# urgh the worst thing ever **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227 "2008-09-05T19:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/1 "2008-09-05T19:42:53Z")
Last week I was in intensive care, and very ill. Now this week I am much ‘better’, but since about midnight last night (nearly 24hours ago) due to something probably unconnected I have a diarrohea and feeling sick bug. I can honestly say this is worse than anything. Never, ever, underestimate the power of a bad tummy. And I’m meant to be going to Turkey on Monday. Argh. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/2 "2008-09-05T20:14:30Z")
I hate that feeling of your body being out of your control. It could be worse; my absolute lowest moment ever was diarrhea which smelled so bad I got up and vomited into it and the force of that made my nose start bleeding into it. Terrible. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/3 "2008-09-05T20:20:23Z")
Urgh, i’m taking a bucket with me. I have to ask a personal question though, and this really is the only place to do. I’ve gone to the toilet so much today my backside is bleeding and cracked. How do you stop that? Should this be in the pit? ---
**Author:** ![dactylic\_hexameter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@dactylic\_hexameter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dactylic_hexameter)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/4 "2008-09-05T20:21:33Z")
> [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](#): > > Last week I was in intensive care, and very ill. > > Now this week I am much ‘better’, but since about midnight last night (nearly 24hours ago) due to something probably unconnected I have a diarrohea and feeling sick bug. > > I can honestly say this is worse than anything. Never, ever, underestimate the power of a bad tummy. > > And I’m meant to be going to Turkey on Monday. Argh. IANAD but it may actually be related. If you were on antibiotics while in the ICU, you may have destroyed some of your “good” gut bacteria that were keeping the “bad” bacteria at bay. I would try to eat some yogurt or go get some L. Acidophilus pills (sold next to the vitamins) at your local drugstore. That way you can help recolonize your gut with bacteria that don’t give you the runs. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/5 "2008-09-05T20:23:42Z")
> [@](#): > > IANAD but it may actually be related. If you were on antibiotics while in the ICU, you may have destroyed some of your “good” gut bacteria that were keeping the “bad” bacteria at bay. I would try to eat some yogurt or go get some L. Acidophilus pills (sold next to the vitamins) at your local drugstore. That way you can help recolonize your gut with bacteria that don’t give you the runs. No haven’t been on antibiotics, but thank you. I was ventilated and had dialysis and an ethanol drip. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/6 "2008-09-05T20:26:02Z")
> [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](#): > > I’ve gone to the toilet so much today my backside is bleeding and cracked. How do you stop that? I have no medical qualifications at all, but basically keep it clean (I know, it will temporarily get dirty; just gently wipe it down) and ride it out. You could put Vaseline or A&D ointment to ease it, or wipe with moistened paper to cut down on additional abrasions. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/7 "2008-09-05T20:32:39Z")
Thank you. Sometimes SD serves a purpose like nothing else. I didn’t even ask my doctor this this morning. Though, I may not be able to show my face round here for a while. Maybe its a good idea I’m on holiday next week-If I havent lost all of myself down the toilet and never can come out of the bathroom again. ---
**Author:** ![Fact\_of\_the\_Matter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Fact\_of\_the\_Matter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fact_of_the_Matter)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/8 "2008-09-05T20:32:45Z")
> [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](#): > > No haven’t been on antibiotics, but thank you. I was ventilated and had dialysis and an ethanol drip. Had you been drinking methanol? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/9 "2008-09-05T20:37:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Had you been drinking methanol? No. What is the difference between methanol and ethanol? It’s a very long story. ---
**Author:** ![dactylic\_hexameter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@dactylic\_hexameter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dactylic_hexameter)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/10 "2008-09-05T20:58:35Z")
[hijack] Methanol is a different type of wood (rather than grain) alcohol that happens to be poisonous. It can make you go blind, cause serious neurological deficits, and as little as 10mL can kill you. Methanol itself isn’t too toxic, but your body metabolizes it to formic acid, which is incredibly toxic. The best treatment for methanol ingestion is to administer ethanol, as it will compete with methanol in your metabolism, thus slowing the conversion into formic acid. This gives your body time to clear the formic acid before it can build up and cause blood acidosis, coma, or something else bad. [/hijack] oh yeah, and you might still find acidophilus helpful, regardless of the (lack of) antibiotic use. Also, if you get hungry, I suggest the BRAT diet (Bread, Rice, Apples without skin, and Toast). It’s hard to get sick on dry/mild food. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/11 "2008-09-05T20:59:15Z")
Ugh, that’s no fun. My treatment for chapped butt from diarrhea is (1) baby wipes or similar and (2) 100% aloe vera gel. I use the baby wipes (or the newer flushable wipes you can get now, or sometimes hemorrhoid pads) to get things very clean without nearly as much irritation. That helps quite a bit. After showering, I appy aloe vera gel (from a bottle). It stings like all hell for a couple of minutes, and I mean really, really owie. However, it works wonders for me in healing up the chapping quickly. My bouts tend to be fairly short, though, so they’re usually close to over by the time I resort to this. **gigi** ’s suggestion of vaseline or a&d ointment might work as well, haven’t tried those. I’d hesitate to recommend anything to stop the problem, considering what you’ve had going on. There are various OTC remedies for diarrhea, but I’d want to ask the doc before going that route. [Methanol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol), aka “wood alcohol” is a poisonous type of alcohol. Methanol contamination of bootleg bathtub alcohol was quite a problem during Prohibition. Apparently (according to Google), ethanol and dialysis is a standard treatment for methanol poisoning - I did not know that! ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/12 "2008-09-05T21:03:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Methanol is a different type of wood (rather than grain) alcohol that happens to be poisonous. It can make you go blind, cause serious neurological deficits, and as little as 10mL can kill you. Methanol itself isn’t too toxic, but your body metabolizes it to formic acid, which is incredibly toxic. The best treatment for methanol ingestion is to administer ethanol, as it will compete with methanol in your metabolism, thus slowing the conversion into formic acid. This gives your body time to clear the formic acid before it can build up and cause blood acidosis, coma, or something else bad. Yes I did know that(I now realise). No, I drank ethylene glycol. And I realise thats going to open up a whole can of worms, but ask away anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/13 "2008-09-05T21:05:35Z")
> [@](#): > > My treatment for chapped butt from diarrhea is (1) baby wipes or similar and (2) 100% aloe vera gel. Ooo yes, aloe vera, very soothing. Sadly I don’t have any in the house but am going to go to bed dreaming of it. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/14 "2008-09-05T21:06:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **I Have Hippos In My Garden** > Though, I may not be able to show my face round here for a while. You realize it’s not your face that’s at issue here. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/15 "2008-09-05T21:07:41Z")
> [@](#): > > You realize it’s not your face that’s at issue here. Well, that at least is true. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/16 "2008-09-05T21:07:45Z")
Geez, **Hippos** , you’ve had a bad week. I’ve used a skin protectant on patients for this problem, but really, it’s just A & D ointment. I would suggest you call your doctor and let him or her know about this latest development, however. You’re probably still weak from whatever put you in ICU in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Wygtya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f08c70/32.png) [@Wygtya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wygtya)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/17 "2008-09-05T21:09:19Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > Ugh, that’s no fun. > > My treatment for chapped butt from diarrhea is (1) baby wipes or similar and (2) 100% aloe vera gel. > > I use the baby wipes (or the newer flushable wipes you can get now, or sometimes hemorrhoid pads) to get things very clean without nearly as much irritation. That helps quite a bit. > > After showering, I appy aloe vera gel (from a bottle). It stings like all hell for a couple of minutes, and I mean really, really owie. However, it works wonders for me in healing up the chapping quickly. My bouts tend to be fairly short, though, so they’re usually close to over by the time I resort to this. > > **gigi** ’s suggestion of vaseline or a&d ointment might work as well, haven’t tried those. > > I’d hesitate to recommend anything to stop the problem, considering what you’ve had going on. There are various OTC remedies for diarrhea, but I’d want to ask the doc before going that route. > > [Methanol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol), aka “wood alcohol” is a poisonous type of alcohol. Methanol contamination of bootleg bathtub alcohol was quite a problem during Prohibition. Apparently (according to Google), ethanol and dialysis is a standard treatment for methanol poisoning - I did not know that! Redtail Your username in conjunction with your knowledge on this subject tickles my funny bone to no end. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/18 "2008-09-05T21:09:52Z")
> [@](#): > > I would suggest you call your doctor and let him or her know about this latest development, however. You’re probably still weak from whatever put you in ICU in the first place. Thank you, yes I saw her this morning. I had very low sodium. It will be fine. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/19 "2008-09-05T21:11:33Z")
In response to **gigi** ’s first post to this thread, I would like to urge any web developers out there to find some way to create something more discouraging than a traditional spoiler box. A “seriously, dude, you do _not_ want to know what’s in here” box or something. Now _my_ tummy hurts. ---
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/20 "2008-09-05T21:18:12Z")
> [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](#): > > No, I drank ethylene glycol. And I realise thats going to open up a whole can of worms, but ask away anyhow. So - why? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227.md?page=2)