Sunday, we returned home after a week-long cruise. I had felt exceptionally sleepy during the day, but marked that up to being tired at the end of the trip. I went to bed early, but then woke up around midnight with a violent stomach flu. For the first time in my adult life, I didn’t make it to the bathroom and projectile vomited after two steps toward the bathroom. I wound up sleeping on the bathroom floor inbetween more vomiting spells that left a crazy variety of muscles sore (my tongue??).
I’ve had this sort of thing three times in my adult life, and all three times, it has hit me around midnight. Every time, I ate and drank normally during the day and went to sleep without difficulty–only to be woken up to OMG! (Mercifully, this time the virus only sent things shooting out one end.)
Is this simply random, or is there some sort of mechanism going on that makes these nasty stomach bugs bloom during sleep?
(BTW, my theory is one time, I ate an undercooked hot dog at a campfire; the second time, my 6-month-pregnant-self had zero tolerance for something in dinner; this third time, I picked up the norovirus or something similar in then close living quarters of the ship…but, who knows. Regardless of cause, all three times my body said OH FUCK NO! to food.)
I am not a doctor, and the extent of my medical training is laughable. But I would guess that you had food poisoning. Continuing to guess, I would say that it takes your body a set amount of time to detect food poisoning, and that if you consistently eat at the same time of day (as most people do), the time you experience the symptoms will be roughly the same too. Which in your case turns out to be midnight.
Second the motion for food-borne bacterial illness, though my only qualification is that of someone who eats.
A virus usually has an incubation period longer than hours, and can vary. For example, incubation for norovirus is 24-48 hours. It is not likely (or at least doesn’t seem so to me) that all three times you were sick you would have been exposed to a virus at a time of day that cause symptoms to appear quite suddenly at midnight.
This might be a stupid theory, but are the symptoms of norovirus and/or food poisoning at all affected by being overheated? There have been many times where I’ve woken up overheated (too hot in general during the summer; the heat unexpectedly turned up when I’ve been bundled up during the winter) which almost always makes me sick to my stomach to the point of throwing up too. So, given that it’s easier to get overheated at night when you’re not monitoring how hot you’re feeling, I wonder if this makes things worse when you’ve already been exposed to something that will make you throw up.
Hmm, interesting ideas, all three of you. elfkin477, I have been overheated far more often than these puking spells have hit (particularly while pregnant) and have woken up sweaty, but never nauseated.
CookingWithGas, I do assume a food-borne illness for two out of three of the events, but I haven’t ruled out the norovirus (or similar) for this past event as 1) my brother-in-law in the adjoining cabin became violently ill days before I did, just from the other end; 2) while in the restroom, I heard the person in the stall next to me heaving away (though I assumed at the time it was alcohol-related); 3) I was not feeling myself from the morning I woke up Sunday, so the pukefest didn’t kick in until close to 20 hours later; and finally 4) I am still not myself. When I’ve had food poisoning, it’s usually BARF!, get weak, then feel better after two days or so. Now, four days later, I’m still weak and queasy. I even retched yesterday, boo. I’m definitely improving each day, but not nearly as quickly.
Of course, that may be because I’m getting older and don’t bounce back the way I used to. Boo, again.
I’m not saying it isn’t food poisoning, just why I’m inclined to think it was a virus this time around.