People Describe The Absolute Worst Illnesses They've Ever Had

Despite our best intentions of sticking to a healthy diet or maintaining a fitness regimen, we're not entirely immune to falling ill.

As long as we interact with the outside world, we're prone to infection with pathogens that pose varying degrees of sickness including food poisoning and the flu.

Our immune system can only handle so much. Fortunately, we can combat many common diseases with holistic or medicinal curing solutions.

That doesn't mean it doesn't suck. Because when you're down for the count from a bug, it can feel like you're at death's door.

Curious to hear examples of worst-case health scenarios, Redditor freeshavacadontacadont asked:

"What is the worst illness you’ve ever had?"

Survivors live to share their stories.

The C-Word

"Cancer. Thankfully I made it out alive. I use my experience to help others and advocate for better, more affordable care. But boy, the last year has been hell and I have likely permanent effects from the chemotherapy, not to mention the mental trauma it inflicted."

– sarahhamaker

Scary Diagnosis

"Colon cancer. 6 years clear though."

"Update: Thank you all for the comments and support. To sum is up, in December 2018 I had sharp pelvic pains and constipation so I got myself in to see my doctor. After fixing me up for the bowel issues I mentioned that I had seen blood in my stool. Well that triggered the greasy finger treatment and sure enough there was blood."

"A week later I had a colonoscopy. I actually woke up and saw the tumor. In recovery the doctor told me it was cancer even before the biopsy. I did not take it well."

"Two months later I had surgery to remove the tumor and about 9 inches of colon. Two of the 18 lymph nodes they collected were also positive. That got me nine rounds of chemo. THAT SUCKED. Anyhow, after CT scans and colonoscopies I am still clear."

"The lingering effects are some bowel issues and neuropathy in my fingers and toes, but it is pretty mild at this point. A DNA test said that I have no predisposition and no family history. Go figure..."

"A colonoscopy saved my life and it has become a personal crusade to get everyone of a certain age to get one. If you are 45 or older, PLEASE get checked out."

– Murky-Substance-7393

Grave Situation

"Viral meningitis. I thought I was going to die."

"Runnerup was mono."

– bonychomp

"I was gonna say Mono too, but after reading everyone else's bad times, it makes my bad time not seem so bad. I feel like I was never the same after Mono. Before Mono at 14 I had endless energy, but afterwards by the end of the week I am spent. I used to walk miles and miles to get places and do things. I wa sick for 3 weeks with Mono."

– that_bish_Crystal

"I got mono in college. It was so bad I had to crawl to the bathroom bc I couldn’t stand up. I would fall asleep while crawling. It would take me several tries to get anywhere. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I knew I was sick bc I got to my parents house on a holiday and slept for 3 days without waking up."

"My mom finally got worried and woke me up because she didn’t know how much longer I could go without food. I’ve never been that sick in my life. I also feel like I’ve never been the same since. I went from being full of energy to now (over 10 years later) I still feel like I am just tired all the time."

– k_mon2244

Bad Blood

"Recurrent stage IV-b Hodgkins Lymphoma."

"Knock on wood, cancer free since 2005."

– Treaux-LaCount

"Knocks on wood for you and myself too! Congrats on beating it, I was in a similar boat almost a year ago. Stage 2A, now in full remission."

– Andrew49378

Not all illnesses manifest visible symptoms, at first glance anyway.

Sense Of Unease

"Mental illness for sure."

– neonscribe85

"Yeah I had some bouts with high levels of anxiety and wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Absolutely horrible feeling and I feel very fortunate that it was only temporary. Some people deal with this 24/7 and I feel for them."

– bassistmuzikman

"Anxiety is horrid. I still fight through mine when driving long distances or on freeways. I was never like this until I was 32, and then, just one day, I had one of those "call of the void" moments. Then, it was just all downhill. Still need to see a doc about it."

– Sharpshooter188

Triggering

"PTSD sucks."

– randymysteries

"Same here. It's invisible, but it can be so heavy."

– Artistic-Minimum-558

"Yeah, I have panic attacks and general anxiety disorder with depression."

"When someone doesn't understand or doesn't believe in your illness it brings a whole new set of problems."

"Ive had family members tell me at a young age that I was faking it or that I ruined their good time."

– DrawerValuable3217

Uncontrollable Fixation

"Same and more specificly severe OCD as a small child. It was hell. And trust me, i have the worst genes, so I still have plenty of things wrong with me, both mentally and physically 😅 but OCD was by no question the worst!"

– Futte-Tigris

The Tick

"Tourette Syndrome - it ruined my life for like 27 years until I figured out I had it and how to cope."

– MyLifeIsJustInsane

"Yes Tourette’s is a horrible illness. I had it for most of my childhood until about I was about 19. I still tic maybe once in a blue moon but it’s nowhere near the amount of tics that would occur every couple of minutes for over a decade. I couldn’t sleep because my anxiety made me tic uncontrollably at night."

"I couldn’t watch a movie without being self-conscious that I was distracting someone. Being in a silent classroom was absolute torture. My tics were like small gasps or like I was clearing my throat. Sorry this comment just unlocked memories that I’ve not thought about in years."

– Sure-Owl-6611

Immediate help is compulsory in these scenarios.

Sepsis

"Yep. I've never been sicker. Three days in the ICU. Word to others: If you suddenly start shivering uncontrollably, vomiting and pooping diarrhea get help immediately. The longer it goes untreated the higher the mortality."

"A friend got sepsis and waited until the next day to go to the hospital. She went into septic shock, had to be airlifted to a larger trauma center, suffered organ failure and two heart attacks. Had the whole near-death experience of looking down at her body and hanging out in the spirit world. It took her a year to recover."

– No-Penalty-1148

Blessing And A Curse

"Emergency gallbladder surgery, went home and was getting sick for 12 hours. Called doctor, oh you better come back to ER. 11 days in ICU, Sepsis, pulmonary issues, blood clots and finding a rare mass too."

"Still here! :)"

"Sepsis saved me, or they wouldn't have found the grapefruit size adrenal gland mass!"

– Safe_Peach5662

Returning From The Other Side

"I was in a coma for a week and two weeks in the icu. All from a kidney infection. This was 5 years ago and I’m healthy now 🙏🏻"

– stagenme

"Mine was a kidney infection, too! ICU for a week and then a couple of weeks in Acute Rehab. It's weird to say, but it was kind of a blessing in disguise. I was very close to death, and I was just conscious enough to reflect on my life (no regrets) and to realize I wasn't afraid. So while I'm VERY happy to be alive, I don't really fear death anymore."

– jmccorky

These nightmarish experiences still haunt these Redditors.

Eating Disorder

"Anorexia."

"The physical changes and symptoms are awful, but the worse to me by far is how it destroys your brain. I just can't see the world like I used to. I wonder if you ever fully recover from it. (I'm trying)"

"Edit: I posted this not expecting anything, just wanting to share my frustration regarding my illness/state, I didn’t expect such support, thank you so much everyone it means a lot. We are really doing our very best to recover and find happiness in this life.

– lectxr

Living With The New Normal

"Covid in 2023. I was the Director of nursing in a nursing home and we worked so hard to keep any of our patients from getting Covid. At the nursing home down the road from us, they had 96 deaths that first year. And our facility had none."

"I thought things were going so well and the Covid crisis had really seemed to die down."

"A friend and I went to Disney World September 2023."

"We stayed a week and had a great time. Flew back on the plane. Felt like I had a little bit of a scratchy throat as I was driving home from the airport but nothing to worry about. Airplanes are so dry that sometimes my throat feels scratchy anyway."

"By the time I got home and in the door to my house, I was not flat on my back for the next three weeks. Ended up with Covid pneumonia."

"Before I got it, I knew it could be bad. I saw the numbers. I knew people died. But I had no idea how bad it could really get."

"I had to sleep sitting upright for three weeks. In and out of the emergency room too, but they did not want to admit me because they felt like I was safer at home."

"There were nights when I sat up all night, and thought if I can just take more breath… If I can just take one more breath… all night long."

"It felt like my lungs were glued together. I couldn’t inhale. I couldn’t exhale.I couldn’t get one good breath. The fever and the headaches were debilitating."

"I was fortunate that I had family who could go back-and-forth to the pharmacy and the grocery store for me. They left things on my front step so they wouldn’t have to come in. But they were days when I didn’t have the energy to even crawl that far."

"It took over a year for me to feel like I could breathe normally again and gain my energy back."

– Marburns59

The last time I felt like I was on my deathbed was when I collapsed on the bathroom floor after violently vomiting seven times in the middle of the night due to food poisoning.

My roommates were out for the weekend, and I was too weak to call for help.

I eventually managed to hold down water and slowly start hydrating myself and replenishing nutrients. It was a 24 hours of absolute hell, and I still count my blessings I was able to miraculously recover without medical assistance.

I should've been in the hospital for sure.