# Least Favorite Illness symptoms **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 10, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188 "2004-08-10T13:07:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/21 "2004-08-10T18:26:46Z")
Nausea, vertigo, and headaches (migraines) that induce either. I can handle most anything else but those three things have me laid out for hours, if not days. I _ **HATE** _ migraines. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/22 "2004-08-10T18:27:49Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > I can deal with anything but nausea. Anything that makes me feel like I can’t eat is a curse. You reminded me. One of the sideffects I really enjoy is the complete loss of appetite. Allows me to eat far less than I ordinarily do. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/23 "2004-08-10T18:48:50Z")
Sometimes if my (very mild) allergies act up, _all the mucosal membranes in my head_ will start to itch. Itchy eyes, itchy throat, itchy nose . . . all typical allergy symptoms, right? But my _mouth_ itches, everywhere but my tongue, and especially my soft palate. And my _eustachian tubes_ itch, to the point where I’d really love to ram a pipe cleaner up there and ream them out. When it’s really bad, my sinuses itch, too. Arrgggh! Usually when it gets to that point, I just take an antihistamine, which I hate, because it totally fuzzes up my brain so I can’t think, and also causes sleeplessness, so I just lay around feeling totally miserable and brain dead—but it’s worth it to stop the itch. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/24 "2004-08-10T20:45:10Z")
Every single time I get sick, even if it’s just a minor cold, I get _incredibly_ fatigued, and all-over achey. The other symptoms can be as mild as a scratchy throat and/or stuffy nose. But the only thing I’ll have the energy to do, or _want_ to do, is take a nice hot bath and then curl up under a pile of warm blankets. Fevers suck, too. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/25 "2004-08-10T21:01:06Z")
For me the worst is explosive diarrhea coupled with memory loss and pink eye. Just try and get someone to help you then. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/26 "2004-08-10T21:12:59Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > For me the worst is explosive diarrhea coupled with memory loss and pink eye. Just try and get someone to help you then. You forgot leprosy. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/27 "2004-08-10T21:27:46Z")
Uh huh… and not because of pink eye or diarrhea. ---
**Author:** ![look\_hergo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85e7bf/32.png) [@look\_hergo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_hergo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/28 "2004-08-10T22:17:16Z")
I can handle a headache, the trots, chills, fever, general achiness – anything but a stuffy nose! Everything else I can dope away or sleep thorough, but if I can’t breathe, then sleeping is impossible, eating is miserable, and I am wretched. Nothing worse than trying to eat my cinnamon toast and having to stop mid-chew to gasp for air. ---
**Author:** ![smartini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@smartini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartini)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/29 "2004-08-11T03:57:38Z")
A real, honest-to-god earache No escaping it. You start thinking, “Where’s the gun?” then, “Hell, I don’t even have a gun.” then “See how bad my life sucks with this earache?” ---
**Author:** ![kalex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dfb087/32.png) [@kalex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kalex)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/30 "2004-08-11T04:04:51Z")
I was going to say migraine, and then I was going to say, no - urinary tract infection, and then I had to stop and RUB MY EYES WHICH HAVE BEEN ITCHING FOR THE LAST TWO AND A HALF YEARS. Nothing stops my allergic conjunctivitis. Not the strongest steroids. Nothing. The first frost may improve my condition somewhat. Thank you for your pity. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/31 "2004-08-11T04:16:39Z")
Well, the lack of motor response and feeling in my right arm and leg compete with the uncontrollable tremors I get in the same right leg. MS bites. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/32 "2004-08-11T07:04:36Z")
The symptoms of my least favorite illness are these: > [@](#): > > Sudden onset of fever and malaise, with extreme prostration and weight loss. Subsequent symptoms include: sore throat, chest pain, abdominal pain, skin rash, and diarrhea. The patient’s blood fails to clot, and patients may begin to bleed from needle/injection sites as well as into the skin and stomach, intestines, and other internal organs. Excessive effusions from internal organs occurs, followed by pulmonary interstitial edema and renal dysfunction. Some patients become jaundiced. > > Patients who are at greatest risk of dying experience diffuse or extensive hemorrhage into the skin, mucous membranes, and internal organs, including the cavities of the stomach and intestines. Swelling of the spleen, lymph nodes, kidneys, and brain occurs. In addition, there is usually evidence of interstitial pneumonia and sometimes of pancreatitis and inflammation in the eyes. \*\*By the end of the first week of acute symptoms, the patient can bleed freely from the eyes, ears, and nose. Patients begin to vomit a black “sludge” of blood and disintegrated internal organs. Capillary leakage results in vascular collapse. Patients experience coma and convulsions, followed by respiratory distress, and finally death. \*\* That’s right, it’s **Ebola hemorrhagic fever**. ---
**Author:** ![Bimble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@Bimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bimble)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/33 "2004-08-11T08:26:23Z")
MIGRAINES - that sicky, flashing lights, zig-zaggy, loss of vision, loss of co-ordination on one side of the body, slurring speech, word-blindness and disorientation for DAYS kinda thing with the miserable skull-shattering pain that goes with it. PERIOD PAIN - Being unable to move from sheer doubled-up agony for 24 hours without copious amounts of Ibuprofen, a hot water bottle, mugs of soothing hot cocoa, Crap TV and someone nice ‘n’ friendly to rub my back and tummy… ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/34 "2004-08-11T12:13:05Z")
Any kind of tummy pain. I include gallbladder pain in this category, too, since it’s in the tummy area. Not only is the pain intense, you can’t do anything to make it go away which is the worst part IMHO. And you can’t get comfortable. I can handle a stomachache if I know it will soon be over (like with food poisoning). When there’s no end in sight, though … ☹ ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/35 "2004-08-11T12:34:08Z")
Hm. Well, as an update, the sore throat’s almost completely subsided as the head-cold moves south into the lungs. Much less congestion too. So that’s good. Except now I can’t talk. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/36 "2004-08-11T12:45:59Z")
I am still recovering from My Affliction that hit Sunday August 2. Sudden onset of severe vertigo accompanied by barfing any time I moved followed always by the wet raspberry sound from my backside as it evacuates its contents ( while laying on an exam table…YAY!) The inability to stand, walk or roll over without feeling like my head suddenly weighs 35 pounds and is forcibly thrown another direction. (That stopped after 72 hours.) The 55% hearing loss and continuous ringing in my right ear. The “I’m walking along normal and wooooooo, the boat deck just tossed”…wobble kind of walk is making me feel like a closet drunk. I’ve had two children with less problems than this and this came on without any warning and the doctor is stumped. And the side effects of the medications I’m on now are worse. [size=1] (insomnia, hot flashes, feelings like my period is going to start up _RIGHT NOW_ all day long, mood swings, increased appetite and the joyous feeling of being jacked up on two different stimulates to give me a pertual window into my thoughts instead of a blissful nightfull break from the mundanity that is my gray matter. [size] So, I gotta say, what I’m in right now just sucks because there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight except a wait and see attitude and there isn’t a reason for this condition. Before Sunday I was EXCEPTIOANLLY HEALTHY AND HADN’T DONE ANYTHING LIKE SCUBA, FIREWORKS, CONCERTS, BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA, COLD OR BEING SHOT INTO OUTERSPACE which would tell me to Not Do Anything Of Those Things Again ( except sickness: OCD about germs keeps me good, but I can’t avoid them forever.) Wah. \*\* Pity Party for the name of Ujest, now serving. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/37 "2004-08-11T15:13:06Z")
> [@Terminus Est](#): > > The symptoms of my least favorite illness are these: > > That’s right, it’s **Ebola hemorrhagic fever**. Yeah, the hemorrhage, disintegrating organs and death are pretty bad symptoms but at least you survived them to post that message. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/38 "2004-08-11T15:57:44Z")
The thing I hate most is puking. Or maybe laryngitis with constant coughing an a sore throat. No, those chills and bone-ache things are pretty bad, too. This sickness symptom that just irritates me most is when I lose my sense of smell from a cold. Happens every time, and I hate it. ---
**Author:** ![Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dazzling_White_Diamonds)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/39 "2004-08-11T20:32:03Z")
> [@Bimble](#): > > PERIOD PAIN - Being unable to move from sheer doubled-up agony for 24 hours without copious amounts of Ibuprofen, a hot water bottle, mugs of soothing hot cocoa, Crap TV and someone nice ‘n’ friendly to rub my back and tummy… Preach it, sistah, preach it. I’m sitting here at work with cramps so bad that the pain is travelling up my back. Ibuprofen hasn’t taken the edge off of them, and I’d love nothing more than a nice hot cup of cocoa or some lovely hot tea with honey. (Neither to be found here) ☹ And getting a nice back or tummy rub \*\*here \*\* is, well, out of the question. 😃 I remember when the pain only lasted for a day… now I’m lucky if it goes away in 3 days. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188/40 "2004-08-12T15:12:50Z")
Well, crud. Sore Throat’s back and it brought painful coughs with it. I wish these things would run their course more quickly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-illness-symptoms/259188.md?page=3)