‘I Ate a Kilo of Licorice’: Patients Share the Wildest Secrets They’ve Only Told Their Doctors

The doctor's office is supposed to be a sanctuary, a place where you can share anything without judgment. Still, admitting our most embarrassing or unusual habits can be daunting. In a recent online forum, someone asked, “What’s the strangest thing you’ve confessed to a doctor you’d never tell anyone else?” The responses that flooded in were a raw, humorous, and deeply human look into the secrets we keep.

Strange Cravings, Serious Clues

Many of the most surprising confessions involved bizarre physical compulsions that turned out to be symptoms of underlying conditions. One user admitted to having an "overwhelming urge to chew on ice and smell wet concrete." They thought they were losing their mind, but after some bloodwork, the doctor delivered a diagnosis: severe anemia. A few iron pills later, the strange cravings vanished completely.

In a similar vein, another person confessed to eating a full kilogram of licorice in one week. The bizarre diet had an unexpected side effect: for the first time in their life, they had nearly normal blood pressure. Their doctor was shocked, stating, "This is NOT the way we want to treat your low blood pressure!" These stories of pica (the craving and chewing of substances with no nutritional value) highlight how crucial it is to report unusual symptoms, as they can be a direct line to a correct diagnosis.

Confessions of the Mind and Spirit

Beyond physical symptoms, users shared deeply personal struggles with lifestyle and mental health. One of the most upvoted stories came from someone who finally admitted their true level of drinking. To friends, they'd say it was "around 4 standard drinks a night." To their doctor, they finally confessed the reality: "it was around 15 to 20 standard drinks a night." This moment of honesty was a turning point, and they are now one month completely sober with medical help.

The safety of the exam room also allowed for disclosures of deep-seated trauma. One person spoke about their childhood emotional abuse for the first time. When they told their doctor, "they never hit me," the doctor's simple reply—"they didn’t have to"—was a profound eye-opener. Another shared that after 12 years, they finally told their doctor about being groomed by a teacher at 16, feeling a massive weight lift from their shoulders.

The Hilariously Awkward

Of course, not all confessions were so heavy. Many shared moments of pure, unadulterated absurdity. There was the man who went to the doctor convinced he had three testicles, only to learn the third was a harmless spermatocele. And the 14-year-old who landed himself 36 stitches after trying to max out a leg press against his glass shower door using the bathroom scale. The door, he admitted, did not "just shatter."