As some of you might recall, last night a started a thread as I was up working on my term paper. Well I finally got close to finishing at 130, went to bed, got up at 8, and finished.
As I was finishing the paper, my stomach started to turn. Driving to school, I got really nauseous; I figured I had some motion sickness because I was tired- not horribly uncommon.
I had a final at 10 and, as soon as the professor walked in the room, I ran out and lost my mixed fruit breakfast. Do you know how icky it is to throw up in a public restroom? Better yet. Have you seen the bathrooms at the average college? Yeah. Gross. I ended up praying to the communications building gods another 8 times during my two hour final- which I’m sure I failed.
I waited an hour to turn in my term paper, didn’t stay for class, and drove home. A few hours passed and I kept throwing up, so I finally called the doctor (I use that term loosely…it’s Kaiser), well actually I spoke to a nurse. She asked if I had eaten anything yesterday and I replied, “Some pasta.”
“Hmm…” says she, “sounds like a minor case of botchulism.”
Can you even have a “minor case of botchulism”? I’ve pretty much concluded that I pushed my body too far and now it is showing me that it’s boss.
So here you find me, nursing a cherry 7 UP and some apple sauce, posting my tale on the Dope. So how you doin? 
Feel better soon. I had something icky nasty about a month ago and the memory is still fresh in my mind.
I had food poisoning way back in like 1988 or so, and I think it was the worst day of my life. Stuff flying out of every orifice at the speed of light, and I was weak as a kitten. When the doc gave me an injection of anti-nausea medication, it was the purest relief I had ever known.
Ugh. I hate the kind where it’s not JUST out both ends, but those really wracking abdominal pains. Someone described their gastrointeritis, “For the first couple of hours I was afraid I would die. After that I was afraid that I wouldn’t die.”
I had pretty bad food poisoning in late February of 2004, and I was getting it from both ends for over a week. I think 8 or 9 days passed when I couldn’t keep anything down. I know I either got a bad meatball sub from a neighborhood sub shop I had gone to my whole life, or some bad food from a Sonic fast food restaurant I ate while traveling the day before. My heart goes out to you, because that really sucks.
ummm…yeah, there is no such thing as minor botulism. The nurse was probably confused and meant something else. Clostrdium botulinum has an evil cousin named C. perfringens that is more along the lines of barf your guts out. Besides, botulism is really really really really really rare and practically nonexistant in the US commercial food market. And, not likely to be in pasta (I assume, the hard, cook at home type, though goes for canned cooked, and refrigerated too) but in canned low acid foods. It can’t grow in an aerobic environment. If you had eaten Granny’s Potted Meat ™ that your momma made from her momma’s momma’s momma’s secret family recipie, I’d recommend the antitoxin. Antitoxin, of course being the only alternative to a slow paralytic death. That’s how Botulism works, you stop working. In fact, I would venture to say there would be no vomitting involved whatsoever.
IANAD, YMMV, God loves a workin’ man, don’t trust Whitey, see a doctor and get rid of it.
Well I’m inclined to agree that the nurse was wrong.
My stomach is still swirling, but I’ve been able to keep things down ((knock on wood)). Apple sauce and 7 Up! Woo!
I’m glad it seems to be passing semi-quickly as I’m going to Hawaii Thursday. I told my dad that I WILL go to Hawaii- even if it means spending the flight in the bathroom 
Hawaii! Rock on. I hope you have a fantastic time there 
I had the cramps today–thank the dear, sweet Lord for Tylenol, otherwise I would have been a walking wreck. As it was, I had to sit by an open window every time I got on the bus… sick smiley
IAStillNAD, but a post vomit diet that I have always used and everyone I have ever convinced to try it loves is the ‘white diet’ You can eat whatever, as long as it is white. Bread, pasta, rice, taters, eggs (OK, they usually are yellow, but they count) and chicken. The only other rule is no spices or salt. And, for the love of God, eat yogurt with live and active cultures. It recolonizes you gut with good bacteria. Good bacteria in you gut will wage war against bad bacteria in your gut. The last battle has the good guys depleted and in need of reinforcements. Do this for 48 hours after last vomit. Remember IANAD. This strategy works on kids and pets and old folk too. IANAD, V, P, G.