Food poisoning horror stories - share yours?

[Anonymous]

My DH got it from a deli in his office building in our early 20s. Started to feel really sick at work (we lived in Chicago at the time). Decided to head home on the train. Proceeded to throw up out the doors of every stop for about 15 stops, vomiting splashing on peoples shoes and clothing. Im sure people thought he was on drugs and I can’t believe he wasn’t kicked off, though I saw a lot of crazy stuff on the train then. Continued until the night and I was so freaked out I almost called his mother to come over because I thought he was dying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My future sister-in-law and I were driving back to college together, a 12+ hour haul. We ate at some burrito place for lunch, and pushed on hoping to make the drive in one day. It snowed heavily, and traffic came to a halt on the highway as folks had to chain up to cross a particular mountain pass.

At some point, my stomach started to ache terribly and I started bleaching. Embarrassing! But it got worse - both the snow and the stomach ache. Traffic was dead stopped. I started to vomit. We scrambled to find me a bag to puke in. It sucked. But then I started to have a terrible, horrible urge to poop. Like it wasn't a choice at all, it was going to happen. Traffic was not moving, there was no where to go. I got my future sister-in-law to hold up a sheet in an attempt to cover for me, and I proceeded to have terrible, farting, smelly diarrhea on the highway. It was humiliating.

Finally traffic started to crawl up the hill, and we continued on. I puked and shat my way to the next highway turn off about fifteen miles later, where she stopped at a bunch of places before she found TWO mediocre motel rooms and we waited it out for about a day until I could stand upright again. She was very kind about it, but she still teases me to this day.

I’m glad she’s your SIL now. People like her are hard to find. Sorry that you were so sick, but on the bright side, it showed you who she is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ten years ago, had a steak from outback.brought my dog home the bone and leftovers. Hours later, wake up to the dog crapping uncontrollably and then I started soon after. Cleaning up dog diarrhea while also shitting and puking your brains out is not the best. Good luck, OP

Oh god. I am laughing in horror at how awful this is. I hope you and your dog recovered quickly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ordered take out when I was postpartum and it was that night I learned what it’s like to vomit constantly in the toilet so hard it came out of my nose while also breast feeding a newborn.

That night I thought to myself, literally there is no way life can get worse. And I was right! Even in the darkest days of 2020 I was not nursing a newborn w a towel over them so my nose vomit didn’t get on them

This sounds awful. I don’t even know how you managed to stay hydrated enough to nurse. That is sheer willpower right there! A definite low in life if I’ve heard one.

I’ve never had anything this bad, but I have exploded from both ends before (luckily at home) and it’s truly a miserable feeling.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I had food poisoning in India. I don't remember what I ate, but my body rejected it pretty qiuckly. Terrible, explosive vomiting for a night, then I was fine.

[Anonymous]

https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/what-you-need-know-about-foodborne-illnesses


I recommend reading this. Many of you will realize that you don't actually know what made you sick. Most people assume it's the last thing that they ate, but it often isn't. That's why it can be quite hard to track foodborne illness.


(frozen pizza, PP? Not likely)

[Anonymous]

Years ago my then-boyfriend now-husband and I grabbed dinner at On the Border in Tyson's Corner after work one night. I got chicken fajitas (careful! this plate is super hot! and teeming with salmonella!) and probably several margs. The evening is also noteworthy because Antonin Scalia and his huge family were there too. I woke up in the middle of the night, sat up in bed, and projectile vomited so hard that it covered the wall. I spent the next few days alternating between vomit and diarrhea, ultimately needing IV fluids. DH did not get sick. I still wonder if any of the Scalias were similarly afflicted.

[Anonymous]

OMG I am crying reading some of these.

My food poisoning/stomach bug stories are all pretty much "I got sick and barfed a lot and it sucked" but I do have friends who have gotten sick while traveling and it sounds like my worst nightmare. Especially being on a plane. I remember having mild morning sickness on a bad landing into Newark once and was never so happy to breathe the "fresh" air of the Newark Airport and it was all very hellish. I cannot imagine being legit sick on a plane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is salmon a common culprit?

Not for your garden variety food poisoning. If salmon is cooked properly OR frozen properly for sushi/sashimi, it's quite safe. If it's undercooked (and not frozen properly for eating raw), there is a risk of tapeworm. But these stories of "ate dinner and 3 hours later was puking my guts out" are almost never from salmon. If it was a salmon dish, it was most likely the sauce, the sides, or the handling.

[Anonymous]

Went to an engagement party on a Friday night. Over 100 people. Normal Saturday and went out to dinner. That night DH and I (sharing our one bathroom) were up all night, both ends.

We assumed it was Saturday nights dinner. Until we got a call from the couple who hosted the Friday night party to ask if we were ok. At least 80% of the attendees were sick. We got a call from the heath department wanting every detail of what we ate and drank, right down to the butter for the bread.

[Anonymous]

Not exactly food poisoning buuut ....

Remember that fake oil that was in some chips 20 or so years ago? Olestra maybe? Well I was in my 20s and got really badly dumped by some guy. I drowned my sorrows in a big bong and a whole bag of chips. I didn't realize the chips had that fake oil in it. I never emptied my stomach contents as fully as I did that night. Absolutely nothing was left inside me but my broken heart.

[Anonymous]

The worst I remember was from a family trip when I was about 12. We had eaten in a seafood restaurant, but I don't remember what we ate. My parents, my brother and I all woke up in the middle of the night, losing it from both ends. Four people, one hotel room, one bathroom. I remember laying in the tub puking toward the drain while my brother hurled in the toilet and my mom in the sink. We ended up calling a doctor to come to the room. He gave us drugs, the hotel gave us an extra room to spread out the damage a bit. It continues to be a source of family bonding when we re-tell the story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vietnam street food. A year of diarrhea, dehydration, meds and hospitals to get rid of a parasitic infection. Zero stars, do not recommend.

Like, in Vietnam?

Yep, although most of the hospital stays were back in the US, mercifully. Still love Vietnamese food but now I only go to reputable restaurants.

[Anonymous]

I don't have any particular stories myself, but I'll never forget a college ex telling me about the time he got suddenly sick (don't recall if it was food related or a virus) at the beginning of a 5 hour coach bus ride home from our college to his hometown for some holiday. He apparently spent the vast majority of it hugging the bus toilet and puking his guts out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got food poisoning at in-office interview during law school. We were at the tail end of lunch at a very upscale restaurant when it hit so I'm assuming it's whatever I ate at the hotel that morning for breakfast, which I don't even remember. It was so awful. The associates were lingering and chatting, while I started sweating and went to the bathroom for a couple extended visits. Then we went BACK to the office for my final interviews. At the first one I said I had to use the bathroom and basically exploded once I got in there. Was completely horrified to come out of the women's room and find my male interviewer standing there waiting for me. I can't even imagine what he heard. I made some apologies to cut the interviews short and went back to spend the night in my hotel bathroom. It sucked because I had dinner plans with a friend in that city and had to beg off. I remember she made some suggestions (maybe just soup?) but I had stuff coming out both ends by that point so anything was out of the question.

So did you get the job?