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Original poster

What is the WORST pain you've ever had?

255 replies

Rnm62 · 04/12/2023 23:06

Apart from labour

I’ve had some pretty nasty migraines that were more painful than my 2 c section recoveries!

What’s the worst pain you’ve ever been in & how long did it last?

OP posts:
MissBuffyAnneSummers · 05/12/2023 00:13

Recovery from my second section. 5 days on high dependency ward with post op complications followed by repeated wound infections. Significant and unrelenting pain for 3 months.

Recovery from first section. Significant pain for several weeks.

Recovery from tonsillectomy. Significant pain for 5 days.

Number4224 · 05/12/2023 00:17

I have three.

gallbladder attack

endometriosis with a rugby ball sized cyst on
ovary

open compound fracture of forearm

LeakyPipes · 05/12/2023 00:20

Gall bladder pain

Mamanyt · 05/12/2023 00:23

Um. EITHER when I was passing gall stones OR when an ovarian cyst ruptured. Both left me incapable of walking, I hurt so badly.

Mariposista · 05/12/2023 00:25

Pixiedust1234 · 04/12/2023 23:16

Earache. To the point where my ear canal was so swollen they couldn't put any antibiotic cream down. I had that on and off for two years. The whole side of my face and neck were swollen too.

shudders

Edited

@Pixiedust1234 my poor dog gets that. I hate holding him and hearing him howl and shake when they have to try and get medicine in. Can’t imagine having it myself! He is even scared of the vet now because he associates it with ear pain, when he just bounced in as a puppy. Apparently it’s common in labradors.

Elderflower14 · 05/12/2023 00:26

Diverticulitis.... Horrendous pain!!

TravelInHope · 05/12/2023 00:28

FatFilledTrottyPuss · 04/12/2023 23:10

Shingles down my leg. It felt like I’d been peeled.

Yes I’ve had that.

UnctuousUnicorns · 05/12/2023 00:28

Toss up between toothache and a severe muscular injury in my neck and shoulder.

The toothache was so bad I honestly wanted to cut my own head off to stop it. You just feel like banging your head against a hard surface over and over, anything to stop the pain. This was over a weekend, with just paracetamol and Ibuprofen which barely touched it. Called the dentist Monday morning, got seen straight away. The nerve had died, and there was nothing else to do but extraction. Oh, the relief.

When I injured my neck and shoulder I had the most agonizing spasms that left me howling in pain like a wounded animal. It was just awful. I told my GP just how bad it was, using these exact words. I was prescribed six weeks worth of diazepam (6 to 8 mg a day), Naproxen (with accompanying Omeprasole) and 30/500 mg Co-codamol (and Senokot!). Yes, I was a zombie for the duration, but I needed it. All fine now.

I have actually dislocated and fractured my ankle, but that was an initial agony on breaking, after that the pain was manageable with just Co-codamol and Ibuprofen. I do wonder if muscle/ligament injuries are actually more painful than fractures in general. 🤔

Three labours, epidural with first, TENS and gas and air second and third. All felt like hyper exaggerated period pains.

Aphroditee · 05/12/2023 00:29

Walking on a broken leg.

Catslovenip · 05/12/2023 00:29

Jelly fish sting on holiday. It had wrapped itself around my inner thigh. I’ve never cried so much.

mantyzer · 05/12/2023 00:30

Lumbar puncture. I said afterwards I would have to be dying to put myself through that again.

Sholkedabemus · 05/12/2023 00:31

Toothache. I had a cracked tooth and I couldn’t breathe, eat or drink without excruciating pain.

VintageBlossomHill · 05/12/2023 00:32

Pixiedust1234 · 04/12/2023 23:16

Earache. To the point where my ear canal was so swollen they couldn't put any antibiotic cream down. I had that on and off for two years. The whole side of my face and neck were swollen too.

shudders

Edited

@Pixiedust1234 Ive suffered from severe ear infections too. Horrendous. I once cried in the doctor’s surgery when he handed me another script and told me to give another 10 days and if not better to make another appointment. 😱I would have been quite happy to be put down. Babies and c sections a breeze in comparison.

justanothermanicmonday1 · 05/12/2023 00:35

Induction pain with DC1.

My god was horrific.

justanothermanicmonday1 · 05/12/2023 00:36

Sholkedabemus · 05/12/2023 00:31

Toothache. I had a cracked tooth and I couldn’t breathe, eat or drink without excruciating pain.

Oh this too.

Sailthisshipalone · 05/12/2023 00:41

Ear infection.
Ive had a few ear infections but one particular one a few years ago the whole side of my face was swollen and it felt I’d been punched in the side of the face.

I couldn’t sleep with the constant throbbing pain and was actually crying I was in so much pain.

I’ve given birth twice and the ear pain was a lot worse than that!

Z0rr0 · 05/12/2023 00:43

Broken rib was worse than giving birth.

djs94 · 05/12/2023 00:43

one of these..

having an endoscopy when they accidentally didn’t give me enough anaesthesia meaning it felt like a broom handle was being rammed down my throat and throwing up blood after they couldn’t do it anymore after trying for ages

slicing my finger tip off with a very sharp knife

catheter put in with no numbing cream !!!

PyongyangKipperbang · 05/12/2023 00:44

I have joint firsts because they were all terrible for different reasons. Toothache when the nerves in a tooth were dying (thats what the dentist said causes it), it was like being stabbed in the face constantly for hours with no relief at all. Also, appendicitis that was misdiagnosed as IBS so I ended up with (quoting the surgeon) "Slightly squidgy" insides. Gall bladder pain. Standing for 3 hours by the side of the road in the middle of winter in the freezing rain because the AA fucked up my call out and I have really painful nerve reactions to the cold (but not quite bad enough to be dx with Reynauds according to my GP).

TheFireflies · 05/12/2023 00:44

Gallstone pancreatitis. It took 4.5 days of being unable to properly move, unable to eat or drink, while being sick every 20 minutes, before the medics finally took me seriously. By that time my vomit, what there was of it, was almost black and burned my throat. I felt like I was turning inside out, and I wanted to die.

PyongyangKipperbang · 05/12/2023 00:46

@djs94 I sliced the top of my thumb off with a very sharp knife. didnt feel a thing at the time, in fact it was only blood on the chopping that meant I noticed! Hurt like a BASTARD for the next 2 weeks though!

djs94 · 05/12/2023 00:48

Oooohboy!!! Yeah it was the aftermath that was the worst, don’t you agree? for weeks even the slightest breeze and I would wince it was so unbearable

porridgeisbae · 05/12/2023 00:49

When I was having professional treatment with a harsh chemical for a wart on my thumb, and I kept picking at it so my thumb had a bit of a nasty hole in it. I had to borrow a bit of a friend's morphine to sleep.

I know, I've been fortunate so far.

DuskandSummer · 05/12/2023 00:55

Costocondritis, every movement felt like being skewered through the sternum.

Mumoftwosweetboys · 05/12/2023 00:57

Awful toothache which I ignored for a couple of days and then it became awful. Was SO RELIEVED to have an emergency root canal treatment.

I know OP said not to say labour but both my labours were very quick and intense and just atrocious I couldn't cope at all. As others said it's manageable in the sense that you know it'll end but unbelievably intense. I forgot just how bad it was though after my first and then had my second and was quickly reminded. With my second I was about to be induced due to an infection but dodged an induction as he decided to come out himself (thankfully) but went from no dilation to baby out in about an hour max. Short and sweet I suppose!