this thread and story is awesome
When I was around the age of 12 we were running around our neighborhood (this is before iphones) and just doing kid stuff, bikes, football, whatever we were up to. Anyway, we saw some small orange/red peppers growing in someones side yard and decided we'd all try one. They were so hot to us at that age, all I remember is holding a neighbors hose to my mouth to help with the pain. Since then I've always had a high respect for anything with a high heat rating.
Back when we used to eat sandwiches at Firehouse subs, I decided to try a tiny amount of a level 10 hot sauce dipped on one of my salt & vinegar chips and placed into the middle of my sandwich. I was amazed at how regardless of the tiny amount and placing it within the sub sandwich, it still made my stomach do some weird things... and it was very hot .
All that to say, I don't mess around ever with any food that has any kind of extreme warning or reputation - for exactly the reason the OP has stated. Its gonna do some really strange things to your stomach. Depending on your sensitivity level to spice, it could also cause diarrhea and set your stomach on a journey to BRAT diet based foods for a few days. Not sure what is about being in my early 40's but I cannot tolerate very spicy foods like I once could.