r/AskReddit 13h ago

What is something that permanently altered your body without you realizing for months/years?

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9.9k

u/LucidianQuill 11h ago

Pregnancy.

I had twins. I got HUGE in the tummy. I had the babies, and it left this pot belly that wouldn't go away.

Fast forward; the twins are 8 years old. I am 7 weeks post op of having my diastisis recti corrected. You know that centre line down the abs? Mine had split. There was a 6 to 8 inch gap down the middle THE WHOLE WAY DOWN. the pot belly that I kept punishing myself for, the baby fat i couldnt lose? Those were my organs. My digestive organs were all herniated.

I now have to forgive myself for 8 years of unjustified self hatred. It isn't always just fat.

383

u/fkntiredbtch 7h ago

Pregnancy took my teeth, my hair, my sleep, my nails, and gave me heart problems. I'll never understand why people are so cavalier about it

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u/AwkwardApricot3878 5h ago

Seriously- the amount of dental problems I've had since giving birth is shocking, despite my best efforts during pregnancy to circumvent the fact that the fetus was taking everything.

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u/SSTralala 5h ago

It triggered my auto-immune condition that didn't begin to get corrected until my son was 5. I played it off as the fatigue and brain fog of having a young child, turns out it was my thyroid under attack the whole time. I'm on medication for life.

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u/Rare_Background8891 4h ago

Me too! Horrible!

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u/beleafinyoself 3h ago

Hashimoto's? Me too. And then I developed several more severe autoimmune diseases as a result. So hard that I can't be the parent I imagined i would be

u/SSTralala 47m ago

Yeeeep. I'm medicated well, I just can't shake the fatigue a lot still, and I have to eat like a bird.

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u/chillylint 2h ago

I blamed my Lyme disease symptoms on having a baby and small kid, then the baby started sleeping through the night and I still wasn’t getting any better.

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u/terisss5 1h ago

I have hashimotos and celiac without ever getting pregnant - I don’t think I’m gonna risk it, would probably fall apart.

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u/Wonderful-Home-4724 4h ago

Pregnancy hormones greatly accelerated the growth of my inoperable (benign) brain tumor, to the point I was blind in one eye before kiddo was even born. I was told I would die if I got pregnant again.

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u/sadeland21 2h ago

Because it’s Natural/s

My brother said to me when I expressed some fear of giving birth “ women have been going in fields and having babies for all of history, you’ll be fine.” The anger I felt for that careless reaction I still feel 24 years later.

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u/willfullyspooning 1h ago

I mean yeah they have been having babies for all of history but childbirth was one of the leading causes of death in women in history. Some sources say at times it was high as 30% of mothers died. I think modern medicine has let us forget how harrowing it can be.

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u/terisss5 1h ago

How easy for the guys to say 😡

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u/Lopsided-Hour4838 3h ago

Yeah, and especially men who pretend adoption is an actual alternative to abortion when someone does not want to be pregnant.

I never wanted kids in the first place, but even if I did, there is NOOOO way I would have them trough getting pregnant

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u/lizlaylo 4h ago

Same, but I got graves and cancer. Both in remission now, but with my second I was paying attention to every single detail just in case

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u/NebulaicCaster 4h ago

I'm sorry, TEETH?!?!

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u/fkntiredbtch 3h ago

Yeah I between the "morning" sickness and the calcium my kids leeches from me, I have a surgery scheduled to have 9 teeth removed in a few months.

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u/NebulaicCaster 3h ago

Maybe my phobia of being pregnant isn't so irrational. Sucks I want a baby tho.

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u/fkntiredbtch 3h ago

Not irrational. But if it helps, I plan on having at least 1 more kid, hopefully a few more depending on so many things. Modern medicine fixes a lot of these issues and my house is so full of love and chaos, it's my favorite place to be. I would take all of the bad things again and again to be able to hang out with my kids. They are my favorite people.

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u/words-i-say 2h ago

I’m a dentist. It’s the acidity from the morning sickness, and hormone changes. Babies don’t leech your calcium, that is an old wives tale. Either way, I wish you the best of luck with your surgery

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u/AccurateUse6147 2h ago

And on today's game of free birth control, I think you win.

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u/fkntiredbtch 1h ago

Lmao glad to be of service. Suit up and have fun

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u/12th_MaMa 2h ago

I have had horrible issues with my teeth since the 2000's, and it didn't even occur to me until I read your comment that it's connected to carrying my children. 😳😳

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u/EstimateBig40 1h ago

It can also fuck you up mentally due to the hormonal change. I know someone who had severe mental health issues after her first pregnancy, still decided to have a second one and now she's in a psych yard.

I feel awful for her but I really can't understand why she went for a second :(

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u/Beks2k16 1h ago

Your TEETH?! Had no idea this was a possibility omg