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86 Times People Experienced Extreme Illness And Sickness And Lived To Tell The Tale
Nobody likes getting sick. Whether it’s the seasonal flu or something way more serious and dangerous, there’s a reason people say that good health is everything. But some health crises are so bad that people almost wish they were knocking on heaven’s door.
Some people say that passing kidney stones is more painful than childbirth and thus the worst sickness a person can get. Others claim that there’s nothing worse and more debilitating than chemo destroying your body together with the cancer cells.
There’s no point in playing health crisis Olympics, but some people sure have gone through terrifying experiences regarding their health more than others. In a recent online thread, folks started sharing their worst medical emergencies after one netizen asked, “What's the sickest you've ever been in your life?” From mysterious illnesses and C. diff to serious infections and spinal fluid leaks, these people are sure lucky to have made it out alive.
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#1
Stage 3 Colon Cancer. Six months of chemo… six hours every Monday and then 40 hours of a slow drip cocktail that I learned to remove myself.
Chemo was so debilitating. I was sleeping 20+ hours a day. The chemo brain was terrifying … I could see a cup in my head and the letters c-u-p would be over it but I couldn’t say the word out loud. Reading was futile. I’d turn the page and couldn’t remember was I just read. I remember being so scared that this was it. My oncologist was so optimistic but d**n I was scared. I was so sick and tired of being sick and tired.
About a third of the way through, I’d come home feeling miserable and would usually end up crying and swearing I was done with chemo and wasn’t going back. But then Monday would roll around again and I would be back in chair for six hours with my heated blanket and the most caring and empathetic oncology team that ever was.
I’ve been in complete remission since April of 2011. And I don’t take a single solitary day for granted. 💚
F**K CANCER!!!!
RELATED:
#2
Burns to 76% of my body. Coma for a month and a half. Hospital/rehab learn to walk again for a year. Back to school to retrain 3 years later. Back to work new job 9 years later.
#3
COVID caused me to develop something called Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. I’ve basically become allergic to the world. I never thought I’d be writing my will this week because no medication is able to help me come out of my recent flare up - I can’t keep any food down, I go into anaphylaxis from Benadryl (of all things!) and just about any other oral pill, my liver’s throwing a fit, and I’ve got crushing depression about the state of my life. I wouldn’t wish this illness on my worst enemy.
Elladine DesIsles 11 hours ago
I'm going through the diagnostic process for MCAS now. It's not fun, but my symotoms (thus far) are not nearly as severe as what OP describes. I hope they never will be!
#4
Mono, 30 days in bed. Didn't matter how much water I drank I was always thirsty. My bedroom stunk like sick.
Edit anecdotally: Our dog would only sleep with my brother, but the entire time I had mono he slept on my pillow by my head.
#5
I had C-Diff when I was 23. Don’t Google it. It’s basically when too much antibiotics take out all of the good bacteria out of your intestines.
I had esophageal surgery when I was a teen, and it took away my ability to puke. Therefore, there was only one way things could come out — and everything went right through me. And it has a different smell too; like you’re shutting d**d animals. Plus I was dry-heaving to the point that I couldn’t keep medication down.
That last part got me admitted to the hospital for four days. It’s also extremely contagious. It was during a bad flu season, and I was the only person in the hospital with a single room. When the hospital got so overcrowded they had to give me a roommate, she had to have her own commode.
She d**d a few weeks later, and I always wondered if it was because of me. I lived (obviously) but it was awful. I lost about 30 pounds in a few weeks. This happened in early December, and the jeans I had picked out for Christmas just fell off of me.
The kicker was that the sinus infection that I was prescribed the antibiotics for wasn’t even real. The headaches were from a benign brain tumor that was finally found on a CT of my sinuses.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 5 hours ago
I have a benign brain tumor (pituitary) just like OP! Mine causes headaches/sinus pain as well XD I wanted to get it removed when I was first diagnosed with it, and the doctor basically told me, "We can smash through all your facial bones in order to remove it... or we can just monitor it with yearly scans and make sure it doesn't start growing." I elected to not have my face bones smashed XD
#6
I’ve had kidney stones five or six times in my life. About ten years ago after I had first gotten married, I got my third bout of them. Cue the instantaneous, gut-wrenching, all consuming pain and the vomiting, the whole 9 yards. I go to the ER. They do a scan, say yep kidney stones, hook me up on d******d, write me a prescription for oxy, and send me home.
On the way home I fill my prescription just as the pain comes crashing back in. Clearly my d******d is wearing off. I figure I’ll have to suffer a day or so of this before the stone either passes or quits moving, which is what had happened before. (I assume they have always just ended up in my bladder and not been passed because I have never seen/felt/heard one leave.
48 hours later and the pain has never let up, not for a moment. I’m running out of oxy. I go back to the ER, thinking maybe it’s too large. Something. They give me more d******d, more oxy, another scan, say to keep waiting, and send me home again.
After 3 more days of this I’m delirious. I’m living in the bathtub as it’s the only way I can receive a moment of relief, taking the pain from a 12 to a 10. Seriously, I put a pillow in there and everything. When the hot water ran out I would cry until the tank refilled and I could fill the tub again. I remember staring into the big silver plate thing that is supposed to keep the tub from overflowing and hallucinating from pain. I felt like I was part of the steam vapor and I could escape into the drain hole. At this point I’m popping oxy every hour and it’s barely putting a dent in it.
Finally, my parents and husband realize that I’m going to d*e unless someone helps me so they take me back to the ER and begin yelling until finally they refer me to the urologist who I can only describe as an aged Dr. House in a tie-dye t-shirt. He was furious after seeing my scans, realizing the tubes that connect my kidneys to my bladder were misshapen, and that I would never pass a stone on my own without surgery. He scheduled my surgery for 3 hours later, I sat in his waiting room sobbing with gratitude until an old woman next to me clearly thought I had received some life-shattering news and gave me some of her tissues.
3 hours later my tubes were reconstructed, the stone was gone, a stent was in its place and I was on the road to recovery, albeit with a mild o****d a*******n I had to withdraw from. I don’t wish this on my worst enemy.
SnackbarKaat 5 hours ago
Poor soul. I had a kidney stone once and I was scared everytime the pain would start again.
#7
I went into a Bipolar episode at the age of 15 and was put on an SSRI because the doctor I saw didn’t know, and I was catapulted into a much worse mixed episode where I went psychotic, called the cops, ended up in inpatient for weeks I don’t even know how much time passed. I guess I’m pretty healthy all things considered for that to be my worst sickness. I have been on meds a long time and am doing great!
#8
Had meningitis as a kid and thought I was going to d*e. There was an 11 year old in the room next to me who had it and he did d*e. I was laying awake at night when he coded and I heard it all happen.
#9
When I had raw Covid in January of 2020, before anyone even knew it existed (found out later). I lost my sense of taste, and I was so sick every heart beat felt like it would be the last one. I was on the phone crying to my doctor because it was a full TEN DAYS after the fever had broken and I still could only drag myself to the bathroom and back to bed and that took every bit of strength in my body. The sense of malaise was totally overpowering. It took months to recover.
I’ve never been the same. My immune system has never been the same. I had Covid twice more after vaccination and it was nothing like that!
#10
Swine flu
Called off work. Boss said just come back when you're better.
I stocked up food my 7 year old could make for himself. I set 3 daily alarms. Drop off kid at school, pick up kid from school, put kid to bed. Don't remember doing any of those things, but apparently I did.
I sat in front of an open window in Minnesota winter pouring sweat. I remember my son bringing me food and apple juice a few times ❤️
When I started to feel better, I called my boss to say I would probably be in the next day. She sounded really concerned about me. I was confused. She said "it's been a week and a half!" I thought it had been 3, maybe 4 days.
#11
12 months ago I had a cerebral spinal fluid leak (csf leak). Basically I had brain juice leaking out of my brain lining that just happened to find a defect in my sinus bone and escape out through my nose! I didnt think anything of it at first, but after a few months of water stuff dribbling out of my nose, increased headaches and sometimes vomiting in the morning I ended up in ed. My brain was very unhappy not being adequately suspended in fluid. Had to be on some hard o*****s until they could do surgery. The pain k***ers took my pain from an 8 out of 10 down to a 6 at best. Then they removed the front of my skull to repair the leak and the sinus and put it all back together. 6 month recovery! Not much fun.
#12
I got a duodenal ulcer and needed emergency surgery. Threw up black coffee ground looking vomit. I knew that was bad.
Docs got me patched up via endoscope.
I had to get two transfusions.
My hemoglobin level was below 6 and it should be around 13. Six is considered “bleed out” range.
Terrifying part is no one knows what caused it.
Funny part is my docs were two women one Ukrainian and one Russian. We talked a bit about it. They are great friends to the point where the Ukrainian is the godmother of the Russian ones kid.
America really is a nation of immigrants.
#13
My toothache that last for a whole week. I can't do anything but cry in pain.
#14
Hyperemesis gravidarum with my second child. Puking 15-20 times a day. Couldn't keep ANYTHING down, if a sip of water touched my lips it came right back up. Lost 10 lbs in the first week it hit. Got so weak and dehydrated that my heart would start racing every time I stood up. I had an 18 month old to take care of too and I remember pulling a kitchen chair around behind me as I made her lunch because I couldnt stand without getting tunnel vision and feeling like my heart would give out. After multiple ER stays and different d**g combos, I finally found a combination that brought the puking down to 2-4 times a day and I could keep down Pedialyte popsicles and fruit blended with ice. Eventually was able to somewhat eat for the rest of the pregnancy. My husband thought I was going to d*e. No more pregnancies for me!
#15
I don’t know what the f**k this was (my local urgent care told me it was post nasal drip), but I couldn’t breathe, my eye swelled up and started dripping pus, and I had to sleep sitting up and only got an hour of sleep a week. I remember crying sitting up on the couch at 3 AM because I was so tired but couldn’t sleep because I was in so much pain and discomfort
EDIT: An hour of sleep A NIGHT. If it were an hour a week, I probably wouldn’t be alive rn for obvious reasons.
#16
Two things - Long Covid in 2023. I still have a cough.
(Not shaming, just stating and I'm still fat): Obesity. I'm a small lady and I weighed 126kg / 277 pounds. I couldn't walk, would get out of breath walking to the letterbox or any slight incline. My blood pressure was through the roof and my mental health in the sewer. My feet would swell all the time. I have lost 25% since and I no longer weigh myself, but being able to walk without losing breath and run up stairs is AMAZING.
#17
Migraine status than transformed into chronic headache. 8-9/10 pain constantly for 3 months with occasional above 10 peaks. No lights, no sounds, constant nausea, fatigue. Could not move faster than a very old tortoise or the headache would get worse. Couldn’t concentrate, had memory issues, rampant anxiety, etc. Oh, and I also had to detox Tylenol and Advil because I had been taking too much in the months prior. Only thing that helped a tiny bit was frequent sensory depravation.
All over horrible time. So painful, so boring. Do not recommend.
And yes people, I did go to the hospital and I am followed by a neurologist. I am a doctor too so please do not give me any headache advice. Thank you kindly.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 5 hours ago
This sounds like when I get my "groupings" of really bad migraines, every couple of months. I get "regular" migraines frequently, especially around my period, but every few months I get brutal ones that make me actively wish to díe. The pain is horrific, and every single sound is like a physical punch, light is painful, and every sensation on my skin is agony. I've tried every medication out there and have seen tons of doctors, specialists, etc. There's no easily-treatable reason for them. They really súck because while I know I'll obviously survive them and I'm not actually dyíng, the pain is so bad that I can't move/do anything, but it's also so bad that I can't fall asleep. So sometimes I lose entire days to a screaming void of pain. Good times!
#18
I was 14, 5’6”, and 89 lbs from Crohn’s. Finished the last couple months of my freshman year drinking Vivonex because I refused to go to school with a feeding tube in my nose and with a tube in my side because one of the abscesses needed to be drained several times a day. The fluid from said abscess burned like fire. Had surgery the day after school let out. I really, really, really didn’t want to repeat freshman year.
#19
A while back in 2018, I cut myself shaving and some shaving cream got into the wound. About half an hour later I ate a banana. Earlier that same day I'd eaten a cheese pizza that tasted a bit off, I chalked it up to "natural flavor" and didn't think much of it.
The next morning I woke up with an unexplainable burning in my stomach, something I'd never felt before. I tried to eat breakfast but couldn't; my stomach felt way too tight. Even coffee was off the table. Any more than a small sip of water and I felt bloated. A few hours later I started feeling a mild internal burning sensation on my skin too.
Week 1: Felt like this every day. Ate almost nothing, just water. Caffeine withdrawal gave me brutal headaches on top of everything else.
Week 2: Started eating again, roughly 600 calories/day. The burning finally stopped and I could handle coffee again, but my stomach still felt small and tight.
Week 3: Started to feel more normal, but had zero appetite — capped around 1000 calories or less. My body would only tolerate carbs and soups: white bread, rice crackers, chicken soup, on repeat.
Week 4: Felt fine. Weighed myself 78kg. A month earlier I'd been 93kg. Technically "achieved" a weight loss goal, but not exactly the way I'd have chosen. Gained back about 5kg pretty quickly once I started eating normally again.
To this day I have no idea what actually caused it. I looked into it a bit and listeria crossed my mind, but I never got it diagnosed. Curious if anyone's experienced something similar.
#20
2023. Got covid. Lungs went to s**t (already s**t to begin with), in the hospital, thought I was going to d*e, couldn't eat, lost 45lbs in 2 months, couldn't walk without feeling like I was going to pass out.
Then depression because I can't walk, can't smell, can't taste, need 2 inhalers a day just to breathe but still wheezing and coughing 3 years later.
#21
When I was 12 I my appendix almost burst. I spent 2 days in extreme agony because my father thought I was exaggerating. Doctors told me I was very close to having a severe infection since it was so close to rupturing when they took it out.
Nik Odongray 11 hours ago
My boss just had his appendix burst and then got an infection after the surgery. Then, like a week or two later he had a stroke, which they believe originated with a clot from the surgery. Poor guy. He collapsed in a restaurant in the middle of a meeting and couldn’t talk or use his right hand but he said he was fully aware of everything going on around him. Anyway, thankfully he’s doing much better. He’s a really great guy, so I’m very glad he’s been able to recover.
#22
In July, I admitted myself into the ER because I felt so terrible. Turns out I had a bacterial infection in my gall bladder. My liver and kidneys temporarily shut down, and I was in ICU for four days. I had sepsis in my bloodstream. I almost d**d. After a course of the most powerful antibiotics available, I was fortunate to make a full recovery.
#23
Appendicitis in 2010, I was 23. I started going into shock in the ER, my lips turned blue. The doctor came in and took my blood pressure and it was 60/30, he said he didn't even know how I was still conscious and that I should be in cardiac arrest. What a comfort. Spent three days in the hospital and missed a music festival I was really looking forward to.
#24
Two times: I got covid in December 2019 before it was a big deal, I had a 3 day fever, hallucinated, sweated profusely through my sheets and comforter and had a continued upper respiratory infection for over a month and a half.
Then I had my gallbladder become infected in September 2020, and had the worst pain I've ever had in my life. Fever, abdomen pain and shivers. Barely slept for a few days. Then i had my surgery and found out I'm allergic to betadyne, the antiseptic, after an additional week long stay in the hospital to figure out what caused my rash.
#25
COVID at Christmastime 2022. Everyone in my house had it. AND I WAS TWICE VACCINATED…
For me, a 102.6 temperature and blood pressure sustained around 195/125. Pulse ox got as low as 91. Two weeks of coughing up thick mucus the color of butternut squash.
It’s possible I might not still be here if I hadn’t been double vaxxed.
#26
Ovarian torsion with secondary sepsis. That was next level pain and I was hospitalized for days. Has transfusions too.
The next worst was probably a bout of Noravirus I got two years ago. It was so bad I was dry heaving every 5 min for 8hrs straight. I remember it feeling like every muscle in my body was on fire. I finally passed out (on the toilet of course 🫠) and my heart rate shot to 160bpm and wouldn’t come down. A family member rushed me to the hospital and I don’t remember any of it. Two liters of fluids were bolused and I awoke like magic. I got very low blood pressure and could have d**d from dehydration. I stayed about a day in the hospital, then was discharged. I was still occasionally vomiting for the next 24hrs.
I had heard stories of people d**ng from Noravirus and always thought it was old people or kids. I’m a healthy adult and it kicked my a*s.
#27
AFib after open heart surgery. Felt like s**t but I was also thinking "well, I had open heart surgery two weeks ago, I'm supposed to feel like s**t".
Went to the hospital after my watch finally picked up the AFib, they reset my heart, and I walked out of the hospital feeling a million times better and asked my wife if we could stop somewhere on the way back for something to eat.
#28
Nearly lost my life to anorexia at 16 and was hospitalized for 6 months. I had a feeding tube and got refeeding syndrome early on in recovery. Fast forward, I was in SVT in my late twenties and was cardioverted a few times. I felt like I was d**ng in both situations but in very different ways, it’s hard to explain.
#29
First time getting COVID.
My cousin travels for work. She went near wuhan. Came back extremely sick and infected the extended family at an event shortly after. This was several weeks before it was really even being talked about much.
My wife was sick and went to the hospital for dehydration. I was by myself.
I s**t the bed. Not terribly bad, more like a shart. Anyway I couldn't get up so I laid it on helplessly for several hours until I could get up and change sheets plus shower.
I was probably a lot closer to d***h than I realized to be honest.
#30
It's not *sick" per se, but right this second I have what my doctor thinks is [Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/vertigo/symptoms-causes/syc-20370055).
You know that feeling when you had a few shots too many, you finally lay down in bed, and the room just spins? That's about how I've felt for the past eight days.
The first few days were the worst. It really kicked in Thursday afternoon where I had to get in bed at 4:00 PM because I couldn't do *anything* without throwing up or falling over. Aside from an hour and a half either vomiting or kneeling next to the toilet about to vomit Friday morning followed by about an hour at the Doc-In-A-Box, I spent less than 10 minutes not lying flat on my back over the next three days (basically just quick trips to p*e). It was basically me either trying to sleep or listening (not watching) YouTube via my phone.
With medication, I've been getting slowly better. The past couple of days I've been able to sit upright (with my chair reclined and a pillow to keep my head steady) for growing periods of time (hence how I can answer this).
But even with d***s, the slightest movement sends my head spinning. Walking feels like my head is on a 10' pole with how every movement makes me sway and stumble.
But it's *exhausting*, I'm probably about to go collapse back in bed because it's tiring being DUI levels of dizzy all the time and if it weren't for the medication, I'd be throwing up every time I tried to move. And I probably have another week or so of this before. Assuming it goes away, otherwise it's MRI time.
#32
I’ve been fortunate to not have any acute illnesses that required hospitalization. But for chronic illness…my brain is herniating out of my skull. It’s called Chiari malformation and having your brainstem compressed and flow of your cerebral spinal fluid blocked feels like s**t. The headaches are unreal. It took years of worsening symptoms to get diagnosed, and boy was that a surprise. I didn’t even know it was a thing. Apparently neither did most of the radiologists in town, but I digress. I collected a couple of new diagnoses like trigeminal neuralgia while getting worked up for the Chiari and they are also trash.
Anyway, I work a fairly high stress job and I’d drag myself into work every day, claw my way through the day, hobble out of my car in the afternoon when I got home, and then sit and count the hours until bedtime. I had terrible insomnia from the pain and the aforementioned brainstem compression, so I’d get really garbage sleep and then get up in the morning to do it all over again. I had surgery to give my brain a little more room and it has helped a lot with the headaches, although a lot of other symptoms still come and go and occasionally flare.
Those few years of worsening symptoms leading up to surgery, though…that was a really dark time. I let go of a lot of things I enjoyed because I didn’t have the physical resources anymore. When you say no to plans enough times, people just stop inviting you and friends slowly disappear. My life got really, really small. I’ve been living with another chronic condition my whole life and I can remember several really bad flares, but none of them topped that period in my life. Chronic illness is awful.
#33
I had the OG Covid, SARS, in 2004 and had to have back to back lung surgeries. I was 4. Tubes in my side draining my lungs. 2020 felt like an attack from your biggest enemy…from beyond the grave.
#34
I got the flu in the early 2000s. I thought I was going to d*e. I just laid in bed and fell asleep from pure exhaustion. My sister made me some soup and I didn’t have energy to even drink it. I just woke up one day and got a little stronger but it took probably 3 weeks of surviving before I could eat and drink normally.
#35
When I got shingles on my face and scalp at 27 years old. 2 months of hell.
I would give birth unmedicated 10x over again before I ever dealt with shingles again. I CANNOT imagine dealing with it in my 60s, 70s or 80s with how bad it was when I was in my 20s.
Nik Odongray 11 hours ago
I was always super paranoid that I would get shingles before I was old enough to get the vaccine. Thankfully finally hit that benchmark. My wife actually recently got them, but because she had been vaccinated, they were very mild.
#36
Advanced Lyme disease. I never got the bullseye warning and was later misdiagnosed. I never understood what exhaustion was until then, the arthritis was insanely painful from my shoulders to my ankles, and my temperature would hit 103 and then plunge down to 95. Oh, and the delirium in the middle of the night was wild.
#37
Well, I had a miscarriage that led to a very serious infection. I fainted in my locked home. My mom showed up and called 911. By the time I woke up I was in the hospital for 9 days…in the mother and baby unit. It was so very sad.
2WheelTravlr 7 hours ago
Putting someone who has had a miscarriage in the maternity ward is evil.
#38
I had cellulitis and it wasn’t until I hit a 102 temp where I begged my husband to go to the urgent care. They wanted to take me by ambulance to the local hospital and was there for a week.
#39
March 2025...went to urgent care b/c I thought I had strep. Tested positive for the flu. Told me to go home, rest, & drink lots of fluids. Went back 3 days later b/c I was unable to swallow anything except water due to the pain. They told me I was sick and wasn't going to feel better quickly. 🤔 Went to the ER 3 nights later at like 3 AM...it was that or drive off a bridge. They gave me "magic mouthwash" which allowed me to eat soupy mashed potatoes & chicken broth and get relief from the pain. Ended up being referred to an ENT and discovered I had a virus which was causing me to have throat ulcers. As part of the discovery process, I even had a gland biopsy from my neck b/c one of the tests they ran indicates it could be cancer. I was sick March through the beginning of May. It was the worst I have ever felt and wouldn't wish it on anyone...even my enemies. Fun fact...the $1700 ER bill was totally worth it b/c of that d**n magic mouthwash. It was literally a lifesaver b//c the pain made me want to d*e.
#40
Covid. I found out I tested positive a day or two before Christmas Eve before vaccines. Got served Christmas dinner in quarantine in bedroom. Had a raging fever I swear was k*****g me. Couldn’t breathe while coughing 24/7. Which stopped me from sleeping. Somehow found expired buckleys and that stopped me from coughing. Got sleep but sweated from fever enough to throw out bed after I got better. my lungs were ruined for over two years before having a ‘semi-normal’ life. I couldn’t drink anything remotely cool without cool/cold without having a coughing fit, everything had to be hot to avoid that. Due to my raging fever, my stomach fauna was f’d up. Majority of foods gave me the runs until two full years of eating probiotic food and pills. Even to this day, years later. my lungs during the first year stopped me from walking faster than a jog. Certain exercise and/or exertions take me down for a day physically.
#41
Hum. I’d guess when I had scarlet fever. I was 6, though, so-my memory is pretty foggy now. I do recall being in the hospital for-probably a few days or a week at the most.
Besides that, I went through a mess for years after I broke my leg. I wound up with osteomyelitis. Ugh. I still have problems with my leg.
#42
I got an E. coli infection in the hospital while having my second baby. I was re-admitted with 105 degree fever. 9 IV antibiotics and a week later I got to go home to a two week old, a two year old, and a husband who worked contract and had no time off. I honestly don’t remember much.
#43
Cancer. Stage 3C. 50/50 chance of survival. But I survived.
Edit: Thank you for all the awards everyone! It really touches my heart that you are all so kind 💙.
#44
I was a child in the late 1990s and my physician parents were working in Southeast Asia. I managed to catch dengue and malaria simultaneously.
#45
I (35f) went on a Carnival Cruise and contracted Typhoid Fever while in Cozumel over Christmas 2019 - new year 2020.
I got out of work for 3 months, then went back for 4 days and Covid shut everything down. Loved the cruise; would absolutely cruise again.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 5 hours ago
"I caught a terrible bacterial infection while on a cruise! Would go on a cruise again!" XD
#46
My young children brought something home from daycare. Vomiting and diarrhea for hours. Never experienced anything like that before. Most of the times I’ve been sick recently, was due to my kids bringing home germs/colds from daycare.
#47
When I had COVID pneumonia. Ended up suffering for about a week at home before going to the ER. Roommate found me passed out on the bathroom floor.
#48
Staph infection in my elbow. Week in the hospital. Then another week sick at home from the pain med withdrawal. Fun stuff.
#49
Second pregnancy, I had hyperemesis gravidarum. Throwing up every day several times a day, constant nausea, stuck in bed for months. At it’s worst I became dehydrated and had to go to the hospital because I couldn’t keep anything down. Worst 9 months of my life that resulted in one of the best things of my life lol.
#50
Got today in the Hospital and tomorror they gonna cut a part of my foot off because of an infection
Its 2am already and i cant sleep because iam so stressed.
#51
49 years ago when I got diagnosed with type one Diabetes after an initial misdiagnosis. I pulled through my coma as Elvis d**d. I sing a mean Elvis at karaoke now though.
#52
Norovirus, which now sounds mild compared to everyone else's responses. Started with Grandma, then Mom got it and asked me to take her to the ER for fluids and meds. By the time we left the hospital I had it. I passed out hugging the toilet amongst other indignities. Mom was nice enough to share her Phenergren with me and I almost literally slept the entire next day(s) - I only woke up to use the bathroom and take my next dose.
Now at work anytime someone tells me they're dealing with a stomach bug/are nauseous, they're immediately asked to leave my office. I'm not messing with that again.
#53
I was hospitalized for diverticulitis for about a week. They had me on delaudid shortly after arriving.
My wife and 6 year old were at the hospital but had to leave at the end of visiting hours. My 6 year old was mad at my wife because my wife (her mom) was leaving me alone when I was sick.
#54
Nearly d**d after catching an infection post Appendix removal surgery. Was in a bad way for a few days (which were mostly spent in some weird twilight consciousness where time was just slipping by).
13 years old and remember seeing my mum crying when she saw me lying there.
I got better. Obviously.
#55
I have two answers.
First: one time I got a staph infection or cellulitis or something on my knee. It was pretty bad and didn’t respond to antibiotics well for a while. There was some concern it might turn into a septic joint or worse, but eventually it cleared up.
Second: one night, I randomly got violently ill. Like I felt like I needed to s**t and vomit at the same time, but way worse than I’ve ever felt. I also became dizzy and I got a sound of rushing water or like heavy static in my ears, loud, so I couldn’t hear my wife talking to me. It felt like an hour of absolute hell, I just knelt in a quasi fetal position on the floor by the toilet. But then it passed and my wife (who sat with me) told me it only lasted about 2-3 minutes. It was scary and horrible, but then I felt completely fine afterwards.
#56
Pancreatitis from a GLP-1. I threw up so much I was afraid I was going to d*e.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 5 hours ago
My mom (82 years old) is taking a GLP-1 right now for weight loss. I tried to warn her that there are a lot of scary side effects from them. But she's never wanted to change her lifestyle (zero exercise) or her eating habits (atrocious), so it's magical medications time :(
#57
H1N1, 2009, was bedridden for a week with a high fever.
COVID-19 was child's play by comparison.
#59
Caught Covid in August 2020. Never been so ill in my life. At the time I was 24, was in very good shape, playing football 3 times a week and regular gym goer. Absolutely wiped me out for about 12 days. Had no energy; body temperature was all over the place, body aches, constant fatigue, eating food and having a shower was all I hoped for each day Was sleeping for like 16-18 hours a day. Felt absolutely awful particularly days 4-8 where I felt like I may have to go to hospital. I’ve had the flu since, also a vomiting bug - neither have come close to that time with Covid. I’ve had Covid 2 times since and been pretty minor. It absolutely wiped me out. Being alive basically hurt. It was crazy.
#60
Norovirus. Even worse, I caught it in the dorms at college 🤦🏻♀️ I’ve had the flu and covid but nothing beats that for me.
#61
Got back from a furry convention and I was totally bedridden for a week, fatigue, heat flashes, and nose running like a faucet. Never been sick that bad before, and thankfully since.
#62
When I was around 17, my old man cooked up some pork chops with baked potatoes. Unfortunately the pork chops were undercooked and I ended up getting gnarly food p****ning.
For an entire week I was next to the toilet and shower, feeling like d***h.
#63
I had sepsis earlier this year and spent a week in the hospital. I just looked at my bill and realized I’d been in the icu for that week. So that.
#64
Woke up one morning and didn’t feel right. Figured it would get better. Two weeks later was in the icu with diabetic keto acidosis. Turned forty and got juvenile diabetes. W*F?
#65
Maybe not “sick” necessarily but I had a random allergic reaction to shrimp and while I was breaking out in hives my throat was closing. My husband drove me to the ER going about 90. By time I arrived I managed to throw myself through the doors. I don’t remember much until I literally came back to life in a hospital bed projectile vomiting.
#67
Pneumonia. Was in the ICU for 9 days. Had to have fluid drained from my lungs. It was horrible & unimaginably expensive.
#68
Had what’s called a missed miscarriage where my body didn’t naturally expel the tissue so I had to take misoprostol to flush everything out. It felt like the worst flu you’ve ever had mixed with the worst period you’ve ever had.
#69
Covid 2 years ago. My throat hurt so much that i cried every time i swallowed. I had to sleep in an easy chair because if i laid down flat my lungs would get so congested that I could barely breathe.
#70
I had rabdomyolysis from inadvertently eating icy, cold grapefruit while taking a high dosage of statins. I thought I was just tired from the horrible heat, and humid summers we get. I was already in renal failure. By the time I was hospitalized, my urine was the color of black coffee. I still get scared just thinking about it.
#71
Sepsis from a kidney stone that caused a horrible infection. Doctor said had I waited another hour, or two, I wouldn’t have made it. Was in the hospital for almost two weeks and went home with a PICC line and a nurse coming daily to administer antibiotics for almost a month. Really scared me and opened my eyes to infections, septicemia, and how fast it can turn d**dly. I’m lucky to still be here.
#72
I was in Thailand on one of those boat tours to the Phi phi islands. They served us meat that made me so sick. I thought I was genuinely going to d*e. turns out literally everybody who does this boat to her. Also has gotten this sick.
#73
MRSA ate my nose. I was on vacation thinking I had a big zit, whatever. I couldn’t breathe one night, it was due to the MRSA eating through my nose and my body was in sepsis hence the bad asthma attack
Edit: I went to an urgent care for this horrible asthma attack I could not shake, got admitted into the ICU. I left that out.
#74
The day I got diagnosed with blood cancer I had a 103.6 fever.
#75
My hangover from drinking too much Southern Comfort. I puked bile and felt like my toenails came up with it.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 5 hours ago
My first real drinking experience was Southern Comfort when I was 18 years old. 0/10, do not recommend XD
#76
Two days ago, food p****ning on vacation. 36 hours of absolute hell. I think I barfed up food my ancestors ate. Fortunately azithromycin helped and I'm able to salvage my last 4 days of travel, but I thought I was going to have to fly back to the states.
#77
I got sick in February 2020 and I thought I was gonna d*e. The fever and the body aches were unbearable. 6 weeks later the whole world shut down. I had Covid before it was cool.
#78
I ended up in the hospital with an pneumonia. I couldn't make it 10 ft without stopping to get air. It was horrible; I felt like I was suffocating.
#81
2020 had severe sepsis and bilateral bacterial pneumonia at the same time , 5 days in the ICU.
#82
Pneumonia when I was 20. I was down for the count for over two weeks and after that it took me months to recover my strength. I was 182 lbs when I got it and 142 a month later. At one point my uncle had to carry me to the car and into the hospital. It was honestly crazy.
#83
When I almost d**d from an asthma attack coupled with walking pneumonia. Took me two months to recover.
#84
I was visiting family since we live in america (it was in the southern part of mexico) when i was little. while i was there i got MRSA and had to drive an hour to the city where they prescribed me eye drops or something. we ultimately had to cut the visit super short and travel 3-4 days back to america to get me life saving care. there was puss everywhere and since i was so little i don’t think i would’ve made it if it weren’t for my mom’s knowledge on what to do to help me while we were waiting for treatment.
#86
I hit an off the backboard into the net on rocket league for the first time. My teammate quick chatted “Siiick!” and I’ve been riding that high ever since.
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