Food Poisoning Horror Stories

PanchoHambre

New member
Inspired by VB's egg thread...

So what got you and how bad was it?

I have an iron stomach and have only had real food poisoning once...I think a chicken salad wrap from the campus food court was to blame... wow hit like a ton of bricks. One minute I was fine the next I was puking over the South Street Bridge... It was about 12 hours til I could drink water and about 24 til I could get down anything solid. Spent all night contemplating exactly how I would get myself to a hospital if necessary... wow was I relieved when it finally broke.

Missed one by a hair too... we were in morocco and decided to skip the included dinner to venture out into Tangier for a more authentic meal... ( a really good one I will add) everyone who ate from the hotel buffet was devastated... the day before we had to ferry back to Gibraltar... yikes FP in a hotel has got to suck
 

S.Shepherd

New member
chinese food..general tso's chicken

it took 2 hrs , and literally felt like someone hit me in the back of the neck with a 2x4.
Then came 3 days if hell.............

for the 1st 8hrs, I was in the bathroom every 15min-- I wasn't throwin up either.
I lost 13lbs in 3 days
 

AllenOK

New member
I've never been clinically diagnosed, but I've gotten ahold of a few chicken sandwiches in my time that I should not have eaten. 12 hours or so of discomfort, soon as I blow chunks, it's over.

My parents know that I'm a big fan of turkey dark meat, and will readily use a carcass to make turkey noodle soup the next day. One year, they let me have their leftover turkey carcass and leftover turkey meat. What I didn't know was that the bird had been sitting out for 6 hours. Again, just mild discomfort and a case of the squirts.

I got a bad load of shrimp once. I got REALLY lucky on that, as again, it was just a mild case of discomfort and the squirts.



Now, I don't know what a person has to do to get a restaurant job in most of other states (in Michigan, no one darned thing, other than apply at the restaurant). Here in OK, you have to get a Food Handler's Permit, sit through about 2 - 3 hours of lectures/videos, and pass a test. No, this is not ServSafe, or Management Certification. They use a lot of scare tactics to really hammer home how important cleaniness and proper food handling procedures are. Can't say as I blame them, after listening to the news reports of what's going on at that one peanut butter factory.

You'd think Dept. of Homeland Security would jump on the bandwagon about securing food production plants like that. How hard would it be to intentionally contaminate foods to be shipping all over the country? Heck, you wouldn't need to contaminate the food itself, if some terrorist got ahold of weapons-grade anthrax, just contaminate the box.

I'll shut up now.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Well I used to travel a lot over seas for a job I had for 3 years. At any rate I always ate where the locals did and I have sure gotten stuff that would make a billy goat puke however I've only gotten food poisoning once in my life. I got it in London England from a fish and chips joint go figure. Sick as a dog for about 2 days too.
 

FryBoy

New member
I have a very strong stomach, too, and I eat at some pretty iffy places. But no matter how strong your stomach may be, it's no match for a massive dose of bacteria, especially if you're tired and your system is a little run down when the attack comes.

When I was 10 or 12, my mother and I got violently ill from food served at a church picnic. We were both puking and otherwise spending most of the day on the porcelain throne for about a week. We were both treated by a physician, who prescribed antibiotics, both oral and in shots. We suspected it was the cheap canned ham brought by one family, which was served unheated.

The second time was in college. I'm not sure of the source as we were very adventurous in our food choices and rather poor at the time. Or it may have been the dorm food. Whatever the source, I ended up in the infirmary for a week and lost nearly 20 pounds. The vomiting lasted only a day or two, but the diarrhea was uncontrollable, even with the antibiotics. To tell you how long ago that was, it finally stopped when the campus doctor found a new miracle pill, Lomotil. Worked like a No. 10 cork!

The third time was about 15 or 20 years ago. I was working in downtown Los Angeles. One day I didn't get to lunch until about 2:00 or 2:30. I went across the street to a stand called Kosher Burrito. Their signature dish was pastrami in a huge bean and cheese burrito (I don't think they had actual rabbinical approval). To top things off, it was run by a family of Korean immigrants (L.A. is an amazing place). The place was very popular, and to deal with the lunchtime rush, they would start making the burritos around 7:00 a.m. The hot burritos were then wrapped in foil and placed in an ice chest to keep them warm (i.e., no ice). I got the last one from the chest that day, and I guess after 7 hours it was especially ripe. I spent the night and the next day hugging the toilet, calling for my old friend Ralph, and I was in bed for a few days. The doctor put me on antibiotics and good old lomotil.

Trust me, it ain't fun!
 

Miniman

Mini man - maxi food
Gold Site Supporter
I have had the occasional attack - but nothing major. DW got a bad attack when the company she was working for then had a Christmas dinner at one of the local Chinese eateries. She came down with a thud the next day as did all her collegues and a lage number of people around the town - the drs surgeries were very popular - DWs dr saw about thirty that day.

The resturant got reported for a health violation and had a team of investigators who found that the bang bang chicken was decidely iffy.

We got £400 compensation in the end.
 

Maverick2272

Stewed Monkey
Super Site Supporter
Only an occasional attack here as well, and it has been a long time since one of those either.
Only serious time was about 9 years ago, I have no idea what caused it, bad ham maybe, but I was in bed for three days, constant trips to the bathroom, and... uh... constantly changing sheets.:ohmy:
Poor DW, she had her hands full!! Err... um... well not literally!:yum:
 

lilylove

Active member
Came down with something a few days after returning from Greece last time... ended up in the hospital. Ya don't want the details... let's just say I couldn't keep anything in or down... NOT FUN! Lost about 12 pounds though. That was nice!!
 

BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
at a canadian pizza chain called Pizza Pizza while we at a Dr's appointment 3 1/2 hours away...

we ordered two pizzas for one price...sounded like a good deal

i ordered one for myself, one for my mom.... she ate hers...no problem

i ate mine...no problem...until........... 2 hours later.... i woke up with heartburn...no problem thought i ate to late... 2 minutes later i was sick...

all night long...coming out both ends...

go to drive home the next day, still same symptoms, damn what am i going to do... start to drive...drive 5 minutes...open door while doing 70.... fill in the blanks... drive 5 minutes more to a rest stop...both ends this time....

3 1/2 hour drive took us 8 hours.... i get 3 blocks from my house and a cop tries to pull me over... i keep driving and pull in my driveway...

he tells me..your going a little fast arent you?...i tell him hell yes and if he wants to watch me puke and shit myself then keep standing right where u are because i have food poisoning... he let me go and said have a good night..lol
 

waybomb

Well-known member
Burger King - was in the enteric unit of the hospital for a week. Almost lost it. Had it in my stool for almost 6 months afterwards. Does anybody else know how fun it is to collect your own stool in a cup?

Wash your hands, wash your utensils, cook to lethality, and make sure nobody touches your food.
 

Fisher's Mom

Mother Superior
Super Site Supporter
Oh man, this does not sound like fun. I've never had food poisoning (knocking wood hard). I wonder if that's because I've never been an adventurous eater? Or maybe I have the proverbial cast-iron stomach from eating my mom's and then my own cooking all these years. I swear, I can honestly say I haven't thrown up but once since I was maybe 7 years old and that was a reaction to a medicine. (Knocking wood even harder now.)
 

sattie

Resident Rocker Lady
Strawberry cake... put me in the hospital for 3 days.

Made a strawberry cake, ate some of the raw left over batter. Couple hours later started feeling really off.

2 hours later....

Could not hold down food.

Could not hold down water.

Saturday evening... off to the emergency room.

I was pale, dehydrated, and feeling like CHIT!

Was amitted immediately. Passed out when they brought out the IV. Then threw up again. (Can't stand needles.)

Worst part... I had to go to the bathroom really bad, so they rolled up a potty, pulled the curtain and helped me to my thorne..... my apologies for those poor souls in the emergecy room, they probably wished they had died after they smelled my sick ass!

They think it was staff or salmonella, anyhow, got me a three day stay in the hospital. I went from 10 - feeling great, to 2 - feeling like I was dying in a matter of hours. What ever it was, it was eating my tummy and that was exactly what I told them I felt like. I was being eaten from the inside out.

I have not touched strawberry cake since then.
 

waybomb

Well-known member
Oh man, this does not sound like fun. I've never had food poisoning (knocking wood hard). I wonder if that's because I've never been an adventurous eater? Or maybe I have the proverbial cast-iron stomach from eating my mom's and then my own cooking all these years. I swear, I can honestly say I haven't thrown up but once since I was maybe 7 years old and that was a reaction to a medicine. (Knocking wood even harder now.)

No such thing as an iron stomach when it comes to pathogens. You are just lucky, or practice great hygienics.
 
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