Food poisoning horror stories - share yours?

[Anonymous]

Is salmon a common culprit?

[Anonymous]

Salmonella from a salad bar. Spent 4 days in the hospital getting IV fluids. Good times.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Like the other person who posted about salmonella from veggies, I ended up with lingering stomach issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tips from Peace Corps: you can make rehydration solution in a quart/liter jar, fill it with water and enough salt so it tastes like tears. Add 7 or 8 spoonfuls of sugar, choke down what you can. To test for severe dehydration, pinch the skin on the back of your hand. If it doesn't bounce back quickly it's time for the hospital. And diarrhea like rice is probably cholera. Drink whatever you can and get to the hospital ASAP! Once you can eat a bit, the BRAT diet is a good plan. Bananas, rice, applesauce, toast. I've also found bananas excellent for vomiting, they absorb stomach acid and chunks don't get stuck in your nose. I'm sorry this is happening, I hope you feel better soon!

Hello to my fellow RPCV!! These stories are good, but nothing compares to the level of GI distress you can achieve in a rural community in West Africa when you’re 23 and think you don’t need to wash your vegetables thoroughly.

Ooof, I think I had blocked out all the iodine soaks. That's another tip for the person who doesn't want to risk sprouts! You can soak them in using water but I don't remember the amount. It took ages for my GI tract to recover. Thank God for probiotics!

[Anonymous]

My sibling has an awful norovirus story from college....they were on vacation and renting a place. being in college, they of course had people sharing rooms and basically a ratio of one bathroom to many people. Of course, noro strikes their group of a dozen plus people and they had like two bathrooms for the group and not enough toilet paper. My sibling basically hid in a closet with a small trash can and passed out there since there were no bathrooms.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if a lot of these stories are actually viral rather than food borne illness. Except the lady that won’t accept she’s allergic to crabs.

[Anonymous]

There was a thread on here from a year or two ago I was trying to find, about a woman who flew back to the states from Europe with her family, and realized they had contracted norovirus while on the plane.

I just remember that another passenger had to loan pants and/or underwear to the OP.

I have nightmares about that story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a thread on here from a year or two ago I was trying to find, about a woman who flew back to the states from Europe with her family, and realized they had contracted norovirus while on the plane.

I just remember that another passenger had to loan pants and/or underwear to the OP.

I have nightmares about that story.

They knew they had norovirus and irresponsibly got on the plane anyway--what did they think was going to happen?. They left their nanny who was too sick to travel in Europe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Near miss: went out for dinner with my boyfriend and a couple he knew. The woman ordered a seafood soup. Next day we heard she got so violently sick she had been admitted to the hospital.

Never order seafood soup unless it’s a purpose made soup like clam chowder

“It’s not old fish, it’s a whole new thing”

https://www.eater.com/2016/1/13/10759544/anthony-bourdain-the-big-short-film

so true. I never order seafood at all unless it’s a seafood restaurant with a good reputation.

I apparently didn't take all my childhood viewings of Airplane to heart and ordered the fish on an overnight flight to France. What an awful experience trying to repeatedly cover up the smell and the noise that was echoing off those metallic toilet bowls during the silent/sleeping portion of the flight (with a cadre of stewardesses congregating in their station right outside that door).

You should have had the lasagne.

[Anonymous]

My DH and I were eating at a restaurant in India when all of a sudden it hit us. I remember white knuckling during the crazy rickshaw ride back to the hotel, fighting the whole way over who would get the bathroom first. We suffered all night with liquid coming from both ends, chills, and sweats. We were supposed to leave the next day by train for another part of the country, but begged the hotel to stay. Everything was booked for Valentine’s Day. The concierge had doctor come to our room who gave us each a list of four medications. No idea what they were at the time, but took them all like my life depended on it. A few short hours later, we were weak, but nothing more was exiting our bodies, so we were able to board our train.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH and I were eating at a restaurant in India when all of a sudden it hit us. I remember white knuckling during the crazy rickshaw ride back to the hotel, fighting the whole way over who would get the bathroom first. We suffered all night with liquid coming from both ends, chills, and sweats. We were supposed to leave the next day by train for another part of the country, but begged the hotel to stay. Everything was booked for Valentine’s Day. The concierge had doctor come to our room who gave us each a list of four medications. No idea what they were at the time, but took them all like my life depended on it. A few short hours later, we were weak, but nothing more was exiting our bodies, so we were able to board our train.

Sounds like gastritis, not food poisoning with that timeline. Not that that helps.

[Anonymous]

My DH and I went out to dinner. I woke up vomiting during the night. He took our 10 month old to daycare and left for work. The stomach pain got so intense that I couldn’t change positions and at one point vomited where I was laying down. Finally about noon I was able to get my phone and text a friend / neighbor who worked at home and asked her to drop off some pepto bismal and ginger-ale and saltines. She also got popsicles. She left them outside the door (I’d asked her to) in case it was viral. I crawled to the door and got them and then crawled to the sofa so I could watch tv. By about 3 I hadn’t thrown up for a few hours and could keep popsicles down and by about 7 or 8 that night felt okay except for my worn out abs. But in retrospect I think I probably should have gone to the hospital. The pain was substantially worse than delivering my daughter (which was unmedicated).

[Anonymous]

Got sick from a dish with goat cheese from carrabas. I haven’t eaten goat cheese since. Something at maggionos caused me to have diarrhea as we leaving. I was glad they played music in the bathroom.

When my ds was 4 months he spit up once which was weird because he had silent reflux. He never burped or spit up. The next day I was violently ill. Laying on the floor in various rooms unable to move. Throwing up and dry heaving. I thought my ribs would break it was so violent. Called in my mom for help because ds has to work. Next day dh had it and then day after that my mom got it. I have no idea if it was from food or what. Dh and I could barely watch our kid .

[Anonymous]

My now-husband and I flew to Thailand to get married, and he ate the shrimp included in the onboard meal. I decided not to eat mine because I was worried about getting food poisoning. He spent our wedding night on the hotel bathroom floor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Went to a wedding in LA. DH got sick on something-no idea what as he ate everything. We had volunteered to help out a lot so now I was driving around in LA (sucks/don't know it) and doing all the tasks the next day while DH stayed at the hotel. We started to hear others were sick but no one wanted to upset the happy couple.

Then we get to the airport and on the flight we were seated separately. I asked the other passengers next to DH if I could switch and they could sit at the front. All said no- though they weren't traveling together. I made a point of advising that he had been really sick and I just wanted to be sure I was there in case he needed help. They kind of ignored us/blew us off and DH proceeded to projectile vomit all over the three people who would not move for the rest of the lengthy and turbulent flight. We still cringe/LOL at that.

🤣