20 Heart And Health Red Flags That Deserve Serious Attention

It’s very easy to shrug off health problems today. Sometimes it’s easier to move forward with an injury rather than take the time to get it checked out. Let’s be honest, it’s really hard to find the time to get to the doctor, especially with everyone’s busy schedule. But what if we told you that a simple headache can mean a bone disorder, or that your stomach ache after eating could be a serious deficiency. Here are 20 red flags in health that deserve your attention.

1. Your headache could mean something much worse.

“A headache that you can immediately tell is different than others you’ve gotten. I speak from experience. I had a headache in one exact spot on the top of my head, then every few days it would feel like it was moving around. It lasted a full month, and I chalked it up to stress until I woke up with complete hearing loss in one ear and vertigo. A month of testing later, and I was diagnosed with Osteomyelitis; a bone infection, in the skull. Four months of antibiotics via PICC-Line to cure it.” – u/thebrianj

2. If you’re feeling weirdly thirsty, it may be diabetes.

“I had diabetes for a over year before I got diagnosed because I ignored the symptoms. My main symptoms were unexplained weight loss and drinking a stupid amount of water. When I finally got diagnosed the doctors were shocked that I wasn’t in a coma yet. Lesson learned: just go to the doctor.”
– via reddit

3. Sharp pains in your chest from eating fast food could be stones in your gallbladder.

“I used to have horrible pains after eating greasy food when I was young (13-17). After those silly years, I cut out fast/unhealthy food for the most part and lost a ton of weight. Anyway, 3 or so years later, a buddy of mine wanted to go get fried chicken. Told him I didn’t want to, as fast food made me sick. Went anyway, ate, things were cool. Woke up at 3AM feeling like I was having a heart attack, with a horrible pain in the left/middle of my chest. Decided to hang tight until a clinic was open to call first at like 9AM. I am not a smart man. Went to the ER, had an EKG and no heart problems. Ended up being my gall bladder looking like a beanbag just full of stones. Had surgery, was back to work in 2 days and fully functional in less than a week.” – u/asdaaaaaaaa

4. Consistent chest pain may mean a hole in your heart.

“For me it would be chest pain. I had this since I was 13 and then one day it became unbearable. Went to cardio then bam, Rheumatic Heart Disease. One prescription only: Losartan. But I had to go to the hospital for monthly shots of 1.2 million units of Penicillin. Fast forward to December 2014 (I’m 17 by then) I had this same chest pain from when I was 13. Consulted a different cardiologist and then whoa, turns out I have only two holes instead of three in my tricuspid valve so that’s a case of Congenital Heart Disease. And now I’m a candidate for valve replacement and I’m only 18. Had to stop college for this sadly.” – u/kapre-korn

5. Pins and needles in your hand could mean something more serious.

“I woke up one morning and my right hand was numb, like pins and needles. I knew I hadn’t slept on it wrong because my neck/shoulder/back all felt fine. I started thinking “Did I have a stroke?” but didn’t do anything about it right away. By noon I was having some trouble with my right leg. It was weak and I felt like I had to be careful when walking. By 2pm my handwriting went bad, so that’s when I went to the ER. They did a CT and MRI, and the next day they told me I’d had a mild stroke. A week later my vision doubled, so I went back to the ER. They said it was an “extension” of my stroke. About a month and a half later all my symptoms came back even worse. Went back to the ER and they did another CT and MRI. Turns out I never had a stroke. This was the onset of multiple sclerosis.” – u/MrsNuggs

6. Moles or beauty marks that change in color or shape need attention.

“I had a mole on the back of my left index finger that was the same size and color for the first 27 years of my life. Woke up one morning and noticed it had gone from it’s normal color to a very dark red. It even appeared to be a little larger, probably inflamed. Went to the Dr 2 days later, it was turning into some kind of melanoma. they removed it and it’s all good now.” – via reddit

7. If you’re feeling unusually tired it could mean a thyroid problem.

“Was too tired to go to school for a whole week in the 7th grade. Turned out to be hypothyroidism. If untreated you can gain all sorts of weight, and it’s really hard to take off. Also your eyes can start to get bulgy. Gotta find that sweet balance of hormones to keep your metabolism up.” – u/firewashing

8. Gums bleeding every time you brush? It may mean you have gum disease.

“Bleeding gums. Your gums shouldn’t bleed. It can be an early sign of gum disease.” – via reddit

9. Lumps under your stomach are no joke, get them checked immediately.

“My father in law had an abdominal hernia that caused his stomach to be in his lung cavity and his esophagus to bend like a drain trap. His only symptom was constant heartburn. They only discovered the issue when they performed an endoscopy and hit the curve. My father in law only realized something was really wrong when he woke up on the table with the doctors trying to get the camera around the curve.” – u/sinyk7

10. A dark, thin line running down your nail could be serious.

“A dark line that runs down your fingernail. Could be a sign of malignant melanoma. Which I have the dark line, known as melancholia. I’m having trouble getting into a dermatologist to have it tested.” – u/smw89

11. Numbness in the face or arms and slurred speech could be a stroke.

“Sudden numbness or difficulty moving one arm, numbness or difficulty moving one side of the face, and/or difficulty with speech/slurred speech. A lot of people recognize this as weird, but do not act immediately, maybe try to, shake it off, or rest a little or wonder if it’s a muscle spasm or what-have-you, when they should be acting immediately. The person having these symptoms is extremely probably in the beginning stages of a stroke. Emergency services should be contacted immediately.” – u/habefiet

12. If you hit your head and have any kind of dizziness after, go to the ER immediately.

“This is important. A kid I went to school with fell off the bottom rung of a ladder and hit his head on the tile floor, an ambulance was called but he insisted he felt fine just a little dizzy, maybe a minor concussion. He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.” – u/condensation_jilly

13. Pain in the left arm could mean you have heart problems.

“Seems obvious but chest and arm pain. I had a co-worker who dropped dead from a heart attack at work, turns out he had been complaining to his wife for the past week how he kept waking up at night to his arm hurting. He attributed it to sleeping on it weird and shrugged it off, if he would have gone and got checked he would still be alive.” – u/thedustin

14. Frequent blurred or spotted vision.

“Blurs and/or changes in your vision. Mine turned out to be malignant melanoma on my retina. Melanoma is not just limited to your skin.” – u/missyakamistress

15. Snoring can mean, or lead to more serious problems.

“If you have really bad snoring, and you’re also frequently tired, you might have sleep apnea, which puts strain on all of your body’s systems. It can lead to high blood pressure, depression, worsening of ADHD, headaches, or even to stroke or heart failure/heart attacks. Get a sleep study, and if you’re Rx’d a CPAP, use it. I know it’s annoying, but the benefits are worth it.” – u/washichiisai

16. Pink scum on your toilet, regardless of cleaning it every day, could mean diabetes.

“So if your toilet is growing weird pink stuff in it, despite you cleaning it everyday, that can be a warning sign of diabetes. Found that one out yesterday.” – u/spaceflora

17. Insanely itchy legs and feet could mean the extreme.

“My wife randomly started complaining that she had a hard time sleeping because of itchy legs and feet. We checked for bed bugs, got her tested for allergies, etc. The specialist said it was eczema once sores and bruises began to surface and not heal. We saw them every other week for like 8 months and every visit was, you’re not using enough lotion/cream, using too much soap, you didn’t throw away your fragrances. Only because she began developing clockwork fevers and night sweats did we think to seek a second opinion. It turned out to be Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Now she’s celebrating her 5 years in remission.” – u/doctoko

18. Sudden sensitivity to spicy foods is worthy of a doctor’s visit.

“Becoming intolerant of spicy food, or food in general very quickly and vomiting from it. This happened to me perhaps 5 years ago, despite only being in my young 20’s. At first I foolishly thought it was normal and my lazy inactive lifestyle was catching up to me, and that I needed to be more careful about what I ate. But then I started to vomit every couple of days no matter what I ate or drank. When I finally got an appointment with a GI specialist, it turned out the issue was a severe case of ulcers blocking much of the path from my stomach to my intestines. Because I waited so long to visit the doctors, I ended up needing surgery to fix the problem, and I was in the hospital for almost a month.” – u/shadowliberal

19. Acid reflux can lead to more serious problems.

“Acid reflux. Common precursor to esophageal and gastric cancers that are silent killers. Minimal to no symptoms, patients frequently present with liver or lung failure and live just weeks past diagnosis. See a GI doctor for a check up annually if you have it!” – u/iamaradar

20. Craving ice as a snack could mean you have low iron.

“Craving to eat ice. Go get your iron levels checked. Or, just buy iron pills over the counter and see if it goes away. It sounds crazy, but this was the only symptom I had. I take iron supplements now and can feel the difference in energy when I forget them two nights in a row.” – via reddit