One of the WORST. NIGHTS. EVER.

[BTM]

I'm going to describe what is, without exaggeration one of the worst nights being sick I've ever had.  Since it's me being sick, some stuff described might be a bit gross to some readers, so if you think that'll bother you skip this thread.

I had gotten off work Friday morning and had that night off.  I was hungry and needed some stuff to make a Taco Salad with for later so I drove to a local grocery store, picked up some lettuce, chips, and seeing it was sale, some fried chicken from the deli section.  Now, unlike Wal-Mart which cooks and keeps it's chicken warm, this place puts it in plastic, see through boxes and sticks it in an open refrigerator type unit (dunno what they call 'em).

As far as I know (not a food handling expert) that's all fine and dandy--if they wait the proper amount of time before putting it from one place to another.  A friend who's worked several years in the restaurant biz has told me that when you take something hot out of the oven, you're supposed to let it cool to room temp before you just shove it in a fridge for a long period.  (Again, no one idea if that's true, just repeating what I've heard.)

Anyway, I've got kind of a bad habit where sometimes when I'm hungry and I buy something, I'll eat a little (or a lot) of it in the car instead of waiting to go home.  Since I don't mind cold chicken, this was no exception.  I ate a few pieces, went home, and everything seemed okay.  A few hours later I noticed a sour stomach, couldn't stop burping (and they had all that horrible rotten egg taste to them).

Well, then I made mistake number two.  Around 1pm or so, I started feeling a bit hungry, so I cooked and ate one of those $2.50 frozen pizzas you can get at Aldi's.  (It's something of a tradition, I eat pizza on Friday, or whatever is MY Friday.)  Get the feeling all that extra food coming in was just real bad timing.

Well, four hours later (about five thirty) I'm getting tired, my head hurts, I feel dizzy and then my stomach begins to cramp up badly.  I rushed to the bathroom and had really bad diarrhea.  Ever have a movement where NOTHING solid comes out?  

Yeah, it was like that.  And not a small little spray of a hose either, more like overturning a large bucket. Then I sat there for a bit, feeling awful, got up and stumbled over to the bed and just lay down.  I really wanted to sleep, but couldn't trust myself to let go completely as my stomach was still in dire straights.  

About a half hour later, I went BACK to the bathroom and the same thing, this time in bursts of three.  A blast would come out, then pause, and I'd hear some horrible gurgling/bubbling noises from my stomach, then another round, and, after a pause, usually a third.

Can you imagine it?  Sitting there, stomach cramping like crazy, but at the same time feeling horribly tired and faint like you're going to pass out, like you WANT to pass out, but you can't cause the pain is too much.  I moaned piteously, wanting someone to come in and put me out of my misery.

Finally I'd stand up, and this would trigger another wave of a gurgles, sometimes forcing me to sit right back down.  

I lost track of how many times I went to the bathroom that night.  I'd stumble to the bed, fall asleep for maybe an hour or so, get right back up, repeat.  I just could NOT believe the sheer amount of liquid that was coming out of me.  No WAY could I have eaten that much.  It felt like I was somehow channeling the English river or something.  Wouldn't be surprised to learn I'd lost a pound or two.  

Anyway, it's now Sunday night.  I feel better, but not completely sure I'm over whatever the hell it was.  Been cautious, mainly just eating saltines and dry food.  Bought some PowerAid yesterday and mixed it up with some water to help keep myself hydrated.  Just hoping I can get back to "normal" soon.  

[claws]

Sorry about your ordeal but ... YIKES 

[Andrew]

Sorry you felt so bad.  Food poisoning is a possible culprit, and so is a stomach flu.

I had H1N1 almost 2 years ago.  It lasted about 3 weeks.  If I remember right, there was one week of bad fevers, aches, and headaches, a week of heavy congestion, and a week of gastrointestinal misery that, at its height, matches your description.  I've had pure stomach flu that only caused horrible things to happen to my digestive tract.  I wonder if you caught a strain of flu that carried the gastrointestinal horror.

Until you stomach feels better you might want to use the good old BRAT diet.  Bananas, rice, applesauce, toast.  Bland and easy on the stomach.  You're doing it already with the saltines.  You can also have yogurt.  Nothing but water to drink.  It helped mitigate my pain and suffering. 

[Mr. DS]

Sorry to hear that Mike.   I honestly have had quite a few bouts with illnesses like this since kids entered my life.  They take home everything from their friends and share.  Last one I had was a vicious bout with diarrhea that lasted 24 to 48 hours.  I was on the pot every 10 minutes blasting away.

Oh well, here's to health and recovery.   

[Trevor]

I was on the pot every 10 minutes blasting away.

   

[ChaosTheory]

That sucks, dude, food poisoning can be brutal (though somewhat entertaining when it happens to someone else).

If it makes you feel better, I had a lousy night too.  Had to go to a stupid store meeting (where absolutely nothing productive got done) and my car blew a belt on the way there.  One of my co-workers was nice enough to give me a ride home, but had to get a taxi back to the store this morning so I could call someone to tow & repair it.

As an aside, instant karma to the garbageman who was stopping by at the same time I got there this morning.  He recommended a shop to me that has ended up charging a much more reasonable rate than the last place I took it to.

[BTM]

Sorry you felt so bad.  Food poisoning is a possible culprit, and so is a stomach flu.

I had H1N1 almost 2 years ago.  It lasted about 3 weeks.  If I remember right, there was one week of bad fevers, aches, and headaches, a week of heavy congestion, and a week of gastrointestinal misery that, at its height, matches your description.  I've had pure stomach flu that only caused horrible things to happen to my digestive tract.  I wonder if you caught a strain of flu that carried the gastrointestinal horror.

It could be that, I dunno (stomach flu I mean).  But I don't think I have a fever or anything, just the bad parts, plus with the earlier sour stomach (and I was burping up huge "eggs" during that night as well) I'm leaning more towards the food poisoning but who knows.  (In fact, not 100 percent sure the chicken cause it, but for some reason that's my biggest suspect.)  

Just hope it's not salmonella or e. coli or whatever the hell else you can get from tainted food these days.  

Anyway, am feeling better, still having diarrhea though.  There's been a bit of blood as well, so I'm thinking of calling the doc.  I dunno though, sometimes I think my doc doesn't really take my concerns too seriously.  (Course, I'm a bit a hydro sometimes, so who knows?)

Anyway, sorry to hear about YOUR ordeal.  Sounds way rougher than mine.  

[The Burgomaster]

I rushed to the bathroom and had really bad diarrhea.  Ever have a movement where NOTHING solid comes out?  

Around the mid to late 1980s I had this experience with Pizzeria Uno.  One day I got a pizza and shortly after I ate it I was passing pure liquid (with tremendous velocity).  A couple months later, I got a burger from a different Pizzeria Uno restaurant and had the same reaction.  It must have been a certain spice or something they used in both the pizza and the burger.  It never happened again after that (although, I didn't eat at Pizzeria Uno for a few years after the 2nd incident).

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

Around 1995, I worked at M&M Mars as a temp. A week before Christmas, they had a party and several of us got sick after eating the peanut butter pie.  I woke up late Saturday-early Sunday morning and vomited 5 times in a row, and then there was the diarrhea later.  I was sick the entire Sunday and into most of the week.

What we got it from, we don't know. We know the food service people were very unhygeinic and they were the ones we got the pie from (as well as the common food at the party) and after this incident, they fired them and got a new crew.

[HappyGilmore]

As far as I know (not a food handling expert) that's all fine and dandy--if they wait the proper amount of time before putting it from one place to another.  A friend who's worked several years in the restaurant biz has told me that when you take something hot out of the oven, you're supposed to let it cool to room temp before you just shove it in a fridge for a long period.  (Again, no one idea if that's true, just repeating what I've heard.)



  

Yeah, there really should be a little 'waiting period', so to speak, before it hops up in to the fridge/container/walk-in.  I worked in a Nursing Home kitchen for about 2 and a half years, and have worked in a restaurant for 3 years and the management stressed that.

Sorry to hear about the whole ordeal.  I couldn't go through that all.

[BTM]

It never happened again after that (although, I didn't eat at Pizzeria Uno for a few years after the 2nd incident).

Well, that's understandable.  I've had foods I used to like but then I got sick shortly after eating them (may or may not have been related to the food) and ever since them I don't eat them anymore.  Puppy chow, for instance (no, not the dog food, the snack made from cereal, melted chocolate and rolled in powder sugar.)  My sister made us all a batch years ago and that night several us kids got sick and I swore off it for good.

Dunno if it was the Puppy Chow that made us sick though, as I don't think my sister got sick.  (Then again, I can't remember if she'd ever actually eaten any of it.  Hmm...)

[BTM]

I worked in a Nursing Home kitchen for about 2 and a half years, and have worked in a restaurant for 3 years and the management stressed that.

Really?  What restaurant did you work at?

[Paquita]

Aw that stinks .  OK sorry, I couldn’t help it!  I'm glad you’re feeling better though!  I’m all too familiar with that scenario.  I’m prone to getting bad reactions from food so this happens to me about once or twice a year, sometimes when eating from certain pizza places like Burgomeister pointed out.. and I tend to get pukey too.  It’s actually been so bad a few times that I’ve just curled up on a towel on the bathroom floor and napped between attacks.  That faint feeling is weird.. I think just the thought of someone finding me passed out from massive poo loss gives me the will to go on.

[HappyGilmore]

I worked in a Nursing Home kitchen for about 2 and a half years, and have worked in a restaurant for 3 years and the management stressed that.

Really?  What restaurant did you work at?

This one up here in Philly.  They've never just like, thrown something into the refridgerator just off of the grill/stove/out of the pot.  Supposedly it's unsanitary to just throw it in there.  Plus, people could get sick.

[retrorussell]

I've had that a number of times before.  I'm pretty certain it was food poisoning.  We're fortunate at least that our bodies do their darndest to get rid of it, though it does take a while.  Foods with a lot of liquid base (soups, for instance) can go right through me if I have a lot in one meal.  I am absolutely no stranger to porcelain. :)