People With Chronic Conditions! What Was Something You Thought Was "Normal" To Deal With Until You Got Your Diagnosis?

If you have a chronic condition, you know that the symptoms can range from classic to complicated. You might be well-acquainted with common symptoms like tightness or tingling (or maybe not!), but even for people who've been diagnosed for what seems like forever, there are still some symptoms you might think are totally normal for years.

Peter Dazeley / Getty Images, Salah Uddin / Getty Images

So, I want to know: what chronic pain thing did you think was "normal" until a diagnosis told you otherwise?

Maybe your symptoms crept up on you, like a frog-in-boiling-water type situation. If your condition started small but grew until you literally don't know any moment without some sort of pain, this is the place to open up about it.

Maybe you have something like a herniated disc, POTS, Crohn's disease, endometriosis, or arthritis. I want to hear about it.

Maybe you suffer from something like sciatica, and chalked your pain up to aging, or even to being too active. Perhaps you're a server or teacher, on your feet all day, and figured it was just a lifestyle issue...until you finally saw a doctor. Tell me about it!

Perhaps you have flare-ups that range from shooting pain for a day or two to tightness that can last for weeks. What made you decide to seek treatment?

Or maybe it's something I haven't even thought about. Everyone experiences pain differently, and I want to hear about your experience. Whatever you'd like to share — from what you thought was normal to how you had your moment of revelation to if, or how, you've gotten help — I'd love to hear about it in the comments down below. You never know who you'll be helping!

Or, if you want to write in but prefer to stay anonymous, you can check out this anonymous Google form. Who knows — your answer might be included in an upcoming BuzzFeed article!