I am a Medical Abomination

L. Spiro · 2013-12-24T18:28:16

Topic header may be exaggerated. I have some kind of condition that does not interfere with daily life (and would advantageous if only I was the fighting type) so it isn’t a big deal, so I am really just seeking answers out of curiosity. It took about 20 years before I realized I even had this condition. Working at Pizza Hut part-time I had to wash some dishes and I filled the sink with water that was at just the perfect temperature to bring my condition to light. Being right-handed, I put in the dishes with my right hand. Temperature was hot but not bad. Then I grabbed the sponge with my right and pulled a dish out with my left. Temperature was overwhelmingly hot. I retracted my left hand and said, “What the fuck, did the water just suddenly get 20 degrees hotter?” Hesitantly I put my right hand back. Temperature was hot but not bad. Then my left. Temperature was scorching. It was the first time my subconscious understanding that things on my right half feels less than on my left became a conscious understanding. Looking back I realized that since birth I would always put my right side forward to take a blow, be it from a kick, punch, whatever. I guess until then I always just thought, “The right side is the natural side for taking a hit.” The same applies to pain and cold. When I was still consciously new to this realization I switched an ice cream cone from my left hand (due to being too cold) to my right hand and suddenly thought, “Oh crap, it’s not cold at all; I better eat it before it melts.” Since then I have gone to several doctors to have it examined. A CAT scan showed nothing in the brain (not no brain, just a brain with no contents (that’s a joke, for you see, I joke, by conjuring up jokes via the contents of my brain, of which there are none)) and one doctor did some ad-hoc tests but concluded I was simply making it up (though his tests were off the top of his head and I am not sure how they could be conclusive, since getting wrong answers means you are faking it, and getting right answers means you decide to answer in a way that allows you to fake it). Another doctor took it seriously and did a lot of tests but came up with no answers. Basically no doctors I have met know what this condition is. I posted on a medical forum about it and about a year later a woman replied saying she had the same thing, except it was her left side that was tougher. She also posted things I did not post but that I have observed as well (which I did not consider being related). She gains no muscle mass on her weaker side, just as I do. I do push-ups often, and while both arms are doing the same amount of lifting only my right side actually gains muscle. She also said her left side gains fat more easily, which is true of my right side, though I have only had a BMI over 14 in the last few years so I hadn’t been able to notice until recently (and it’s still not that easy to notice). Apparently this condition exists, but there is no name for it through my own research, and at best it seems to be very rare. However I am definitely not alone: http://www.healthboards.com/boards/neurology/883313-left-side-body-feels-more-pain-than-right-half.html You will note that no actual doctors or medical practitioners replied. Also she was not the one who had it on her left side; that was another person who was yet another example that I am not alone. My questions are: Does anyone else have this? Note that you may need to experiment to really notice it, because growing up with it I never noticed until my hands went into that perfect range of water temperature where the difference was between comfortably hot and painfully hot. Does anyone know about this and have a name for it? If this is really an undocumented medical phenomena, should I be submitting myself to medical studies for the sake of making new medical discoveries? This affliction covers my entire body directly down the middle from head-to-toe. The brain switches sides at the base of the skull, meaning your left brain controls your left face, but your right body, which suggests this is not at all related to the brain. I am guessing this is not in medical databases for 2 reasons. More people may have it than they know, because it took me 20 years to finally realize it, so many cases simply go unreported. Even if you have it, it’s not typically seen as something to report. It’s advantageous, not something you want to cure. As frequently as I go to hospitals, it is nice to know that all I have to do is tell them to put the IV in my right arm and I am instantly free from the “this will sting a bit” they always suggest. I am instantly free from 50% of the pain caused by accidental bumps and bruises. When I was a kid taking a whipping from a branch or belt I simply put my right cheek forward to take the blows and then went on my way, letting them feel convinced they had somehow punished me. So it is really only out of curiosity in pursuing this. How does one pursue this anyway? If I want to have some doctor “discover” this “new” affliction. L. Spiro

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Started by L. Spiro December 24, 2013 02:33 AM

9 comments, last by kseh 11 years, 1 month ago

kseh

3,998

December 24, 2013 06:28 PM

Differences in pain would probably help map out what parts of your body are affected but perhaps you should try to discover other symptoms and look for connections between them. For example the muscle development thing. Is there any connection between muscle development and the nervous system that might provide a hint of where to look?

I am a Medical Abomination

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I am a Medical Abomination

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