Vomiting is far worse. Except for the most serious bouts of diarrhea, a single dose of “the pink stuff” immediately cures me of the need to remain within 10 feet of a bathroom. Vomiting? Well, there’s really nothing I can do to stop that one.
The plus side to vomitting though is when you vomit you feel so much better after you vomit for a short time. You don’t get this with diarrhea. The last time I had the flu I would vomit and have a short post-vomit misery then 10-15 of feeeling great before I started to feel sick again. Diarrhea never really makes you feel better.
If we’re talking mild versions, then the puking’s probably a bit worse. But I’d a thousand times rather have a truly bad bout of vomiting than a truly bad bout of diarrhea. The vomiting makes me think I’m going to die, but the stomach cramps that come with bad diarrhea make me wish I was dead.
I have kind of a phobia of vomiting. I would do just about anything not to throw up. I made it through my first pregnancy of extreme morning sickness only throwing up twice because of my fear of vomiting. If I do puke, I have to have someone there to rub my back and talk me through it. (not pleasant for that person). I have kind of a mini panic attack if I feel nauseated. Maybe it’s just because I have a messed up stomach, but to me diarreah is not that big a deal. (unless you’re in a public restroom. Ick!!) :o
I thought I was the only one with this phobia! I also get a slight panic attack at the first sign of nausea. I even make sure I always keep some prescription anti-nausea/vomitting meds on hand just in case I can’t “talk” myself out of feeling (or being) sick.
Another vote for vomitting being the worse - I’d do just about anything to never throw up again.
I’m an emetophobe, too, Mauvaise and mamakat. I’ll take diarrhea over throwing up any day. Having the runs is just not that big a deal to me, but vomiting is practically a fate worse than death.
I’d much rather throw up than have the runs. I used to be on a medication that would have me vomiting and having diarrhea, often at the same time (which is why I always had a bucket next to the toilet - yeah, it’s gross, but, hey, so’s this thread), for about 3-4 hours several days a week. It was awful, but I always preferred throwing up because it usually took a lot less time and involved far less cramping than getting the runs. Plus, I got immediate relief.
Exactly. When I barf with a migraine, it’s usually in the morning (I tend to wake up with migaines), and I have nothing in my stomach. I don’t have dry heaves, though, I barf up stomach acid and whatever others fluids are in there. Thick, slimy, ropey, yellow stuff. It gets caught in my throat, half-way out and is just awful. I gag on it and barf even more.
And just the act of throwing up while your head is pounding is horrible. It makes the pain even worse.
And I have a cast-iron stomach, so I almost never get the runs.
Normally, I’d say vomiting is worse, but it depends if I’m well enough to get to a toilet. If I’m in bed, I can vomit in a trashcan, but can’t do much about the other side.
One of the most embarrassing experiences of my life was being horribly ill at age 16 and having it come out simultaneously from both ends while confined to a bed. My mom’s a saint for cleaning up after that series of episodes.
Vomiting is pure evil. That sweet-salty-rancid taste in the back of your throat when you’re about to puke is just unbearable. And then the taste is in your mouth. Ughhhhh… 
This is the main reason I’m never without a toothbrush and toothpaste, no matter where I am.
Definetly, definetly, definetly puking. Diarrhea is no big deal, so long as you can get to a toilet. But when I puke, my body pulls out all the stops. It’s a full body experience, and even if my stomach is totally empty, I keep on going for at least a half dozen dry heaves or so. Usually more. When I’m done, every muscle in my body hurts, and I can barely pull myself off the bathroom floor. I’m also audible to anyone with in a three mile radius. And I almost never feel better right after I puke.
Naw, having the shits is a walk in the park compared to puking.
It depends.
If I’m at home, vomitting is worse because of the nausea and that horrible “locking” thing that happens to your chest and mouth when the vomit is coming. I get real weak right after I vomit, which means that I move slower and slower to the toliet with each frup episode.
If I’m heading down the expressway in the middle of nowhere? Diarrhea is worse. Besides the horrible cramping (I agree 100% with CrazyCatLady about wishing for death), it is much more humiliating. Imagine having to squat on the side of the road because the nearest toliet is ten miles away. Everyone passing by would laugh at you. And what do you use for toliet paper?
I think stomach cramping is worse than nausea, too.
I have moderate to severe diarrhea five to six times a week.
I’d say puking is worse… but I guess I’m just used to it.
Diarrhea. As an engineer in university, I’ve found you grow used to the vomitting.
Speaking as someone who once had to clean up after someone who had this issue, I’d just like to say,
IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT’S HOLY, GET THE DIARRHEA IN THE TOILET!!
OK, I feel better now.
Puking is worse because I’d rather the backsplash hit my ass than my face :eek:
(I puked for the first time in 20 years a few months ago. I think I was out of practice 
)
I’m with mamakat, Mauvaise and stargazer. I find it utterly astounding that some people would rather vomit than have diarrhea.
See, it’s weird, because I too once had an extremely tense fear of vomitting-when I was 11. It got so bad that for a few months, I would hardly sleep at night and would drink huge amounts of water just to make myself belch. THEN, I’d be so afraid of puking that I’d have a nervous stomach, which would just make me MORE afraid, and it became a really viscious cyle.
That’s not to say that I like puking-I hate it. But I RARELY, if ever, have to throw up-when it comes, it’s awful, of course. The smell, the taste, the burning, the pain, the gagging-awful.
But since I get bad diarrhea more often (although not OFTEN if, you know what I mean, only relative to barfing), I’d rather at least puke and get it over with.
Like others have said:
If it’s mild diarrhea, no contest-I’d rather have that. But if we’re talking the full blown kind, I have to go with what ends faster
The diarrhea hurts less, but lasts longer. Puking hurts more, but it’s quicker.
Plus:
I learned that if I drank a lot of Pepsi before hand, the puke tastes less like stomach acid and more like pepsi. Which trust me, WAS a plus
Vomiting is much worse for me. I’m usually at my computer five yards away from the toilet (and had a decade of various digestive troubles of which diarrhea has been the least) so diarrhea doesn’t do much beyond annoying me.
I vomit very rarely, thankfully, but when I do, it (and the subsequent dry heaves) tends to last upwards of half an hour. I’d be hard-pressed to find something more unpleasant.
I don’t really mind vomiting that much. Not that I’d do it for kicks, but I don’t find it a deeply unpleasant experience. What’s much worse is when you feel like you have to vomit, but you can’t.
I always feel much worse after having diarrhea.