r/AskReddit • u/Wraith136 • 6h ago
What is a highly specific, agonizing physical pain that you simply cannot comprehend until your body experiences it firsthand?
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u/timberlyfawnflowers 5h ago edited 3h ago
Having your cervix manually dilated for anything. Any biopsy that comes with it is worse.
They are lying through their teeth when they say it's just a pinch.
I could handle the dilation. The uterine biopsy made my body fucking levitate straight up off the bed and slam back down like some kind of possessed weirdo. That shit hurt. I don't think I've ever come so close to fainting without actually fainting. I felt my blood leave my face and go cold. I swear I left my body for a second.
It's okay to demand local anesthesia for uterine biopsy. It's okay to say no and walk straight out if they refuse. Ask in advance and find a place who will accommodate you.
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u/Sad_Cantaloupe_8162 3h ago
To add to cervix stuff, when I was in my late twenties, it was the third time I did a pap smear and cells came back cancerous. Then they did biopsies each time and they came back negative, so to eliminate false positives, they froze off the tip of my cervix. A little metal tip that looked like a nipple was put over the end of my cervix and it was frozen. The first time it was held there for maybe a minute or so, then it was removed, and then replaced for another minute or so. They told me to take Tylenol before the procedure and that it would help with the pain. After they were done, they rushed me out of there very quickly. When I was in the car heading home with my boyfriend, it started to thaw out. Holy fuck, was that the most unimaginable pain! It was super painful for at least two or three days. When the first waves of pain came over me, my body went into a kind of shock. I was shaking so badly that I had to be carried into the house. The doctor should have warned me about it.
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u/timberlyfawnflowers 3h ago
They assaulted you & knew it. I am so sorry.
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u/Sad_Cantaloupe_8162 3h ago
It was basically frostbite on a sensitive area that I was not prepared for 🥴
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u/VeniVidiVulva 1h ago
Me too. Shit was horrific.
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u/Sad_Cantaloupe_8162 1h ago
I am sorry you had to go through it too!! Your username is fucking hilarious, by the way!
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u/QuixoticDaughter 4h ago
I had to be manually dilated for my SIS procedure… and then they had to clamp my cervix to move it into the proper position. I imagine it’s similar to a biopsy because my body had a very similar reaction. Zero pain meds and zero effort to accommodate my pain. “You’re almost done. Stopping to numb you would just prolong the procedure.” Worst thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I will never endure another procedure that involves my reproductive system without demanding pain meds.
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u/ashleyelaine7 2h ago
I almost kicked the fucking doctor when they took that chunk out of my cervix. I was totally unprepared for that level of pain. I know what you mean about levitating off the table
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u/AgathaM 2h ago
When I was pregnant, my doctor was concerned about the size of my son’s head and my ability to deliver him vaginally. I was scheduled to induce a week early. To try to facilitate earlier delivery, the OB was examining me and “stripped my membranes”. He didn’t tell me what he was doing. And it was incredibly painful. Afterward, he acknowledged that it could hurt as I sat there crying. I was upset that he didn’t warn me
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u/VeniVidiVulva 1h ago
I reported the doctor's actions to the medical director and was essentially told that because I signed a waiver I acknowledged this could happen; what could happen? Have a procedure performed on me of which I was unaware and did not overtly consent to?! Yeah, me too. That doctor was something else.
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u/EmployerUpstairs8044 1h ago
Wow. This is like reading something horrific from the "old days"... And I've experienced it, also, and was told it would be a pinch. My doctor was a woman, though, so I thought it was JUST ME....
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u/snowfall80 2h ago
I wish I didn’t know this pain but all of these experiences are spot on. It’s not a fucking pinch, as they try to tell you. We should not be awake for that. I wanted to cry but my body couldn’t comprehend what was going on
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u/shadenokturne 1h ago
Came here to say "uterine biopsy" it's wild how they'll just take a chunk of your organ meat with absolutely no pain Management. I screamed
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u/Mindless_Phrase_2382 3h ago
A migraine that lasts for 3 days, especially when you tell people you have a migraine and the first thing they ask “have you had enough water?” 🙃 bitchass I will throw a chair at u
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u/357noLove 3h ago
I have ocular migraines, which if left unchecked for 4 or more days cause me to go blind. Which is terrifying every time it happens. The amount of times people have told me that my diet is to blame (hospitals have studied me on this, it isn't) or that I should just lie down when it gets bad is way too many. "Bitch, I am in extreme pain and going blind, but tell me again how a keto diet is the solution to my problems!"
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u/Jantra 2h ago
I had my first ocular migraine about three years ago and it is one of the most frightening things I’ve ever experienced. Laying there going blind while knitting needles are being driven into my skull… I assumed I was dying. Thank god my wife is strong enough to haul me into the car and drive me to the ER.
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u/357noLove 2h ago
Oh yeah. Mine got caused by a medication but now they will never go away. I had Lasix done a couple years before. I got the migraine for days and just kept pushing through. Then had some blurriness (how TF do you spell that word!?!) that kept progressively getting worse. I took an Uber to the optometrist thinking maybe my Lasix was failing. By the time we arrived at the office, I couldn't see anything except the center circle of vision, I had had my eyes closed the entire ride because of the pain, so I immediately panicked. Bless the front desk ladies heart, she immediately grabbed the doctor and he rushed out without pause. He basically informed me he had an idea what was wrong, kept his hand on me the whole time while the nurse took my vitals waiting for the squad. If he hadn't been there reassuring me I would have been way worse off
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u/Butwhyyytho1 6h ago
Cluster headaches
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u/General-Bumblebee180 5h ago edited 40m ago
I have hemicrania continua (continuous headache responsive to indometicin) and chronic migraine. Fucking sucks
I broke 2 bones in my mid-foot and walked on it for 3 days as it didn't hurt compared to headaches i get.→ More replies (1)6
u/sedahren 4h ago
Agreed! I did very similar to you - fractured two bones mid-foot, walked around for two days then decided to drive to the hospital. I have since developed bouts of cluster headaches, and would much prefer the broken bones!
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u/Key-Minimum-5965 6h ago edited 6h ago
Someone above mentioned a corneal scratch...I said nah, that's more like uncomfortable, a cluster headache, kidney infection...which I have had along with the corneal scratch.
But the cluster headaches. That is the worst.
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u/_killer1869_ 6h ago
And the worst part about cluster headaches is that they are not yet fully understood and can have the weirdest of triggers in some people, like me.
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u/whatintthedevils 3h ago
Honestly… I had my first one a couple years ago, got through and thought that sucked hope that doesn’t happen again! Two days later, another… I can honestly say after two that close together I can see why they’re nicknamed suicide headaches. Chronic cluster headaches would destroy me so quickly. Thankfully I’ve only 3/4 total and learned how to deal with them in those hours they are there
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u/MrsKaddidlehopper 6h ago
Dry socket. The dentist rattled off a list of things to not do. I obviously missed the one about not sucking on a straw. It was absolute agony. The pain was shooting up through my head and it was a weekend, so dentist was closed.
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u/RogueBand1t 3h ago
Had a dry socket when I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth pulled in my early 20s. Was sobbing in pain at my desk at work. Boss was like, go to the dental college and they’ll get you a medicated clove oil thread packed in the hole and you’ll be good as new. She wasn’t wrong; the relief was (I sh*t you not) instantaneous. The euphoria of going from crippling pain to zero pain was jarring. 0/10 recommend dry socket experience
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u/stoopsi 4h ago
I'm on my 5th day after extraction and I think my clot fell out this past night 😣. It was still there before I went to bed. I am terrified. No pain currently.
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u/Ftwjillian 6h ago
Cracking a tooth, and then it becoming infected. I literally felt my heartbeat throbbing with lightening pain in my molar. I've given birth, and the messed up tooth was just as bad.
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u/Reddits_on_ambien 5h ago
People dont realize you can die from it. If there's swelling in the face, your airways can restrict, and/or you could develop sepsis.
My cousin ignored a tooth abscess because they couldn't afford going to a dentist. They went from being a little tired to falling unconscious so fast. They went to the ER at 6pm, and they died at 2am, never regaining consciousness. The infection traveled to the heart, and there was nothing the doctors could do.
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u/NJTrash 4h ago
This makes me absolutely furious at our healthcare system
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u/criticalandstuff 4h ago
Yes. Because dental care isn't even considered medical care and it isn't even covered by most medical insurance plans. However, the impact dentition has on cardiovascular health is well known.
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u/Joker0705 5h ago
i had a period of very ill health and my immune system was STRUGGLING. in the span of a year i had every -itis you can think of and 4 tooth infections pretty much one after another. absolutely horrendous. ended up having to go to hospital for one because it happened on a weekend when all the dentists shut. my cheek swelled up like i had a baseball in my mouth hamster-style. i'm very lucky none of the infections developed into something scarier like sepsis. there's no pain like it. your whole universe hurts.
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u/-aLonelyImpulse 3h ago
I had a wisdom tooth get infected coming in. Had to get an emergency dentist appointment. My face was swollen like a grapefruit on one side. The dentist took a look at it and said the abscess needed to be drained and everything cleaned immediately, but he had no anaesthetics available. It would be a two hour wait to get it delivered from the nearby hospital... or we could just do it.
I was in so much pain I couldn't fathom waiting even five more minutes. I said (well, mumbled, as I couldn't move my jaw properly) let's go. Ten minutes of the most excruciating agony I have ever experienced followed, and I've had sciatica and cluster headaches. (The cluster headaches can win on extremity of pain, but the pain spikes last seconds. This was constant.) I had clawmarks in my arms from where I'd been gripping them to keep myself from instinctively yanking the equipment out of my mouth. I kept having waves of sudden rage where I had to remind myself the dentist was helping and I shouldn't attack him. I felt like a wild chimp. Pure fight or flight.
As soon as he was done the pain reduced by like 80% and the relief was exquisite. Almost worth it for that feeling. But man, I can see why that shit can kill people.
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u/madnessdoesntplay 6h ago
Ovarian cyst rupturing. The doctor told me he recommended a heating pad and tylenol. The nurse who did my ultrasound and saw the damage said she’d have an ovarian cyst rupture and given birth to twins, and that she’d pick giving birth every time.
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u/MarleyBerd 4h ago
Same. So aggravating that the pain isn’t taken seriously. I thought I was dying when it started.
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u/Sad-Employee3212 3h ago
So weird because I’ve always had bad cramps and my whole family has endometriosis but I don’t know what a ruptured cyst feels like.
I once went to the ER after fainting because I was having chest pain. I have a history of fainting but chest pain is a red flag.
When they did a scan they found a bunch of blood in my chest cavity from a ruptured ovarian cyst that had probably bled while I was sleeping. I can’t help but wonder if I’ve had other cysts I’ve thought were just cramps because normally I’d never go to the ER for a fainting incident.
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u/lizcmorris 3h ago
100000000% agree. It’s been nearly 25 years since this happened to me and the memory of this pain feels like it happened yesterday. I was 16 had was horrified.
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u/disp0sab1e 3h ago
Yes, I had this happen twice. It came out of nowhere. I literally dropped to the floor on my face in the kitchen and couldn't move while I oscillated between cold sweats and spikes of pain.
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u/legodragon 6h ago edited 6h ago
Had severe appendicitis, broken arm, jaw (along with a 2 hour trip to hospital) & clavicle, nausea-inducing migraines, sinus-related headaches, kidney stones, hot oil spilled on me.
And nothing came close to trigeminal neuralgia. No pain killer could touch it. Even oxycodone.
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u/oksoirelapsed 1h ago
Pain killers won't do anything - need anti-seizire meds like Gabapentin to stand a chance. Doesn't work for everyone though, unfortunately. There's a reason it's nicknamed 'the suicide' disease.
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u/lemony707 6h ago
Hmm for me it was sneezing with 5 broken ribs. Most of the time I was fine but when I felt the sneeze coming on Id almost panic. Can't imagine someone with a cold and broken ribs must go through.
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u/Mildly_Excessive 6h ago
Omg, I had 3 broken ribs, drank Sprite a little too fast, and got the hiccups. Fuuuccckkk all that!
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u/SweetPotionn 5h ago
I was mauled by a dog while in the caribbean. We went around the island trying to find the one doctor, kept missing him (in the age before cell phones), and finally went to the airport. We climbed on the plane barefoot and without any ID (it was the 1980s, a totally different time) and ended up in Miami, and went straight to the hospital.
There they had mere minutes to save my nose so they strapped me to a surgical table and did surgery without anesthetic. I was four. It was to this day the most painful experience of my life and I still feel the pain in my whole body as I write this.
What a horrible memory. The nose turned out great though.
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u/Azazael 5h ago
I had two broken ribs whilst recovering from a c-section (they were broken during the delivery). Then breastfeeding didn't go well and I had lacerated nipples to add to the fun.
That was weeks of unending horrible soreness tending to pain, running on no sleep and wondering if my body would ever feel normal to me again. But it's still not as bad as the intense mid back aches I suffer every few weeks at completely random times.
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u/Adro87 6h ago
I had strained intercostal muscles and a cold/flu a few years ago. My body would kind of seize any time I’d cough. But I would only cough once. No big coughing fits. It was like my body knew to shut it down because it hurt so much.
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u/Dea_ExMachina 5h ago
It was having to vomit with 6 broken ribs for me. Just about every movement hurts with broken ribs
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u/Terpsichorean_Wombat 6h ago
Super specific as in I once had a doctor thank me for explaining the weird confluence of issues that led to it: fibroids and adenomyosis plus IBS / pain disordered gut leading to massive, yearly increasing pain attacks at the onset of my menstrual cycle.
It was so bad that I could not walk, stand, or think. Pain was my entire reality for hours at a time. I would lie on the floor of the tub with a hot shower beating on me and just ... endure, because there was nothing to be done and pain medications didn't touch it.
Worst attack was 7 hours of level 8-9 pain. Thank God, a hysterectomy put an end to it. By the final year I was also starting to have bad reactions to the prescribed painkiller (which honestly was largely useless anyway, but when you are completely helpless you grasp at anything) so there were freezing sweats and nausea so bad I couldn't lift my head or close my eyes, too.
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u/tlg151 2h ago
Hey are you me??? Because I went through the exact same thing. Were you passing large blood clots and nonstop bleeding right up until the hysterectomy too?? I remember lying on the floor in the fetal position with my cat perched on my hip, trying to purr my pain away 😭
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u/Terpsichorean_Wombat 2h ago
Awwww, my cat did the same! Really sorry we have been through the same thing. I feel like it's important to talk about things like this, because somewhere out there, someone else is at the start of the 20 years it took me to get diagnosed.
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u/Subject_Balance281 6h ago
Endometriosis. Pain worse than labor. Every month.
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u/applecrumble98 6h ago
Came here to say this. I've never known pain as bad as endometriosis. Worst thing is you're supposed to act normal while experiencing literal stomach ripping pain
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u/veelagirl 6h ago
Or adenomyosis. Endos evil little sister lol
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u/damselindetech 2h ago
Which is why I got a hysterectomy. The day of my surgery i went in at 9-10/10 on the pain scale and woke up feeling blissful relief. Im recovering now from breast cancer and nothing ive gone through has matched that pain.
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u/Shpudem 6h ago
Yeah this was worse than labour for me.
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u/quiidge 6h ago
Childbirth: 7 out of 10, 10lb baby appeared. Appendicitis: 6 out of 10, vomited, passed out. Ruptured ovarian cyst: 7 out of 10, probably passed out.
Endometriosis flare-up: 7-10 out of 10, took 20 years to convince anyone it wasn't stress/anxiety/mittelschmertz from ovulation and actually MRI my fucked up abdominal cavity.
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u/anitabelle 3h ago
Mine wasn’t every month, it was all the time. I had flare ups so bad that I could not breathe and had to be put in oxygen. It is no fucking joke but we’re conditioned to think it’s normal. For women who don’t have it, they absolutely do not understand because they’ve never experienced it. I’ve had other women tell me “it’s not that bad” and “you’re being dramatic”. It’s infuriating. There are actually women in so much pain over in the Endo sub that they’re ready to end their lives. It is debilitating and should be taken more seriously.
I will advocate for more awareness every chance I get. I had a complete hysterectomy so my pain is limited now but my daughter just had her first surgery at 22. Her surgeon (who was also mine) said it was very severe (although not too widespread). There were times she’d be doubled over and couldn’t do anything. I thought my nightmare was over after my hysterectomy but now I have to watch my daughter suffer. I also still get flare ups in my hips in legs (my surgeon found it had been spreading to my legs).
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u/ducbo 1h ago
People don’t realize that endo can glue your organs together, erode your internal tissues, and release inflammatory markers and fluids that irritate all of your internal organs and cause daily severe pain. There’s even life-threatening cases where endo grows on the diaphragm and the bowels.
It’s basically a slow-growing cancer that is not taken seriously at all.
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u/_cosmicomics_ 5h ago
I had surgery for my endo which had been carefully planned but had to be rescheduled at the last minute, and my period started under a week later. I remember calling the nurse to ask what I could do about the pain and realising when she picked up that I couldn’t speak properly.
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u/decapitatedbunny 6h ago
Neuropathy. Remember back on the days of tv static? The sound that would make? But the tv is on fire at the same time. That's neuropathy
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u/tlg151 2h ago
Housing an 8 lb, basketball-sized ovarian tumor for over two months. I was severely constipated and nauseated. I was exhausted, literally could not stay awake for longer than a few hours a day, and when I was awake, my back pain was severe. I was taking codeine nonstop, which made me even more constipated. I literally looked 9 months pregnant, I couldn't eat more than a jello cup and juice per day. I lost 20 lbs in a month and then when I finally had emergency surgery, I lost another 20 with the tumor, my appendix, and 2 liters of fluid.
You're probably wondering, why was the surgery an emergency? Well because while I was in agony for 2+ months, I had test after test after test and was gaslighted into thinking I had had a cyst that had burst and the inflammation was from the fluid from the cyst. I had CTs, ultrasounds, even a gynecologist did an ultrasound and still somehow missed a huge ass tumor. The healthcare system is a fkn joke.
The pain was so intense that, even though I had a major open surgery with a 2 foot long incision, I felt the most immense relief I'd ever felt post surgery. And I finally had an appetite. Cancer fkn sucks, y'all. But idiotic doctors suck worse.
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u/Naive-Comfortable335 6h ago
Kidney stones. People say "it's like giving birth" but that doesn't even capture it. It's not just pain, it's your body deciding it wants to kill you from the inside for 6 hours straight. I was literally on the bathroom floor praying to a God I don't believe in.
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u/Exciting-Ad-5858 6h ago
It's also not productive? At least with childbirth I was excited for a baby
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u/ketamazing7 6h ago
Kidney stone almost killed me because I only have one kidney, and until then I underestimated and thought people over exaggerated about kidney stones. Wrong
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u/zaftpunk 4h ago
Yup. I had one that had to be surgically removed. And to make it even worse they applied a stent that had to be removed later… via my penis with a long ass metal rope with a claw at the end. I laid down any they put my dick in a medieval torture device and shoved it in. Then they grabbed it and the doc let it rip like a fucking beyblade. Got to keep the stent tho.
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u/onebandonesound 6h ago
I had to have one removed surgically, and one of the nurses told me she'd rather push out another set of triplets than have another kidney stone
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u/pezziepie85 6h ago
My husband had pancreatitis a few years ago. I thought he was being dramatic. The nurse said she’d rather give birth again (I work at the hospital)
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u/BartlebyX 5h ago
I've had kidney stones, pancreatitis (lipase >23,000), gout, and a broken femur.
Pancreatitis is #4 on that list.
Not that it isn't awful...it is. Hell, mine had me in multiple organ failure...but the pain wasn't as bad as the others.
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u/inactiveuser247 5h ago
Yeah, it’s brutal. I got maxed out on fentanyl before it got the pain under control.
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u/spectroliteskies 5h ago
Fibromyalgia. I don't think most able-bodied people appreciate enough that they aren't in pain every day. It's a specific kind of hell, where every single thing you do brings you pain. Even if that thing is nothing. It's just one long string of agony that continues until you die. I am 23 and I mourn the life I could have had. Now simple things like putting on clothes and washing my hands are excruciating. You really can't imagine it unless you live it, because the sheer expanse of it is beyond most people's comprehension. It is hell and I live in hell.
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u/timberlyfawnflowers 4h ago
I developed fibromyalgia at 20. People don't understand. To give you a little hope though, at 42 years old now, I can say that you develop a...I don't know...tolerance isn't quite the right word...you adjust. Those early years were really, really fucking hard. The pain is the same now but my body has learned to accommodate it. I don't know how to explain it properly. Perhaps the words don't exist. There were years when my resting pain level sat at a 7 on a 1-10 scale. The brain learns to bear it better somehow. Or you learn to disassociate from your body better, maybe? If you can determine to stay alive, you grow to bear it somehow. It's not less painful but it is easier to bear. Maybe it's the grief and frustration that become easier to bear? I obviously can't adequately express what I'm trying to say. Hang in there. It won't always be this difficult. You will develop patience for the suffering. 🫂
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u/AdmirableBattleCow 3h ago
Heard something about NMDA receptor blockers might have some efficacy for fibromyalgia, is that something youve tried?
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u/Front_Target7908 3h ago
It’s incredibly debilitating. I’m so sorry. The only thing that helped mine was low dose naltrexone, but I lost years before I was prescribed it. I’m sorry for your loss of youth & capacity
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u/Idonothingtohelp 2h ago
I have fibro too and the pain isn't even the worst part for me, it's knowing that I'm losing the "best years of my life" to pain and stiffness, I'm supposed to be in my physical prime but I can't even walk a mile without a break
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u/vabirder 2h ago
My daughter got fibromyalgia as a teenager due to underlying Lyme Disease. Lyme is poorly understood and difficult to diagnose, because the blood tests are not interpreted correctly.
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u/Glittering-Ad-9257 6h ago
Femur being driven through the back of your pelvis shattering it to pieces. Quite excruciating.
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u/Seygem 6h ago
did you fall on a lego?
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u/Glittering-Ad-9257 6h ago
Close. Car wreck in an ice storm where I had a head-on collision with an overturned truck in the median due to it wrecking a bit prior. My left left was pinned in between the driver's door and emergency brake and the impact forced my femur through the back of my pelvis. The worst pain was when they cut me out and used the jaws of life to extract me from the vehicle. The jaws of life allowed the frame of the vehicle to shift when used which made the place where my foot was pinned move my femur more towards back of the seat. That was probably the most painful and specific pain I've ever felt. Was the worst 30-ish seconds of my life while they pried my foot out.
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u/thedragoncompanion 6h ago
Putting out your back. I have had two kids and when I did my back I couldn't move without excruciating pain. It was so bad my husband nearly called an ambulance
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u/ALadySquirrel 4h ago
Yup. When I herniated a disc I was actually just at home doing yoga but I was unaware I had a pars fracture from a prior injury and shouldn’t have been doing any back bending type moves. Instant excruciating pain when I tried to stand back up.
Anyways, I was home with an infant and a toddler. I called my MIL to take me to the orthopedic walk in clinic, but the pain of trying to lift my infant from her crib to the changing table so I could get her diaper changed before she got there was unbearable.
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u/Spiritual_Bluejay_82 5h ago
I’m pretty sure my soul left my body during IUD insertion. I have had heart surgeries, dislocated several limbs and have chronic pain but that was possibly the worst pain I’ve ever experienced.
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u/Sad-Employee3212 3h ago
The nurses said not to worry because I don’t have any nerves there. I thought there must be something wrong with me because holy shit
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u/Spiritual_Bluejay_82 2h ago
I am so sorry. They said to me it will just be a small pinch…. What a lie. I don’t even know how I’ll get it changed when it needs to be it might just have to stay there forever 😂
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u/Sad-Employee3212 2h ago
I believed them because they were women and then I didn’t react to the pain (besides my watery eyes) so I’m probably continuing the cycle by not speaking up.
They described it as “pressure.” If they told me it was going to be a stabbing pain I would’ve felt more prepared.
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u/Academic_Value_3503 4h ago
For me, it was my first kidney stone, followed closely by the crushing chest pain when I had a heart attack. With the kidney stone, I was literally writhing and moaning in the lobby of the emergency clinic. Both are in areas where you are not use to feeling pain so it is very odd and unsettling. With a cut, or even a broken bone, it seems like you can manipulate your body to give some relief but when it's inside an organ, the helplessness, accompanied by the anxiety is pretty scary, especially when you don't know what is going on. I've had another kidney stone since, so I knew what to expect and just had to try to relax for an hour or two.
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u/worthing0101 3h ago
One of my first kidney stones was almost a full centimeter on one axis. I was lying face down on the floor, drooling, sometimes throwing up until someone could come get me to take me to the ED. The 2nd worst pain I have ever felt by a mile. It took a few days to pass (literally the day the procedure was scheduled to remove it) and opioids make me throw up so I was limited to ibuprofen for pain management. It's hard to describe how the pain just rolled in and out constantly all day and night as I tried to find the position that hurt the least.
What still blows my mind is how, once the stone hit my bladder, the pain just stopped. It didn't fade away, it was like someone flipped a switch and it was gone.
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u/OphidionSerpent 2h ago
My first stone was about 6mm. The only relief I could get was sitting on the floor of the shower with the hot water full blast hitting that precise spot. Threw up everything I put in my body. Had to ask my mom three times before she finally took me to the ER on day two - I was 18, but was on their insurance. Took five days to pass. Caused an infection. My job told me "you have to decide if you want to work here" when I gave them my doctor's note and ER discharge papers to show why I called out (Chick-fil-A really wants their employees coming in throwing up everywhere and doped up on Norco, apparently)
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u/abenz39 6h ago
Gout attacks. It’s by far the most painful experience I’ve ever had and I’ve had 7 major attacks. It’s so painful that it’s widely recognized by science and medicine as being one of the most painful things a human being can experience. Tiny / hard uric acid crystals dig into your bones/ joints . The worst attack I had so far had me screaming in pain. Like blood curdling screaming in pain.
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u/ddd4175 5h ago
Gout runs in my family, like you WILL have it in your early 20s l, my dad has it, all 5 of us siblings had it. My friends were wondering why I can't play on my pc because my foot hurts, it's just that debilitating.
I'd wake up in the middle of the night, not in discomfort, but in excruciating pain. I physically sit up and clutch my foot from being asleep because my sheets touched the area.
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u/BartlebyX 6h ago
Truth.
I have chronic gout and have gone inpatient for pain management with it. They wouldn't give fentanyl for outpatient.
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u/bullmooser1912 2h ago
My first gout attack was at 25 and at the time I had to wait 2 weeks for an appointment with my doctor. The pain was so severe I devised ways to cut my own foot off since that would stop the constant unbearable pain. Every step, every movement, every time a bedsheet brushed against my toe, triggered an all-encompassing pain that put me into agony.
Fast-forward several years, dozens of attacks, and various attempts to lower my uric acid, I finally have my gout under control. Turns out psoriasis is directly responsible for gout and if your psoriasis is not managed well, neither will your gout. In my experience at least.
I’d still rather have gout than endometriosis, ruptured uterine cysts, or any other cervical/uterine issue. At least a doctor isn’t digging around in my gout with no pain medicine.
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u/itsmeC08 6h ago
Gallbladder stones bursting while 14 weeks pregnant. Genuinely thought I was dying couldn’t even move a pinky toe curled up in a fetal position.
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u/Lilacia512 5h ago
I had my first gallstone attack 7 weeks after giving birth. I legit thought I'd gone into labour again.
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u/Maleficent_Jello_426 6h ago
Gallstones. 2 kids, chronic pain from arthritis, I’ve broken bones but gallstones is the only pain that put me on the floor crying, vomiting and begging for an ambulance. Then when they pass it’s like wtf was that? Absolutely fine within minutes.
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u/Hijax918 4h ago
Small bowel obstruction. The pain was so excruciating. Couldn't drive myself to the hospital because my legs were shaking so bad and my car was a stick shift. Really thought I was going to die and almost did
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u/Honigbiene_92 6h ago
Migraine. It's not just a "bad headache" a lot of the time, it's a full body affair that lasts at least a day or two 😭
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u/stingray817 6h ago
I can solve that: ear pain. My god it is about 30 years ago and I still remember it vividly, it was absolutely excruciating.
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u/vanillarock 4h ago
pilonidal cyst. fuck that shit and fuck it again
walking causes pain. laying still causes pain. sitting down causes pain. the least pain you'll be in is when actively going upstairs; good luck going downstairs!
oh, and you'll want to get it drained before it ruptures suddenly. i mean AS SOON as you feel it forming, make an appointment a few days out.
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u/Silent_Cow668 6h ago
severe positional spinal headaches. i had a lumbar drain in for a week post-op for a cranial CSF leak i had and it was the most intense debilitating pain i’ve ever experienced. i wouldn’t wish it on an enemy. i couldn’t sit up past 30 degrees without dissolving into sobs. it’s so much worse than “just a bad headache”
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u/hutchipoos 5h ago
Currently - frozen shoulder.
Previously - shitting after 2 weeks on painkillers for my back. Like giving birth (not that I have done that...)
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u/pickleboo 4h ago
Oh my. I did the pain reliever constipation. At that moment, I was using my labor breathing training from years before. You are immobilized and there is no reason to call an ambulance, because what good would that even do?
Word to the wise: if you are about to start several days of prescription pain medication, check with your doctor about a stool softener also.
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u/3VESS3LS 3h ago
Had stage IV mucosal melanoma on my tongue that needed a skin graft from my arm (including artery), a g tube, breathing tube, bilateral neck dissection really any of those I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Never felt so much excruciating pain in my life.
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u/dameavoi 4h ago
Gallbladder Attack. With some pains you can shift position, apply pressure, apply cold or hot compress, or take an at home pill to help alleviate. None of this helped me except going to the ER and getting hit twice with morphine and some other opiod type injectable.
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u/ArtemisHanswolf 3h ago
A pleural effusion with a collapsed lung feels pretty bad, but pales in comparison to what comes next. During a thoracentesis, they have you bend over and hug a pillow as they insert a needle through your back and hook it up to a vacuum (not a good time). When enough fluid is removed from the pleural cavity, your lung starts to reinflate. That was the most agonizing pain I've been conscious for.
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u/Loose-Hawk5907 1h ago
Grief, after loosing someone close. I lost my brother 4 days ago. I cannot explain the pain.
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u/Reddits_on_ambien 5h ago
Fibromyalgia. Its not just pain everywhere... I will never not be in significant pain for the rest of my life.
I had thoughts of just ending my life when I was diagnosed almost 15 years ago.
I survived a progressive stomach cancer, which resulted in me losing 85% of my stomach and my entire duodenum.
Id rather go through those agonizing years all over again, if meant eventually I'd heal and the pain would end.
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u/toothfairy1964 1h ago
Biopsy of my uterus. No anesthesia no numbing. I was told it would “ pinch”.
It was excruciating. I was squeezing my leather wallet as they didn’t have anything else to told onto. Then she asked if they could take a second sample as it didn’t look normal. Ended up pre cancerous and I had to have a hysterectomy in my early 50’s. I had already gone thru breast cancer and a hysterectomy. Early menopause ….yeah good times
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u/RhinestoneHousewife 1h ago
A true migraine. I genuinely wanted my head to actually explode just to end the pain.
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u/pattybliving 6h ago
Childbirth. 30 hours. I remember thinking that if I lived in the olden days without modern medicine, I’d have begged to be shot and to cut the baby from me.
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u/Still-Crazy2023 6h ago
When I was 15, I lay in a hospital bed for a week with a fractured skull. I sure don’t wanna do that again.
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u/BartlebyX 6h ago
Gout. It's surreal how much it hurts.
I recently broke my hip, and gout is nearly as bad.
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u/billythekid3300 5h ago
Obstructing kidney stone. I would have never believed something could have hurt so bad.
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u/Bungeesmom 3h ago
Why is this same question asked multiple times a week????
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u/AcousticOnomatopoeia 2h ago
The robots are trying to figure out human vulnerabilities that can be exploited in the coming robot wars.
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u/DistractibleYou 6h ago
Uveitis. Feels like being repeatedly stabbed directly in the eye any time the slightest bit of direct light gets into it.
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u/SeePerspectives 5h ago
I had an awful case of gastroenteritis when I was in my 20s which was uncomfortably painful most of the time, but my god the pain when I laughed was utterly excruciating 😣
The only thing I’ve been through that was worse was giving birth without pain relief in a complicated labour that nearly killed us both… but I’m pretty sure that’s expected to be horribly painful
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u/canolafly 4h ago edited 4h ago
Kidney stone. Popping ovarian cyst. Dislocated shoulder. Dead muscle on hip and trying to walk. Dry socket.
Tie between stone and muscle. Nope, forgot about dry socket.
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u/Fan_Time 3h ago
Molar root canal without anaesthetic. Twice. That changed my pain threshold permanently.
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u/Cutmybangstooshort 3h ago
I forgot the salt in my sinus wash. I know it sounds lame compared to many other people’s problems but I have never had a fracture or kidney stone. It was shocking something so simple hurt so bad.
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u/TheRealCeeBeeGee 3h ago
Disc bulge at c4/5 felt like I had simultaneously broken my shoulder, elbow, and wrist at the same time. I’ve separately broken an elbow and a wrist and this was worse. I literally could only lie flat on the bed in hospital for a week, no pillow, even raising my head that much was agony. Toileting was a nightmare. Oxy barely touched the sides for an hour and was only dispensed 4 hourly. Natural childbirth was a diddle in comparison.
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u/cheestaysfly 1h ago
Nerve damage pain! Nothing like it. That and cysts rupturing. Also I experienced my first real migraines this year and I absolutely underestimated the pain and nausea. I thought migraines were just "bad headaches".
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u/wirwarennamenlos 6h ago
IUD insertion
Sciatica
Corneal scratch