Ricky Gervais endures 'worst eight hours of his life' as he's struck down by severe illness

Comedian Ricky Gervais definitely hasn't been laughing today after he was struck down with a severe illness that left him vomiting every time he moved.

Whether from food poisoning, an evil bug or even just a wicked hangover, I think we've all had those sick days that feel like the worst of our entire lives.

Instagram/@rickygervais

There's really nothing you can do but take each wave of pain as it comes and wait for it all to be over, and it sounds like that's exactly what Gervais has been doing today (11 May).

The After Life star took to Twitter to share a health update with his 15.1 million followers, starting simply with the words: "I'm not well today."

That sentence in itself would probably have been enough to spark some sympathy from fans, but Gervais continued on into graphic detail about exactly how ill he really was.

Gervais continued: "In fact I'd say I just lived through the worst 8 hours of illness of my life. Severe abdominal pains, vomiting every time I moved, (but only tiny bits of bile), hot sweats and chills."

Unfortunately the symptoms didn't stop there, as Gervais made clear that his illness also threw some punches below the belt. Take this as a warning - you're about to have a very clear image in your head about what he's been through.

He wrote: "Oh, and I really want to know who planted the 12 gravy bombs up my arse."

Twitter/@rickygervais

It's graphic enough to leave you feeling queasy even if you're not ill, but Gervais did receive some well-wishes from concerned fans, one of who suggested he might be suffering from norovirus.

"Yeah that's what I thought," Gervais responded to the suggestion.

Also known as the 'vomiting bug', norovirus is a stomach bug which causes sickness, nausea and diarrhoea, as well as high temperatures, headaches and aching limbs.

It definitely doesn't sound fun, but thankfully Gervais' illness seems to have been relatively short-lived.

A few hours after first announcing he was sick, the comedian added an update to say he was feeling better.

"Update: I'm out of bed and I've had a bath," he wrote. "Feel weak and annoyed that I wasted a whole day, but that is a huge improvement on believing that I was definitely going to die. Thanks for all your well wishes."

The NHS says you can usually treat norovirus at home, stating that the most important thing is to rest and have lots of fluids.