I have to differentiate between worst and most debilitating. Yes, the shots in the bottom of my feet made my brain go blank (apparently, I growled,) but they didn't cause me to come close to fainting, puking and/or half-delusionally certain the pain was going to somehow kill me dead. The latter being cramps, a few times.

Worst pain ever: ruptured ovarian cyst. Ever since then, I've pretty much been able to say, "That was bad, but not as bad as a ruptured ovarian cyst." I did once get a punch in the diaphragm that knocked me out, but I don't remember its being particularly painful. I just remember being startled that I was on the floor.

I still maintain that food poisoning/stomach flu are worse than L&D, because it's all bad, and the recovery feels longer. I think only about a half-hour to an hour of L&D was unbearable agony, whereas I had almost a full day of it with the stomach thing last time. Also, while I was tired after L&D, it was more in the way of acute workout exhaustion, and stomach thing was more in the way of death warmed over exhaustion.

Worst pain ever: throwing up from dehydration with a broken face. I was going to say coming out of a blackout with a broken cheekbone and someone stitching up my face, but I think the endorphins kicked over too fast for that one (I fought like hell).

I still maintain that food poisoning/stomach flu are worse than L&D, because it's all bad, and the recovery feels longer. I think only about a half-hour to an hour of L&D was unbearable agony, whereas I had almost a full day of it with the stomach thing last time. Also, while I was tired after L&D, it was more in the way of acute workout exhaustion, and stomach thing was more in the way of death warmed over exhaustion.

This sounds like appendicitis if you add in sharp, abdominal pain. And reminds me that the intestinal flu (including internal bleeding) I once had should also go on the list.

I think my worst pain was the morning after my ankle surgery, when the guy came in at 5AM to put me in a cast, and he had to try and straighten my ankle out. And I was still on morphine.

I swear to god, people, not only am I never doing anything more physically active than riding an escalator again, I may never eat anything other than popcorn, either.

Oh my god, juliana, I'm having sympathy agony just reading that.

When I got hit in the diaphragm and passed out, it wasn't exactly painful. I just couldn't breath. And then I was waking up on the ground. Not a lot of pain.

I think the worst pain I've ever been in was reproductive organ malfunctioning.

just about every injury I've had has seen me thinking to myself "If it was really broken (or whatever) it would hurt more". At least I have learned not to trust my self assessment on that basis.

not only am I never doing anything more physically active than riding an escalator again, I may never eat anything other than popcorn, either.

I've scraped my shin on the nasty escalator treads.

Popcorn hulls jamming into your gums.

IJS.