It's important to listen to your body and to take care of yourself.
It's inconvenient to miss work or school or to cancel plans when we're feeling sick. Doctor visits and medical treatment can also be costly, so it's no wonder that we tend to ignore when our bodies need attention
It's also easy write off your gut feelings of danger as just paranoia, and to tell yourself "that would never happen to me."
But Redditor u/ferrisjuulersdayoff asked people about times when when they legitimately thought they were going to die, and many willingly shared their own stories of when a common ailments almost became deadly or times when they were unexpectedly ended up in dangerous situations
20. Thank goodness Crohn's is manageable
"I was just diagnosed with chron's so like, recently when I kept having diarrhea and losing weight for a couple months and didn't know why"
19. Horrifying visual
"My mom and I were going to visit my friend on christmas night a few months ago and out of nowhere the windshield shattered. Glass everywhere, i was fine because whatever hit the car hit the drivers side. I looked over and my mom had glass all in her hair and mouth, she started spitting it out and it scared the crap outta me. I thought we were being attacked."
18. I'd rush myself to the hospital
"I was about to pass out for the first time. First my arms and legs went numb and I started to get really dizzy. My vision was kind of like closing in and I was really warm. I remember clenching my fist to try and get my hands to work again and lifting my shirt up because it felt like i was overheating. I thought I was going to die so in the end I was laying do on the floor for about 10 before feeling fine physically but shocked."
17. Tickling makes me panic too
Giphy"One time my dad (i think) tickled me, but at one point i didnt have the air in my lungs to say stop and i felt like i was legitimately dying. It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, the cloud that got over me as i basically gave up is one of the scariest things i will ever experience."
16. Also, never isolate yourself if you're choking
"I choked on a small piece of meat. My mother attempted to do the heimlich maneuver on me, but was to freaked out. She later told me I was turnig blue.
Luckily I remained rather calm, pushed her away and without thinking stuck my finger in my throat (which you should never do while choking) and hooked it out.
I saw my life flash before my eyes but I wasn't gonna give up that easily."
15. Ever feel like you're going to die from a work out?
"First time i did a pha excercise regiment. Heart was pounding so hard. I could not catch my breath. Had to lay down on the gymn floor to stopp.."
14. Look both ways
"Got hit by a van jaywalking. At the moment of impact I was like 'Well ****, this is it.' Opened my eyes and was across the street fine, save for major road rash."
13. Supraventricular tachycardia
"I'm a little late to this party, but one time when I was 19, I misread a bottle of energy pills called Black Ice. Long story short, took some, went into SVT. (I didn't know what that was at that time.) But I got rushed into the ER and given Adenosine. And had a cop come in and accuse me of doing drugs."
12. I wonder what they found...
"ive had chronic headaches (at a 7+ out of 10) 24/7 for the last like three years. the first time i had an appointment with a neurologist he sent be straight to have a brain scan. i was ******** myself thinking i had a brain tumour."
11. Is this person a superhero?
"When I fell from the 6th floor P.S I didn't even break anything,I fell on my back and on the way hit one branch with my back when I fell in my eyes everything was red in the end I went home and walked like a penguin I passed so 4 months.I was 10 years old at the time"
10. Norovirus and heart cramps
"Caught Norovirus a few years ago. I didn't realize how bad it could be before it struck.
No fluids would stay in for more than a few seconds. I ended up really dehydrated almost overnight. Like if you pushed on my skin it would stay sunk. I couldn't move or any muscles would full cramp - legs, jaw, arms, abs - all of them.
I didn't think I would survive. At the very least thought my heart would cramp.
But I got over it after five or six days.
I can totally see how it kills old people though. If I was any less averagely healthy for an adult male, I'm sure if be dead."
9. Pneumonia is serious
Giphy"My third round with double pneumonia. Put into isolation on round the clock oxygen. There's just something about such severe oxygen deprivation that you get dizzy and hack up a lung just crossing a room to pick up a book that makes you certain the end is coming"
8. An unpredictable spouse
"Woke up immediately wide awake in the middle of the night without moving and the hair standing up on the back of my neck because my now-ex-wife was standing in our bedroom holding a large kitchen knife and staring at my feet. She had had a schizophrenic break a few months earlier and had started referring to me as 'the enemy.' I laid there without moving. She stood there for over an hour. Have no idea how long she was there before I woke up. Anyway, she leaves the room and comes back without the knife, gets into bed, and cuddles in little spoon style like she made a decision. Then she made me waffles for breakfast. Best believe I put on my best 'oh wow, amazing wife. These waffles are yum' voice."
7. A threatening party goer
"Some **** pulled a revolver on me while at a party. Turns out it was one of those decommissioned ones with a cemented barrel and cylinder, but I didn't know at the time and it was ******* scary."
6. Good thing their sister was there
"When I had migraine with aura for the first time. I didn't even know this was a thing. But It started with the worst migraine I ever had followed by me losing my sight and becoming dizzy and feeling sick. I thought this was it. I told my sister that I thought I was gonna die. She told me she has those migraines too, brought me a pill specifically for these migraines and told me to sleep. She stayed with me until I woke up just to be sure. Scary as hell"
5. Medical emergencies when you're on a trip are the scariest
"I was on vacation this past summer, was staying at a friends house, when i started to notice my chest feeling tight, i started to get a fever and feel sick, i threw up and the feeling in my chest started to expand, it felt like it was going to explode, like a balloon beind inflated inside me.
I couldn't stand it, i literally felt like at any moment my heart would give out or my chest would explode, went to the emergency, turns out i had a really bad gall bladder attack. But on the drive to the hospital i was tellling my wife how much i love her lol and that if she remarries dont let it be anyone we currently know hahaha."
4. Hope the pranksters got suspended
"We had a lockdown at my school. Teacher didn't know what was going on. We heard a loud series of banging sounds as we huddled in the corner, and we all started texting our friends and family goodbye. I remember my mom sending me photos of our cat to try and help me stay calm, I can only imagine how terrifying it must have been for her. I really thought I was going to die. As it turned out there was no real threat, it was a stupid prank. I don't know what the banging sound was but it was probably chairs moving."
3. Two very different near death experiences
Giphy"Either when I was moments away from drowning at nine years old. I'd gotten to the stage of acceptance and overwhelming love and compassion. I accepted my fate, wished my family well and was ready to embrace death. Next thing I knew I was hacking up water at the side of the pool. No one helped me. No one got me out and I don't remember how I got there.
Or the day I discovered I have a severe allergy to codine. Took some co-codamol for a headache that day and by my first lesson in school I couldn't breathe. Felt like my body was shutting down internally."
2. Grandpa saved the day
"I got left in a hot tub as a kid and the jets pushed me towards the center where I couldn't stand up. All I remember thinking was 'Someones gonna have to do CPR on me and that's gonna be really gross.' My godfather noticed me and yanked me outta there while my mom was yelling at everyone asking who left me unattended in the hot tub. It was her."
1. Some car accidents have nothing to do with the driver's actions
"Car accident few months prior, hit a stationary car on the highway going over a hundred kmh, wheels locked up due to slippery road, thought it was over for me within that few seconds, but miraculously both me and the other person got out with minor injuries."
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.