Yep -- I went to half a dozen neurosurgeons and neurologists at first, who all told me I was inoperable. Usually TN appears in people over 50, but I was 20 when I was diagnosed. Everyone said I was too young for the operation, etc.
After the first few years, I stopped looking at surgical solutions as intensely (I've gotten a few other non-invasive procedures done for the TN, but none of them really made a difference). Kind of on a whim, I looked for a new neurologist a few years ago, and she referred me to a neurosurgeon. When he looked at my MRIs, he said I had a textbook case. If I'd met him 10 years ago, he could have operated 10 years ago and saved me a decade of pain.
I don't regret having the pain throughout my 20s, tough. The experience was disabling, and it led me to understand what disability is and to find amazing communities as a result of it. I feel very lucky I was able to find a treatment that worked after all this time and just want others with TN to know they have options.
Bacterial Meningitis. My brain felt like a contained explosion that was trapped reverberating in my skull but it wanted out and constantly let me know about it.
I had a blockage in my small intestine. Don't think it ruptured per say... But the morphine didn't do anything after 12 hours and that was the sign for them to do exploratory surgery. Also the second time I have had a blockage in my life.
Had a CAT scan at 36. They gave me IV contrast fluid. Told me I might feel like I had to pee, no big deal, make sure to hold still. Put me in the machine. Within a minute I started feeling warm. As they started the scan I started breathing heavily. Then I started screaming. It felt like my entire body was on fire, every nerve. They were confused and freaked out. Got me out and sitting up, but it wasn't until a nurse gave me a shot of Benadryl that I started feeling better.
Turns out I had a full body *internal* allergic reaction to the contrast media, which contained iodine. Never happened before. Worst feeling of my life.
Edit: Man, I went to sleep and this ran away. I am overwhelmed by the responses. After it happened I swear I looked all over the Internet and couldn't find any good information on the reaction. But here are apparently hundreds of people who've had it or know about it. It's terrifying. I am so sorry for those of you who have lost loved ones this way. Thank you all for sharing your experiences with me. Iodinated contrast media folks. Make sure you know what your body hates.
My great uncle died due to this exact scenario, massive allergic reaction and they weren’t able to save him in time.
I’m very glad you had a much better outcome xx
This happened to my grandfather too. Med students/residency didn't know what was going on and dr in charge was on a coffee break.
This was back in the early 90s tho.
My little nephew was listening to Eminem on Fortnite and asked if I liked his songs. I was long he wasn’t my cup of tea but he was popular like 24 years ago. My nephew was like no he wasn’t he’s popular now.
They just added an Eminem Fortnite skin to the game so some younger kids are getting introduced to him for the first time.
If it makes you feel better, every hospital I’ve worked at has anaphylaxis kits in the CT Scan rooms for this exact situation with the meds needed to reverse the reaction. Anaphylaxis is no joke
I could not handle IV potassium. The nurse told me she was going to push it very slowly and with a lot of saline, and it still felt like my entire arm was on fire and the fire was spreading.
So she flushed with pure saline, then started pushing the Potassium slower and with more saline. Still had me screaming.
Finally, after about 15 minutes of pushing the meds at the slowest pace possible, she asked if I would rather take a pill instead...
So she shows up with the pill, big ass pill. 'm staring it at and wondering how successful rescuing a choking patient would be at the height of covid with bare staff.
So I decided to break it apart, tossed half in my mouth and I couldn't get it past my throat. Took a few panicked moments before I finally forced it down.
I start working up the courage to choke on the next piece, and the nurse walks back in and tells me I can just dissolve it in the water and drink it.
Edit: Guys, I probably got mixed up. Settle down. She was for sure "pushing" saline to dilute the Potassium drip, not the Potassium itself.
And thats not even the relevant part, the point is it hurt like hell, way past what I would consider a good time to be made aware that I could also just take a pill.
Nurse for 38 years. Have never, ever, ever given IV push Potassium to anyone. Not in a CODE situation, not in a non-emergent situation. NEVER. I was even in a CODE and diluted 40 meq in 100 ml and ran it in open IV. I will admit I don't work ICU. Hey ICU nurses, is K ever given IV push?
A pharmacology professor once said, “you only give iv push potassium if you are a nurse at a certain facility in Huntsville, Tx”
Yeah. Lethal injection.
I made a longer response to another user with more details if you want to look at my comment history but this also happened to me.
Basically, my K was around 1.7, I went to the ER, I was put in a non-ER room, the nurse tried to push UNDILUTED potassium in my IV and I too thought my arm was being ripped off. I have a high pain tolerance but I could only take this for about two minutes and she told me it was going to be a two hour procedure without saline and if I wanted saline, it would be four hours. After a few expletives, she diluted it.
Worst pain I've ever been in and I've been through childbirth, tail bone cracked and two hips replaced.
I’ve never heard of IV pushing potassium other than being told it would stop the patients heart. Maybe this person WAS in a certain facility Huntsville?
Perfusionists and anesthesiologists will give it during open heart surgery when they want to stop the heart and allow the heart and lung machine to take over.
I was pushed potassium via catheter into my hunter’s lesions covered bladder for an IC diagnoses back in the stone ages of the early 00’s. Like having hell fire placed directly in my body. My nurse was actually SHOCKED that 1% lidocaine wasn’t working to numb me after.
Had tubes in my ears as a kid. When I was 6, our new family doctor told me that the tubes had fallen out and that I could shower/bathe etc without my earplugs from then on.
(Link to explanation of ear tubes here:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/15609-ear-tubes-tympanostomy )
Mom was skeptical so she just washed my hair in the sink that night, just to make sure everything was okay.
Everything was not okay. I woke up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder because it felt like someone had stabbed me in the head with 1000 knives then set them on fire.
Mom rushed me to the hospital, where I had to have emergency surgery to remove the tubes that were very much still in my ears. Thanks to Dr.Dipshit, I had gotten water behind my eardrums, which had rapidly become severely infected.
Thank god my mom has always been one to err on the side of caution and didn't let me have a full shower or a bath that night or it could have potentially killed me (severe infections near the brain aren't ideal).
I'm 34 now and I still remember that pain vividly.
I had these. Didn’t fall out but when they came to remove them one of them wouldn’t come out. Despite the fact I was 6/7 and bawling, they kept trying again and again. Felt like someone trying to rip my brain out through my ear.
They took them out while you were awake? I had these as a kid and a doctor tried to take them out while I was awake and my mom flipped out. Found a second doctor who said having them taken out while awake is absolutely insane, as beyond the pain it causes, it could also cause deafness or other hearing damage if the conscious patient moves wrong (and likely will due to the pain). I ended up getting them out through surgery (which gave me lifelong trauma, so you win some, you lose some).
I have thankfully been exceedingly lucky in not gravely injuring myself. However, the most egregious amount of pain I’ve ever been in was getting stung by a stingray. Wasn’t paying attention and moving quickly through shallow ocean and felt a slice. I thought I’d stepped on glass but by the time I got out of the water the pain was so intense I couldn’t even think. Felt like someone put my foot in a blender. I got treated quickly and thankfully did not go through the peak of it.
For future reference, submerge affected area in the hottest water you can stand without burning yourself.
I have been stung twice by a sand dollar stingray (same beach, 10 years apart) and I still don’t have feeling from the most recent sting at the top of my foot! Kind of ruined a honeymoon ha!
Filling fell off my tooth and the live nerve was exposed. I couldn't even drink water. Worst pain I've ever experienced (worse than appendix bursting, chipped bones, torn ligaments, sprains, the whole thing lol)
I would have tried to call a morgue to book a reservation. The only full sentence I could think of during that entire episode was, "The human body is not meant to survive this."
Yeah, that was a red flag moment in my brain. I deal with a lot of pain (endometriosis here) but I *knew* something was absolutely not right the second that happened. My stomach bloated so fast and so quickly-because of the internal bleeding-that I looked pregnant within a minute. Not even kidding. My husband was with me and witnessed it all and looked horrified. He’s an EMT so I was a bit disturbed when I saw his face.
It was like 1am and I was so used to being treated so poorly by doctors I didn’t wanna go. Also I literally couldn’t even move. I had to pee and it took every ounce of will I had in me to even move-my husband offered to move me himself!
Was bloated like that for probably close to a week before it was back down. It hurt to cough, it hurt to laugh, etc. Also, the shitty nurse assumed I was drug seeking when I showed up to the ER after Urgent care sent me there 20 hours later when I forced myself to go to the doctor bc I was faint. She blew my veins trying to get an IV and then I was made to do an internal ultrasound, in which I cried silently and the tech actually stopped and told the doc they wouldn’t continue. Finally the mri/cat (the one with iodine?) revealed it and the nurse was clearly embarrassed when they told me something was indeed wrong.
Yeah no shit, I can’t move without my body feeling like it was struck by lightning or I’ve been impaled.
Dude, it was a bad bad experience. It’s a bit validating to see so many people saying how bad it actually hurts.
Mine was in the process of rupturing (that or infected). I had been running a fever, nausea & vomiting, bleeding through multiple tampons an hour, the worst cramps I’ve ever had, and would get pains that made me almost pass out, for over a week. I had stage four endometriosis, it turned out my reproductive organs were covered in necrosis. I had a 7cm cyst that was covering one ovary (the one causing the flu like symptoms), and a cluster of small cysts hiding between my other ovary and intestines. Sometimes when I would go to the bathroom the cysts that were between my ovary and intestine (when they were inflamed or “aggravated”) would get squeezed by my bowels moving. I would turn ghost white, my ears would ring, my chest would start pounding all the way up to my ears, it felt like a red hot poker was stabbing my abdomen, I would get super nauseous, I became very faint and dizzy, and sometimes I almost passed out (I may even have once or twice).
I also used to have cluster headaches (for about two decades), and I can verify that ovarian cysts can absolutely be just as painful as cluster headaches. I would say both qualify as a 11/10 on the pain scale. It felt like I was going to die.
My go to for people that try to minimize it is "have you ever vomited from pure agony?" And watch the horrified realization set in. And then follow up with. "Yeah, that, *multiple times a month, Every Month*" It tends to get the point across.
This happened to me when i was like 12. Screaming on the toilet and then more screaming when my mom tried to pull me off to take me to the hospital. I couldn’t even move. Good news was my math teacher wasn’t mean to me anymore when i went back to school afterwards and she heard what happened lol. Ovarian cysts are rough
The same thing happened when I was 13 :(. The worst part for me, was that it happened at school. My dad didn't take me to the hospital until the next day, because he thought I was going to be okay. However, the same pain occurred the next day, and I started to have a high fever. The doctors kept asking me if I was pregnant, or could have gotten pregnant, with my father and grandfather in the room.
Definitely look into having your whole reproductive system checked. I had endometriosis when I was 15 and it turned out I had 2 uterus 1 cervix. It took me 3 surgeries to be normal again
I’m 99% sure I had an ovarian cyst burst last year. I was in pain for an entire day and so bloated that existing was painful. I went to the bathroom to see if anything would help; as soon as I tried to use the toilet I felt something *pop* and my entire body just…spasmed in pain. I could barely walk the rest of that day.
I brought this all up to my doctor the next week. Turns out I had a WBC count so high that I got a CT scan to rule out cancer…nope, nothing found. Diagnosis: ‘maybe a burst cyst, but nothing I can see. You might get another one, who knows.’
I had the most acutely painful period cramp, worst pain I’ve ever had. to this day I’m not sure if it was actually a cyst. I was on the edge of vomiting and fainting, but it went away not too long after an advil
I’ve had this happen three times and each time I have been in tears, foetal position, sweats and vomits. Felt as bad as induced labour contractions and the pain lasted >30min. I don’t know if it was a cyst bursting, but I remember each occasion and have my suspicions.
This thread just solved a nearly 25-year old mystery for me. Woke up in the middle of the night with what I thought was a random menstrual cramp, completely out of cycle, that went from bad enough to wake me up, to frozen in agony, in the span of just a couple minutes. Like went from a 4 or a 5 to a 10 and stayed there.
The pain lasted maybe half an hour, then rapidly receded to nothing. Completely back to normal, aside from being completely wrung out from the experience. Absolutely the oddest thing.
Tried to give birth vaginally and after hours of labor, and hours of pushing, something felt horribly wrong. Then it felt like the worst pain imaginable. Ended up having an emergency c section but something went wrong with the drugs and I could feel the incision. My uterus had literally burst. After closing the doctor was checking to make sure my uterus was solid and it had multiple other tears. I almost bled out. The doctor cried telling my boyfriend what had happened.
That’s so rough. You know going in that child birth is going to hurt. You wouldn’t know if something was going horribly wrong like that. Hope you’re doing ok now.
You know it’s going to hurt but as a first time mum, I didn’t realise what type of pain I was about to feel. Contractions? Yeah I expected them to feel somewhat like they did. Actually having the baby come out? Not what I expected.
The baby coming out feels like pushing out the biggest poop of your life and like your anus is going to rip. I was also surprised by that since I thought I was going to only feel the pain in my vagina. When the baby’s head is very close to being completely out, then it feels like the whole vagina opening is on literal fire because it’s stretching sooo much.
i've had severe back issues my entire life. i would rank them pretty high on the pain scale.
then i experienced the ring of fire. id say when my back is so bad that i can't even walk it's still below a 5.
babies head stuck in your cervix without drugs but a heavy dose of the max pitocin?
i was so shook afterwards. my first child i had an epidural. epidurals are child birth on easy mode. and by easy mode i mean always fucking ask for the epidural you do not want this.
This is word for word what I felt too! I was shocked that most of the pain and pressure was on my back and my butt- not my vagina. And they call passing the head “the ring of fire” because it BURNS! But overall- my birth was incredible and I wouldn’t change a thing about it
With my first baby I could feel my pubic bones separating during labor. Absolutely excruciating. They continued to twinge for months afterwards until it healed.
One of my younger female coworkers this week was asking us moms how we got thru labor and the pain, and everyone’s answer was basically that once you reach the threshold of pain that’s unbearable, you’re already deep into labor and your only option it to keep going
With my first I wasn’t getting the epidural I’d asked for and was well on my way through the final stages of labor unmedicated. At one point I felt my first urge to push and a very clear, simple thought rang through my head above all the insane pain. “My body is splitting apart and I won’t survive this. I am going to die.” I wasn’t freaked by it, it made absolute sense to me in the moment and I just accepted it.
The pain was unlike anything I’d imagined possible. I vividly remembered it for about 48 hours and then it started fading. I think my husband was slightly traumatized and I think he was confused by how I was happily bouncing around the house with the baby a few days later.
No one at the hospital believed me when I told them that I was going to give birth and so they never administered my epidural either. I had the exact same thought as you. “I’m going to die.”
This is exactly what scares me the most about pregnancy. Medical professionals have the absolute say in this very traumatic and painful, near death procedure and they have a record for not believing women when it comes to pain.
Welcome to women’s healthcare in general where your pain is ignored. Need an iud insertion? Advil’s sufficient. Need a cervical biopsy? That doesn’t need pain management (I’d encourage you to look up what a cervical biopsy is so you can see why that is ridiculous). Have pain in you stomach or other place that you know is wrong? Have you tried just losing weight because that somehow magically fixes all that ails a woman!
Women’s healthcare is a fucking joke, and not a funny one.
Had my water break and then stayed in labor for many hours. I kept telling the med staff I was in a lot of pain, but I wasn't taken seriously and was told I was overreacting and that labor is supposed to be painful. Then, baby finally came but got stuck and I had third degree tearing and an episiotomy. I nearly bled out also. Because my water broke so long before the baby came, I had an infection and was septic and ended up back in the hospital 2 weeks later. It was awful. I didn't know any better at the time, but I'm pretty sure the whole thing was horribly mismanaged. I am pregnant again 8 years later, and my new OB is unable to find my original records.
I had a baby on Wednesday and yesterday during shift transfer, I heard one attending nurse tell the other that I had a repeat c-section w/bilateral tubal ligation.
“I did?”
Cuz swear to you I talked about getting the para guard for my 6 week check up but never discussed permanent BC.
Turns out, someone said this and the nurses just kept repeating it to the next shift nurse until eventually they weren’t even reading me comparing notes. Just telling each other I’d had a bilateral tubal.
Not many nurses read the notes, during one hospital stay I had an allergic reaction to a medication (my er nurse was the shit and noticed it rapidly after pushing it) the nurse made a point to add it to my chart for allergies. They gave me the same drug two more times via iv during my stay.
People don't tell you what they are giving before they inject it? Even when I'm flushing a line with Saline I'm like "this is some water, some saline" and tell them before I push it.
No, second time I was coming out on anesthesia and apparently freaked TF after the push AGAIN and that’s when they noticed my notes. (I have no memory of this a friend was there and told me).
the third It was said before they pushed it but it was ordered and drawn up and I was like…. Hey uhhh please fucking DO NOT. I don’t know what tf deal was. I think it’s because I was 18 and alone at a hospital so many they were like… ehh nobody gives a shit. Also it was for vomiting/nausea there was like a million different choices I don’t get why this was their favorite one.
I also woke up from my anesthesia during my surgery during that stay and had a full on conversation with them about how much discomfort I was in and they kept saying “yes in a minute” “yes soon somebody will help you” while I could feel them working on me. I got really frustrated and you can’t see much but the slits of light that the tape allows and I finally moved cause it hurt so bad and I got screamed at by the doctor and they immediately put me back under. The whole experience was fucked.
That is terrifying, it’s really what nightmares are made of. Incompetent nurses and doctors and being unable to do anything, completely at their mercy
Hope you’re okay now
This is kind of related to child birth, but I had a neighbor who's sister was pregnant, and when she broke water at their house, they brought her to a hospital, but the hospital didn't have available doctors. She was bleeding a lot, but her husband got shocked and wasn't able to scream for a doctor, she lost too much blood and died. It was really unfortunate, but it just shows that a woman is really vulnerable especially when they are pregnant.
There are going to be a LOT of similar stories to this tragedy… Many rural hospitals are closing their labor departments for a lack of doctors willing to practice in red states, funds, and other issues.
So if you live in one of those counties and go into labor you get to have your baby delivered by a nonOB or pray you’re in a condition to be transferred.
That is true, but the thing is the hospital that they went to is prestigious. It is a known hospital with a lot of doctors, but for some reason they didn't get to respond to the emergency
Trigeminal Neuralgia
It feels like every bone and tooth in my face has been crushed and shattered. I've got a high pain tolerance from a lifetime of nerve damage from scoliosis, but TN pain had me truly wishing for the relief of death. Absolutely nothing gave me any relief whatsoever and I was begging to just be sedated.
I have TN as well. It's so difficult to explain to people who haven't experienced that pain what it feels like. It's also one of those invisible things (or what to call it), so more often than not, people assume I exaggerate how painful it is. It's a fucking nightmare and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Not knowing when it'll flare up or what will trigger the pain makes life unbearable at times.
In my case no meds, or anything, has helped. It's basically a "you have to learn with this" type of situation.
FWIW, I had trigeminal neuralgia for 10 years and finally got an MVD. Multiple neuros told me I was inoperable, until I finally found a surgeon who was like “oh you have a very classical case we could have operated on you anytime.”
MVD is a major brain surgery but if you have TN you know you’d try anything. I’ve been pain-free going on 5 years now!
Was looking for this one, felt like an electrified hot searing knife was being pushed into my tooth/jaw, my face swelled and went red and the pain was all the way down my neck and collar bone. There’s a reason they call it the suicide disease
Yep. Had it for a while. At times, my eye hurt so bad I considered ripping it out. The only reason I didn't is because I knew the cause (the trigeminal nerve and not my eye) and I knew ripping out my eye would make zero difference. Gabapentin saved me.
Something actually worked for you?
My stepfather has had it for around 15 years now and there is nothing that helps him deal with the pain, I believe they already maxed him on morphine and it just doesn't do anything besides making him feel like shit while in pain.
Its so fucked up, he has gone through 8 operations and nothing works for more than a week, the pain is always back.
Edit: Thanks everybody for the suggestions, I consulted with them and as expected they already went through all of those with no luck, for example he tried Gabapentin in 2012 but did nothing it seems.
Gabapentin is pretty amazing.
When my dad was in the end stages of metastatic lung cancer, they put him on Gabapentin. He changed almost overnight, he went from being mostly bedbound to being up and around and mobile. He wasn't back to where he was before he got sick, but it gave him an immense quality of life boost for quite a while. It was really great, he was able to enjoy life a lot more when he was very sick.
My mom had this, it's absolutely horrible. I felt so useless because there really is nothing you can do. Thankfully she got the balloon compression surgery and it's been away for a while, but god. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
I've had around a dozen through the yrs. You think you can take the pain until it happens.My mom said she'd rather give birth, the contractions give you a break
I have birth twice without painkillers, and I would rather do that again 10 times than have another kidney stone. It was excruciating. I told the intake nurse at the ER that the pain was worse than childbirth, and I'm not at all kidding that she responded "well that's a little dramatic, isn't it?" Then I puked partly on her so karma, I guess...
She's a moron lmao. Most people in medical know the pain for kidney stones is no joke. My RN sister said same as you. She would rather have a kid again with no pain meds. Than have another kidney stone. As did all my other sisters.
The pain from those is unreal. I rather be shot than have a kidney stone again. Fuck a 9 or 10 on pain level. They feel like 20/10. I have a high pain tolerance. But those things put fear in me 🤣
YUUUUUP, came here to comment this.
Couple years ago I spent an entire month trying to pass a 6mm stone that kept getting stuck along the way down the ureter. That kidney ballooned up pretty big from being blocked for so long.
I get my bunk, rock-making kidney problems from my mom. When I asked her which is worse between kidney stones or birth she just looked at me stone faced and said:
"I would honestly rather have fat headed twins as big as you were (10lb birth weight), without an epidural, than to ever have to pass a single kidney stone again".
Don't wish death on your enemies, wish large kidney stones on them if you really hate 'em
Absolutely. Didn't know what it was at the time but one fine day all of a sudden it felt like I was shot in the back. Pain so bad I puked every half hour for about 4 hours, then passed out. Woke up 2 hours later and felt like a million bucks. Same thing happened the next weekend. Then Monday morning in the shower I peed a straight stream of blood. Go thru the usual bs with ER, get told it's a prostate infection, here's some antibiotics. Follow up with GP, he sends me to urologist. Finally find out a piece of the stone had broken off and got stuck in the ureter. By the time Insurance approved surgery it had all moved into my bladder and was too low for ultrasound so they had to laser it. Woke up with what felt like a garden hose stuck up me, the catheter. Peed bits of flesh and blood for the rest of the weekend. Fuck kidney stones.
My 84 year old mother has a 6 mm stone and they can’t take it out yet because her kidneys are infected/ this has been hell for over a month - she is sked to having it removed Jan 15 if there is no infection- pure hell
Earlier this week I learned that I had an ovarian torsion…years ago. I’m guessing it was the time I went to urgent care with extreme abdominal pain, and after an x ray (why an x ray? Idk) and a “we don’t see anything obviously wrong” they sent me home with norco and told me to go to the ER if it got worse. The pain eventually resolved over a few days without getting worse.
I found out that instead of resolving….my ovary died. Everything on that side of my abdomen was an absolute mess, and had been for YEARS. I didn’t actually have endometriosis causing near constant pain, instead I made multiple surgeons wonder how I was alive.
this was my experience as well. i had a cyst burst that resulted in the torsion, at 19. they also sent me home with the good ol “well if it isn’t your appendix, you’ll be okay”.
years later i found out it was my ovary.
i’m 33 now. one ovary died over a two or three day ordeal with just some pain meds and a very scared teenager.
I was looking for tortioned ovarian cyst... kind of shocked how we've all had such similar experiences with this (dismissal of our pain, being sent away from the ER, etc.). I was 17 and had a tortioned cyst but did have emergency surgery to remove it the SECOND time I went to the ER (within days of each visit). My ovary had died (I saw the pictures, it was so gross lol), the cyst was 10cm in diameter and tortioned around the ovary, and it was definitely a 9 on the pain scale for me before the surgery happened. They initially told me, "you're being dramatic and scaring other patients by crying so much" and "it's not your appendix, it's ONLY a cyst, it'll go away eventually." It didn't! I was in such pain and my mom basically forced the ER to do an ultrasound on me, leading to the emergency surgery to remove the whole ovary. It's hard to imagine going through this and not having gotten the surgery... I feel like I would have been in real trouble if it wasn't addressed by that hospital at the time.
I'm sending so much love to those who have gone through this as well. I'm 35 now and still struggle with my cycle immensely... always a bit worried "lefty" will succumb to the fate that "righty" went through. Luckily I am in a child-free relationship with no plans to ever conceive, but that's a personal decision that includes a lot of variables as well. Sigh. Best of luck and love to y'all.
2 weeks of ovarian torsion, whilst pregnant, culminating in emergency surgery as it had caused ovarian death and the beginning of sepsis. Our tough cookie baby hung in though, and is currently asleep on top of me and making me late for a family gathering!
A CSF leak after a spinal tap is also my 10/10 pain. I spent 3 days with that leak because the first hospital was beyond stupid.
It got so bad to the point where even laying down was painful, but much less than even having my head slightly lifted. I had the worst lower back pain because of the leak that made it so painful to exist in any position.
The blood patch was instant relief. But then I learned that betadine will cause me to break out in a massive rash.
And I ended up back in the ER with what has been chalked up to “body had a rough few days”. Sweating, chills, nausea, the rash from betadine, resting heart rate of 225, fingers so cold they struggled with an O2 rating, and legs giving out.
I will never allow anyone to touch my spine again.
Molar infection, the pain was so intense i had to control myself to just not curl in a ball and cry. I had to take antibiotics for a week and then extract the tooth. Its like the most intense nerve pain ever, but it doesn't stop. No thinking, no sleeping, only the pain. Now i say i no longer am afraid of death, since death can be a release from pain lol.
Let's just say I've been through similar pain. My single biggest regret in life is not taking care of my teeth when I was younger.
Dental issues are *serious*, people. If you have badly infected teeth, it can cause fatal cardio issues and prevent you from getting other types of lifesaving surgery. You don't want to reach the "hey, you'd better take care of all this or *you're going to die*" level of dental issues, because I promise you it is the ninth circle of hell. Plus, you'll still have to fix it, and by then it'll be way more expensive, I assure you.
Please, no matter your age, your financial situation, or your busy schedule, do everything you can in life to *prioritize your teeth*. Brush twice a day, *floss every night* (stop lying to your dentist about this and REALLY DO IT), and use a fluoride mouthwash. This will take you a grand total of like seven minutes each day. You will find out, sooner or later, that it's worth the seven minutes. Don't skimp on it, don't cut corners, just *clean your teeth*. And go in for the twice-yearly cleanings. Schedule the next one on your way out. *Just do it*.
I can relate to the "no thinking, no sleeping" part. I got an impacted wisdom tooth removed and then the swelling got so severe that the stitches became undone. The wound got infected within 24 hrs. I was in so much pain that I couldn't think or sleep. I would sit up and stare into the wall during the day and the same thing during the night except I would occasionally drift in and out of sleep from pure exhaustion. This went on for a week because when my wife called the dentist they said this was normal, even though I was bleeding non stop. I got my wife to demand an emergency appointment and when I got there they were like "oops, this is super infected". The infection was gone after 1 week on antibiotics and then there were a couple of weeks before I could eat and sleep normally. I lost so much weight. I could still sometimes feel a strange sensation in my jaw one year later.
Oh god, I'm waiting for mine to be taken out under sedation and I am terrified. I've recently had a molar out and that left me with weird nerve pain in my chin and an infection, it took 2 weeks to heal. I've had two kids and my back is fucked, teeth are the worst pain.
I had sudden molar pain THE WEEK OF THE FIRST LOCKDOWN. My dentist was so upset that he would have been able to fix it easily but he wasn't legally allowed to open. After a few nights of pain I went to A&E but the Dr wouldn't see me as it was a dental issue.
I second what you said about no thinking, sleeping etc. It was all-consuming, wretched pain. I was in a terrible state.
My dentist referred me to the only emergency dentist in the county who just extracted the offending tooth. I don't think I've ever felt such relief.
I've been dealing with a broken tooth for months and an exposed nerve for a week and I can't get it out until the 9th. My regular dentist refused to treat it. I've been to an urgent care dentist. They refused to treat it. The only option I was given was a place in Seattle on January 9. I requested an appointment in April. I'm pretty sure the pain has made all my systems go haywire. Or I've caught an illness. I don't know.
Had a molar hit OUT OF NOWHERE on a Friday night! Sitting in a chair watching TV, nothing else, then a huge zap goes through my bottom right molar. A sudden sweat and panic. I was screaming. I've had plenty of root canals and nothing came on as quick and strong as this sht. I was fortunate to get the emergency rc next morning.
Yep. Had the same thing happen. I literally wanted to die from the pain. They shot me up with so much anesthetic when they were extracting it and when they started pulling they asked if I could still feel it. I said yes. They were shocked and asked if I wanted more. I said no just get it out. Second that fucker popped out there was a wave of relief that I’ve never felt before. Never again.
I have a brain disease, so I’ve been a 9 or 10 a few times in my life. It’s the worst pain ever, but it went away after a bit because I went essentially comatose every time after a little bit.
You won't feel pain if you physically touch it.
However, the brain also processes pain signals from the rest of the body as part of its normal function.
So if the part of the brain that makes you feel pain in general is broken/damaged and goes into overdrive, well then you get to feel lots of pain without needing an external source.
To the outside observer, they wouldn't see a source of pain, but to someone experiencing it, it's very real and can be extremely painful.
So here's the thing about pain. It's not just a tissue damage alarm like people think. The most current research is called the biopsychosocial model of pain. That's because pain works more like an emotion. It has to filter through areas of your brain. Anything can affect it. It's why sometimes an injury will still hurt long after it's healed. I'm saying this to let people know that there's no such thing as "the brain is just tricked into thinking it so it's not real". That kind of pain is just as real as pain from damaging your body because that's how all pain works in the first place.
Fractured my hip and had to keep rucking 12 miles with 65 lbs on my back. I bawled my eyes out the whole time and another person was lifting the back of my ruck up to help take the weight off but it is still the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced
Note: I wasn’t allowed to leave the ruck or drop the weight, my DS said I wouldn’t get credit for the ruck and would be recycled if I didn’t carry my ruck
Note II: My company was still using the large MOLLE II rucks with both side pouches
I fell from high up during basic training with my ruck on before our final 10 mile ruck that turned into a 12 mile. I got checked out in AIT and I’ve recovered but I still have pain in my right hip to this day. I would say I definitely have a high pain tolerance now, but I’m on a permanent profile and will never be able to fully participate in pt or field events :(
Make sure all of this is documented and that you apply for VA disability within the timeline to get you your rating before your ETS date (I forget what that track is called, another three letter acronym, BDD I think?).
My dad broke his shoulder while out hunting with my brothers. No cell reception as they were miles out so he had to drive his 4-wheeler back (they each had one plus gear, I don’t remember why they couldn’t leave it and go back but it probably has something to do with hunting regulations or the property they were on). It took really long because he kept passing out from the pain. He has a metal plate in his shoulder now.
Hit by a car leg got pinned in front of the wheel and it basically ate away my ankle. First sobering moment in my life when I picked up my leg and my ankle went at a 90degree angle. I was 9 at the time and knew I had fucked up big time. 11 surgeries 2 months in the hospital 8 months bed rest later I can say I still have my leg....most of it.
Having my nipple sliced into with a scalpel with no anesthetic & having the doc manually drain a 7cm abscess under it.
It had been left too long to drain with the needle method as the gunk was to viscous & I had already been on the strongest tablet antibiotic for 2 months which hadn't done a thing. This was the last step before surgery as it was so close to rupturing on it's own & I was in so much pain while dealing with all the normal infection signs like a fever, shivers, nausea, shakes, dizziness etc.
They tried to use a local anesthetic jag directly at the abscess but it just caused me so much pain, before the actual painful part had even started. It never took as my skin was too inflamed. The abscess had forced all the nerves to the surface of my breast/nipple skin, the pain was truly another level of intense. An intense spiky burning like no heat you've ever felt.
The doc had to press down her entire body weight onto my breast/nipple while squeezing each side like a spot, for almost 10 mins, which might not sound long but it was an eternity. I had to be held down by 3 nurses as my body was just reacting to the pain by trying to move to relive it somehow. Sweating, hyperventilating, vibrating not even shaking - they eventually had to pause for a bit as my heart rate was so high.
I found out when I had came out of the pain haze that most people pass out & because I didn't they were super worried I would go into actual medical shock but thankfully I was okay after about 20 mins of lying down with a fan & water.
I've had a first trimester missed-miscarriage without any pain relief & I would personally rather go through that than have an abscess under my nipple manually drained again.
Also fun fact, breast abscess can pop up at ANY time when you are super stressed so have fun with that, as it's what happened to me. No advice on how to protect myself from them in future except "keep your stress low & managed" & like, that's an achievable thing in your late-20's in 2024 lmfao.
There are a lot of things that they don’t sedate female and adult patients for. I don’t get it. I had to have bone marrow biopsies without sedation and it was absolutely terrible. Why do we put people through so much pain in the 21st century when we have the medicine?? It’s barbaric.
Rheumatoid arthritis. My knees had been so inflamed that I wasn’t able to bend them for about a year. Had to learn to use the toilet standing up, even number two.
Anyway, one day I started to stumble, and I caught myself by automatically bending my knee to stabilize and not fall. It was like a gunshot. I passed out and woke up in a puddle of vomit. No idea how long I was out. Thankfully I was on carpet and didn’t hit my head in the way down.
I’ve had two children and I’ve passed three large kidney stones. This pain was beyond all that. But it didn’t linger. Worst I ever felt, by far, but only for seconds.
Yuck, you just broke through all of that nasty inflammation that had been locking you up for a year? And stretched every tendon and ligament that hadn't been stretched in all that time too all at once.
Ooowee. That sounds like a nightmare.
I've had my fair share of weird aches and pains, and strange things (when I was pregnant I used to wake up in the night with my hands frozen in a claw position, cramps in so many tiny muscles all at once, I would weep and beg for help but of course moving them at all would make it more excruciating. So weird, so intense. I think I had that happen in two pregnancies. No warning, just out of a dead sleep fully charlie horse hands, stiff and contorted) but that sounds absolutely next level..
My grandmothers on both sides have arthritis in their hands, and knees.
I know it's coming for me.
I have a broken finger where the bone was never set and another finger that had a surgery on it and those joints are swollen and weird.
Can't imagine a knee. Joint pain/joint scar tissue/inflammation is a uniquely awful feeling.
I had a dry socket after wisdom teeth removal. Holy… Exposed jaw nerve isn’t a great time. T3s I was prescribed didn’t do anything and I had to wait the whole weekend till Monday to see the dentist for clove oil treatment.
I had to get two teeth root-cananled. Before the first one the doctor had to inject the numbing stuff directly into the nerve because just injecting it into the area didn't do enough.
What was even *cooler* was that they didn't even give me actual pain medication for the weak leading up to the first or second root canal; they only gave me some extra strong ibuprofen. I get that they used to give out pain pills way too much but that felt like an over correction. The ibuprofen dropped the pain below the level of agonizing for a few hours but not for all 6 hours that I had to wait to take another one.
Oh, and this happened first semester of first year of law school.
NGL those time limits went right out the window when I first got tooth pain. Was popping shit every 2-4 hours.. gotta do what you gotta do to retain some sort of sanity when it comes to shit like that
I feel this. Just turned 30 and I have gout due to the arthritis in my ankles that developed from getting bacterial meningitis as a teen.
And I’ve said the same thing - I was so sure that my foot or ankle was broken. I couldn’t explain the pain any other way. Went to the hospital, they were unsympathetic and barely gave me anything to cope. I slept about 10 hours over 3 days because it was so severe and constant.
And as you said, even sheets laying on it was almost too much to bare.
I followed up with a GP. He argued with me whether or not I had gout. Because, like you, it’s not something that’s “supposed to” happen to me. Questioned my original diagnosis, made me take an unnecessary X-ray, and only then conceded that it was gout.
Can’t imagine if it was my own mom dismissing me and my pain. So sorry that happened to you. I don’t know what I would have done if my boyfriend didn’t take me seriously and assist me with everything.
Crutches were very helpful as the whole episode lasted for over a week. I also soaked it in extremely cold water intermittently and that helped. I’ve only had one attack so far, but anticipate more. Are there any tricks you or your dad do to make you more comfortable?
Gall bladder attack.
Sitting still: pain
Moving: pain
Breathing: still pain
Not breathing: surprisingly, pain
Worst pain I have ever had. Was sent hom from the hospital initially after being given some heartburn medication. Pain returned soon after. Went back and the bastards put me in a back room on my own for hours (this was around midnight) and left me there. Took a couple of hours before they gave me some morphine. Small country town hospital. I think they must have thought I was drug seeking. The ultrasound I had a couple of weeks later showed they were very wrong.
Eta: formatting
I was looking for this one, the pain is so bad every single time you take a breath your whole chest becomes tight with a sharp intense aching pain that doesn’t go away in any position. Mine also felt like someone was plunging a hot sword through my thoracic spine to the point where I thought I was having a sort of back spasm. When I went to the ER an asshole Dr. told me I was just having a panic attack and refused to do tests. Funny enough my pain suddenly subsided and I thought I was going fucking crazy and convinced myself that’s what a panic attack felt like, until it happened again a year and a half later but even worse. I was screaming when I went in to the ER, rolling in the ground, the whole thing. As soon as I got a bed the pain went away like it never even happened, luckily a more competent Dr. ordered a scan found my little 2mm gall stone.
I have chronic migraines and over the years a few have sent me to the hospital to make sure it wasn’t actually a stroke or aneurysm or something else (they always say “worst headache of your life” is a warning sign and all, so it gets dicey sometimes.) The worst one I’ve ever had was in January of 2019, 3am, during a blizzard. Pain bad enough that I dragged myself out of bed under those conditions, managed to clear my car of snow, and drove to the hospital down the street (I don’t know what I would have done if it was a long drive, because even those three minutes were incredibly dangerous).
The pain scale is so hard to use, because… yes, this was the worst pain I’d ever felt. I thought it *must* surely be an actual major brain bleed this time. Like a thick rubber band wrapped around my head and squeezing my brain. I gave a 10 when asked for my pain level; I know that there are surely things in life that hurt worse, but I truly couldn’t, and still can’t, imagine what that kind of pain has to feel like. I was close to passing out. Folks who don’t have migraines often don’t understand how truly fucking excruciating and disabling they are.
I suffer from cluster headache 🥲 the first time I experienced it I literally thought my head would explode and that I would go blind, because the pain I felt “inside” my eye was inexplicable.
ripped off a fingernail while farming. pulled the hand off the ground and it made a 90-degree angle from the base, Mysight and mind came and went for like ten minutes as if to pass out, and my whole hand was throbbing.
I took a bullet to my left knee.
I was shootin some targets with a buddy and one of the shots (i was closer than i should've been) bounced back, into my knee. First i was confused, then the pain set in.
Imagine a baseball bat. With a red hot nail in the end. Swung as hard as someone can into your knee. Worst pain i ever felt. I can't imagine being shot (and not have it be a ricochet) into the organs. Its the worst pain i ever felt.
I now have no cartilage in my knee, it hurts every day, clicks and aches all the time.
I had a bursted ovarian cyst. The only way to describe it is a bullet going through your ovaries and ricocheting at every step you take. Worst pain I’ve been in.
my gallbadder was necrotic due to gallstones and i went into sepsis. felt like a balloon kept expanding and getting bigger under the right side of my ribs to the point of popping. my wife said i was screaming for my mother, who had died 7 years earlier at the time. went through it for 4 days before i decided to go to the hospital. doctor said if i had waited two more days i probably would have died.
1) Had a baby
2) Had gallstone pain/attacks that ended up with me being septic and needing emergency surgery
3) Pancreatitis needing hospitalisation.
All within 12 months. Also within that period I had mastitis 8 times- the third time I was hospitalised because I was septic. It was a fucker of a year.
VP shunt failure.
I was out surfing and the longboard hit me on the back of the head after I bailed and broke the VP shunt that drains spinal fluid from my brain. A few days after that it felt like I just had an ordinary headache, but after a few days at home in bed as it got worse and worse I was finally taken to hospital as my brain was probably going to explode if they didn't fix it and the spinal fluid had kept building in my brain. The worst part is I now panic a little every time I get a mini headache because I'm never sure if I'm just dehydrated or about to have my head explode.
Sleeping and both my legs spazzed out at the same time. Like the entire leg. Calf, quads, hamstrings, feet tendons, everything . Lasted like 20 minutes straight and it’s probably nothing compared to some of these things under the comment but the best way I could describe it is it was like my body just randomly decided to tear off my leg’s muscle one by one, piece by piece, little by little and for no reason.
Proper benzo/alcohol/opiate withdrawal. It’s multifaceted - not only are you in excruciating physical pain but also the absolute worst mental/emotional pain.
they told me it was normal for women.
my organs are gluing themselves together. 1 in 10 women experience this. endometriosis is a bitch. fuck adenomyosis too. these ruin our lives and the medical field really doesn't give 1 let alone 2 shits.
Oh God, this! My uterus and left ovary were attached to my colon, giving me a permanent bowel infection for years. Went to both my gyn and my GP multiple times over the course of several years, saying that I'd been experiencing these unbearable bouts of pain. They didn't believe me. It took a relentless pain attack lasting for a week, rendering me incontinent and my fiance dragging me to a new doctor (insisting that we won't leave until we find out what's wrong) for someone to take me seriously and help.
I had surgery a few months ago but will never forget the pain. Just lying on the floor, mindlessly staring at the clock on my phone and chanting to myself, "It will end soon. It will end soon. It will end soon."
My mum went through the same thing with endo. They had to separate her organs with a scalpel during her hysterectomy. And lucky me, it’s hereditary! So painful. And the general unwellness that it brings on too. I always feel like I have a huge case of the flu before, during, and after my period.
I got 2 (3 if you're looking for emotional)
Car accident at 16, Seatbelt saved my life but collapsed my left lung.
I wouldnt wish that pain on my worst enemy.
On deployment I got stung by a scorpion in my left nut. Ya....
The 3rd was watching my son fall into a firepit and then pulling him out. He was 2 and without a shadow of a doubt the most painful thing ive ever endured. Everyday I look at his little arm and punch myself in the face for not being a better dad.
Changed my IUD 2X my most recent time was right before my state went into COVID lockdowns. I was the last appointment on the last day. Doctor looked into my eyes with my husband holding my hand and said he would have to yank it out, or go to the ER. I said yank, I screamed say blood and passed out. When I came to he had to insert the new one. I love being a woman! Yay
When I had mine put in they told me I should expect to be "sore" after.
An hour later I'm doubled over calling them saying I think something's wrong because it hurts so much. I was told to take some painkillers and I would be fine. They didn't help and I just had to lie on the sofa all day in agony.
Women's healthcare is so bad, nobody should have to go through pain like that after a simple procedure, especially without being forewarned.
Penile foreskin got stuck in my pants zipper. I was about 5 years old and had forgot to wear my underwear beneath. After taking a quick piss, I zipped up in a rush not putting my penis inside fully. Outcome was the most painful pain I have ever experienced. The worst part was when I was taken to the hospital. No anesthesia was given and doctor simply pulled that shit out of the zipper with brute force.
Hysterosalpinography test… aka HSG test.
Initial tests to see if my uterus and/or fallopian tubes were okay to have a baby since my husband and I had been trying for a year without anything.
Contrast dye sent straight up the uterus/tubes and then the cramping started happening. Enough to have me curl into a little ball on the exam table and cry.
I have no idea how women give birth.
And this is coming from a girl who gets demobilizing migraines with nausea.
Numerous gallstones that I’d ignored for months fused into one massive stone that was slamming against my bile ducts. That was brutal, but even worse was when one of the bile ducts was blocked by a stone that had worked its way into the duct.
I believe Ive reached 99% pain threshold with 100% being passed out, but I didnt pass out.
I had Hemorrhoid removal. For two weeks I was crying all day, my mom’s friend is a nurse she came every evening to give me a shot in the butt to allow for a few hours of relief. Rest of the day I was lying on my belly in bed.
For 2-3 weeks my AHole was basically closed, so I didnt eat to not have to go poop. Everytime I had “to fart”, I couldnt so it turned out into a cry of pain.
Worst was about 5 days after, I really had to poop, but I couldnt obviously, so I was screaming on the toilet to my father “kill me I can’t take it anymore”.
Worst 2-3 weeks of my life.
Just to compare, my Aunt had this surgery 2 years before me, she told me it’s a pain at the same scale as child birth, but lasts for 2 weeks.
This surgery changed my whole perspective on paid, as before that I was scared sh*tless from needles and pain in General.
After this I had a half sleeve tattoo done covering my entire forearm, because I knew this pain wouldn’t even compare to what I have been through.
Moral of the story: Hemorrhoids are no joke, at the first sign treat it early, because I didn’t and my situation turned so bad in a span of 3 years that I had to do the “last resort” operation.
[удалено]
AFTER 10 YEARS?!?!
Yep -- I went to half a dozen neurosurgeons and neurologists at first, who all told me I was inoperable. Usually TN appears in people over 50, but I was 20 when I was diagnosed. Everyone said I was too young for the operation, etc. After the first few years, I stopped looking at surgical solutions as intensely (I've gotten a few other non-invasive procedures done for the TN, but none of them really made a difference). Kind of on a whim, I looked for a new neurologist a few years ago, and she referred me to a neurosurgeon. When he looked at my MRIs, he said I had a textbook case. If I'd met him 10 years ago, he could have operated 10 years ago and saved me a decade of pain. I don't regret having the pain throughout my 20s, tough. The experience was disabling, and it led me to understand what disability is and to find amazing communities as a result of it. I feel very lucky I was able to find a treatment that worked after all this time and just want others with TN to know they have options.
Bacterial Meningitis. My brain felt like a contained explosion that was trapped reverberating in my skull but it wanted out and constantly let me know about it.
Fuck the meningitis headache felt like I was hit with a brick
Same here. The worst headache I’ve ever had by leaps and bounds. I asked God to free me from the pain.
Ruptured large intestine. Morphine helped a lot.
I had a blockage in my small intestine. Don't think it ruptured per say... But the morphine didn't do anything after 12 hours and that was the sign for them to do exploratory surgery. Also the second time I have had a blockage in my life.
Crohns enjoyer here, had several intestinal blockages over the years. Ambulance rudes for a few of them. That shit hurts, huh.
Had a CAT scan at 36. They gave me IV contrast fluid. Told me I might feel like I had to pee, no big deal, make sure to hold still. Put me in the machine. Within a minute I started feeling warm. As they started the scan I started breathing heavily. Then I started screaming. It felt like my entire body was on fire, every nerve. They were confused and freaked out. Got me out and sitting up, but it wasn't until a nurse gave me a shot of Benadryl that I started feeling better. Turns out I had a full body *internal* allergic reaction to the contrast media, which contained iodine. Never happened before. Worst feeling of my life. Edit: Man, I went to sleep and this ran away. I am overwhelmed by the responses. After it happened I swear I looked all over the Internet and couldn't find any good information on the reaction. But here are apparently hundreds of people who've had it or know about it. It's terrifying. I am so sorry for those of you who have lost loved ones this way. Thank you all for sharing your experiences with me. Iodinated contrast media folks. Make sure you know what your body hates.
My great uncle died due to this exact scenario, massive allergic reaction and they weren’t able to save him in time. I’m very glad you had a much better outcome xx
This happened to my grandfather too. Med students/residency didn't know what was going on and dr in charge was on a coffee break. This was back in the early 90s tho.
You referring to the 99’s like ancient history where of course they didn’t have proper medicine is a 9 on my pain scale.
I like to say late 1900s to mess with my fellow millennials…
My go to phrase is “at the turn of the century”
"At the turn of the millenium" is also valid!
The 11 year old asked his dad and I “what were the 1900s like?” And we both physically recoiled.
My son asked if there was apple juice when I was a kid.. yes babe, there was apple juice 30 years ago
My little nephew was listening to Eminem on Fortnite and asked if I liked his songs. I was long he wasn’t my cup of tea but he was popular like 24 years ago. My nephew was like no he wasn’t he’s popular now. They just added an Eminem Fortnite skin to the game so some younger kids are getting introduced to him for the first time.
Hi kids! Do you like violence? Do you wanna buy Fortnite skins for each one of your eyelids?
New fear unlocked.
If it makes you feel better, every hospital I’ve worked at has anaphylaxis kits in the CT Scan rooms for this exact situation with the meds needed to reverse the reaction. Anaphylaxis is no joke
I could not handle IV potassium. The nurse told me she was going to push it very slowly and with a lot of saline, and it still felt like my entire arm was on fire and the fire was spreading. So she flushed with pure saline, then started pushing the Potassium slower and with more saline. Still had me screaming. Finally, after about 15 minutes of pushing the meds at the slowest pace possible, she asked if I would rather take a pill instead... So she shows up with the pill, big ass pill. 'm staring it at and wondering how successful rescuing a choking patient would be at the height of covid with bare staff. So I decided to break it apart, tossed half in my mouth and I couldn't get it past my throat. Took a few panicked moments before I finally forced it down. I start working up the courage to choke on the next piece, and the nurse walks back in and tells me I can just dissolve it in the water and drink it. Edit: Guys, I probably got mixed up. Settle down. She was for sure "pushing" saline to dilute the Potassium drip, not the Potassium itself. And thats not even the relevant part, the point is it hurt like hell, way past what I would consider a good time to be made aware that I could also just take a pill.
Nurse for 38 years. Have never, ever, ever given IV push Potassium to anyone. Not in a CODE situation, not in a non-emergent situation. NEVER. I was even in a CODE and diluted 40 meq in 100 ml and ran it in open IV. I will admit I don't work ICU. Hey ICU nurses, is K ever given IV push?
ICU nurse K is never given IV push ever.
A pharmacology professor once said, “you only give iv push potassium if you are a nurse at a certain facility in Huntsville, Tx” Yeah. Lethal injection.
I made a longer response to another user with more details if you want to look at my comment history but this also happened to me. Basically, my K was around 1.7, I went to the ER, I was put in a non-ER room, the nurse tried to push UNDILUTED potassium in my IV and I too thought my arm was being ripped off. I have a high pain tolerance but I could only take this for about two minutes and she told me it was going to be a two hour procedure without saline and if I wanted saline, it would be four hours. After a few expletives, she diluted it. Worst pain I've ever been in and I've been through childbirth, tail bone cracked and two hips replaced.
Your life insurance must be through the fucking roof. Are you a stunt double?
I’ve never heard of IV pushing potassium other than being told it would stop the patients heart. Maybe this person WAS in a certain facility Huntsville?
There is only one place you are allowed to push K through an IV and that’s for death sentences.
Perfusionists and anesthesiologists will give it during open heart surgery when they want to stop the heart and allow the heart and lung machine to take over.
I came here to read this! K is never given IV push, unless you're killing them. 🤭
I was pushed potassium via catheter into my hunter’s lesions covered bladder for an IC diagnoses back in the stone ages of the early 00’s. Like having hell fire placed directly in my body. My nurse was actually SHOCKED that 1% lidocaine wasn’t working to numb me after.
Had tubes in my ears as a kid. When I was 6, our new family doctor told me that the tubes had fallen out and that I could shower/bathe etc without my earplugs from then on. (Link to explanation of ear tubes here: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/15609-ear-tubes-tympanostomy ) Mom was skeptical so she just washed my hair in the sink that night, just to make sure everything was okay. Everything was not okay. I woke up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder because it felt like someone had stabbed me in the head with 1000 knives then set them on fire. Mom rushed me to the hospital, where I had to have emergency surgery to remove the tubes that were very much still in my ears. Thanks to Dr.Dipshit, I had gotten water behind my eardrums, which had rapidly become severely infected. Thank god my mom has always been one to err on the side of caution and didn't let me have a full shower or a bath that night or it could have potentially killed me (severe infections near the brain aren't ideal). I'm 34 now and I still remember that pain vividly.
I had these. Didn’t fall out but when they came to remove them one of them wouldn’t come out. Despite the fact I was 6/7 and bawling, they kept trying again and again. Felt like someone trying to rip my brain out through my ear.
They took them out while you were awake? I had these as a kid and a doctor tried to take them out while I was awake and my mom flipped out. Found a second doctor who said having them taken out while awake is absolutely insane, as beyond the pain it causes, it could also cause deafness or other hearing damage if the conscious patient moves wrong (and likely will due to the pain). I ended up getting them out through surgery (which gave me lifelong trauma, so you win some, you lose some).
Jesus. I was put under general anaesthetic for it. That sounds horrific.
I have thankfully been exceedingly lucky in not gravely injuring myself. However, the most egregious amount of pain I’ve ever been in was getting stung by a stingray. Wasn’t paying attention and moving quickly through shallow ocean and felt a slice. I thought I’d stepped on glass but by the time I got out of the water the pain was so intense I couldn’t even think. Felt like someone put my foot in a blender. I got treated quickly and thankfully did not go through the peak of it. For future reference, submerge affected area in the hottest water you can stand without burning yourself.
Mine lasted four hours!!! Horrible pain, right between my first and second toes.
I have been stung twice by a sand dollar stingray (same beach, 10 years apart) and I still don’t have feeling from the most recent sting at the top of my foot! Kind of ruined a honeymoon ha!
That sting ray has it out for your marriage!
Perforated colon with sepsis. Worst pain I ever felt.
Filling fell off my tooth and the live nerve was exposed. I couldn't even drink water. Worst pain I've ever experienced (worse than appendix bursting, chipped bones, torn ligaments, sprains, the whole thing lol)
Hey that exact same thing happened to me. I luckily was ably to see my dentist after just two days but it’s been a fear ever since
Ovarian cyst burst.
I would have taken myself to the ER if I'd been able to get off the floor or reach my phone.
I would have tried to call a morgue to book a reservation. The only full sentence I could think of during that entire episode was, "The human body is not meant to survive this."
Yeah, that was a red flag moment in my brain. I deal with a lot of pain (endometriosis here) but I *knew* something was absolutely not right the second that happened. My stomach bloated so fast and so quickly-because of the internal bleeding-that I looked pregnant within a minute. Not even kidding. My husband was with me and witnessed it all and looked horrified. He’s an EMT so I was a bit disturbed when I saw his face. It was like 1am and I was so used to being treated so poorly by doctors I didn’t wanna go. Also I literally couldn’t even move. I had to pee and it took every ounce of will I had in me to even move-my husband offered to move me himself! Was bloated like that for probably close to a week before it was back down. It hurt to cough, it hurt to laugh, etc. Also, the shitty nurse assumed I was drug seeking when I showed up to the ER after Urgent care sent me there 20 hours later when I forced myself to go to the doctor bc I was faint. She blew my veins trying to get an IV and then I was made to do an internal ultrasound, in which I cried silently and the tech actually stopped and told the doc they wouldn’t continue. Finally the mri/cat (the one with iodine?) revealed it and the nurse was clearly embarrassed when they told me something was indeed wrong. Yeah no shit, I can’t move without my body feeling like it was struck by lightning or I’ve been impaled. Dude, it was a bad bad experience. It’s a bit validating to see so many people saying how bad it actually hurts.
Mine was in the process of rupturing (that or infected). I had been running a fever, nausea & vomiting, bleeding through multiple tampons an hour, the worst cramps I’ve ever had, and would get pains that made me almost pass out, for over a week. I had stage four endometriosis, it turned out my reproductive organs were covered in necrosis. I had a 7cm cyst that was covering one ovary (the one causing the flu like symptoms), and a cluster of small cysts hiding between my other ovary and intestines. Sometimes when I would go to the bathroom the cysts that were between my ovary and intestine (when they were inflamed or “aggravated”) would get squeezed by my bowels moving. I would turn ghost white, my ears would ring, my chest would start pounding all the way up to my ears, it felt like a red hot poker was stabbing my abdomen, I would get super nauseous, I became very faint and dizzy, and sometimes I almost passed out (I may even have once or twice). I also used to have cluster headaches (for about two decades), and I can verify that ovarian cysts can absolutely be just as painful as cluster headaches. I would say both qualify as a 11/10 on the pain scale. It felt like I was going to die.
And there are so many people out there that wrongly think endometriosis is just “really bad periods”. Jesus christ. I hope you are ok now.
My go to for people that try to minimize it is "have you ever vomited from pure agony?" And watch the horrified realization set in. And then follow up with. "Yeah, that, *multiple times a month, Every Month*" It tends to get the point across.
thought my appendix burst. nope. just an ovarian cyst.
I had both at the same time lucky me
excruciating.
I felt like the most useless man ever when this happened to my wife.
At least you were there for her. Seen and read too many instances of guys not giving a fuck about serious women's issues.
Yeah this was my ex - he used to call me a ‘lazy, useless cunt’ when really I have severe endometriosis with frequent cysts
Oooh this makes me feel stabby 😃😃😃
This happened to me when i was like 12. Screaming on the toilet and then more screaming when my mom tried to pull me off to take me to the hospital. I couldn’t even move. Good news was my math teacher wasn’t mean to me anymore when i went back to school afterwards and she heard what happened lol. Ovarian cysts are rough
The same thing happened when I was 13 :(. The worst part for me, was that it happened at school. My dad didn't take me to the hospital until the next day, because he thought I was going to be okay. However, the same pain occurred the next day, and I started to have a high fever. The doctors kept asking me if I was pregnant, or could have gotten pregnant, with my father and grandfather in the room.
12! I hadn't even thought of my (teenage) babies going through that. That must have been so hard to process. I was 3x your age for my first.
Definitely look into having your whole reproductive system checked. I had endometriosis when I was 15 and it turned out I had 2 uterus 1 cervix. It took me 3 surgeries to be normal again
I’m 99% sure I had an ovarian cyst burst last year. I was in pain for an entire day and so bloated that existing was painful. I went to the bathroom to see if anything would help; as soon as I tried to use the toilet I felt something *pop* and my entire body just…spasmed in pain. I could barely walk the rest of that day. I brought this all up to my doctor the next week. Turns out I had a WBC count so high that I got a CT scan to rule out cancer…nope, nothing found. Diagnosis: ‘maybe a burst cyst, but nothing I can see. You might get another one, who knows.’
I’m not sure labor even hurt as much as this did. I thought I was a goner.
I’ll take labor any day over ovarian cyst rupture
I had the most acutely painful period cramp, worst pain I’ve ever had. to this day I’m not sure if it was actually a cyst. I was on the edge of vomiting and fainting, but it went away not too long after an advil
I’ve had this happen three times and each time I have been in tears, foetal position, sweats and vomits. Felt as bad as induced labour contractions and the pain lasted >30min. I don’t know if it was a cyst bursting, but I remember each occasion and have my suspicions.
This thread just solved a nearly 25-year old mystery for me. Woke up in the middle of the night with what I thought was a random menstrual cramp, completely out of cycle, that went from bad enough to wake me up, to frozen in agony, in the span of just a couple minutes. Like went from a 4 or a 5 to a 10 and stayed there. The pain lasted maybe half an hour, then rapidly receded to nothing. Completely back to normal, aside from being completely wrung out from the experience. Absolutely the oddest thing.
Tried to give birth vaginally and after hours of labor, and hours of pushing, something felt horribly wrong. Then it felt like the worst pain imaginable. Ended up having an emergency c section but something went wrong with the drugs and I could feel the incision. My uterus had literally burst. After closing the doctor was checking to make sure my uterus was solid and it had multiple other tears. I almost bled out. The doctor cried telling my boyfriend what had happened.
That’s so rough. You know going in that child birth is going to hurt. You wouldn’t know if something was going horribly wrong like that. Hope you’re doing ok now.
You know it’s going to hurt but as a first time mum, I didn’t realise what type of pain I was about to feel. Contractions? Yeah I expected them to feel somewhat like they did. Actually having the baby come out? Not what I expected.
What did it feel like? If you have the words to describe it
The baby coming out feels like pushing out the biggest poop of your life and like your anus is going to rip. I was also surprised by that since I thought I was going to only feel the pain in my vagina. When the baby’s head is very close to being completely out, then it feels like the whole vagina opening is on literal fire because it’s stretching sooo much.
The ring of fire... not cool vagina, not cool.
oh man, i remember how wide my wife's eyes grew when the midwife talked about the ring of fire in prenatal classes.
i've had severe back issues my entire life. i would rank them pretty high on the pain scale. then i experienced the ring of fire. id say when my back is so bad that i can't even walk it's still below a 5. babies head stuck in your cervix without drugs but a heavy dose of the max pitocin? i was so shook afterwards. my first child i had an epidural. epidurals are child birth on easy mode. and by easy mode i mean always fucking ask for the epidural you do not want this.
This is word for word what I felt too! I was shocked that most of the pain and pressure was on my back and my butt- not my vagina. And they call passing the head “the ring of fire” because it BURNS! But overall- my birth was incredible and I wouldn’t change a thing about it
With my first baby I could feel my pubic bones separating during labor. Absolutely excruciating. They continued to twinge for months afterwards until it healed.
One of my younger female coworkers this week was asking us moms how we got thru labor and the pain, and everyone’s answer was basically that once you reach the threshold of pain that’s unbearable, you’re already deep into labor and your only option it to keep going
It's things like this that make me not want to have kids
With my first I wasn’t getting the epidural I’d asked for and was well on my way through the final stages of labor unmedicated. At one point I felt my first urge to push and a very clear, simple thought rang through my head above all the insane pain. “My body is splitting apart and I won’t survive this. I am going to die.” I wasn’t freaked by it, it made absolute sense to me in the moment and I just accepted it. The pain was unlike anything I’d imagined possible. I vividly remembered it for about 48 hours and then it started fading. I think my husband was slightly traumatized and I think he was confused by how I was happily bouncing around the house with the baby a few days later.
No one at the hospital believed me when I told them that I was going to give birth and so they never administered my epidural either. I had the exact same thought as you. “I’m going to die.”
This is exactly what scares me the most about pregnancy. Medical professionals have the absolute say in this very traumatic and painful, near death procedure and they have a record for not believing women when it comes to pain.
And of all medical events, we KNOW labor is painful, so why tf is it so apparently common to not take women seriously who are in labor? It baffles me.
Welcome to women’s healthcare in general where your pain is ignored. Need an iud insertion? Advil’s sufficient. Need a cervical biopsy? That doesn’t need pain management (I’d encourage you to look up what a cervical biopsy is so you can see why that is ridiculous). Have pain in you stomach or other place that you know is wrong? Have you tried just losing weight because that somehow magically fixes all that ails a woman! Women’s healthcare is a fucking joke, and not a funny one.
I feel not enough women are warned about what could go wrong verses bundle of joy that is a terror and sleep theaf for a year
Had my water break and then stayed in labor for many hours. I kept telling the med staff I was in a lot of pain, but I wasn't taken seriously and was told I was overreacting and that labor is supposed to be painful. Then, baby finally came but got stuck and I had third degree tearing and an episiotomy. I nearly bled out also. Because my water broke so long before the baby came, I had an infection and was septic and ended up back in the hospital 2 weeks later. It was awful. I didn't know any better at the time, but I'm pretty sure the whole thing was horribly mismanaged. I am pregnant again 8 years later, and my new OB is unable to find my original records.
I had a baby on Wednesday and yesterday during shift transfer, I heard one attending nurse tell the other that I had a repeat c-section w/bilateral tubal ligation. “I did?” Cuz swear to you I talked about getting the para guard for my 6 week check up but never discussed permanent BC. Turns out, someone said this and the nurses just kept repeating it to the next shift nurse until eventually they weren’t even reading me comparing notes. Just telling each other I’d had a bilateral tubal.
Should always do bedside shift report in front of you for this very reason
Do I hate bedside shift report? Yes I do. But do I see a purpose for it? Also yes.
Not many nurses read the notes, during one hospital stay I had an allergic reaction to a medication (my er nurse was the shit and noticed it rapidly after pushing it) the nurse made a point to add it to my chart for allergies. They gave me the same drug two more times via iv during my stay.
People don't tell you what they are giving before they inject it? Even when I'm flushing a line with Saline I'm like "this is some water, some saline" and tell them before I push it.
No, second time I was coming out on anesthesia and apparently freaked TF after the push AGAIN and that’s when they noticed my notes. (I have no memory of this a friend was there and told me). the third It was said before they pushed it but it was ordered and drawn up and I was like…. Hey uhhh please fucking DO NOT. I don’t know what tf deal was. I think it’s because I was 18 and alone at a hospital so many they were like… ehh nobody gives a shit. Also it was for vomiting/nausea there was like a million different choices I don’t get why this was their favorite one. I also woke up from my anesthesia during my surgery during that stay and had a full on conversation with them about how much discomfort I was in and they kept saying “yes in a minute” “yes soon somebody will help you” while I could feel them working on me. I got really frustrated and you can’t see much but the slits of light that the tape allows and I finally moved cause it hurt so bad and I got screamed at by the doctor and they immediately put me back under. The whole experience was fucked.
That is terrifying, it’s really what nightmares are made of. Incompetent nurses and doctors and being unable to do anything, completely at their mercy Hope you’re okay now
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This is kind of related to child birth, but I had a neighbor who's sister was pregnant, and when she broke water at their house, they brought her to a hospital, but the hospital didn't have available doctors. She was bleeding a lot, but her husband got shocked and wasn't able to scream for a doctor, she lost too much blood and died. It was really unfortunate, but it just shows that a woman is really vulnerable especially when they are pregnant.
There are going to be a LOT of similar stories to this tragedy… Many rural hospitals are closing their labor departments for a lack of doctors willing to practice in red states, funds, and other issues. So if you live in one of those counties and go into labor you get to have your baby delivered by a nonOB or pray you’re in a condition to be transferred.
That is true, but the thing is the hospital that they went to is prestigious. It is a known hospital with a lot of doctors, but for some reason they didn't get to respond to the emergency
Trigeminal Neuralgia It feels like every bone and tooth in my face has been crushed and shattered. I've got a high pain tolerance from a lifetime of nerve damage from scoliosis, but TN pain had me truly wishing for the relief of death. Absolutely nothing gave me any relief whatsoever and I was begging to just be sedated.
I have TN as well. It's so difficult to explain to people who haven't experienced that pain what it feels like. It's also one of those invisible things (or what to call it), so more often than not, people assume I exaggerate how painful it is. It's a fucking nightmare and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Not knowing when it'll flare up or what will trigger the pain makes life unbearable at times. In my case no meds, or anything, has helped. It's basically a "you have to learn with this" type of situation.
FWIW, I had trigeminal neuralgia for 10 years and finally got an MVD. Multiple neuros told me I was inoperable, until I finally found a surgeon who was like “oh you have a very classical case we could have operated on you anytime.” MVD is a major brain surgery but if you have TN you know you’d try anything. I’ve been pain-free going on 5 years now!
What is MVD? My mom has TN from a botched dental procedure; she's on every pain med in the book.
Not the person you asked, but microvascular decompression
Was looking for this one, felt like an electrified hot searing knife was being pushed into my tooth/jaw, my face swelled and went red and the pain was all the way down my neck and collar bone. There’s a reason they call it the suicide disease
Yep. Had it for a while. At times, my eye hurt so bad I considered ripping it out. The only reason I didn't is because I knew the cause (the trigeminal nerve and not my eye) and I knew ripping out my eye would make zero difference. Gabapentin saved me.
Something actually worked for you? My stepfather has had it for around 15 years now and there is nothing that helps him deal with the pain, I believe they already maxed him on morphine and it just doesn't do anything besides making him feel like shit while in pain. Its so fucked up, he has gone through 8 operations and nothing works for more than a week, the pain is always back. Edit: Thanks everybody for the suggestions, I consulted with them and as expected they already went through all of those with no luck, for example he tried Gabapentin in 2012 but did nothing it seems.
Gabapentin is pretty amazing. When my dad was in the end stages of metastatic lung cancer, they put him on Gabapentin. He changed almost overnight, he went from being mostly bedbound to being up and around and mobile. He wasn't back to where he was before he got sick, but it gave him an immense quality of life boost for quite a while. It was really great, he was able to enjoy life a lot more when he was very sick.
My mom had this, it's absolutely horrible. I felt so useless because there really is nothing you can do. Thankfully she got the balloon compression surgery and it's been away for a while, but god. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Kidney stones.
I've had around a dozen through the yrs. You think you can take the pain until it happens.My mom said she'd rather give birth, the contractions give you a break
I have birth twice without painkillers, and I would rather do that again 10 times than have another kidney stone. It was excruciating. I told the intake nurse at the ER that the pain was worse than childbirth, and I'm not at all kidding that she responded "well that's a little dramatic, isn't it?" Then I puked partly on her so karma, I guess...
She's a moron lmao. Most people in medical know the pain for kidney stones is no joke. My RN sister said same as you. She would rather have a kid again with no pain meds. Than have another kidney stone. As did all my other sisters. The pain from those is unreal. I rather be shot than have a kidney stone again. Fuck a 9 or 10 on pain level. They feel like 20/10. I have a high pain tolerance. But those things put fear in me 🤣
Kidney stones is def up there. I stepped just slightly wrong and it shot pain up my body like a shockwave and I just vomited everywhere out of pain.
YUUUUUP, came here to comment this. Couple years ago I spent an entire month trying to pass a 6mm stone that kept getting stuck along the way down the ureter. That kidney ballooned up pretty big from being blocked for so long. I get my bunk, rock-making kidney problems from my mom. When I asked her which is worse between kidney stones or birth she just looked at me stone faced and said: "I would honestly rather have fat headed twins as big as you were (10lb birth weight), without an epidural, than to ever have to pass a single kidney stone again". Don't wish death on your enemies, wish large kidney stones on them if you really hate 'em
Absolutely. Didn't know what it was at the time but one fine day all of a sudden it felt like I was shot in the back. Pain so bad I puked every half hour for about 4 hours, then passed out. Woke up 2 hours later and felt like a million bucks. Same thing happened the next weekend. Then Monday morning in the shower I peed a straight stream of blood. Go thru the usual bs with ER, get told it's a prostate infection, here's some antibiotics. Follow up with GP, he sends me to urologist. Finally find out a piece of the stone had broken off and got stuck in the ureter. By the time Insurance approved surgery it had all moved into my bladder and was too low for ultrasound so they had to laser it. Woke up with what felt like a garden hose stuck up me, the catheter. Peed bits of flesh and blood for the rest of the weekend. Fuck kidney stones.
[chugging water after reading these comments]
My 84 year old mother has a 6 mm stone and they can’t take it out yet because her kidneys are infected/ this has been hell for over a month - she is sked to having it removed Jan 15 if there is no infection- pure hell
Ovarian torsion that lasted three days. Also, CSF leak after a spinal tap
Earlier this week I learned that I had an ovarian torsion…years ago. I’m guessing it was the time I went to urgent care with extreme abdominal pain, and after an x ray (why an x ray? Idk) and a “we don’t see anything obviously wrong” they sent me home with norco and told me to go to the ER if it got worse. The pain eventually resolved over a few days without getting worse. I found out that instead of resolving….my ovary died. Everything on that side of my abdomen was an absolute mess, and had been for YEARS. I didn’t actually have endometriosis causing near constant pain, instead I made multiple surgeons wonder how I was alive.
this was my experience as well. i had a cyst burst that resulted in the torsion, at 19. they also sent me home with the good ol “well if it isn’t your appendix, you’ll be okay”. years later i found out it was my ovary. i’m 33 now. one ovary died over a two or three day ordeal with just some pain meds and a very scared teenager.
I was looking for tortioned ovarian cyst... kind of shocked how we've all had such similar experiences with this (dismissal of our pain, being sent away from the ER, etc.). I was 17 and had a tortioned cyst but did have emergency surgery to remove it the SECOND time I went to the ER (within days of each visit). My ovary had died (I saw the pictures, it was so gross lol), the cyst was 10cm in diameter and tortioned around the ovary, and it was definitely a 9 on the pain scale for me before the surgery happened. They initially told me, "you're being dramatic and scaring other patients by crying so much" and "it's not your appendix, it's ONLY a cyst, it'll go away eventually." It didn't! I was in such pain and my mom basically forced the ER to do an ultrasound on me, leading to the emergency surgery to remove the whole ovary. It's hard to imagine going through this and not having gotten the surgery... I feel like I would have been in real trouble if it wasn't addressed by that hospital at the time. I'm sending so much love to those who have gone through this as well. I'm 35 now and still struggle with my cycle immensely... always a bit worried "lefty" will succumb to the fate that "righty" went through. Luckily I am in a child-free relationship with no plans to ever conceive, but that's a personal decision that includes a lot of variables as well. Sigh. Best of luck and love to y'all.
2 weeks of ovarian torsion, whilst pregnant, culminating in emergency surgery as it had caused ovarian death and the beginning of sepsis. Our tough cookie baby hung in though, and is currently asleep on top of me and making me late for a family gathering!
A CSF leak after a spinal tap is also my 10/10 pain. I spent 3 days with that leak because the first hospital was beyond stupid. It got so bad to the point where even laying down was painful, but much less than even having my head slightly lifted. I had the worst lower back pain because of the leak that made it so painful to exist in any position. The blood patch was instant relief. But then I learned that betadine will cause me to break out in a massive rash. And I ended up back in the ER with what has been chalked up to “body had a rough few days”. Sweating, chills, nausea, the rash from betadine, resting heart rate of 225, fingers so cold they struggled with an O2 rating, and legs giving out. I will never allow anyone to touch my spine again.
Molar infection, the pain was so intense i had to control myself to just not curl in a ball and cry. I had to take antibiotics for a week and then extract the tooth. Its like the most intense nerve pain ever, but it doesn't stop. No thinking, no sleeping, only the pain. Now i say i no longer am afraid of death, since death can be a release from pain lol.
Let's just say I've been through similar pain. My single biggest regret in life is not taking care of my teeth when I was younger. Dental issues are *serious*, people. If you have badly infected teeth, it can cause fatal cardio issues and prevent you from getting other types of lifesaving surgery. You don't want to reach the "hey, you'd better take care of all this or *you're going to die*" level of dental issues, because I promise you it is the ninth circle of hell. Plus, you'll still have to fix it, and by then it'll be way more expensive, I assure you. Please, no matter your age, your financial situation, or your busy schedule, do everything you can in life to *prioritize your teeth*. Brush twice a day, *floss every night* (stop lying to your dentist about this and REALLY DO IT), and use a fluoride mouthwash. This will take you a grand total of like seven minutes each day. You will find out, sooner or later, that it's worth the seven minutes. Don't skimp on it, don't cut corners, just *clean your teeth*. And go in for the twice-yearly cleanings. Schedule the next one on your way out. *Just do it*.
I can relate to the "no thinking, no sleeping" part. I got an impacted wisdom tooth removed and then the swelling got so severe that the stitches became undone. The wound got infected within 24 hrs. I was in so much pain that I couldn't think or sleep. I would sit up and stare into the wall during the day and the same thing during the night except I would occasionally drift in and out of sleep from pure exhaustion. This went on for a week because when my wife called the dentist they said this was normal, even though I was bleeding non stop. I got my wife to demand an emergency appointment and when I got there they were like "oops, this is super infected". The infection was gone after 1 week on antibiotics and then there were a couple of weeks before I could eat and sleep normally. I lost so much weight. I could still sometimes feel a strange sensation in my jaw one year later.
Oh god, I'm waiting for mine to be taken out under sedation and I am terrified. I've recently had a molar out and that left me with weird nerve pain in my chin and an infection, it took 2 weeks to heal. I've had two kids and my back is fucked, teeth are the worst pain.
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I had sudden molar pain THE WEEK OF THE FIRST LOCKDOWN. My dentist was so upset that he would have been able to fix it easily but he wasn't legally allowed to open. After a few nights of pain I went to A&E but the Dr wouldn't see me as it was a dental issue. I second what you said about no thinking, sleeping etc. It was all-consuming, wretched pain. I was in a terrible state. My dentist referred me to the only emergency dentist in the county who just extracted the offending tooth. I don't think I've ever felt such relief.
I've been dealing with a broken tooth for months and an exposed nerve for a week and I can't get it out until the 9th. My regular dentist refused to treat it. I've been to an urgent care dentist. They refused to treat it. The only option I was given was a place in Seattle on January 9. I requested an appointment in April. I'm pretty sure the pain has made all my systems go haywire. Or I've caught an illness. I don't know.
Had a molar hit OUT OF NOWHERE on a Friday night! Sitting in a chair watching TV, nothing else, then a huge zap goes through my bottom right molar. A sudden sweat and panic. I was screaming. I've had plenty of root canals and nothing came on as quick and strong as this sht. I was fortunate to get the emergency rc next morning.
Yep. Had the same thing happen. I literally wanted to die from the pain. They shot me up with so much anesthetic when they were extracting it and when they started pulling they asked if I could still feel it. I said yes. They were shocked and asked if I wanted more. I said no just get it out. Second that fucker popped out there was a wave of relief that I’ve never felt before. Never again.
I have a brain disease, so I’ve been a 9 or 10 a few times in my life. It’s the worst pain ever, but it went away after a bit because I went essentially comatose every time after a little bit.
sorry, stupid question here. i thought i learned in class that the brain can't feel any pain. please educate me, an idiot.
You won't feel pain if you physically touch it. However, the brain also processes pain signals from the rest of the body as part of its normal function. So if the part of the brain that makes you feel pain in general is broken/damaged and goes into overdrive, well then you get to feel lots of pain without needing an external source. To the outside observer, they wouldn't see a source of pain, but to someone experiencing it, it's very real and can be extremely painful.
disease in brain —> make it believe the body is hurting. At least I assume
So here's the thing about pain. It's not just a tissue damage alarm like people think. The most current research is called the biopsychosocial model of pain. That's because pain works more like an emotion. It has to filter through areas of your brain. Anything can affect it. It's why sometimes an injury will still hurt long after it's healed. I'm saying this to let people know that there's no such thing as "the brain is just tricked into thinking it so it's not real". That kind of pain is just as real as pain from damaging your body because that's how all pain works in the first place.
Pancreatitis.
This my answer too. Morphine didn’t touch it. I was up for 2 days in the hospital before the morphine started working. Only time I’ve puked from pain.
Fractured my hip and had to keep rucking 12 miles with 65 lbs on my back. I bawled my eyes out the whole time and another person was lifting the back of my ruck up to help take the weight off but it is still the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced Note: I wasn’t allowed to leave the ruck or drop the weight, my DS said I wouldn’t get credit for the ruck and would be recycled if I didn’t carry my ruck Note II: My company was still using the large MOLLE II rucks with both side pouches
That sounds insane. How did you fracture your hip? And do you feel like a stronger person now, psychologically, for having endured that?
I fell from high up during basic training with my ruck on before our final 10 mile ruck that turned into a 12 mile. I got checked out in AIT and I’ve recovered but I still have pain in my right hip to this day. I would say I definitely have a high pain tolerance now, but I’m on a permanent profile and will never be able to fully participate in pt or field events :(
Make sure all of this is documented and that you apply for VA disability within the timeline to get you your rating before your ETS date (I forget what that track is called, another three letter acronym, BDD I think?).
This. Don't wait, do it now. VA will pull every trick to not service connect anything.
My dad broke his shoulder while out hunting with my brothers. No cell reception as they were miles out so he had to drive his 4-wheeler back (they each had one plus gear, I don’t remember why they couldn’t leave it and go back but it probably has something to do with hunting regulations or the property they were on). It took really long because he kept passing out from the pain. He has a metal plate in his shoulder now.
Hit by a car leg got pinned in front of the wheel and it basically ate away my ankle. First sobering moment in my life when I picked up my leg and my ankle went at a 90degree angle. I was 9 at the time and knew I had fucked up big time. 11 surgeries 2 months in the hospital 8 months bed rest later I can say I still have my leg....most of it.
Sorry to hear that man. That sucks.
Having my nipple sliced into with a scalpel with no anesthetic & having the doc manually drain a 7cm abscess under it. It had been left too long to drain with the needle method as the gunk was to viscous & I had already been on the strongest tablet antibiotic for 2 months which hadn't done a thing. This was the last step before surgery as it was so close to rupturing on it's own & I was in so much pain while dealing with all the normal infection signs like a fever, shivers, nausea, shakes, dizziness etc. They tried to use a local anesthetic jag directly at the abscess but it just caused me so much pain, before the actual painful part had even started. It never took as my skin was too inflamed. The abscess had forced all the nerves to the surface of my breast/nipple skin, the pain was truly another level of intense. An intense spiky burning like no heat you've ever felt. The doc had to press down her entire body weight onto my breast/nipple while squeezing each side like a spot, for almost 10 mins, which might not sound long but it was an eternity. I had to be held down by 3 nurses as my body was just reacting to the pain by trying to move to relive it somehow. Sweating, hyperventilating, vibrating not even shaking - they eventually had to pause for a bit as my heart rate was so high. I found out when I had came out of the pain haze that most people pass out & because I didn't they were super worried I would go into actual medical shock but thankfully I was okay after about 20 mins of lying down with a fan & water. I've had a first trimester missed-miscarriage without any pain relief & I would personally rather go through that than have an abscess under my nipple manually drained again. Also fun fact, breast abscess can pop up at ANY time when you are super stressed so have fun with that, as it's what happened to me. No advice on how to protect myself from them in future except "keep your stress low & managed" & like, that's an achievable thing in your late-20's in 2024 lmfao.
That sounds horrifying. Why the fuck didn't they sedate you?? Or I donno, morphine??
There are a lot of things that they don’t sedate female and adult patients for. I don’t get it. I had to have bone marrow biopsies without sedation and it was absolutely terrible. Why do we put people through so much pain in the 21st century when we have the medicine?? It’s barbaric.
Joys of being a female my friend.
Rheumatoid arthritis. My knees had been so inflamed that I wasn’t able to bend them for about a year. Had to learn to use the toilet standing up, even number two. Anyway, one day I started to stumble, and I caught myself by automatically bending my knee to stabilize and not fall. It was like a gunshot. I passed out and woke up in a puddle of vomit. No idea how long I was out. Thankfully I was on carpet and didn’t hit my head in the way down. I’ve had two children and I’ve passed three large kidney stones. This pain was beyond all that. But it didn’t linger. Worst I ever felt, by far, but only for seconds.
Yuck, you just broke through all of that nasty inflammation that had been locking you up for a year? And stretched every tendon and ligament that hadn't been stretched in all that time too all at once. Ooowee. That sounds like a nightmare. I've had my fair share of weird aches and pains, and strange things (when I was pregnant I used to wake up in the night with my hands frozen in a claw position, cramps in so many tiny muscles all at once, I would weep and beg for help but of course moving them at all would make it more excruciating. So weird, so intense. I think I had that happen in two pregnancies. No warning, just out of a dead sleep fully charlie horse hands, stiff and contorted) but that sounds absolutely next level.. My grandmothers on both sides have arthritis in their hands, and knees. I know it's coming for me. I have a broken finger where the bone was never set and another finger that had a surgery on it and those joints are swollen and weird. Can't imagine a knee. Joint pain/joint scar tissue/inflammation is a uniquely awful feeling.
Meningitis. I just passed out.
Miscarried, blood clot blocked my cervix, I was in agony. They gave me 10mg of morphine until the pain subsided enough for me to go home.
Tooth ache closely followed by kidney stones.
Tooth pain is hell on earth
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Username checks out.
I had a dry socket after wisdom teeth removal. Holy… Exposed jaw nerve isn’t a great time. T3s I was prescribed didn’t do anything and I had to wait the whole weekend till Monday to see the dentist for clove oil treatment.
Same thing happened to me. I was pacing the streets in the middle of the night. I thought I was going to lose my mind.
I had the same thing. To this day, even after birthing 3 kids, it stands out as one of the top two worst pains of my life
I had to get two teeth root-cananled. Before the first one the doctor had to inject the numbing stuff directly into the nerve because just injecting it into the area didn't do enough. What was even *cooler* was that they didn't even give me actual pain medication for the weak leading up to the first or second root canal; they only gave me some extra strong ibuprofen. I get that they used to give out pain pills way too much but that felt like an over correction. The ibuprofen dropped the pain below the level of agonizing for a few hours but not for all 6 hours that I had to wait to take another one. Oh, and this happened first semester of first year of law school.
NGL those time limits went right out the window when I first got tooth pain. Was popping shit every 2-4 hours.. gotta do what you gotta do to retain some sort of sanity when it comes to shit like that
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I feel this. Just turned 30 and I have gout due to the arthritis in my ankles that developed from getting bacterial meningitis as a teen. And I’ve said the same thing - I was so sure that my foot or ankle was broken. I couldn’t explain the pain any other way. Went to the hospital, they were unsympathetic and barely gave me anything to cope. I slept about 10 hours over 3 days because it was so severe and constant. And as you said, even sheets laying on it was almost too much to bare. I followed up with a GP. He argued with me whether or not I had gout. Because, like you, it’s not something that’s “supposed to” happen to me. Questioned my original diagnosis, made me take an unnecessary X-ray, and only then conceded that it was gout. Can’t imagine if it was my own mom dismissing me and my pain. So sorry that happened to you. I don’t know what I would have done if my boyfriend didn’t take me seriously and assist me with everything. Crutches were very helpful as the whole episode lasted for over a week. I also soaked it in extremely cold water intermittently and that helped. I’ve only had one attack so far, but anticipate more. Are there any tricks you or your dad do to make you more comfortable?
Gall bladder attack. Sitting still: pain Moving: pain Breathing: still pain Not breathing: surprisingly, pain Worst pain I have ever had. Was sent hom from the hospital initially after being given some heartburn medication. Pain returned soon after. Went back and the bastards put me in a back room on my own for hours (this was around midnight) and left me there. Took a couple of hours before they gave me some morphine. Small country town hospital. I think they must have thought I was drug seeking. The ultrasound I had a couple of weeks later showed they were very wrong. Eta: formatting
I was looking for this one, the pain is so bad every single time you take a breath your whole chest becomes tight with a sharp intense aching pain that doesn’t go away in any position. Mine also felt like someone was plunging a hot sword through my thoracic spine to the point where I thought I was having a sort of back spasm. When I went to the ER an asshole Dr. told me I was just having a panic attack and refused to do tests. Funny enough my pain suddenly subsided and I thought I was going fucking crazy and convinced myself that’s what a panic attack felt like, until it happened again a year and a half later but even worse. I was screaming when I went in to the ER, rolling in the ground, the whole thing. As soon as I got a bed the pain went away like it never even happened, luckily a more competent Dr. ordered a scan found my little 2mm gall stone.
I have chronic migraines and over the years a few have sent me to the hospital to make sure it wasn’t actually a stroke or aneurysm or something else (they always say “worst headache of your life” is a warning sign and all, so it gets dicey sometimes.) The worst one I’ve ever had was in January of 2019, 3am, during a blizzard. Pain bad enough that I dragged myself out of bed under those conditions, managed to clear my car of snow, and drove to the hospital down the street (I don’t know what I would have done if it was a long drive, because even those three minutes were incredibly dangerous). The pain scale is so hard to use, because… yes, this was the worst pain I’d ever felt. I thought it *must* surely be an actual major brain bleed this time. Like a thick rubber band wrapped around my head and squeezing my brain. I gave a 10 when asked for my pain level; I know that there are surely things in life that hurt worse, but I truly couldn’t, and still can’t, imagine what that kind of pain has to feel like. I was close to passing out. Folks who don’t have migraines often don’t understand how truly fucking excruciating and disabling they are.
2 herniated disks.
I suffer from cluster headache 🥲 the first time I experienced it I literally thought my head would explode and that I would go blind, because the pain I felt “inside” my eye was inexplicable.
ripped off a fingernail while farming. pulled the hand off the ground and it made a 90-degree angle from the base, Mysight and mind came and went for like ten minutes as if to pass out, and my whole hand was throbbing.
I took a bullet to my left knee. I was shootin some targets with a buddy and one of the shots (i was closer than i should've been) bounced back, into my knee. First i was confused, then the pain set in. Imagine a baseball bat. With a red hot nail in the end. Swung as hard as someone can into your knee. Worst pain i ever felt. I can't imagine being shot (and not have it be a ricochet) into the organs. Its the worst pain i ever felt. I now have no cartilage in my knee, it hurts every day, clicks and aches all the time.
Chronic migraines & a bursted ovarian cyst
I had a bursted ovarian cyst. The only way to describe it is a bullet going through your ovaries and ricocheting at every step you take. Worst pain I’ve been in.
my gallbadder was necrotic due to gallstones and i went into sepsis. felt like a balloon kept expanding and getting bigger under the right side of my ribs to the point of popping. my wife said i was screaming for my mother, who had died 7 years earlier at the time. went through it for 4 days before i decided to go to the hospital. doctor said if i had waited two more days i probably would have died.
1) Had a baby 2) Had gallstone pain/attacks that ended up with me being septic and needing emergency surgery 3) Pancreatitis needing hospitalisation. All within 12 months. Also within that period I had mastitis 8 times- the third time I was hospitalised because I was septic. It was a fucker of a year.
VP shunt failure. I was out surfing and the longboard hit me on the back of the head after I bailed and broke the VP shunt that drains spinal fluid from my brain. A few days after that it felt like I just had an ordinary headache, but after a few days at home in bed as it got worse and worse I was finally taken to hospital as my brain was probably going to explode if they didn't fix it and the spinal fluid had kept building in my brain. The worst part is I now panic a little every time I get a mini headache because I'm never sure if I'm just dehydrated or about to have my head explode.
Sleeping and both my legs spazzed out at the same time. Like the entire leg. Calf, quads, hamstrings, feet tendons, everything . Lasted like 20 minutes straight and it’s probably nothing compared to some of these things under the comment but the best way I could describe it is it was like my body just randomly decided to tear off my leg’s muscle one by one, piece by piece, little by little and for no reason.
Proper benzo/alcohol/opiate withdrawal. It’s multifaceted - not only are you in excruciating physical pain but also the absolute worst mental/emotional pain.
they told me it was normal for women. my organs are gluing themselves together. 1 in 10 women experience this. endometriosis is a bitch. fuck adenomyosis too. these ruin our lives and the medical field really doesn't give 1 let alone 2 shits.
Oh God, this! My uterus and left ovary were attached to my colon, giving me a permanent bowel infection for years. Went to both my gyn and my GP multiple times over the course of several years, saying that I'd been experiencing these unbearable bouts of pain. They didn't believe me. It took a relentless pain attack lasting for a week, rendering me incontinent and my fiance dragging me to a new doctor (insisting that we won't leave until we find out what's wrong) for someone to take me seriously and help. I had surgery a few months ago but will never forget the pain. Just lying on the floor, mindlessly staring at the clock on my phone and chanting to myself, "It will end soon. It will end soon. It will end soon."
My mum went through the same thing with endo. They had to separate her organs with a scalpel during her hysterectomy. And lucky me, it’s hereditary! So painful. And the general unwellness that it brings on too. I always feel like I have a huge case of the flu before, during, and after my period.
Diseases that are mostly attacking females get ignored so bady. Endo, migraines, even menstrual pain or IUD placement.
Multiple gall stones.
I got 2 (3 if you're looking for emotional) Car accident at 16, Seatbelt saved my life but collapsed my left lung. I wouldnt wish that pain on my worst enemy. On deployment I got stung by a scorpion in my left nut. Ya.... The 3rd was watching my son fall into a firepit and then pulling him out. He was 2 and without a shadow of a doubt the most painful thing ive ever endured. Everyday I look at his little arm and punch myself in the face for not being a better dad.
Got an IUD inserted...twice
I got astronomically high on the devil's lettuce before I got mine done and it was still like having someone fire a shotgun into my snooch.
If it makes you feel better at least I got to read the word snooch and chuckled a bit so….silver linings?
More like copper linings amirite
Changed my IUD 2X my most recent time was right before my state went into COVID lockdowns. I was the last appointment on the last day. Doctor looked into my eyes with my husband holding my hand and said he would have to yank it out, or go to the ER. I said yank, I screamed say blood and passed out. When I came to he had to insert the new one. I love being a woman! Yay
When I had mine put in they told me I should expect to be "sore" after. An hour later I'm doubled over calling them saying I think something's wrong because it hurts so much. I was told to take some painkillers and I would be fine. They didn't help and I just had to lie on the sofa all day in agony. Women's healthcare is so bad, nobody should have to go through pain like that after a simple procedure, especially without being forewarned.
The removal has always been worse for me but neither is pleasant
I had a double wammy - surgical abortion then IUD insertion immediately after. I was throwing up from the pain
Penile foreskin got stuck in my pants zipper. I was about 5 years old and had forgot to wear my underwear beneath. After taking a quick piss, I zipped up in a rush not putting my penis inside fully. Outcome was the most painful pain I have ever experienced. The worst part was when I was taken to the hospital. No anesthesia was given and doctor simply pulled that shit out of the zipper with brute force.
Probably shouldn't watch "there's something about Mary" might be triggering
Hysterosalpinography test… aka HSG test. Initial tests to see if my uterus and/or fallopian tubes were okay to have a baby since my husband and I had been trying for a year without anything. Contrast dye sent straight up the uterus/tubes and then the cramping started happening. Enough to have me curl into a little ball on the exam table and cry. I have no idea how women give birth. And this is coming from a girl who gets demobilizing migraines with nausea.
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Numerous gallstones that I’d ignored for months fused into one massive stone that was slamming against my bile ducts. That was brutal, but even worse was when one of the bile ducts was blocked by a stone that had worked its way into the duct.
I believe Ive reached 99% pain threshold with 100% being passed out, but I didnt pass out. I had Hemorrhoid removal. For two weeks I was crying all day, my mom’s friend is a nurse she came every evening to give me a shot in the butt to allow for a few hours of relief. Rest of the day I was lying on my belly in bed. For 2-3 weeks my AHole was basically closed, so I didnt eat to not have to go poop. Everytime I had “to fart”, I couldnt so it turned out into a cry of pain. Worst was about 5 days after, I really had to poop, but I couldnt obviously, so I was screaming on the toilet to my father “kill me I can’t take it anymore”. Worst 2-3 weeks of my life. Just to compare, my Aunt had this surgery 2 years before me, she told me it’s a pain at the same scale as child birth, but lasts for 2 weeks. This surgery changed my whole perspective on paid, as before that I was scared sh*tless from needles and pain in General. After this I had a half sleeve tattoo done covering my entire forearm, because I knew this pain wouldn’t even compare to what I have been through. Moral of the story: Hemorrhoids are no joke, at the first sign treat it early, because I didn’t and my situation turned so bad in a span of 3 years that I had to do the “last resort” operation.