

@Emp_Fab Yep. He claimed he must have hit a pheasant. He lived in a small village where some of my friends lived, one of whom being coincidentally a police officer. He'd come home with a fucking great dent in his car and parked it in a hedge to cover over the dent. Sadly there was no investigation strong enough to prove that he'd been drunk at the time of the accident, only that he was pissed after it. The cops didn't follow up on any pub investigation. So driving ban and a sub £300 fine was the result. 

Compensation case for my friend went to the very top and lasted seven years. His insurance company finally relented 10 minutes before I was meant to be in court as a character witness. Fuckers. 

PC_Dave

I've had a few things happen over the years, but one that has changed the way I am was a road rage incident. I used to be relatively arrogant whilst driving, and one Sunday evening a chap pulled across the front of my car, causing me to slam the brakes on. I undertook him, gave him the bird and few honks of the horn and carried on my journey. He followed me, flashing his lights and throwing various gestures at me, to which I returned the favour. We pulled up to a set of traffic lights on red, he got out of his car, ran over to mine and started kicking the shit out of the side of my car. He went absolutely bat shit crazy, then he opened my door and tried to rip me out of the seat (whilst I still had my seatbelt on!) - He was screaming at me and punching me, saying he was going to kill me. I genuinely believed him! All of a sudden he stopped, casually walked back to his car (where his wife was quietly sat in the passenger seat, having witnessed the whole episode), and he waited for the lights to change. I got out, took a picture of his number plate, and then pulled somewhere safe to call the Rozzers (who I worked for at the time). Next morning I was in the Station giving a statement, (also 4 people had called in to say I was being attacked at the time), so he was arrested at work the following Friday night and he got to spend the night in Custody. He was charged with GBH & Criminal Damage the next morning. I pressed charges, he denied them all, so it went to court. He had caused nearly £2k's worth of damage to my car, so I went to court looking for compensation from him. I waited in court all day while he fucked about, and only when the 4 witnesses turned up to give evidence, he settled out of court.

I was convinced I was going to die that night, so now when driving I never, ever get angry at anyone. I only ever use the horn if absolutely necessary. Life is too short to get angry at people - it's not going to change the way they drive, so why waste the energy!

Emp_Fab

+1  Leave the morons go on their way - and out of yours.   Content yourself not with remonstrations but with the knowledge that you are the better driver. 

thing

Some serious stories here. Had pretty much a charmed life really. Got a dodgy prostate, apparently not cancer but they keep checking, knackered knee, pretty much de rigeur for my age and a pacemaker after my doctor told me a resting heartbeat of 25 isn't entirely normal and I was dying. I thought I was just laid back.

My life changing moment really was having the pacemaker fitted (on my 60th birthday, what a present) as apparently I would have been dead in short order if I hadn't had it. Which is pretty life changing as I would have been dead. if you get my drift.

Funny thing was I was far more concerned for worried loved ones than my own mortality. Having never been faced with immiment death before I was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn't fear it, it was more the weighing up of the downsides and the advantages. Downside being the distress it causes loved ones and the upside being you don't have to get up for work anymore. Which was nice as I now live life with a tranquility and peace that I didn't have before.

My heart goes out (along with the batteries) to those of you who have suffered greatly in life.

thing

Some serious stories here. Had pretty much a charmed life really. Got a dodgy prostate, apparently not cancer but they keep checking, knackered knee, pretty much de rigeur for my age and a pacemaker after my doctor told me a resting heartbeat of 25 isn't entirely normal and I was dying. I thought I was just laid back.

My life changing moment really was having the pacemaker fitted (on my 60th birthday, what a present) as apparently I would have been dead in short order if I hadn't had it. Which is pretty life changing as I would have been dead. if you get my drift.

Funny thing was I was far more concerned for worried loved ones than my own mortality. Having never been faced with immiment death before I was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn't fear it, it was more the weighing up of the downsides and the advantages. Downside being the distress it causes loved ones and the upside being you don't have to get up for work anymore. Which was nice as I now live life with a tranquility and peace that I didn't have before.

My heart goes out (along with the batteries) to those of you who have suffered greatly in life.