# The worst morning of my life (positively vile and TMI) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 20, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020 "2004-04-20T13:23:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/41 "2004-04-21T15:04:57Z")
Sounds like it could be a norovirus, also known as Winter Vomiting bug. I hate to tell you this, but it is HIGHLY infectious, and you’re still infectious until 72 hours symptom free. Stay home for a few days, or everyone else at work will get it too. At present this bug is causing choas in Irish hospitals, people come into the ER, give it to other people in the waiting room…who are admitted to hospital before they become sypmtomatic…who give it to others on the wards… nightmare! Drink fluids, stay warm, rest. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/42 "2004-04-21T17:14:13Z")
Poor\*\* fluiddruid.\*\* You have what my dad used to refer to as “Asphasia.” Be careful of your pronunciation of this very special word. It’s meaning is something along the lines of needing to use the toilet, but not knowing which end, the a$$ or the face, goes in the bowl. Yes, many a day was spent sitting on the toilet, with the plastic-lined trash can at the ready. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/43 "2004-04-21T17:34:22Z")
Glad to hear you’re feeling better. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/44 "2004-04-21T17:41:53Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > Sounds like it could be a norovirus, also known as Winter Vomiting bug. > > I hate to tell you this, but it is HIGHLY infectious, and you’re still infectious until 72 hours symptom free. > > Stay home for a few days, or everyone else at work will get it too. > > At present this bug is causing choas in Irish hospitals, people come into the ER, give it to other people in the waiting room…who are admitted to hospital before they become sypmtomatic…who give it to others on the wards… nightmare! > > Drink fluids, stay warm, rest. Are you referring to Norwalk virus? Didn’t know they had branded it “norovirus”. This strain of virii has gotten very famous very fast due to its fast spreading in tight quarters. Mainly the outbreaks have centered around cruise ships. Once one person comes down with it now, they are quarantined and dumped at the soonest available port with airfare home. Many cruises have been ruined(the worst from memory was a Disney cruise), only to decontaminate, and go out to sea and have everyone get sick again. Food poisoning takes around 18-48 hours to cause you trouble, so it could still be food poisoning. Most “24 hour flus” are really just food poisoning(there is no such thing as a 24 hour flu). Freejooky- How in the fuck did you pass out on the floor in a puddle of vomit and not get noticed by others in a store? THat’s just…out of this world! Sam ---
**Author:** ![look\_hergo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85e7bf/32.png) [@look\_hergo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_hergo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/45 "2004-04-21T20:10:09Z")
Poor lil’ lamb! Glad you’re feeling better now. It’s awful. Kinda reassuring that I’m not the only one who has blasted crap all over the floor while puking – the suggestion of holding a bucket/trash can while sitting on the john is a good one. Wish I’d had the presence of mind to do that… But my worst was at an outdoor wedding where too much wine and the afternoon heat got me on my knees in a porto-potty, pretty much immobilized for two hours, unable to stand without heaving. For the record, hanging your puking head into the chemical-y maw of a well-used porto-potty is horrid. Also, that thing you’re holding onto isn’t an armrest – it’s a urinal. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/46 "2004-04-21T21:51:46Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > I decided to browse in a nearby Borders while she was in her appointment, and it hit me like an atom bomb after just a few minutes in time. I barely made it to the bathroom before shitting my brains out - that horrible, boiling hot, pure liquid diarrhea. Oh, man, we could have told you, the last place you should have gone was a [bookstore](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=33906)! ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/47 "2004-04-22T03:42:48Z")
Here’s my story: I was visiting my parents, about half an hour from where I live. Sleeping arrangements are a little strange. Normally, my mom and I share a bedroom, my dad gets one of his own, and the foster daughter stays in her bedroom. My mom has this habit of going down and sleeping on the couch, because the mattress is hard as granite. About 4:30 Sunday morning, I woke up to an “all hands on deck” alarm. Please imagine James Earl Jones leaning over and saying “Get to the bathroom. NOW.” in his most Darth Vader-esque voice. I got. Then I suffered through the hottest, nastiest, stinkiest diarrhea I’ve had in a looooong time. It was bad enough that when it was over, with only a few sinister gurglings remaining, I went downstairs and asked my mom for some Immodium. Didn’t want to go through that again. Well, it worked. I didn’t. Instead, I started projectile vomiting. It was kind of like having my torso gripped and squeezed by the Hand of a Very Irritated God. My stomach was His stress ball. The first time was bad enough. The second time, my mom woke up downstairs to the noise I was making, came upstairs, offered me sympathy and a cold, wet washcloth (wonderful mother, I shall pay for the dancing boys in the nursing home). A little while after I got out, I brushed my teeth, looked in the mirror and stopped. I had petechial hemorrhages - tiny little pinpoint bruises on my face - from vomiting so hard. Scared the heck out of my mom. She thought I had rhumatic fever or something. I was out for three days and ended up emailing my lesson plans to the HR lady from my parents’ computer. That would have been the end of it, except for my darling parents’ foster daughter, a former student of mine. You see, in my family, when someone’s as sick as that, they go into quarrantine. My dad went to the store and bought food just for me - chicken soup, ginger ale, and sherbert. The sherbert even had chocolate chips, which shows you how well my dad knows me. Well, knowing the foster daughter well enough, I explained to her that she really shouldn’t eat any of the sherbert because my germy hands had been in it. Next morning, I came down to find she’d eaten half the sherbert. That night, my dad served spaghetti and meatballs. Can you see where this is going? Yes, she got the same bug as me. Unfortunately, she doesn’t get sick very often, so she was unaware of the “where to puke” guidelines. She was sitting on the toilet at the time, her guts evacuating themselves with gusto, when the puking hit. And instead of turning her head towards the bathtub, she sprayed down the linoleum, the base of the toilet, and the tiny space between the toilet and the bathtub. Now, my dad’s 76. No way, I’m letting him clean that up. He’d never get back up again. My mom was at work and at a new job, and she absolutely could not afford to catch this bug. So guess who got to clean up after the foster daughter? Yep, petite moi. Took me the better part of two hours, and I swear if that stuff had hit the heat register on the floor, I’d have sent my dad to the movies and burned the house down instead. So, yeah, I know whereof you speak. ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/48 "2004-04-22T04:33:49Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > I will call a family member to see if she can help me out. This was my favorite part of the thread. I think we all knew which “family member” you were referring to, and sure enough in the very next post, there she is,\*\* fluidmom\*\*! Is there anything more comforting than being taken care of by dear old mom when you’re at your lowest? So a reminder to all forgetful Dopers with good moms (or mums)- **Sunday, May 9 is mother’s day.** Yah, yah, I know it’s a “Hallmark Holiday”… put aside your skepticism for one day and tell [Mom](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/05/images/020924_chimp.jpg) how much she means to ya! ---
**Author:** ![pilot141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e0b2c6/32.png) [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/49 "2004-04-22T05:00:09Z")
The first time you get food poisoning you’re afraid because you feel like you’re going to die. The second time you get food poisoning you’re afraid because you know you’re NOT going to die. My last food poisoning was 18 months ago and it still gives me the willies thinking about how horrible it was. Hope you’re sleeping well and wake up feeling better tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/50 "2004-04-22T05:07:52Z")
My poor 15 yr old daughter had this sickness today. She was miserable. She was so embarrassed when she was busy dry heaving and her other end opened up. I gently explained to her that it has happened to the best of us. It doesn’t matter how old you get, if you are crying because you are so miserable you want to die, the best therapy is mommy taking care of you.(I’ve been known to call my mommy if I’m that bad)[sub] It’s mommy when your sick,not mom[/sub] I’m not fervently hoping this virus is not catching.It’s possible it’s food poisoning from the resturant she went to Monday with my mom.If she is still throwing up tommorrow and not keeping down any liquids she is going straight to the doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/51 "2004-04-22T05:11:20Z")
[My last food poisoning experience](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=229547) You have my sincerest sympathy. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/52 "2004-04-22T11:11:21Z")
Yeah, after thinking about it, said sick friend and I did go to the same Mexican restaurant on Sunday. It makes me suspicious (it was about 36 hours before) because we ordered very similar dishes and got sick so close in time frame to one another. I mean, within an hour or two. The only other prevailing theory is that we caught it from a friend who did throw up a few times last week. The thing is, I live with him, and it seems odd that another friend who doesn’t would catch it at exactly the same time; besides which, he gets this sort of thing a lot more often than either of us do, and it was a lot less severe than either of us. I think I might not eat there again, which is a shame, since it’s a block from our house! ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/53 "2004-04-22T11:18:19Z")
> [@coven](#): > > This was my favorite part of the thread. I think we all knew which “family member” you were referring to, and sure enough in the very next post, there she is,\*\* fluidmom\*\*! The problem with my mom is that she always laughs at me when I’m sick! Fortunately for her, I remember her laughing at me but not what she said. I was pretty out of it. Thankfully I have this thread for posterity. To be truthful, though, I don’t mind. She always manages to cheer me up a little bit, and she made me watered down soup. Christ, my body still absolutely HURTS from throwing up so much, though. If I laugh or move suddenly, for example, I get pains everywhere. I am going to try to tough it out at work today. I am supposed to leave tomorrow with my other sick friend on a trip, but we’re making some adjustments (motel room instead of camping out). We’ll see how THAT goes. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/54 "2004-04-22T11:46:20Z")
Welcome to my average Sunday morning. \>Just kidding. Sounds like you just got the flu. My daughter had the exact same thing about three weeks ago,- even the ‘both ends’ part. Then my son got it. Both couldn`t keep water down either. The good thing is that your guts will stay inside you in the long run and it only lasted about 18 hours. I hate the dry heaves. With a passion. Hang in there, you`ll come out of it soon. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/55 "2004-04-22T12:07:40Z")
Ok, so it could be food poisoning too, but you know, just in case, take a few days off! 60% of food poisoning is caused from the home, don’t be too quick to blame the restaurant til you’ve checked your fridge. They’re calling the Winter Vomiting Bug viruses Norwalk-like, or Noro-viruses, or Small Round Structured Viruses. The strain first isolated at Norwalk was just the first one found, so the viral class has been expanded to include other, similar, viruses which cause the same symptoms, but aren’t exactly the same genotype as the Norwalk virus. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/56 "2004-04-22T13:43:17Z")
> [@](#): > > The strain first isolated at Norwalk was just the first one found, so the viral class has been expanded to include other, similar, viruses which cause the same symptoms, but aren’t exactly the same genotype as the Norwalk virus. Gotcha. Haven’t heard much in the US about Norwalk, but I understand its devastating effects in places like hospitals and cruise ships. My Wife’s bosses parents went on a cruise. SInce they began eating the rich gourmet food on the cruies, their stomachs were kind of testy with them. Nothing big. They mentioned it to someone they were eating dinner with and somehow the ship’s crew got wind of it. THey were immediately tossed into quarantine and had their belongings dropped off at the nearest port-with no airfare home. Of course, neither of them was ill, so it adds insult to injury. Sam ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/57 "2004-04-23T12:33:38Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > Ok, so it could be food poisoning too, but you know, just in case, take a few days off! > > 60% of food poisoning is caused from the home, don’t be too quick to blame the restaurant til you’ve checked your fridge. Other than some aches and pains from heaving my guts out with such great gusto, I’m doing fine now. However, I do suspect the restaurant because both a friend of mine and myself got sick, and he doesn’t eat out of my fridge… that I know of, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/58 "2004-04-23T20:11:00Z")
Flat Coca-Cola is very good in this situation. It goes down like velvet and it should stay down. It’s full of sugar so it’s nourishing at the same time. If you run out of Coke, try flat Guinness. Hope you get better soon. ---
**Author:** ![jellytoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb9ed0/32.png) [@jellytoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellytoes)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020/59 "2004-04-23T20:20:03Z")
> [@Qwisp](#): > > It doesn’t matter how old you get, if you are crying because you are so miserable you want to die, the best therapy is mommy taking care of you.(I’ve been known to call my mommy if I’m that bad)[sub] It’s mommy when your sick,not mom[/sub] In my family it’s “momma”, not “mommy”. Moms says that she still has nightmares of the morning of 9/11 answering the phone and hearing a plaintive “momma?” on the other end. Jelly being on the east coast and Moms on the West, she hadn’t gotten the news yet. This is exactly why I am _not_ looking forward to being a parent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-morning-of-my-life-positively-vile-and-tmi/241020.md?page=2)