NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, I'm feeling pretty bad right now.

I have severe Crohn's disease and I'm having a minor flare right now. It's quite unpleasant.

At times like these, I like to remind myself that it could be worse. So, share your experiences of unpleasant/unusual diseases.

I am really sorry to hear you're not feeling well. My future sister in law has Crohn's too, I know it can be quite painful and serious.

As for unpleasant -- Chicken pox at 21. You do not want to KNOW where all the pox were.

Thanks. :fluffle:

I've heard that the pox can be quite nasty when your older.

(I think that's the first time I've ever used a fluffle. I feel so dirty)

I am really sorry to hear you're not feeling well. My future sister in law has Crohn's too, I know it can be quite painful and serious.

As for unpleasant -- Chicken pox at 21. You do not want to KNOW where some of the pox were.

Well, I'm feeling pretty bad right now.

I have severe Crohn's disease and I'm having a minor flare right now. It's quite unpleasant.

At times like these, I like to remind myself that it could be worse. So, share your experiences of unpleasant/unusual diseases.

I'm sorry you're sick. What is Crohn's exactly?

I have a chronic dust-mite allergy, and while it's not anaphylactic, I have to deal with it every day of my life. Luckily with a dust-sheet, allergy shots & daily doses of Telfast, Nasonex & Zaditen, I get away with just being a bit pufffy, itchy & sneezy for the first few hours of the day. However, before I knew what was going on, I battled debilitating sinus problems for years. Before I had sinus surgery, I suffered from sinus, throat and chest infections all of the time, and was constantly on antibiotics. Obviously, I barely went to school and there were nose-job rumours and snot-related name calling. Now, even thought my immune system isn't as strong as everyone else's, I only get infections maybe once a month, and it's never to the can't-really-breathe-talk-or-think extent it used to be.

I've had a pretty bad run with illnesses, and I even had 3 at one time: mycoplasma, CMV and glandular fever, but luckily I've never been hospitalised or critically ill. I also can't have gluten, but again, I'm lucky because I don't have Coeliac Disease.

I hope you feel better soon.

I have an extraordinary gift for getting sick in weird ways.

Perhaps the most notable case occurred my first semester at college - about two months in, without any explanation, I started going blind. Every day my vision was noticeably worse, till I could no longer read, then no longer even walk around without someone to keep me from running into walls. It was more than a little terrifying. I went to the campus health center, and the doctor there was baffled, so she sent me to the hospital, where the ER doctor was baffled, so he sent me to a specialist, who was baffled, so he sent me to another specialist, who was also baffled, so he sent me to one more specialist - who finally said, "I think it has to be such-and-such virus" (sadly, I've now forgotten which one) "infecting your cornea. But....that's not supposed to be possible."

(Of course, at every step of this journey I had the eternally reassuring experience of having medical professionals look at my problem and say, "Huh. That's so WEIRD. Hey, colleagues, come over here and check this out! Isn't this WEIRD?")

Anyway, it did turn out to be the virus that wasn't supposed to be able to attack corneas, and a potent antiviral reformulated as an eye drop ended up doing the trick. So, horrible as those weeks of having no idea why everything was turning grey and blurry were, it all worked out okay, and now I"m a footnote to medical history. :p

Well, I'm feeling pretty bad right now.

I have severe Crohn's disease and I'm having a minor flare right now. It's quite unpleasant.

At times like these, I like to remind myself that it could be worse. So, share your experiences of unpleasant/unusual diseases.

Sorry you're not well, Crohn's is pretty nasty. I don't have Crohn's, what I do have is IBS - not anywhere near the problems you have, but occasionally bad enough.

The worst I've had is migraines. When I figured out the triggers, I realized that in order to prevent them I'd have to - stop eating chocolate, stop eating any cured meats (bacon, ham, sausage, etc.), stop drinking red wine, stop eating dried fruits (I love dried fruit), stop eating sharp cheese, stop eating pizza, stop being female, stop drinking anything with caffeine in it, in short, stop doing so many things that I enjoyed. It was that or three or four times a month have 8-24 hour long incapacitating headaches, coupled with nausea, sensitivity to light and noise and a pain much like having a red-hot poker driven through the right side of my skull (just behind the eye) with a sledge hammer.

I guess a bit similar to Poliwanacraca, I had a virus that somehow made the muscles in the left half of my face not working. Only my face, and only the left side. I could do the weirdest grimaces, like smile or frown only on one side of the face while the other side was completely limp. I was worried at first, but the doctor gave me some eye drops (since I couldn't blink) and said it would probably pass within a week or so, and it did.

That's pretty much the worst that has happened to me, not that it was really that bad at all.

Well, I'm feeling pretty bad right now.

I have severe Crohn's disease and I'm having a minor flare right now. It's quite unpleasant.

At times like these, I like to remind myself that it could be worse. So, share your experiences of unpleasant/unusual diseases.


First, I am sorry you are dealing with Crohn's, no fun at all.

I am dealing with several auto-immune diseases (lupus, Graves, Sjogrens) and am a two year kidney cancer survivor but the worst by far is lupus at this point in my life. When it flares I cannot get out of bed, my hair falls out and I am a pitiful excuse of a mom and wife. Sucks for my family, sucks for me. But like you, I know without question it can always be worse. :)

Seven letters:

Pink Eye.

Not a very serious disease, easy to treat, but so awful to have. I'd rather have the flu than pink eye.

The worst I've had is migraines. When I figured out the triggers, I realized that in order to prevent them I'd have to - stop eating chocolate, stop eating any cured meats (bacon, ham, sausage, etc.), stop drinking red wine, stop eating dried fruits (I love dried fruit), stop eating sharp cheese, stop eating pizza, stop being female, stop drinking anything with caffeine in it, in short, stop doing so many things that I enjoyed. It was that or three or four times a month have 8-24 hour long incapacitating headaches, coupled with nausea, sensitivity to light and noise and a pain much like having a red-hot poker driven through the right side of my skull (just behind the eye) with a sledge hammer.*consoles*
I had that for 6 years. I VERY thankfully outgrew them (into an ulcer). They were 3-3 1/2 hour runs where i would spread naked on the wet, cold concrete basement floor to draw all the heat out of me, in the dark, and occasionally pounding the back of my head against the floor until i passed out (either from the pounding or i simply couldn't stay awake). Those would happen every couple of days.
Tang, the drink, was the only thing that seemed to work to help alleviate them. I don't know why.
*shrug*

Sorry you're not well, Crohn's is pretty nasty. I don't have Crohn's, what I do have is IBS - not anywhere near the problems you have, but occasionally bad enough.

The worst I've had is migraines. When I figured out the triggers, I realized that in order to prevent them I'd have to - stop eating chocolate, stop eating any cured meats (bacon, ham, sausage, etc.), stop drinking red wine, stop eating dried fruits (I love dried fruit), stop eating sharp cheese, stop eating pizza, stop being female, stop drinking anything with caffeine in it, in short, stop doing so many things that I enjoyed. It was that or three or four times a month have 8-24 hour long incapacitating headaches, coupled with nausea, sensitivity to light and noise and a pain much like having a red-hot poker driven through the right side of my skull (just behind the eye) with a sledge hammer.

Rotovia- has the same thing! He's so sick with them! Is there anything you can recommend? He'd appreciate it so much.

my illnesses are usually gastrointestinal and psychological. :D

Gas gangrene. Very nasty, painful, messy and often fatal.
Never had it myself, but I once attended the inquest of a woman that had died of it.

Basically the flesh of her leg rotted from the inside out, leaving only a paper-thin layer of skin. Despite two amputations intended to remove the affected parts of her leg, the infection stayed one step ahead and spread throughout her system.

Whenever I'm feeling ill I remind myself that at least it probably isn't gas gangrene.

Gas gangrene. Very nasty, painful, messy and often fatal.
Never had it myself, but I once attended the inquest of a woman that had died of it.

Basically the flesh of her leg rotted from the inside out, leaving only a paper-thin layer of skin. Despite two amputations intended to remove the affected parts of her leg, the infection stayed one step ahead and spread throughout her system.

Whenever I'm feeling ill I remind myself that at least it probably isn't gas gangrene.

Wow, that's like even worse than the human botfly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bot_fly).
I hope I never get any of these two.

Well, I'm feeling pretty bad right now.

I have severe Crohn's disease and I'm having a minor flare right now. It's quite unpleasant.

At times like these, I like to remind myself that it could be worse. So, share your experiences of unpleasant/unusual diseases.
Sorry to hear you ain't doing too well today. Hope you'll be better soon.

Have you ever tried (medicinal) incense against Morbus Crohn? I've heard from a few people who have it that it helps without the typical side-effects that pharmaceutical drugs have.

As for me, I can't really complain right now. I hold my depression in check and give my best to be able to work properly for whatever life and the university hold in store for me.

I have anemia. Usually I can keep it in check with iron supplements, proper diet, and plenty of sleep, but it's flaring right now. I can feel my counts dropping, and I'm turning into a zombie. Had to pick this week ... :(
But it could always be worse.

I have Miliaria, not to be confused with Malaria. ,)
Basically, Whenever I work hard or get to hot,
I break out in intense itches all over my body.

When I tell someone, they first think its some kind of joke,
and that I want to avoid work.

Otherwise, my immune system is incredibly tough.
I almost never catch anything,
and when I do, It passes after a couple of hours.

I fell on the ice and bent my thumb backwards,so you can see the bone...so the docs fixed it by putting in a pin,and it seemed to be getteng better...until the sutures got infected...my hand was swollen up about 3 X its noemal size,they had to go in take out the pin and flush out the infection..NOW..i get to go twice a week and get LEECH therapy on my hand...suprisingly..it works really well in keeping down the swelling,the docs also say it helps protect from MRSA..the infection that has no antibiotic cure...i some tines feel like I'm back in the 13th century..whats next Blood letting?

I have Miliaria, not to be confused with Malaria. ,)
Basically, Whenever I work hard or get to hot,
I break out in intense itches all over my body.

I think I have this too. Is there anything you can do about it? And does it get worse, because I don't have that to often, possibly because I don't work hard and don't get to hot to often.

Well, I'm feeling pretty bad right now.

I have severe Crohn's disease and I'm having a minor flare right now. It's quite unpleasant.

At times like these, I like to remind myself that it could be worse. So, share your experiences of unpleasant/unusual diseases.
My mom has MS. She was diagnosed when I was still little. She's got relapsing-remitting MS, fortunately, which means she can lead a pretty normal life. But we've had our share of scares, like when she went deaf for a little while, or when it looked like she might go blind.

Because she has MS, my mom gets regular neurological check ups. A few years back, one of these revealed that she had a brain tumor. Then they did another scan and found a second tumor.

She had one of the tumors removed (it was just above her cerebellum), but they've left the other alone because 1) it's not growing and 2) it's in her inner ear, and she'll be deaf in that ear if they remove it.

She recovered from her surgery very well, and is doing fine.


My baby brother had his first seizure when he was about 3 months old. We were playing around on the kitchen floor, and all of a sudden his eyes went vacant and one of his arms went very stiff and started shaking. It lasted about a minute. He didn't seem to be aware it happened once he came back.

My brother's baby book has a page where my mom saved the electrodes they put on his head at Children's when they were scanning him. The electrodes are baby-size with smiling faces drawn on them.

Medication stopped his seizures before he was old enough to talk, but he's had lasting neurological issues. A recent fMRI revealed that he's missing most of his corpus callosum, and something is wrong with his temporal lobe on one side.

My brother is pretty much the nicest teenage boy alive. He has a lot of trouble processing language information, and this has led him to over-compensate by being extremely sensitive to people's tone and mood. He is empathetic in the extreme. He becomes very distressed if he sees somebody sad or angry, and will become almost frantic trying to comfort them. I think this is because he knows he doesn't understand words as well as other people do, so he focuses on reading people's body language, tone, and general emotional state instead.


About five years ago my dad passed out at work. He was meeting with his boss, and all of a sudden he just dropped to the floor. For two years he ran fevers, experienced a painful rash on his upper body, extreme fatigue, and constant pain. Nobody knew why.

It turns out he's got an autoimmune disorder that is so rare they don't even have a cool name for it. His condition is under control, and he went back to work full time this fall.


My family is the poster family for "It Could Be Worse." Mom has MS, but it's relapsing-remitting, and having MS is why they detected her brain tumors early. Little Brother had seizures, but we got them stopped, and he's got some lasting problems, but I think they make him into a nicer and more sensitive kid. Dad was hit with a sudden and mysterious illness, but it turned out to be manageable and he's improving steadily.

Tachycardia, fun little condition that causes my heart rate to somewhat randomly jump to the low end of hummingbird range (I know it's hit 360 beats per minute). It goes off every so often, but not predictably enough to get an EKG read on it, so they're not sure why it does it. It started when I was about 4, at the time it left me so weak I couldn't stand after it calmed down. These days it's just annoying as any physical activity will keep the rate up. Sitting quietly and it'll drop to a normal rate but still feels different. Oh, and once it stopped my heart. The right side returned to normal speed and the left side didn't, couple beats later it just stopped completely. That was an odd feeling, after about 5-10 seconds I started to pass out and it restarted.

I'm pretty sure it's a genetic thing, my grandfather on my dad's side had some unknown heart problem that the doctors at the time said would kill him by 25. It does spike my blood pressure, so I have to watch it, and it occasionally makes working physically difficult.

Diseases is the topic eh?

Let's see... Kallman Syndrome (Resulting in Amenorrhoea unless I take birth control meds - yeah, such on that one people who say that birth control promotes immoral sexual behaviour. Also, while certain characteristics are lacking, it doesn't necessary make carriers of Kallman Syndrome intersexed), IGA (sic - my doctor had a fancy name for it), Anosmia, Hypertension... and I'm only 24. :p

(Of course, at every step of this journey I had the eternally reassuring experience of having medical professionals look at my problem and say, "Huh. That's so WEIRD. Hey, colleagues, come over here and check this out! Isn't this WEIRD?")



Reminds me of when I had falciparum malaria (not common in the UK) and most GPs had no idea until the one that announced "The bad new is you have malaria. The good news is its the really nasty one and we've not treated that before, so we're very excited". He also had a tape measure tied around his waist as he was dieting and had a very reassuring manner, depsite his words :)

I'm pretty healthy except for some ongoing debilitating side effects from the depo provera contraceptive injection. My brother has schizophrenia, digestive disorders and the horrible house dust mite allergy mentioned earlier. My mum has serious heart problems at the moment (we're waiting for a date for her operation to replace a couple of valves) as well as lung damage caused by the radiation treatment she received for breast cancer, thyroid problems, cervical spondalosis and various wear and tear issues that come with age. My dad has psoriasis, heart problems, menieres disease, diabetes, varicose veins and arthritis. My nephew has Crohn's and is having a hard time with it, he is often in hospital and misses out on a lot of schooling. He is very small for his age (14) and looks 3-4 years younger than his twin sister.

Not sure if this helps, hope it does :)

I think I have this too. Is there anything you can do about it? And does it get worse, because I don't have that to often, possibly because I don't work hard and don't get to hot to often.

I´m not sure..Shower a couple of times a day when working hard.
To cleanse the sweat pores.
I mostly sit in front of the computer so I don't get it that often.
Mostly when i´m out walking. Then I just pause for a while until its over.
or stop by a restroom and splash on some water on the affected areas.

I you get it very frequently it could become more serious,
and you could have a heatstroke
(from being unable to sweat and thereby cool the body.)
If it comes to that, you should probably see a doctor asap.

--snip--
Woo the subjects I'm taking right now are coming back to haunt me, lol. :p (it seems that I can't escape them no matter where I go! :mad: Perhaps these are signs that I should study now!)

It seems like your family's diseases are neurological and immunological...

'tis a good thing your bro is not having anymore those tonic-clonic seizures, that's quite distressing for some...

Well anyway, my younger brother also has a developmental disorder, he is autistic, but he's now a hairy, hormone-laden teenager attending regular school...

Reminds me of when I had falciparum malaria (not common in the UK) and most GPs had no idea until the one that announced "The bad new is you have malaria. The good news is its the really nasty one and we've not treated that before, so we're very excited". He also had a tape measure tied around his waist as he was dieting and had a very reassuring manner, depsite his words :)
Malaria is quite common here. Malaria, cerebral malaria, etc..... It's quite common round these parts, along with dengue hemorrhagic fever (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue). You can just imagine the level of excitement doctors have on these cases...

My personal life, and my family history, shows a strong preference for injuries over illness, when it comes to medical issues.

Malaria is quite common here. Malaria, cerebral malaria, etc..... It's quite common round these parts, along with dengue hemorrhagic fever (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue). You can just imagine the level of excitement doctors have on these cases...

I've spent the last week and a half writing up a 10,000 word essay on five different infectious disease case studies. Their 'excitement' can't even begin to rival mine

Nothing whatsoever, appart from migraines (probably inherited both from my father and my mother, they both suffer from them regularly).
Other than that, despite the fact that I'm obese, I don't have any health problems.

Rotovia- has the same thing! He's so sick with them! Is there anything you can recommend? He'd appreciate it so much.

Where to begin? There are so many semi-effective therapies for migraines. For a time I was taking ergotomine tartrate - a lovely thing derived from ergot - yes that same fungus that attacks rye and causes St. Vitus Dance and hallucinations in the people who ingest it - the side effects are nausea and some neural issues - I don't think it's offered anymore. Then there were barbituates which really didn't do much for the pain, but I slept constantly - this would have been fine if I didn't have two kids and a full time job. Some bright person decided that sleep therapy would be good - at the onset of a migraine, you take a knockout dose of sleeping pills and stay asleep for duration of the headache - again two kids and a job. Pretty much all of the therapies I've had doctors prescribe involved side effects that I didn't want or need to deal with.

The most effective ones were more involved with (yecch) self-discipline, that is lifestyle change - eliminate all trigger foods for a month, then add them in, one at a time until you find those that trigger your headaches - don't eat those unless you're will to face the downtime. So change diet, get plenty of sleep, abstain from alcohol and caffeine, avoid stress, get plenty of exercise and fresh air (smog is trigger for some), keep regular hours - the migraines won't disappear, but you might reduce them to manageable levels - like once every month or two and you might shorten the duration. It's my opinion that, given what the world, especially the United States, is like today, this is going to be difficult if not impossible to apply. Of course, the one thing that worked best for me was menopause. I don't think this will work for Rotovia.