Symptomatic: A Medical Mystery Podcast - Podcast Rankings and reviews

As a veterinarian and someone who has battled a chronic illness, I have always enjoyed medical mystery shows, podcasts, etc. I liked the show immediately, but when I listened to the fourth episode about Shelby’s story, my jaw was on the floor. She was literally describing my exact experience with debilitating chronic fatigue (even down to the same initial “trigger”). I had pursued a diagnosis for years, but after normal blood tests, inconclusive sleep studies, and countless doctors telling me that my symptoms were “probably psychological,” I felt hopeless and thought that I was destined to be exhausted for the rest of my life. While I am still waiting for an official diagnosis, implementing the basic non-pharmaceutical treatments for POTS (increasing salt/water intake, using compression stockings, etc.) has helped me so much that I was able to stop taking prescription stimulants to stay awake. While I obviously relate very personally to this particular episode, every episode does a great job of conveying the seriousness of the medical ailment while still maintaining a sense of hope and positivity for other individuals battling with similar symptoms.

How lucky the vast majority of us are to wake each day with a healthy body. This podcast will make you grateful for your own good health and open your eyes to the many mysterious ways your body can fail you. Moreover, it will introduce you to the strong men and women who suffer from these maladies and to those who dedicate their lives to finding a solution.

I love these types of documentary style podcasts but find it frustrating when they’re not updated regularly without explanation. I hope more episodes are coming soon. This is one I would definitely continue listening to. Very interesting and love the host’s voice.

It’s a well done show and thorough. However it is billed as science based medical mystery when in reality it’s more of a talk show dealing with feelings and emotions of the subjects instead of the science and intrigue.

If you are in to Lifetime network more than Discovery Channel, check it out, but if you want true medical mystery, look elsewhere.

I thought I would like this podcast, but it feels so overproduced and contrived. Music is fine on a podcast, but the music they chose is way over the top and too loud in relation to the person’s voice, I agree very much with the person that said this podcast has a lifetime movie type feel and it’s not a compliment. I could over look the music if the content was interesting or compelling, but it’s rather dull and the repetitiveness of how painful it was and how much the person persevered makes it boring and redundant, plus there’s not a whole lot in the way of explaining the medical side of conditions, diseases, etc. I’d skip it unless you like lame and cheesy, emotionally manipulative lifetime movies, but it’s a hard pass for me.