I GOT TINNITUS! What terrifying illness do you have!

[Wolf In A Bear Suit]

I had a cauliflower ear last week. If you don't know what that is look it up, it's pretty common among rugby players and wrestlers. Anyway it was all swollen nothing to serious so I had it drained. The funny bit is that I had to put a bit of cotton wool on my ear held on by a clothes peg for the day, I got laughed at by strangers. Then the next day I played in a match and got concussed. It was ok I walked it off but god was I confused for a while.

 

[Griffolion]

So yesterday I woke up with an annoying ringing in my left ear that would not go away. It stopped me from sleeping and caused me to have my first ever real panic attack as after looking on the internet I was convinced that it may be permanent. After seeing the doctor they assured me that it was just because I had a head-cold and that it should cease within the next month and could take up to six months to truly disappear. This is probably the scariest thing that's ever happened to me, at least in how I personally reacted to it. Have any of you folks had any similar experiences, Anything that truly scared the shit out of you like this. ITS STORY TIME

Hey dude, I've had chronic tinnitus for a few years now. You get used to it. It came on with my anxiety related stuff a few years back. The tightening of the base muscles around your skull (that usually come on with stress and also mainly cause tension headaches) can refer the increased neuron actuations through your hearing apparatus. Save for cutting off all auditory sensation through surgery, there's nothing that can be done now.

 

[Evil Smurf]

I have tenitus too, I cleaned an ear rather vigorously after a gig

I had blue balls a for a day once, that was not fun.

 

[putowtin]

I can barely walk

but that's not really an illness, just a mixture of bad luck and ice!

 

[Dr. Doomsduck]

I got Bell's Paulsey back in February 2011. Partial Paralysis Of the face. Not fun. Spent a month slurring like a drunk and drooling like a dog. Had to manually close my right eye to keep it wet. What opened me up to this kind of ailment? Mono. I didn't get it the fun way, either. That was painful as fuck. I couldn't eat for a week, and I couldn't sleep for longer. The worst part is that some of the meds only made things worse.

Oh, and I have kidney stones. Those formed because I drank WAY too much soda as a kid. So kids, if you want to know pain that many will say is worse than giving birth, drink all of the soda in the world. If you're not a masochist and don't want to risk addiction to Oxycontin, limit your soda drinking, for your own sake.

Aaaarghh, kidney stones, I've been suffering from those since last friday, it was my first time having 'em. Jesus, I thought I was going to die!

Bless modern medicine and all the painkillers they produced.

I need to go back to the Doc tomorrow because having those little assholes for a week straight is a not healthy thing. Though, there's kidney failure running in the family, so, I'm seriously hoping it's got nothing to do with that.

 

[omicron1]

Had shingles. I caught it before it could cover my face in welts, but I still have three tiny forehead dents.
Gentlemen, for those that don't know: Chickenpox leaves behind a nasty, incredibly painful surprise.

Third adcha: ShinglesInfo.com. Thanks, o Muse of Coincidence!

 

[The Funslinger]

I had/have clinical depression. Some say you never really get over it, and I'd agree.

When I was three, I came down with some illness that made me allergic to my own antibodies they started fucking with my organs. My heart stopped.

It's all good now.

Fortunately I've been able to dodge any potential genetic obstacles in my my family, like asthma or allergies.

 

[Shinsei-J]

I have:

Chronic fatigue
Fibromyalgia syndrome
Blood noses at least 6 times a week minimum
it's left me with severe Anemia
Tinnitus
Sever's disease
Osgood?Schlatter disease
Sherman's disease
Hypermobility syndrome
Sever Psoriasis
and... damn it's hard to remember all of them.

I might get back to this latter.
But yeah, I can't live a normal life.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

Temporal Mandibular Joint Dysfunction

Basically my jaw join doesn't sit right and grinds against everything. I used to be curled up in a ball screaming, but now it's on and off and I can tolerate it.

Had to quit soccer though which was my only real interaction with the outside world besides school. Even then, I had to quit that because of it. Nowadays I'm doing a Distant Ed program and on Anti-depressants. Safe to say that it has taken away what should have been a good life the past 3 years.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Epilepsy. You wouldn't say it's terrifying in general because you don't remember seizures and you're not really conscious, but I always get injured and one time I tried to claw my own arms off so whatever goes on psychologically must be scary. I've still got the fingernail marks. Waking up is always scary in a semi-conscious way and from what others have said I look like I'm scared shitless.

 

[Flamezdudes]

Jesus christ people on The Escapist have been through some tough shit. You guy's have my sympathy.

Fortunately, I don't think i've ever had any problems with... anything really. I'm not allergic to anything, never been to the hospital (apart from being born), never broken anything... nothing.

My life isn't very exciting... but i'd rather not be sick.

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

I've got Fibromyalgia, which sucks like hell.
Still that isn't the worst I've experienced.
I wouldn't exactly call it a disease, but I once teared my chest muscles.
Breathing felt like someone stabbing me in the chest over and over again.
It took around half a year before the tearing healed which meant any physical activity putting pressure on my chest muscles had to be suspended.
I still haven't been able to get back into working out.

 

[Ldude893]

Can't remember the name, but I've contracted it a month ago. A fever's the only symptom and the only prescription is more cowbell.

 

[LoLife]

Since you guys are in a sharing mood I have Lymphoma was caught early will survive as long as my new year resolution involves a little bit of chemo.

 

[Apollo45]

Not really an illness but it is terrifying, I have Exploding head syndrome [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome]. Occasionally, (one or 2 times a month) just as I am falling asleep, I hear a loud bang that jolts me awake and gets the adrenaline running making it hard to get back to sleep. Lately it has been more in the form of screeches than bangs and not as loud and jarring. I've had it since childhood but only recently have I been able to put a name to it.

Huh, I've had that happen to me a couple times. Nothing like you seem to be experiencing, but I remember very clearly hearing a loud bang as I would fall asleep a couple times as a kid. I thought it sounded like a frying pan or something falling off my headboard and hitting me in the head, but when I woke up there was nothing there and I didn't feel any pain or anything. Freaked me the hell out as a kid because I figured it was a monster or something, but I haven't had it happen since those couple of times ten-fifteen years ago.

For me it's been psoriasis. Nothing serious, but annoying as hell, and all the medicine they've come out with that will easily take care of it (as in not spreading some ointment on your skin twice a day every day, but just taking a few pills or get a couple shots) essentially weakens your immune system. I'd be fine with that if it were just getting a cold once or twice more a year, but the crappy thing is that it significantly increases your risk of lymphoma. I'd rather live with the psoriasis than risk that, to be honest.

 

[RicoADF]

Does going head-first though a windshield count?
if not then i have to resolt to a second one. dental swelling. try eating with that, i dare you.

May I ask why you decided the windshield was the best way to exit a car rather than the traditional door approach? lol jokes aside, what happened?

 

[Colour Scientist]

Since you guys are in a sharing mood I have Lymphoma was caught early will survive as long as my new year resolution involves a little bit of chemo.

Shit, good luck with chemo!

OP: I've never had anything serious really. I had a stomach ulcer when I was 14/15 but that's about it.
I'm very high risk for endometriosis but, as far as I know, I don't have that yet.

 

[Terminal Blue]

After seeing the doctor they assured me that it was just because I had a head-cold and that it should cease within the next month and could take up to six months to truly disappear.

The great thing about tinnitus is that as long as it's not getting worse, it does eventually go away anyway as your brain learns to tune it out. I have chronic (permanent) tinnitus, but I'm now only aware of it when I actively concentrate on hearing it. It was terrifying when I first got it though, thinking it would be like that forever.