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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

What is the WORST pain you've ever had?

999 replies

AbsentmindedWoman · 28/07/2021 18:51

Personally, toothache (constant background throb with searing white hot stabs that made me feel like I was being electrocuted in my skull every few seconds) gets the award for absolute worst ever. Two frozen shoulders, and adenomyosis that used to regularly have me puking and fainting and almost hallucinating on the bathroom floor are strong contenders - but miles behind. There is just something about vicious toothache that makes it the worst.

Contemplating this as just back from the dentist, where at least for now, things were ok this time Grin

What about you?

OP posts:
Hollyhobbi · 28/07/2021 21:39

Hmm. Sciatica, first c section, having all 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed, or puking from pain after an emergency total abdominal hysterectomy while suffering from undiagnosed primary hyperparathyroidism with 4 four gland hyperplasia? I can't decide. Maybe the wisdom teeth?!

LittleCatDog · 28/07/2021 21:39

The pregnancy cramp I get in my calf in the night.. my god it's so painful. And seems to last and last!

Contractions are very painful, but some pregnancy migraines I've had are probably the worst.

Waveafterwaveslowlydrifting · 28/07/2021 21:39

Back to back labour

Kidney infection

Broken finger

LeuvenMan · 28/07/2021 21:39

Had a thoracotomy for a thoracic spinal cord compression a few years ago. 5 days on HDU with lots of drugs was manageable. Got home day 7, watching Peter Kay with my wife, had to keep making her pause the video because it was genuinely agony to laugh 🙈

EvenRosesHaveThorns · 28/07/2021 21:40

Appenditicis and norovirus

Monkeytennis97 · 28/07/2021 21:40

Labour then hideous gallstones attack but labour was worse (back to back).

Usual2usual · 28/07/2021 21:40

I was getting a root canal when the dentist sprayed saline up into it to clean, suddenly I was in so much pain I thought my head would explode and bloody water was pouring out of my nose.

'oops we might have drilled up a bit far and got your sinus' they said casually as I writhed in agony. Had water randomly leaking out my nose for days afterwards.

Thelnebriati · 28/07/2021 21:40

Being punched in the kidney, toothache, back to back labour and a frozen shoulder were all worse than being stabbed. Not even joking.

saywhatwhatnow · 28/07/2021 21:40

For me endometriosis, 1000x worse than delivering a baby big with no pain relief. I honestly thought I was dying on two occasions, horrific!

BelindaBumcrack · 28/07/2021 21:41

Kidney stones and sciatica were far more painful than childbirth.

That said I wouldn't ever want to experience any of those 3 again.

HelloDulling · 28/07/2021 21:42

Back to back labour. Twice, the buggers.

WoMandalorian · 28/07/2021 21:42

The drip they put you on to speed up labour. It was just constant agony for hours and the gas and air did nothing. I honestly thought I was going to pass out. Thank goodness for epidurals 🙈

rhowton · 28/07/2021 21:42

Gall Stones... the pain of placing a boiling hot mug of water on my skin between my ribs was taking away the pain of the gall stone attack I was having....

oddsbobbins · 28/07/2021 21:42

Perforated gastric ulcer (I.e. blew a hole in my stomach) with sepsis. Unmedicated childbirth way less painful.

eekbumbler · 28/07/2021 21:42

4 broken ribs on same side. When slowly sitting down my Mum next to me could hear the crunch.

Had 2 children, had toenail removed - I agree with the anae injection! But the ribs trumped it.

I've just read trimenal neuralgia on page 1 (sorry can't spell or say it!) My friend has it - that does win, it's not called the suicide illness for nothing. You have my sympathy xx

ladygindiva · 28/07/2021 21:43

I'm with you op. My toothache ( required root canal) was worse than my drug free full pain natural labour ( wtf was I thinking) I had with dd1. In fact the toothache was so bad, I vaguely remember banging my head against my ( metal) bed headboard to make it stop, despite being dosed up with paracetamol, codeine and nurofen. So awful.

Monkeytennis97 · 28/07/2021 21:43

@spinningspaniels

The headache from a dural tap after epidural. Cholecystitis. Costochondritis..... thought it was a heart attack, and pain relief didn't touch it initially. Really really frightening.

All pale in comparison though to needing a root canal. I remember begging the receptionist for an appointment at 9am and having to wait until 6pm....... Dentist tapped my tooth (didn't hurt) then put the air onto it. They almost had to peel me off the ceiling Blush

Yes I had the headache and subsequent blood patch after my back to back labour. The headache was bloody awful could not raise my head above 2cms from the bed, thought it was going to explode.
doingadisservice · 28/07/2021 21:45

Between
Persistent toothache
Sciatica
Air trapped in chest after a operation

Yes I have given birth and with o my gas and air- it hurts like hell but It wasn't unbearable.

firstimemamma · 28/07/2021 21:46

Childbirth!
Second place is a really bad open fracture in my arm that it took more than one operation sort out.

JaceLancs · 28/07/2021 21:46

Post dural puncture headache - not related to childbirth - I was in and out of hospital for over 2 months - blood patches didn’t work until the 4th go as they didn’t realise I had such severe spinal damage until the 3rd failed one when they gave me an MRI scan and realised the patches weren’t reaching the dural hole - I then had to lie flat for 5 days to make sure it worked
I was terrified to get out of bed as previously every time I was upright for any length of time the dural fluid leaked out leaving me with a headache that made me suicidal
I had to wear sunglasses even in a darkened room as any light made it worse
Until this happened - I thought nothing was worse than kidney stones but at least they didn’t last as long

superhappymagicforest · 28/07/2021 21:46

Period pain in my teens. When I gave birth is was almost exactly the same 😬

Teenytinyratsass · 28/07/2021 21:47

Infected Bartholin cyst. Worse than any childbirth related ANYTHING!

Iquitit · 28/07/2021 21:48

Gallstones that led to pancreatitis, I've had complicated broken bones in awkward locations so had to wait ages for pain relief, childbirth and appendicitis that led to a rupture and peritonitis, but fuck me, gallstones were the worst.
No position I got into gave any relief, and just as you'd think it couldn't get worse - it got worse, and then I'd vomit and it hurt even more doing that.
If kidney stones are worse then I feel so much for anyone who's had them!

Bythemillpond · 28/07/2021 21:49

Whilst the worst pain was the back to back, induced childbirth was the worst pain

4 years of having a stomach ulcer that turned into several stomach ulcers so I couldn’t eat or drink without being doubled up in agony
And walking around with a slipped disc for 7 years which had me with an constant 24 hour pain in my right hip.
The pain was so constant that I couldn’t sleep.
Made worse because the consultant I was sent to never looked at me and would shout at me that I wasn’t doing the physio (he had decided that I needed a new hip)

Whilst childbirth was the most pain I experienced in a short period of time it was the failure of doctors to take my pain seriously that left me in what might have been less excruciating pain but bad pain that lasted for years and affected my life.

Libraryghost · 28/07/2021 21:50

@AbsentmindedWoman Jesus! A blood test straight from your artery? That sounds like a medieval form of torture. I have just googled it and nearly made myself puke. Why do they have to do that? Why won’t a normal blood test do the job?