[Fiction question] What nasty and preferably deadly communicable disease would cause sudden intense stomach cramps?

Constipation is pretty horrible…Especially if you happen to be the person that uses the bathroom after them!

Cholera, perhaps?

Escherichia coli (E. coli)

Yucky – but sadly, very real Link for details

I do not know the answer but had to give Lurve for both “preferably deadly” and shilolo in the topics.

Period pain!! It’s nasty and causes sudden intense stomach cramps!! Oh wait… but it’s not a communicable disease… or is it?

I know that it’s communicable because in most cases it affects everyone around you and is a disease because as the dictionary defines it, it’s a “condition or tendency, as of society, regarded as abnormal and harmful.” I certainly know that half the population (the male half) think it’s abnormal. I’m pretty sure that it’s also harmful to other community members both physically and mentally because boy-oh-boy, you better stay RIGHT away from a patient who is suffering from it!!

Kidding, kidding kidding!! ;-)

I’m leaning towards renal failure or acute liver failure. Alcohol/acetaminophen poisoning are very dangerous in large quantities. But, it has the disadvantage of not being communicable. I don’t think so, anyway.

Maybe a parasite? (List of parasites)

Also, gallbladder pain is horribly horrible, but it’s not particularly deadly.

Wikipedia is your friend!

Also, I watch too much House. :P

Will you let us know what you pick?

Take your pick

2415 Causes of Abdominal Pain
Lead Poisoning

The Spanish Flu which killed millions practically overnight in the early 1900’s.

The Black Plague!

EBOLA

Dammit @dalepetrie! You beat me to EBOLA!!! By no time at all! A second, really!

Which is probably the best one ever if you’re going to kill someone off!

Giardiasis is not deadly in itself, but can be easily worked into a story, and side effects could cause complications.

Basically it will give you a lot of stomach pain, explosive diarrhea, excessive gas so foul smelling it is known to cause people to vomit. Also causes foul smelling poo, inflamed intestines, etc. Can last for 2–6 weeks. Takes 5–7 days for problem to occer from time of infection, but when the explosive diarrhea comes, watch out!

Its a bacteria that lives in unclean water sources. All your character has to do is be thirsty and drink from a pool of water. It can also be transferred from person to person if you need that. Changing a diaper is a common way to get it as well.

my ex

On Wiki, it lists abdominal pain and what can cause it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdominal_pain You could check out some of those illnesses.

I LOVE this question!!! :)

@Jeruba, this would be an interesting cause of abdominal pain, but does it fit in with your character’s persona?

@Jeruba; Make sure you read the Bad Sex Shortlist Award List,

Among the contenders are Philip Roth, Amos Oz, Paul Theroux and Nick Cave.

Typhoid fever can cause sudden and acute abdominal pain. So can hepatitis that results in the rupture of an hepatic ulcer, certain forms of influenza, food poisoning from Salmonella or Campylobacter, and Rotoviral Diarrhea.

Then there are the tools of bioterrorism, including the Plague, and GI Anthrax. Then there are also Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), Ebola, and Cholera.

I had a friend who survived Dengue Fever – it is an excellent way to lose a huge amount of weight in a hurry.

Great ideas! Thanks, all.

It has to be an infectious disease. He has to fall to the floor in convulsive agonies (abdominal) from something he got through a virus or bacteria. It would be convenient for the story if I did not have to deal with diarrhea, which would change the dynamics a little too much. I am leaning toward cholera or typhoid because they also sound suitably exotic. The door’s still open right now but will close by tonight, when I finish this chapter and move on. I left him writhing and moaning last night when I went to bed, and in five more minutes I have to deal with him.

(Are you sure that the writhing and moaning didn’t imply sexual activity?)

Goodness gracious, @gailcalled, you do have a one-track mind. Was it the pottery clay scene that got you going? He is most definitely afflicted by not one but several horrible diseases. He’s got red spots and a fever, too.

I love playing God.

It all began with the cream white thread spooling, spooling, spooling.

Yes, while she molded the cylinder of firm yet malleable clay and rhythmically pumped the pedal of her wheel.

Perchance do you mean kicked the wheel? The electrics have a pedal (like a sewing machine) but to pump it would cause a jerky motion in the spin which would likely collapse the cylinder. The manual ones have a circle pad of concrete that you kick with your foot to get the momentum going. A smooth steady motion. ;)

@Jeruba Since you put me in a tag, I’m guessing I have some sort of fiduciary obligation to answer? Sadly, most of the causes of severe, acute abdominal pain (i.e. writhing on the ground) you describe are not commonly due to highly contagious diseases. For example, dysentary or cholera are most notable for profuse diarrhea (+/- blood) but not so much abdominal pain (though on rare occasions bacterial dysentary can cause severe abdominal pain). So, you could evaluate that as a possibility (Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia). I don’t have time to discuss many of the other suggestions, but they are not routinely associated with severe abdominal pain.

Rats. Looks like I got that part wrong, @Dog. The paragraph is here. Even though it’s a dream scene, and therefore not true to life, there is still a standard of realism that I don’t want to compromise. Now I’m not sure what to do. Any suggestions?

@shilolo, thank you. This is not medical advice, as you see. I’m wondering if I would do better with dysentery. This chap is being afflicted simultaneously (in waves) with smallpox, typhoid, yellow fever, and a bunch of other choice stuff. I want him to fall on the floor and writhe for a bit, but, as I said, I don’t want to deal with diarrhea at this point in the story because it won’t do if everyone leaves the room. However, I’ll bet nobody has ever written a scene before where the bad guys are standing there with guns pointed at the good guys, and then bad guy #1 explodes in diarrhea and bad guy #2 faints from the stench. (Bad guy #2 in this case is a 22-year-old Finnish ballerina.) That could be an interesting deus ex machina.

I liked cholera because I thought it would take out his legs too.

Did I mention that I am writing preposterous rubbish? This is for NaNoWriMo. It really is more fun than just about anything I’ve done before. But even at that, I am a stickler for authentic detail. I can see that I might have to stretch this malady just a little bit for the sake of the desired effect.

Maybe it should simply be a brand-new illness, previously unknown to science, that was originally found harmlessly in bunny rabbits but has jumped species boundaries with devastating effect.

Not in this case, @Darwin. It’s the result of a special cocktail prepared some time earlier by a brilliant medical researcher who was way, way out there in terms of experimenting and laid this sleeper on her deadly enemy with samples of a spectrum of devastating illnesses in it, which has now been activated and he is now going through both simultaneously and in series while negotiating with the good guys for the antidote. He’s got big, blistery red spots on his face too.

@Jeruba – that is one hell of a sentence!!!

And @darwin – I like your idea, hell if it can jump from chickens, pigs, cows and horses, rabbits would be a logical next host.

@jeruba – do we get to read this masterpiece when it is finished??? Could you please put it into Audible.com so I can listen while I run, I am sure it would keep me from thinking about how bored I am with the running business.

@rooeytoo, Modifiers R Us. My inner editor is on leave for the duration.

Here’s a list of main topics I’ve accumulated so far in my research notes, along with lots of subtopics and links. Don’t you think it would be a kick to be writing something for which you needed to look up all these things?—in addition, of course, to the fiction questions I’ve posted here.

Boat:
1968 Chris-Craft Commander 47 Flush Deck motor yacht

Boston:
WBZ radio

Clothing:
Captain’s apparel

Eccentrics

Electronics:
Satellite phones

Farm in New England:
Apple varieties, New England
Corn shocks bundled for drying

Homelessness:
First things you would need
Stealing
Starbux’s fluther Qs
Survival tricks

Maine:
Old Victorian house
Jonesport
Route to Concord, NH
I-95 history
Machias
Queen Anne architecture—fashionable in 1880s–1890s
1930 Philco Baby Grand console radio
Jonesport-Beals High School
Rocks and minerals

Mansion:
Castles and Mansions, European Villas and Manor Houses
Floor plan
Furnishings
Victorian Rococo chair

Names:
Common names
Cowboy names
Finnish names

The Raven:
Final authorized version

San Diego:
Point Loma beaches
Coronado Island, San Diego
Weather
Moon phases, February 2010
Channel Islands — San Clemente Island
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

South Africa:
Christiaan Barnard
Exotic animal hides
Gemstones
Interesting facts
Kimberley—big hole
King of the Zulus
Lion population: ~2700, mostly around Kruger
Lunch
Weather
Zebras’ stripes recognizable

Texas:
Oil rig fires

Twins:
Twin facts
Elapsed time between twin births

Vietnam War:
Cambodian currency in 1973
Timetable

Weapons:
Guns
44 Magnum Colt Anaconda [revolver]
.45 caliber M1911 with stag horn trim on the grip [pistol]
M 14 rifle
AK-47 assault rifle

World Locations and Cultures:
Finland: Vaasa
Morocco: Casablanca
Mount Kilimanjaro
Royal Families
Russia: Moscow

@Jeruba

How about this:

“She was at her wheel, working the wheel with her foot and feeling the smooth, wet, firm but yielding matter take shape between her nimble hands, growing from a formless lump to a tall, tapering cylinder with gentle, pleasing contours. As she worked, deftly pressing the clay to guide its form, she felt it pressing back. A sense of urgency came over her and with an agile kicking motion she sped up the wheel.”

(gads- not nearly so nicely done…)

Thanks, @Dog, I’ll take my guidance from that.

I don’t believe in limiting myself to writing what I know, but I have to say that as soon as I move outside that safe territory, there are a billion ways to put my ignorance on display.

I would not say that. I love what you are writing. :) If I had not been a potter for two years I never would have caught it. The interesting thing is that for me- a potter who preferred the manual wheel- kicking felt powerful and almost zen-like. The base, being poured concrete, builds momentum like a freight train. It is slow to get going then after that the movement becomes hypnotically easy and subconscious.

At the completion of the novel will we be allowed to read the entire book? :)

Well, I think I am going to have to use the manual wheel, then (but manual means with the hands, and pedal means with the feet—so isn’t it pedal even if there is no part called a “pedal”?).

To answer your question seriously, @Dog and @rooeytoo: when the NaNo draft is done, I will have completed my novel in 30 days, but it’s only a draft, utterly raw, and probably worthless (apart from all that valuable writing exercise). If I think I am ever going to do anything with it, I can’t post it somewhere. That would blow away my fluther anonymity—either that or leave me open to plagiarism that I could defend against only by disclosing my identity. So no, as long as it has any possibilities, I can’t publish it before it’s published. And if it has none at all, it’s probably not worth your reading time. But if I do go somewhere with it, well, I’ll just say this: if one day you run across a novel with a villain on a fancy yacht in San Diego, a washed up Texas oil fire fighter, a Finnish ballerina-assassin, and some deadly diseases running rampant, and you think you recognize a dream scene with a loom and a potter’s wheel, you can just smile quietly to yourself and say “I think I know who wrote that.”

jeez I just finished reading a book just like that, hehehehe.

Could you publish it after it is published? Inquiring minds and all that jazz.

<patiently> No, Gail. I can only publish it when it is published. :)

Geez, @rooeytoo, why didn’t you tell me? I could have saved myself a whole lot of trouble.

You could always send various Flutherites an Advanced Reader’s Copy before the book is actually published. Then we can’t list it on Amazon and sell it.