What is the WORST pain you've ever had?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

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

What about you?

Gallstones was worse than childbirth

@Libraryghost I had that once! Blood test from the artery - forgot until I read your comment. Apparently it's something to do with the oxygen levels in the blood.

Opening bowels for about 6 months after third degree tear in childbirth

Tooth abscess was far and away the worst pain ever. It made me fall to the ground. Much much worse than child birth.

Psoriatic Arthritis pain.

Childbirth was a breeze compared to that.

Gallstones! Worse than child birth. I remember on one occasion being in Sainsbury’s with my baby. The pain started and I managed to get to the car, sat in the car thinking I was going to have to call an ambulance. The pain was so intense I vomited. I had a few attacks like that. So glad to have had it removed now!

The worst was when I decided to check on our sleeping children with a nightlight, so as not to disturb them with the landing light. It ended in a situation I didn't think was possible.
After tripping over the stair gate at the top of our horseshoe staircase, swinging with the momentum around the small banister, and falling whilst somehow missing every single step and landing at the bottom when my husband had gone to the local for a rare drink (he was only gone 20 minutes), I had to get myself up and to the phone and call him to come back.
Whilst doing so, I had twisted the bottom 4 vertebrae of my spine 45 degrees and got a slipped disc. I collapsed in pain and an ambulance ended up coming and to get me up again, I had to have gas and air as well as other drugs injected into my blood stream just to be able to get onto their chair.
I had more drugs that night than in either of my childrens births which I managed without pain relief.

Tooth abscess, worse than childbirth. Had a burst ovary cyst but the pain went away after a few hours but not the abscess. Awful.

It's actually incredible to realise how much the human body can withstand.

Specifically, 3.30am the morning following insertion of surgical pins into my tibia to stabilise a knee fracture - that’s the exact point all of my painkillers from the operation had worn off and I realised I’d made a mistake in not pushing for the morphine pump the ortho consultant had said I could have.

There are no words to describe it, I actually get ptsd like flashbacks when I think about it and typing this has brought tears to my eyes.

It took two hours for anyone to bring me oromorph by which point I was lying there sobbing.

Ruptured ectopic. As they put me on the operating table I actually wanted to die. I had 2 young children but dying still felt like the kindest option 😢

Tearing my anterior cruciate ligament and partially dislocating my kneecap.

So I've suffered with endometriosis, fibromyalgia and migraines for years, had a trapped nerve in my neck, exposed nerves in my gums, broken bones, had an induced back to back birth, but the absolute worse pain that had me vomiting and nearly passing was 10hrs of acute urine retention and a chronic uti, I have literally never known pain like it, I would have done anything to make it stop.

Period pain worse than natural labour and c section.

Brain haemorrhage

Afterthought: two broken ribs may have been worse, two days after it happened might have been worse.

I think I might have accepted euthanasia that night, had it been offered.

Back to back childbirth. No more children for me as a result of that.

My son standing on my toe when i had an ingrown toenail.

Having said ingrown toenail removed when the anaesthetic clearly hadn't done a bloody thing. I feel quite wibbly just thinking about it.

My son dropping his little wooden chair on another ingrown toenail this very morning. I actually sobbed.

I've got shit toes.

I regularly suffer from cramp and I have done since I was about 12. I often get it in both legs, all the muscles - ankles, shins, calves, inner thighs, back of thighs.... everywhere. I knew it won't last though. I just have to get through it, but it's just horrendous. I think the pain intensity is worse than childbirth, but it doesn't go on as long. I've found some magic tablets now for it. It always comes on if I've had booze. And then my legs ache for days afterwards. I've never met anyone else who gets cramp like this.

Perforated colon and peritonitis - bad.

Waking up under-anaesthetised after being cut open from ribs to pelvis to fix the above - worse.

Degenerative Disk Disease ..... Just would fall over while trying to walk anywhere.... Literally couldn't move without being in agony. Had a spinal fusion in the end.
I've also had Dry Socket, Sinusitis for 6 weeks and given birth 3 times without pain relief.... so yep....

Compartment syndrome and skin graft

Way worse than child birth

@Twokitstwokats

I have had dry socket, burst eardrum, root canal. None of these would even register on the childbirth pain scale. My 1st was back-to-back and took 24 hours. I wanted to die. My 2nd the pain of crowning shocked me but at least it was fast. She was not back-to-back and the rest of the labour was a walk in the park compared the the back-to-backs. 3rd one was back-to-back again, but fast, 3rd degree tear. It was the stuff if nightmares. I could never ever put myself through that again.

I agree with you too. Have had severe gallstone attacks, root canal treatment, abscesses, adenomyosis and fibroids. Nothing as bad as back to back labour. Don't fancy some of the other stuff pp have said though!

Gall stones for sure.
Oh and epidural missing the spot

@Franklyfrost wow! That's so interesting thanks for that info. I did have a couple of midwives ask me after the event if I'd gone into shock after as that sometimes happens with quick labours.

I admire the women with really long labours though, -no time with mine to get exhausted 😂.

@haveibeencaughtout

I regularly suffer from cramp and I have done since I was about 12. I often get it in both legs, all the muscles - ankles, shins, calves, inner thighs, back of thighs.... everywhere. I knew it won't last though. I just have to get through it, but it's just horrendous. I think the pain intensity is worse than childbirth, but it doesn't go on as long. I've found some magic tablets now for it. It always comes on if I've had booze. And then my legs ache for days afterwards. I've never met anyone else who gets cramp like this.

I get it, it’s horrible and unbelievably painful. It’s worse than childbirth, toothache, and gall stones.