# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**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 6, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/41 "2008-09-06T18:57:08Z")
Thank you for all of the lovely replies. Here is the latest on my backside: I have spent all afternoon in sodding A+E because a nurse came round to my house and told me I was dehydrated. An A+E waiting room is reeallly not the place to be when you have D+V-only one female toilet and hard plastic chairs. I had to go in the mens at one point. I aggree with having to move permanently into the bathroom. I took my duvet and pillow and just lay on the floor hoping for something though i’m not quite sure what. I tried to go to work yesterday afternoon. I got there, had to go to the bathroom, decided I needed to lie down, and so lay on the female toilet floor with my face pressed against the cold tiles in pure horror at the pain. 15minutes later I got up and went home. What a successful afternoon at work huh?! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/42 "2008-09-06T22:28:19Z")
Since you’re in the UK, you may not know what we’re talking about when we say “A & D ointment”, it’s basically petroleum jelly with cod liver oil and a few other things in it. I have IBS, and when I get a cracked, sore, and bleeding crack from diarrhea, I squeeze a bit of ointment on a piece of toilet paper after I’ve cleaned myself off, and gently wipe the the exit. I seem to heal up quicker when I do that. Hope you feel better soon. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/43 "2008-09-06T22:40:16Z")
It sounds like you have (and are) seeing your doctors, and they are probably on top of the dehydration, but don’t underestimate how quickly that can come on with diarrhea. I had to go to emergency once with diarrhea-related dehydration (the nurses were asking me the usual questions, and I remember them asking me, but I couldn’t answer for the life of me - I was totally confused). Then they wanted to put a saline IV in to re-hydrate me, of course, and my veins were non-existent from dehydration. This was with knowing about dehydration and trying to prevent it. If your doctor says drink five Gatorades a day, do exactly what they say. Dehydration is serious business. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/44 "2008-09-06T22:55:47Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > I’m currently getting over something in the gut that’s caused severe cramps and diarrhoea, so this topic is topical for me. (I’ve only lost four pounds, though.) > > There’s no way I can top **Annie-Xmas** or **gigi** , but about seven years ago I got a bug. Something virulent. [spoiler]Vomiting and diarrhoea ensued to a remarkable extent. Actually, I’ve never experienced anything like it before or since. I was either vomiting or on the toilet for 20 hours. At the end I ached like hell like from my neck to my rear from the vomiting. It hurt to breathe, my back was so sore. I couldn’t keep anything down—not ginger ale, not water. I ended up sipping water just so there would be something to throw up because the dry vomiting was even worse than the regular sort. > > The problem was trying to vomit into the bathtub when I was on the toilet, or trying (and much worse–failing) to control the diarrhoea while I was busy vomiting into the sink. (You can’t, by the way. The convulsive nature of vomiting made it impossible to control the other end of the body.) > > I spent the time either vomiting, on the toilet, cleaning the bathroom (there’s nothing like knowing you’ve doused the walls with your own bodily fluids for making one want to disinfect with bleach every surface in there) or just lying down on the bathroom floor. I would step into the shower to clean up, and even in the shower, well… [/spoiler] > > I literally could not take a step out of the bathroom without having to evacuate from both ends, so in the end I just lay down in the bathroom, closed my eyes and prayed for death. At some point, I fell asleep on the floor. I had the exact same thing a few years ago, while on vacation in San Francisco. Try being that sick in a strange hotel room. ☹ I hope you’re feeling better soon! You, too, **Hippos**! I was going to recommend Desitin for the bum, but I see **eleanorigby** beat me to it. It is, indeed, very soothing and healing, without the sting of aloe vera. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/45 "2008-09-06T23:04:50Z")
This might seem callous, but I’ve been curious ever since I heard that animals will drink antifreeze for its sweetness. What does ethylene glycol taste like? ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/46 "2008-09-06T23:24:04Z")
O ye gods. :eek: I really hope you get better soon, **I Have Hippos In My Garden**. **Gigi** I’m so sorry, but just like someone else up-thread, you post was horrible BUT sort of made me laugh. Um, sorry 'bout that. 🙂 Not laughing in a nasty way. A sort of sympathetic way, honestly. Yeah, all right, Celyn, when in a hole, stop digging! I’ve had my own run-ins with Diarrhoea and IBS but nothing like the examples in this thread. I will now be grateful. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/47 "2008-09-06T23:31:05Z")
Urgh, just to share your pain, I once had a stomach bug that consisted of vomiting and diarrhea accompanied by fainting! I still don’t know why, but every time I would attempt to achieve a vertical position, I would get stars in front of my eyes, fall over, and then vomit. I called my mother, and she arrived in my apartment greeted by multiple puddle of vomit. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/48 "2008-09-07T01:03:45Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > I had the exact same thing a few years ago, while on vacation in San Francisco. Try being that sick in a strange hotel room. ☹ > > I hope you’re feeling better soon! You, too, **Hippos**! I was going to recommend Desitin for the bum, but I see **eleanorigby** beat me to it. It is, indeed, very soothing and healing, without the sting of aloe vera. I also had that stomach bug, in a family resort in Wisconsin, with my family. Only my husband and I got it, but by god, I never want to have that again. I got through the very long night of puking and diarrhea by sucking on the ice chips in the ice bucket. I truly pitied the maid when we checked out (I left a tip). I have had labrynthitis, which I would not wish on anyone. It’s a virus that disturbs the inner ear, so you get wild vertigo, extreme nausea and vomiting whenever you change planes in space. It was sheer hell. I clung to the toilet. Resting my head on the seat, I feel asleep, only to awake puking because I had moved my head. To be woken up by puking is not pleasant. That was the only time I have used the private home number of my then doctor (I used to babysit his youngest child and was good friend’s with his daughter). I had my husband call him and phone in an Rx for some antivert which worked like a charm. How did I know I had labrynthitis? This same doc’s daughter had vividly described it to me not a year previously. She succumbed to it while driving on the expressway. She barely made it off and into a restaurant parking lot, where she fell out of her car, vomiting. The people coming and going at the restaurant made fun of her and called her drunk etc. One waitress said she’d help and she used my friend’s cell (new then) to call her dad, who luckily was on that same expressway and was able to come get her. What a nightmare for her. Based on her description, I knew what I had. I would rather have a 104 fever than puking/diarrhea. Hope you’re better soon, **Hippos.** ---
**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 7, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/49 "2008-09-07T13:14:08Z")
> [@](#): > > What does ethylene glycol taste like? It is very very overly sweet, like treacle, with a mixture of cough syrup and petrol in it. Not nice. I am better today!wahoo!! so i can go on holiday tomorrow! Thank you for all of your lovely advice! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/50 "2008-09-08T13:25:25Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > Yeah, all right, Celyn, when in a hole, stop digging! > > I’ve had my own run-ins with Diarrhoea and IBS but nothing like the examples in this thread. I will now be grateful. No problem :). And yeah, making the mistake of reading the zit threads and worst job ever threads makes me feel grateful for my lot in life so far! ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227/51 "2008-09-08T20:46:24Z")
> [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](#): > > 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?** Bolding mine. No, but it is in your crack. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urgh-the-worst-thing-ever/462227.md?page=2)