# What hurt more than labor for you?



## ian'smommaya (Jun 7, 2004)

I was in a car vs. bike accident (I was on a bike and hit and run over by a 25 passenger econo van.) and that hurt worse, mostly because I didn't get the stunning, amazing baby afterwards. So how about you? What hurt more than labor?


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## IdentityCrisisMama (May 12, 2003)

Snow blindness - ouch!


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## lovemylab (Jan 7, 2013)

The first poop after labor about a week later..... My husband heard my scream from outside, he thought maybe I was in labor again, lol.


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## corielynn (Apr 22, 2014)

An abscessed tooth is way more painful.hands down.


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## gentlemama0228 (Mar 5, 2014)

Shingles for sure!


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## CoziLovr (Sep 22, 2011)

We moved to a different state when my daughter was one month old. It was so exhausting and difficult! Way harder than labor.


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## LauraCH (Aug 2, 2013)

A severe ankle sprain.


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## RainbowHippyMum (Apr 22, 2014)

Honestly . . . almost anything hurts me more than a good, natural birth xD We had our daughter all-natural at home last April, and my birth was virtually painless and she was born without me pushing even once. It was worlds different from the horrible and painful birth I had with my son in the hospital.


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## LauraCH (Aug 2, 2013)

Oh! And not having any more babies.


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## MrsJPS (Jan 12, 2011)

Sorry to be a downer, ladies, but nothing I've experienced has hurt worse than natural childbirth. Gallstones, a painful neck injury, a pilonidal cyst, a broken leg... nothing came close. That said, I teach natural childbirth classes and am highly passionate about it, so the fact that something so mind-bendingly painful could be so rewarding that I actually want to encourage others to do the same must say something!


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## hgz217 (Sep 27, 2013)

Totally agree. I used hypnobirthing and had a beautiful birthing experience. No need for fear of pain if you have a plan to focus within and listen to your body.


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## Kaeti Madison (May 16, 2013)

Ovarian cysts, for sure. And possibly a severe kidney infection.


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## DrCSB (Apr 28, 2011)

That's a long list, but I had quick natural labors (though the 8-pound second one did hurt way more than the 5-pound first one who came early). Ironically, round ligament pain in my first pregnancy hurt way more than either labor. So did breaking my tibia.


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## sophiawadt (Apr 8, 2014)

kidney stones!!!!


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## meagannoelle (Apr 22, 2014)

Watching my sister give birth! I didn't have a natural birth though. ): wish i would've now. But all is well that ends well!


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## egleason (Jul 10, 2013)

Gallbladder attacks. When I went into the ER with severe pain and told the nurse that it was worse than childbirth she didn't believe me until I told her I'd given birth 7 days prior sans medicine and received a 3rd degree laceration in the process and none of that compared to the pain of that attack. I'd rather have 10 natural births over 1 gall bladder attack.


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## colomomma (Nov 30, 2012)

Vaginal Exams during labor!!! Hurt way more than labor itself. If there is a next time for me, I am refusing.


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## asherraifsmom (May 23, 2008)

nothing was more *powerful* feeling, but as far as unbearable PAIN that i couldnt do anything to alleviate, i'd say shingles, and a severe pinched nerve in my neck during pregnancy. Made my arm feel like it was on fire and there was no position i could get in to make the pain stop. At least with labor, usually movement or laying in a certain position or doing something makes it all bearable. i could do something about the pain. absolutely nothing to be done, position-wise to help nerve pain or shingles (which is a type of nerve pain too). (though, off topic but if anyone gets shingles, B12 helped the pain more than anything else and Lysine stopped the spread of the rash)


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## rainbownurse (Dec 19, 2012)

Nothing hurt more, but I was induced and had back labour, so that might be it


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## stizler (Aug 25, 2010)

What hurt more than the labor was the delivery of my 9lb 9oz son. When his head was coming out I thought I was going to die. I think I almost went into shock.


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## JustJenny (Nov 4, 2006)

Tooth pain!


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## broodymama (May 3, 2004)

Gallbladder attacks for me. That sent me running for the ER and morphine, holy crap!


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## silversparrow (Oct 21, 2011)

When the freezing wore off after getting my wisdom teeth removed!!!


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## nsmomtobe (Aug 22, 2009)

I broke my ankle and had it reset without pain medication (because I was pregnant at the time and the doctor didn't want to risk it). It was easily the most painful experience of my life. Unlike labour, it did not come and go in waves--it lasted several minutes--and I didn't have endorphins working for me. The nurse, who was trying to distract me, asked how I was going to get through labour if I couldn't handle that.

My labour itself didn't hurt. It was only the crowning/pushing part (and the stitching afterwards) that was painful.


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## sidrajedi (Apr 10, 2014)

I don't actually know what it was that happened to me that hurt worse than labor. But I think my body was having an allergic reaction to a niacin supplement? I was involuntarily evacuating my kidneys. Worst.Pain.Ever.

Labor was pretty bad though. Baby was turning and coming down at the same time. Ouch! But it was still an awesome experience.


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## paulycat (Apr 4, 2011)

Kidney stones. I has three kidney stones the night before my daughter was born (all natural-no drugs birth) and I was in such agonizing pain. They actually gave me morphine for the stones and I took it. I have hasstwo unmedicated births (last one was a 9lb 7oz bruiser!) and the kidneys were the worst. Oh and a scratched cornea. The pain was unbearable, I was literally going crazy until they put some drops that had some form of cocaine in them and the pain went away instantly.


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## rosie023 (Jun 20, 2010)

Muscle spasms in my back. I was screaming and writhing in bed in agony for over an hour. This happened several times for a few days, couldn't get out of bed for a week and had to walk with crutches for another week. Debilitating back pain was way worse for me than my 6 hour natural homebirth. Sure, it hurt but labor is a productive pain. It has a beautiful end to it, it's not pointless. For me, labor was a breeze in comparison.


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## mamabear0314 (May 13, 2008)

I had hand, foot and mouth and had blisters come up all in my nether regions. Then they got infected. Trying to pee left me throwing up or nearly unconscious from pain. Easily a 10. My births were a 9, 8 and 7 respectively on the pain scale.


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## Yuba_River (Sep 4, 2006)

I second the abscessed tooth. And my labors were really painful, but that was worse, even with Vicodin.


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## StaceyPsyD (Jul 2, 2013)

Agreed...


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## redcanary (Sep 3, 2010)

I had painful natural births, but the WORST pain I have ever had was an from an infection after having my wisdom teeth removed. Horrible horrible. Way worse. I thought my face was going to explode.


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## anneflaherty (Apr 23, 2014)

Ear infection


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## A Mom's Love (Sep 21, 2008)

Migraine.


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## biofarmer (Nov 12, 2013)

My broken tailbone hurt way more and for much longer.


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## Frumpymama (Jul 26, 2012)

Breaking my arm when I was 8. It was a severe compound fracture in my left arm. They had given me a local but it was like a weird torture. They had a wire thing that my thumb, pointer and middle finger were suspended from, they gave me a local, but by that point I was in hysterics. The doctor told me that if I didn't calm down my parents would have to leave the room. I did my best, but then he held my arm, looked at me and said 'This is going to hurt."

It's a memory I have that plays like it's from Harry Potter. It leaves me scared and eventually goes white with the sound of me screaming.


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## ~Denise~ (Dec 24, 2006)

Worse than my cervix going from 1-10 cm in 4 hrs? Nothing in life was worse pain than that. Pushing the baby out afterwards wasn't bad at all though. He was occiput posterior.

Busting my ankle was bad, but there was a way to make it better (rest, ice, compression, elevation). There was no escaping the onslaught of contractions and the feeling that my cervix was being ripped open. The doula and midwife weren't much help.

Hope it hurts less this time!


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## Dandy Lion (May 21, 2011)

There was this one time when I thought it would be a good idea to run a long distance race without properly training for it. The first 6 miles were great, but the next three got a little rough. Afterwards my guts were in terrible shape. I spent the next 4 hours wishing I was in labor because then at least I would have gotten breaks here and there (and my only labor at that point was a cytotec induction that wasn't very fun). My last labor was one of those rediculously easy, pain-free ones, so basically any type of pain is worse now.


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## jihan (Jan 19, 2011)

Getting my cervix manually dilated during labor, then getting my uterus manually cleaned after placental abrupt ion after delivering. Sheer hell. Both of them.


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## carlyehw (Aug 6, 2011)

Definitely pilonidal cyst. That was excruciating and relentless pain. Labor was nothing compared to it.


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## Viola P (Sep 14, 2013)

Like others have said I didn't find natural child birth to be that painful. It did hurt but not in a way that was terrible and i actually wanted to do it again right after it was over. Hospital birth on the other hand, with pitocin and it's mega freak contractions, hurt a lot.

Still I think the most physical pain I've ever experienced was when I had a severe ear infection while living overseas that caused *both* my eardrums to rupture. Imagine someone slowly stabbing both your ears, one right after the other, yeah I hope I never experience that much pain again. There was also the blood and pus that came out of my ear for the next month to contend with, which was definitely the grossest thing I've ever experienced.

But seriously natural birth doesn't hurt that much. It's all about not being afraid and not letting others scare you and *not fighting the pain*!!


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## salr (Apr 14, 2008)

Sprained ankle. Couldn't move even just my leg without pain for 24 hours.


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## mareseatoats (Mar 4, 2011)

This is a really interesting thread! So sorry for some of the things you ladies have gone through. I had natural waterbirths, and as a lot of people have said, didn't find them extremely painful - definitely powerful, but I always had that "I got this" feeling". Even delivering my son, who was over 10lbs







Viola, I agree with you that a big difference for me between labor and other pain is not fighting against labor. I think there are definitely cases that aren't that simple, but for me that is the key.

Migraines are definitely a far worse pain to me. And after watching my husband have a hole drilled in his fingernail to relieve the pressure from blood under it (three days after the injury) I would guess that's more painful, too.


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## fayebond (Jun 16, 2012)

Getting checked by the nurse mid-contraction. To this day I could smack the guy (yes it was a man and I yes I was telling him to stop. Totally ignored me).

Granted, birth is still way more painful tha I'd like, but its not going to be quite so bad this time (or so I tell myself) because I am determined not to be so afraid and push myself into tearing. That hurt! Its also got the upside of being a fond, proud memory (not getting into the birthing debates here, just saying, I'm proud of myself for doing it, even if it was a rather ugly and unflattering kodak moment).


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## porcelina (May 2, 2007)

Wow, interesting thead! Nothing worse than natural labor for me!!! I definitely think the pain varies from person to person, too!


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## edensmama (Jun 1, 2006)

Gall stones/gallbladder attack!!! so much intense pain that didnt let up, at least contractions give you a break. Also, have packing removed from my nose after sinus surgery, quick but painful!!


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## whitetigress (Apr 24, 2014)

*I'm torn between my tonsillectomy and diverticulitis.*

*I had my tonsillectomy at age 19, it resulted in a bruised tongue for over a month, dislocated jaw and extreme pain throughout my throat. You don't realize how much saliva you swallow until you have your tonsils out. I could not eat for 3 weeks, and drinking was like swallowing a cup of nails. Especially trying to take the horse sized pain pills they gave you. *

*I have had 2 diverticulitis attacks in the past 18 months. Both of them resulted in extreme abdominal and rectal pain. I think I remember telling my boyfriend I would rather be having a baby right now as he drove me to the E.R. For all that don't know diverticulitis is an infection in your intestines, resulting from pouches being formed from all the pressure. Since I am only 27 I will most likely end up having part of my intestines and colon removed in the future. *

*I was in labor for 14 hours before they gave me a c-section. I had an epidural that only numbed my left leg from my knee down to my foot. Apparently it was placed wrong. After my c section my doctor realized that I have a very narrow pelvis. This surprised me since I have huge hips! He said there was no way for my 9lb 5oz baby to come out, I would probably have a problem delivering a 5lb baby vaginally. Recovery from my c section was quick and easy. *


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## researchparent (Oct 14, 2013)

Really, really bad papercuts.


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## mommy2k&k (Apr 21, 2005)

I had a bad wreak and nothing hurt as bad as trying/learning to use muscles that were stiff from laying in the hospital bed for so long.
Birth/labor was a piece of cake compared to that.


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## Tigerle (Jan 22, 2009)

Slipped disc in my neck. I was drugged out sky high on opiates frozen upright into a sort of fetal position pushing my feet against a nursing pillow for about 24 h until they could wheel me into the operating room. Unmedicated labor, dilating fully within about two hours? Anytime!


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## Sihaya (Jul 3, 2006)

I've had two 9lb babies via waterbirths using Hypnobabies and both were painful at the end (both had nuchal hands and one had to be helped out manually so I had 2 sets of midwives' hands in there turning him), but it was not by any means the worst pain I've ever had.

The two things that come to mind as more painful are my third miscarriage and a sinus infection that just wouldn't quit. Hemorrhoids are a tie since I also deal with them during labor and they probably account for a good portion of the pain of it.


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## EnviroBecca (Jun 5, 2002)

Migraines. I've had them since I was 11 years old and have come to know levels 7, 8, and 9 of the 1-10 pain scale intimately, but I never ranked any pain a 10, figuring that it was possible to experience worse pain than I ever had.

Natural childbirth hit level 9 at the peak of some contractions, but none of those peaks lasted more than 20 seconds. I had at least a dozen prior experiences of migraines battering me with level 9 for 30-90 MINUTES without stopping, so labor was easy to tolerate by comparison.

Six years after my son was born, I had a migraine that went to Level 10. I was right about the existence of Level 10. I was there for hours and brought down only by the ER injecting me with an off-label schizophrenia drug. I hope never to experience Level 10 again.


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## erigeron (Oct 29, 2010)

Having the placenta manually extracted during 3rd stage was just as bad or worse than pushing contractions, and it didn't help that 1. it wasn't regular or predictable, at least I could count through a contraction and have an idea how long it would be until the next, and 2. I was sitting up and holding my son, and didn't have the opportunity to change positions to a position that might have been better. Maybe that would have been a good situation to wait on the 'hold the baby and bond' thing, and let dad hold him instead.


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## Spiderpig (Apr 5, 2014)

I'm too young to know just yet. Labour was hard enough, but I could imagine that the pain from kidney stones would be absolutely terrible.


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## t2009 (Sep 1, 2009)

Getting my period with my copper IUD was hands down the worst pain I've ever experienced. And stupid me left that thing in for over 6 months thinking my body would eventually adjust. DH would find me on the floor of the bathroom unable to move. Appendicitis (I was 17 y/o) was also a debilitating, can't move kind of pain. I still think the IUD was worse. Back labor, even labor augmented with pitocin was nothing in comparison thanks to hypnobirthing!


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## LoveChild421 (Sep 10, 2004)

Dislocating my knee (and the 2 days of muscle spasms that ensued) was about 1 million times more painful than my 20-hour all natural labor and home birth of my 1st son and about 2 million times more painful than my 12-hour all natural labor and home birth of my 2nd son. I swear, labor just felt like hard menstrual cramps up until the point when the baby's head was coming out both times. Yeah the "ring of fire" is painful, but even that was quicker and more bearable than dislocating my knee.


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## Sugardust (Apr 29, 2014)

Coughing with a cracked rib hurt worse - sharp stabbing pain is worse than labor contractions. My first labor was 20 hrs including a very long pushing stage. Labor was like running a marathon in short sprints. The stretching and some tearing during crowning came close to the same level of pain but it was not as painful as the searing stab of pain with every cough when my rib was cracked. My second labor was only 3 hours and those contractions were a lot tougher than with the long labor because they were so powerful with hardly any rest but crowning was much easier and the whole thing was over almost before I realised I was so far along! Pain is also so much about the mindset. With the cracked rib I was scared and panicky - struggling for any way to suppress the cough and escape the pain. With labor I felt strong, well supported by my midwives my husband and my mother and I felt committed to what I was doing. I guess that makes a big difference.


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## LamazeBeliever (Apr 30, 2014)

I asked this question to my Lamaze classes over several decades; The answers to what is the most pain you have ever felt (in comparison to what they feared about labor) I got these replys:

A paper cut from thick paper

a Dad, former soldier with shrapnel embedded in his abdomen. Pulled up his shirt to show classmates all the tiny scars.

The most frequent response was a root canal or dental work of some sort

Emotional pain such as loss of a pet, parent, sibling, child or other significant person.

Hemmoroids

Fundal Punching/involution (after delivery pain from contractions) This was the reply from second time mom in refresher class.

I learned over the years that there is a wide range of pain tolerance but that the story that the pregnant woman's mother tells her about her own labor pain is probably the most significant imput as to how the pregnant woman expects labor contractions to feel. And how she will tolerate labor and delivery.


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## JudiAU (Jun 29, 2008)

Nothing including kidney stones, scratched cornea, and jaw broken in four places.

My water breaks and when I go into labor with those all posterior babes it never stops. I don't have waves or moves or any breaks. 0 to 10 on two hours. Pushing is such such an awesome relief.


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## redeyedvireo (Oct 24, 2007)

Many of my menstrual periods have been far, far worse than labor. I had two home waterbirths, and while they were very intense, they never had me rocking on the floor for several days wishing for morphine or death the way my periods have. I have endometriosis, so it can get pretty bad.


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

Coming from the perspective of an epidural birth here-- but I did have labor for a few hours. ;-)

Physically what hurt the most was when I was in India and got very sick from a strain of flu. I felt that every bone and every muscle in my body was broken and I just wanted to go into a coma until it was over. They thought it was malaria, it was so bad, but it ended up just being a nasty strain of the flu.

Emotionally what hurt me the most was when my second baby needed to be tube-fed and suffered a lot for the first three years until we figured out what was going on with her. It was hard to not be able to participate with the very basic act of feeding your baby, and hurt even more that I could not comfort her through that difficult time.


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## capucine (Feb 4, 2012)

You know, for me, pain from something BAD (an injury, illness, or the like) has been what is worse. I had that lesson a couple weeks after a miscarriage when I suddenly got cramps that were like labor, but had a wrong bad terrible feeling to them that clearly telegraphed something was wrong, scary, and bad somewhere. Labor is not frightening like that; powerful cramping but healthy. It was almost the same feeling, cramping over an incomplete miscarriage, but the source was the difference.

So, anyway, that was more painful!


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## zeezumama (Apr 22, 2014)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *colomomma*
> 
> Vaginal Exams during labor!!! Hurt way more than labor itself. If there is a next time for me, I am refusing.


haha i would agree!


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## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

Gallbladder attacks. Labor pain is intense but comes in waves. The gallbladder attacks I experienced were relentless, and the pain would just build on itself until I thought I would go crazy from desperately needing relief and never getting it. When they finally injected heavy-duty IV pain meds after an 8-hour drive to the ER (long story), the pain disappeared instantly, and the relief I felt was incredible. It was immediately followed by overwhelming exhaustion, now that my body could finally relax.

I feel so terrible for people who live with chronic debilitating pain. It takes such an incredible toll on the body, physically and emotionally.


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## aggie pop (Feb 16, 2012)

Hemorrhagic Dengue is the worst acute pain I've ever been in. I had my babies at home in the water though, so maybe I would feel differently if I was in the hospital for a birth. I recommend it!


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## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

Oh my gosh, @aggiepop, that must have been horrendous!! How did you acquire dengue, and how long did the illness last?

Trigeminal neuralgia is another one that's worse than labor pain for me. Thankfully mine is episodic rather than chronic like some people experience, so when it flares up I know it'll only last a few days. But again, it's the relentlessness that wears me down. Every time my hair brushes my face, or a breeze touches my cheek, or I chew or brush my teeth ... pretty much everything sends an electric shock feeling throughout half my face -- it's really awful. I don't know how chronic sufferers manage.


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## aggie pop (Feb 16, 2012)

It's endemic here in the tropics : / We have 2 strains (of 4 existing) and I got the worse one, unfortunately. It lasted about 3 days of intense pain - I can't even describe how much it hurts - even the bottoms of your feet, so you can't walk without horrendous pain or lay in a bad. Plus I had a 105.6 fever, so I was passing out all the time during that stage of it (febrile - there are 3 parts to the illness). Then you get a 2-day respite and can take off your sunglasses for a little bit. Then blood out of my nose and mouth and fluid trapped under my skin. Platelets way down too. The doctor had treated about 200 patients for it and I was only #2 to have the hemorrhagic version, he said.

Then I got stuck with post-dengue syndrome, which lasted about a year. I think it cooked my brain- I couldn't remember anything or think how I used to and I was incredibly tired all the time.

Note though that I don't agree the release of the mutant male mosquitoes in Brazil.

I know what you mean about chronic illness - I have fibromyalgia - part of the reason we moved down here to the beach (water, heat are the best treatments I have found and it's much less than when I lived in the northeast, sometimes for days not being able to turn my head. Has only happened once since relocating to warmer environment, so I'm grateful for being able to do that. It is so grating to be in chronic pain though- I felt bad for my family because I got mad at them so easily when in pain.

I have a friend from high school who has trigeminal neuralgia (& MS). It sounds terrible 

Novocaine for a root canal was terrible as well. Hopefully I won't ever need to do that again.

But maybe it sounds like I am comparing labor to these things- I'm not. many things are more painful than labor to me. That was just the MOST painful.


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## aggie pop (Feb 16, 2012)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *capucine*
> 
> You know, for me, pain from something BAD (an injury, illness, or the like) has been what is worse. I had that lesson a couple weeks after a miscarriage when I suddenly got cramps that were like labor, but had a wrong bad terrible feeling to them that clearly telegraphed something was wrong, scary, and bad somewhere. Labor is not frightening like that; powerful cramping but healthy. It was almost the same feeling, cramping over an incomplete miscarriage, but the source was the difference.
> 
> So, anyway, that was more painful!


I agree. I had one too (incomplete for a few days, at home). The intense sorrow coupled with the labor was crushing in so many ways.


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## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

Oops, quoted when I meant to edit.

That sounds truly awful, aggie pop. I agree that the things I'm listing here are way, way beyond labor pain for me. As someone else said, labor pain is productive and has a whole different feel psychologically.


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## mamabear0314 (May 13, 2008)

Well I just had emergency sugery yesterday and can honestly say that waking up in recovery was the worst pain of my life. I had abdominal surgery so they pumped my abdominal cavity full of gas and some of it got trapped between my liver and diaphram. I thought it was a heart attack, lots of morphine.


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## waywornwanderer (Jun 14, 2012)

I'm not sure I've experienced anything as intense and overwhelming as labor. But I think a lot of the pain was alleviated by the "end goal" of having a sweet babe in my arms soon- whereas with pain caused by various illnesses/injuries, I didn't KNOW the pain would ever end, per se. And I definitely didn't have as much of a reward at the end of the suffering.


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## Galatea (Jun 28, 2004)

Every time I get my mustache threaded, I swear it hurts way worse than labor.


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## aja-belly (Oct 7, 2004)

I've had pretty easy labors (aside from the breech extraction which hurt like hell but only for a few seconds). I would say many things have hurt worse than labor. 

After pains
Root canal
Abscesses tooth
A bad flu
Strep throat
Pedicure
Nursing a noob that's not any good at nursing


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## crazyms (Jan 8, 2010)

I agree many other things hurt way worse than labor. As bad as labor could get even with full on back labor and badly positioned babies and fast, hard births there was an amazing happy end goal I was getting closer and closer to with each pain. In some ways it was distracting from the pain... every time the pain got worse my mind was just focused on omg omg the baby's almost heeerrreee!!! It kept the intensity of the pain down when I kept realizing that after all those long months of pregnancy this was it! I was meeting my baby very soon. So yeah a lot of things are worse than that. I think the worst pain I've ever had though was an abcess on an impacted wisdom tooth. O. M. G. That was one time in my life that I truly wanted to die, take drugs, get run over by a bus, ANYthing to make it go away. Seriously if I'd experienced that kind of pain and not had children I'm not sure how well it would have went. I was calling my mom in tears at 2 am "why don't I know any drug dealers? Waaaaaaa" :lol


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## Vespertina (Sep 30, 2006)

Tooth pain and getting the tattoos on top of my feet. And my broken baby toe.


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## Mollystork (Feb 20, 2014)

Absolutely NOTHING! I honestly cannot imagine pain worse than labor. But I've never broken any bones, so maybe I'm just naive.


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## lilitchka (Jan 19, 2012)

few days before my labor with DS2, I had a kidney stone attack. Horrible.
then, went in to labor few days later, and the memory of the kidney stone was very fresh.
It was a home birth, I remember thinking: when it gets to the same level as the kidney stone pain, I will have to ask for pain relief.
I kept waiting, I birthed an 11pounds 2 onces baby...it never reached the pain I had just few days ago with kidney stones.

pathological pain is often worse, because there is anxiety associated to it, an there is very little natural mechanisms to help us with pain perception.


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## Cathlyn (Oct 29, 2014)

For me it was an abscessed wisdom tooth


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## philomom (Sep 12, 2004)

I consider myself to have a high pain tolerance since I did birth without drugs all three times. Kidney stones and gallbladder going bad both brought me to my knees... which is something labor never did.


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## Gingerjv (Jun 29, 2014)

Thank you girls for sharing! I still have no babies ( we are trying with my husband so far), but i was very interesting to know if the labor pain is really so scary)) i see rather controversial answers, so i guess it just depends on a person. Which by the way scares me even more as i cannot handle any type of pain(((


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## AmberSunsetGlory (Nov 19, 2014)

Endometriosis and celiac disease and all of the complications from these diseases hurt worse. 
Labor was not difficult compared to what I'd been through with these diseases. 

I had a natural childbirth with no pain meds, and the pain I experienced with it was positive, moving me toward a positive end. Even the transition phase did not compare to the relentless pain of disease.


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## mamashanti (Mar 21, 2013)

no pain i've ever had comes close to labor pain.... but my baby was asynclitic and posterior with 22 hours of back labor, but eventually rotated to transverse when she came out. I've also been very healthy my whole life and haven't ever had any broken bones or medical issues. 

next baby... I'm doing everything in my power to get her in a nice position to avoid that hellish feeling of my body going through a meat grinder. I felt the pain in my hip bones and sacrum like my bones were being broken apart for 22 hours, sometimes even in between contractions. It was NOT normal.


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## MariesMama (Sep 26, 2008)

I had terrible back spasms during my second pregnancy that were definitely worse than either labor. A kidney stone was pretty bad as well.

ETA: The pain with these was definitely worse because it served no purpose. Labor pains were something to embrace and explore, whereas a back spasm is just torture.


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## contactmaya (Feb 21, 2006)

Ive never experienced anything more painful.


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## ananas (Jun 6, 2006)

Nothing. I had cysts when I was around 14 and the pain of that was close but not nearly as intense as labor.


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## Smokering (Sep 5, 2007)

After my first birth my cervix clamped down on the placenta as it was coming out. The doctor had to manually remove it with forceps, or was it just her hands? I'd say it was the worst pain ever, but my midwife gave me strict instructions to huff the nitrous as vigorously as I possibly could.  So I was in a weird headspace of 'Huh, that's excruciatingly painful and I don't care'. If I'd been in my sane and rightful mind, though, I suspect it would have been worse than the labour itself.

I've also witnessed, though not endured, pain that probably ranks up there with childbirth. My sister had a spinal fusion and when I saw her a few days after the operation, she was green and vomited from being told to stand up. It looked pretty horrific. The first night after DH broke his collarbone looked like torture too, and he's fairly stoic about pain; also the time he had eye surgery.

So I don't hold to the "Don't be ridiculous, nothing can POSSIBLY compare to labour pain!" school of thought. But I definitely had... shall we say, non-pain-free labours.


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## Metasequoia (Jun 7, 2005)

Meningitis. Ouch. For 3 solid weeks.

Spraining the ligaments in my knee and chipping the bone. 

Ocular migraine (thought I had meningitis again - even consented to another spinal tap, but it was "just an ocular migraine...")

I've had four 100% natural births, all quick and intense to boot (longest was 3.5 hours and shortest was 1 hour), and I loved all them and am seriously looking forward to this next upcoming birth! :love 
"Hurt" isn't really a word I'd choose to describe labor; it's a process, and it's good, hard work, but I wouldn't call it painful.


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## newmamalizzy (Jul 23, 2010)

Unpacking the wound from a pilonidal cyst operation.

A really bad infection in my gum around my wisdom tooth that had me in tears.

Nursing my first daughter on cracked, bleeding nipples. That was WAY worse.

The membrane sweep I had before my recent labor. I will have nightmares about that.

And I think my natural miscarriage actually was more painful than childbirth. Perhaps because my childbirth experience was cloaked in euphoria? I vomited from the pain of the miscarriage.


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## MoonWomb (Nov 4, 2014)

NOTHING was worse than labor for me. I've had trigeminal neuralgia, some pretty nasty migraines, H1N1, reoccurring pilonidal cyst, dental problems/infections, hospitalized for strep throat...the only thing that has come somewhat close is gallbladder attacks and nursing my baby on cracked/bleeding nipples for 2 months.

Lets just say I'm having a really hard time conceiving of a paper cut being anything close lol. I am in awe and jealous of people who say there is anything that's more painful, lol


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## Sumaya (Jan 1, 2016)

I'm also member of the nothing-hurt-more-than-labor club. 
Interesting enough there was one thing that hurt EXACTLY like labor, I mean the exact same kind of pain. It was my fellopian tube bursting because of an ectopic pregnancy. I had an immediate flashback to the birth of my daughter 4 years before. Still I would take 100 fellopian tubes and appendixes bursting before this labor, because the pain went away much quicker and didn't come and go, on and on, over a day.


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## 1babysmom (May 22, 2006)

Interesting thread!!

For me, I have two things that definitely hurt worse than labor.

1- my ectopic pregnancy, the referred pain from the internal bleeding before it ruptured. It was vomit-inducing pain. But then when it ruptured...it was so painfully I almost lost consciousness.
2- having to flush my infect dry socket after having my wisdom teeth removed.

No kidding. But I LOVE labor, and I really enjoy the process, so that probably makes a difference.


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## TheBugsMomma (Mar 24, 2015)

I've had periods worse than labor, in fact two months ago I fainted 3 times in one day because it was so painful. (I have large fibroids, one is very close to my cervix and I suspect that's the source of the pain)
My miscarriages were worse, not only does it feel like labor, but you get the horrible emotional pain on top of it. 
The absolute worst was that after dd was born a piece of placenta stuck to a fibroid and caused a hemorrhage, my doctor had to reach inside and pry it away from the uterine wall. It was so painful I blacked out and don't really remember it, but dh said I was screaming like he had never heard anyone scream. 
Natural birth was a walk in the park compared.


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## MountainMamaGC (Jun 23, 2008)

My bowel abscessed and then ruptured. The pain was intense and sharp and continuous. All I could do was scream my head off, and nothing they gave me even took the edge off. I wanted to die. 

At least with labor it comes in waves. I had transition for 7 hours and labor for 21 hours. At first I was on top of each contraction but during the last hour I got sucked underneath, and instead of going with my body, I started fearing and dreading the next one. Instead of pain, it became suffering. It felt like torture. "No no no, not again" I would utter. Where up the that point I was wiggling fingers and toes chanting the word "Open" over and over. I caved and got a shot of fentanyl. It helped me get back on top again and I finally went the last cm. Birth is hard, and I joked about my husband shooting me, but i never wanted to die.


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## MountainMamaGC (Jun 23, 2008)

My bowel abscessed and then ruptured. The pain was intense and sharp and continuous. All I could do was scream my head off, and nothing they gave me even took the edge off. I wanted to die. 

At least with labor it comes in waves. I had transition for 7 hours and labor for 21 hours. At first I was on top of each contraction but during the last hour I got sucked underneath, and instead of going with my body, I started fearing and dreading the next one. Instead of pain, it became suffering. It felt like torture. "No no no, not again" I would utter. Where up the that point I was wiggling fingers and toes chanting the word "Open" over and over. I caved and got a shot of fentanyl. It helped me get back on top again and I finally went the last cm. Birth is hard, and I joked about my husband shooting me, but i never wanted to die.


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## kiachu (Aug 31, 2013)

Nothing. Nothing in my life hurts worse than labor. And I have a disorder that makes bile, liver, and pancreatic enzyme back wash up into their respective organs and fry them. I have tattoos, piercings, and have had ither surgeries. I think maybe being mauled by a bear might be worse. 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


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## mumto1 (Feb 17, 2016)

I actually don't remember much about my sons delivery pain wise as I was frozen from the feet to my ribs in case of emergency c section. He was also very small. I mostly remember keeping my eyes closed and trying to keep calm as my blood pressure was ridiculously and dangerously high and I had a doc behind my head muttering c section c section and so many people in the room I couldn't see the walls behind them. I had this weird idea that they were going to not catch my baby as it felt like he was going to fly out. I don't associate pain with the birth at all, I was very worried about the baby as they had put a monitor clip into his head and told me his blood pressure was plummeting (I think).

Miscarriages definitely are up there in sickening pain, I managed one by drinking hard liquor. I once hit my head on a steel pole and then my head hit a concrete floor when I was about 8, that was pretty bad, I had a concussion and no pain meds. Migraines - I had the first when I was 6 and I was screaming so much I scared my parents. The migraine of preeclampsia is terrifying. Spraining my ankle, folding the foot right over and falling on it. Ear infection and laryngitis at one time. Bashing my thumb with a brick and the nail falling off. Wisdom teeth. I fell face first off my bike fairly recently, it must have hurt but I think I went into shock, the most pain was in the hospital and a nurse/doctor pulled my split lip apart to clean it or inspect it, revolting revolting pain. Oh and I jarred my teeth in the fall, couldn't bite down for a while. Pap smear where the nurse kept scraping and scraping even until I was bleeding (I think there was something wrong with her), it took me a really long time before I could agree to another one. Mastitis and similarly an internal staph infection. I had the H1N1 thing, don't remember the pain just feeling wretched. My husband gets kidney stones and they seem terrible, my hubby has also dislocated his knee, sprained ankles, broken bones, and had a hernia.


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## littlebear3 (Jul 1, 2014)

I didnt shed a single tear during my natural birth. However, having the nurse reach in to strip the membranes...that brought tears. I can still feel that sensation if i think about it. That was by far more painful. Runner up would be silver nitrate applied without anesthetic to the 2nd degree tear that wouldn't heal, many tears.


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## kathymuggle (Jul 25, 2012)

I smashed a finger once between two pieces of heavy metal. That hurt, and I screamed my head off.....it did not last anywhere near as long as labour (and my labours were short). In some ways it was worse because i did not know when it was going to end, it was continual and there was no baby at the end of it.

I have had some vicious leg cramps, including ones in the thigh. I remember my sister had a leg cramp in transition and stopped moaning to complain about the leg cramp.


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## mamadee17 (May 17, 2015)

I had a kidney infection as a young adult and that was much worse than labor. As I approached transition, labor was a little scary because I didn't have any control over what was happening, but I wasn't crying or screaming in pain. I knew from my natural birth classes that once I started feeling like I was losing control that I was almost done. Even feeling the infamous "ring of fire" was not that bad. I was so in the zone working to get my baby out that I didn't even pay attention to that feeling. And the great thing is once you get that feeling, very shortly after you're holding your little one in your arms, and you get that rush of good hormones. I didn't get a rush of good hormones when I peed during my kidney infection. Also, the mastitis and raw nipples the two weeks following the birth were worse than the labor. Thank goodness my husband knew how important breastfeeding was to me and brought in an infant cranio-sacral therapist to our house as well as a lactation consultant. That was life changing, I don't know if I could've pushed through that pain without support. Now I've been nursing for 13 months and I will soon be tandem nursing. Believe in the power of your bodies, ladies. I tell my friends that it was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but not in a bad way. In an empowering way. Like completing a marathon.


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## Hoopduck (Mar 2, 2016)

Nothing physically has ever hurt me more than labour. Back labour was the worst, I was doing okay until that kicked in. I was using mindful birthing techniques and it was really helping me until the dratted back started contracting. L4-L5 issues in my back to begin with! Hehe on a sort of funny note I did propose to the anaesthesiologist after caving and begging for an epidural. He told me he gets proposed to several times a month, at least


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## elliha (Jul 20, 2014)

I had stones in my gall bladder and when I had "attacks" they were about 100 times worse than labor. The only time it came close was when a midwife wanted to fit an internal monitor and couldn't and accidentally pulled my cervix. It hurt like h-ll but only lasted a couple seconds.


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## Lilian35 (Mar 18, 2016)

Granted, birth is still way more painful tha I'd like, but its not going to be quite so bad this time because I am determined not to be so afraid and push myself into tearing.


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