Food Poisoning.

[jdurg]

Hey guys. How long do the typical effects of food poisoning last? On Thursday I went to McDonalds for lunch and got some chicken nuggets. About an hour later, I started feeling VERY nauseous and the intensity just progressed at an alarming rate. About 2.5-3 hours after eating the chicken, I began throwing up quite violently and without any way to stop it. My ribcage and chest muscles are now killing me from all that throwing up, and I've felt VERY weak. So weak, in fact, that I've fallen down twice just trying to walk a few feet towards the bathroom. I have NEVER felt this ill before. Only now, about 26 hours after eating the tainted food, have I gotten enough energy to get out of bed. Still, I cannot keep any food in my stomach and my chest muscles still hurt like crazy. I know this might sound really gross, but the gas I've been passing has reeked MUCH moreso than it typically should. I fear that if I try and take a crap, gallons of lava will come pouring out.

 

My question is, do these symptoms cry out food poisoning or some other random bug? If this is food poisoning, how long will these symptoms last? I just want to return to a normal sense of being and not worry about throwing up or passing out at random moments.

[Mokele]

The first thing that pops into my mind is salmonella, since you mention chicken nuggets (salmonella is often associated with raw or undercooked chicken). I've got nothing beyond that, except advice to get to some sort of medical care if you can (I know this can be a pain if you lack insurance).

 

Mokele

[jdurg]

Thanks for the advice. I determined that if tomorrow morning I wake up and still feel ill in any sort of way, I'll take a trip down to the local clinic and get checked out.

[coquina]

Hey guys. How long do the typical effects of food poisoning last? On Thursday I went to McDonalds for lunch and got some chicken nuggets. About an hour later' date=' I started feeling VERY nauseous and the intensity just progressed at an alarming rate. About 2.5-3 hours after eating the chicken, I began throwing up quite violently and without any way to stop it. My ribcage and chest muscles are now killing me from all that throwing up, and I've felt VERY weak. So weak, in fact, that I've fallen down twice just trying to walk a few feet towards the bathroom. I have NEVER felt this ill before. Only now, about 26 hours after eating the tainted food, have I gotten enough energy to get out of bed. Still, I cannot keep any food in my stomach and my chest muscles still hurt like crazy. I know this might sound really gross, but the gas I've been passing has reeked MUCH moreso than it typically should. I fear that if I try and take a crap, gallons of lava will come pouring out.

 

My question is, do these symptoms cry out food poisoning or some other random bug? If this is food poisoning, how long will these symptoms last? I just want to return to a normal sense of being and not worry about throwing up or passing out at random moments. [/quote']

 

Your metabolites are probably still out of whack. I always keep gatoraid in the fridge for just such an emergency - I can hold it down when I can't drink anything else, even if I can only sip it one little swallow at a time.

[Dak]

food poisioning sux. it usually lasts about half a day, but the after-effects can last longer. try and treat your digestive system with respect, dont put too much into it at a time, and eat easy to dijest foods like chicken (make sure its properly cooked this time). drink plenty of water and yeah, if you still feel bad tomorow, seek medical advice; although, if you feel truly crap then you should possibly go to hospital today, as salmonella can be extremely bad and even fatal (better safe than sorry).

[j_p]

Please go to the hospital immediately if you haven't already; the last time I had food poisoning I was fine in less than 24 hours, just a bit tired.

 

And please, tell someone [maybe the state board of health] about this. Chicken McNuggets go into Happy Meals.

[Dak]

the latency period (ie, the amount of time between eating the poisioned food and feeling the effects) can vary. it could be your last meal, or the one before it, or a meal you had the day before.

 

iv had food poisoning that took about 16 hours to kick in before, and iv also had food poisioning that hit me after 4 hours (in both cases i pinned down the source of the poisioning)

 

the fact that jdurg didnt mention explosive dihoreaah indicates that the bacteria hadnt worked there way too far through his dijestive tract*, so the chicken he ate 2.5-3 hours before hand seems a likely cause of the poisoning.

 

if anyone here gets food poisoning, the best advice is to drink LOTS of water. you'll throw it back up strait away, but thats what you need: to flush the bacteria out of your system.

 

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*although those that did may account for the foul flatulance. umm, i think you should probably stay in relatively close proximity to the toilet untill you feel better. there might have been enough bacteria got into your intestines that your body may feel the need for one huge dihorretic expultion.

[jdurg]

Well today I don't feel 100% better, but I do feel noticeably better. I have a lot more energy, but I still do not have an appetite. (My stomach seems to be taking a long time to digest what I've put into it). I've started slowly by drinking some gatorade and having some non-fat carbohydrates. Some easy to digest, 'light' foods are easier to take in right now. My ribcage muscles and diaphragm are still sore from that violent emesis I went through, but it's not nearly as bad as it was before. I have sent an e-mail to my state's health department to let them know about it, and I found out that a few of my coworkers who also went to McDonalds that day called in sick with the exact same symptoms I had. (And now that I think about it, my chicken nuggets were hot like they just came out of the fryer, so there's a VERY good chance that the idiots working there just didn't cook them long enough).

 

This is just kind of funny because the other day I said that I'd like to drop a few extra inches off of my waist, but I didn't want to do it this way.

[husmusen]

Be careful what you wish for

 

I'll third Salmonella as the most probable but not definative cause.

And you sound like you had it moderately bad, you came off okay

this time, but if it gets that bad again, you should call an ambulance,

salmonella can kill you.

 

Oh and don't ever, ever eat at that place again.

 

Cheers.

[jdurg]

Advice well taken. I will NEVER eat from there ever again, and have told everyone I can about that place as well. After gallons of gatorade to replenish my nutrients, I am finally almost back to 100%. (I still have some soreness and tightness in my muscles due to the severity of the emesis, but I do have an appetite and can eat without feeling ill). One thing that has remained, and will probably always remain from this day forward, is a bit of hesitation when going out and getting food. I think I will always have that fear of getting sick once more. I guess you could call food poisoning a terrorist attack on one's digestive system.

[jdurg]

Well I had a routine doctor's appointment today and brought up the food poisoning incident of last week. After describing the symptoms to my doctor, he said that it could not be Salmonella or E-Coli poisoning. Those types of food poisonings are bacterial infections which take some time for onset and generally don't show symptoms until about 16 hours after consumption. The fact that I had no fever and had the symptoms come on only mere hours after eating the food ruled out a bacterial infection.

 

He said that it was most likely a staphylococcus or clostridium contamination of the food, because those types of food poisonings occur from toxins and not bacteria. (The bacteria really don't proliferate. They just produce toxins which make you very ill and would coincide with the weakness, lightheadedness, passing out, and vision fluctuations that I experienced). That type of food poisoning generally occurs when people fail to wash their hands and contaminate clean surfaces.

[j_p]

Thank you for the information, and I'm glad to hear you are feeling better.

 

About being afraid of restaurants; I can not remember the last time I cooked at home; I don't clean my stove, I dust it; I have eaten out more than in for years. I have had serious food poisoning TWICE [i have felt flushed, slightly queasy, and had head-aches after eating out; I have been told that could be mild food poisoning by a food chemist].

 

Just stay away from mayonaise and hard-boiled eggs.

[husmusen]

Glad you're feeling better.

 

After describing the symptoms to my doctor, he said that it could not be Salmonella or E-Coli poisoning. Those types of food poisonings are bacterial infections which take some time for onset and generally don't show symptoms until about 16 hours after consumption. The fact that I had no fever and had the symptoms come on only mere hours after eating the food ruled out a bacterial infection.

 

ehh?

I'm glad you posted that.

I was sure that salmonella produced toxins, I'll

have to check that with my lecturer. Assuming it's right however,

that has probably saved some exam points in the future.

 

Cheers.

[mrblond5311]

Hey, this is my first time in here so i didn't want to start a new thread. I believe I have a weak case of food poisioning. I felt fine last night before bed but when i woke up this morning(I slept longer than usual,about 10 hours) I was horribly nauseated & immediately ran for the bathroom.Sorry for the description but i had the worst diarhea i've ever had,mostly water twice that hour. Then about 30 minutes later i had a heaving fit with little vomit that was brown with bits of food from my last meal which was rigatoni at work. I have a slight fever about 100 but slowly going up. I don't recall eating any meat yesterday & I'm not familar with any food poisioning not caused by meat; can any one help me with this. If this makes any difference I was working with open bags of liquid eggs at work that were splashing around (I work at a food plant).Any input would be great,Thanks.

[LucidDreamer]

Sounds like a stomach virus to me.

[Nevermore]

Or possibly a light case of salmanella.

[NPK]

Hey, this is my first time in here so i didn't want to start a new thread. I believe I have a weak case of food poisioning. I felt fine last night before bed but when i woke up this morning(I slept longer than usual,about 10 hours) I was horribly nauseated & immediately ran for the bathroom.Sorry for the description but i had the worst diarhea i've ever had,mostly water twice that hour. Then about 30 minutes later i had a heaving fit with little vomit that was brown with bits of food from my last meal which was rigatoni at work. I have a slight fever about 100 but slowly going up. I don't recall eating any meat yesterday & I'm not familar with any food poisioning not caused by meat; can any one help me with this. If this makes any difference I was working with open bags of liquid eggs at work that were splashing around (I work at a food plant).Any input would be great,Thanks.

Sounds a lot like Salmonella gastroenteritis....Salmonella Typhimurium perhaps.

The time frame of this is usually 12-36 hours, which seems to fit your account. Apart from meat, eggs and milk are common sources. Symptom can include watery diarrhoea, nausea, cramps, dehydration and vomiting.

[YT2095]

you should have had it checked out, if the anti-bodies are still there, and you had some evidence (like the container they came in) you could sue them!

think of all the chems and equipment you could buy then

[mrblond5311]

Thanks for all the input guys! It's about 40 hours later & I'm feeling about 90 percent. I was barely able to hold down some pb&j sandwiches earlier but the nurse at work gave me stuff to help the upset stomach & I've been getting better since. I did change my diet to just soup & water after that though so that may have some effect. I just hope it doesn't come back tomorrow morning. Unfortunately I don't have any of the containers from work or any way to prove it came from either the eggs or the lunch at work but hopefully NPK was right & it's over with now. Thanks again for all the input! I'll reply later to let you know if it totally cleared up or just toyed with me after I eat this shrimp.

[mrblond5311]

Thanks for the input guys, it's 3 days later & i'm finally 100%. You saved me a trip to the ER & some doctor bills. Thanks again.

[rakuenso]

Has nobody here thought of suing MacDonalds? jdurg, make sure you keep some of your vomit in a plastic bag and get it examined later at a lab.