A university student ended up in hospital bed-bound with excruciating abdominal pain, convinced something seriously wrong was happening. Paramedics thought appendicitis. Doctors had a different culprit: she'd simply eaten way too many spicy chicken wings.

The pain that sparked a panic

Nea-Jude Ioannou, 22, was studying Film and Television at University of the Arts London when her lower abdomen started cramping in February 2024. The pain didn't ease. It built. For three days straight, she couldn't move, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. She describes it as the worst pain of her life.

Alarmed, she called 111 after five days. An ambulance picked her up from her Peckham flat and rushed her to King's College Hospital around 6pm. Even the paramedics suspected appendicitis. Her dad jumped on a flight from New York to be there.

The twist nobody expected

After six hours in A&E, a CT scan finally revealed the truth: severe constipation. Not a burst appendix, not appendicitis, not anything requiring emergency surgery. Just backed-up digestion.

The culprit? Wingstop's Atomic flavour wings. She'd been ordering them twice a week. The Atomic variety uses Habanero peppers and ranks between 200,000 to 350,000 Scoville Heat Units on the heat scale. Add in the habit of ordering high-salt, low-fibre takeaway meals, and her digestive system threw in the towel.

It's a Gen Z thing, apparently

Here's where it gets interesting. The doctor told Nea-Jude that severe constipation from extreme eating challenges is becoming increasingly common in her generation. She reckons mukbang culture deserves some of the blame.

Mukbangs are videos where creators eat massive quantities of often extreme foods. Social media algorithms push them constantly. Nea-Jude admits she'd see a reel for a new spot with a gimmick flavour and felt compelled to try it. It became less about hunger and more about the challenge.

"There is such a culture around spicy food now with trying the craziest foods," she said. "I see a reel come up on my feed for a new place with a quirk to it and you think 'I need to try this.'"

The aftermath and the lesson

The hospital gave her pain relief and a two-week supply of laxatives. Three days later, things finally got moving. Relief came.

Since then, Nea-Jude has shifted gears. She eats more whole foods, checks in with her GP regularly, and yes, she still loves Wingstop occasionally. Just not the Atomic version. After posting her experience on TikTok this week, loads of others replied saying they'd been through the same thing. Turns out, spicy food challenges have casualties beyond just a burning mouth.