Prompted by **Typo Knig **the other night: he woke up in the middle of the night with >>that feeling<< - a lot of acid and yuk in the back of his throat, and he spent the next few hours drinking water and trying NOT to barf. Ultimately successful, though he spent the next 24 hours not wanting to eat anything at all. Either a 24-hour bug, or the box of Samoas we’d shared at bedtime decided it really did NOT like him (I was fine).
I honestly wonder if he wouldn’t have been better off letting nature take its course, and letting his stomach empty itself.
So - since this is IMHO: a poll of sorts.
If you feel queasy and like you might be in for a rerun of dinner, do you try to hold it back?
Have you ever been successful?
If not successful, did you feel better afterward?
If successful, do you think you made the right choice?
If you did not try to hold it back, did you feel you made the right choice?
If holding back wasn’t even an option, did you feel better afterward?
(as an aside: my “let nature take its course” attitude comes from my not having thrown up since 1985, and on that occasion it was burp-from-hell for 10 minutes followed by whoops-there-go-my-toenails, followed by well-I-feel-a-bit-better-now).
Trying to remember my most recent ones, but I can’t remember holding back on barfing except for trying to keep it in long enough to make it to the bathroom.
I think the most recent (within the last year) were a migraine-induced incident, and two from Vicodin after breaking my wrist. Didn’t hold back on any of those though I don’t think it was an option on the Vicodin-triggered ones. For the migraine one I probably could have held out, but I felt so awful anyway that I figured it wasn’t worth the effort to fight it. They relieved the nausea and at least I didn’t have that to deal with then.
My biggest issue about the process is that I end up breaking the little capillaries around my eyes in the soft skin there, I assume from the force of the process, and so that looks kind of weird until it eventually goes away.
Nice record. My husband had an awesome non-puke streak (1966 was his last one). Unfortunately, he had some pain and I tossed him a pill from an old prescription (not vicodin…not sure what it was, offhand) that disagreed with him, and he puked.
The question is…do you count a drug-induced puke as a true puke? He says no. I’ll leave that call to the Teeming Millions.
To answer your question, I’d rather puke than feel like I’m gonna puke. I’ll put off the unpleasant event for maybe 30 minutes, but if I still feel like I’m pukey, it’s best to just let nature take it’s course.
I try to keep it down when there is Imitrex involved, because I’m trying to get rid of the migraine.
The only times I’ve tried to barf on purpose I’ve been unsuccessful. Scallops make me very sick, and I’ve accidentally eaten them as part of some “seafood” dish where the ingredients are not specified. (I’m much more careful now.) It takes only one scallop to make me hurl, but it takes quite a while. As I feel myself getting sicker and sicker, I’ve tried to purge to get it over with, but it doesn’t work. I just have to suffer.
And with Vicodin, sometimes it makes me sick and sometimes it doesn’t, but my neurologist wants me to take it for migraines and hope for the best. I try to keep it down.
The only times I’ve puked as an adult was when I had hangovers, which has happened twice (though I was feeling rather queasy during the last one I had, nothing happened). I found that while puking was horrible I felt much, much, much better afterwards, besides the wanting somebody to remove my head so it’d quit hurting bit. So if I think I’m going to, I’m not going to hold back for any longer than it takes me to get (or try to get) to the bathroom.
I nearly puked the last time I took Vicodin, but I was so weirded out I’m glad I didn’t because getting to the bathroom would have been interesting, even though it’s only about ten feet away.
Trying to fight it is always a bad idea. If you think you are going to vomit, do it. Even if you have to tickle the inside of your throat with your finger. If it’s an alcohol thing, in particular, you will thank yourself the next day.
I’ve had a couple of occasions where I felt something come on, but all times have been cured by settling my stomach with a bit of soda pop or resting my head against the cold tile of the bathroom floor.
I hate to puke, so I will hold back as long as I can.
I probably vomit more often than the average person because I get motion sickness very easily and I also tend to feel nauseous whenever I have a headache. I only try to hold it back for long enough to get myself to the toilet or the side of the road. I always feel better immediately afterward and sometimes even a little hungry.
Any time I have tried to prevent myself from puking for any length of time, I usually just end up lying on the bathroom floor feeling miserable and sweaty and then I eventually end up vomiting anyways.
I have a really, really weak stomach. Taking a pill that even STARTS messing with my gag reflex will do it. I can’t take some pain relievers for that reason. Excedrin is one that is too big - I will get sick.
I also puke when I’m very upset, when I’m very scared, when I have the hiccups, and when food doesn’t agree with me.
ETA - my husband who has witnessed all this (but doesn’t know how frequently - he’d freak out) says I am not normal. I just explain to him that I am a delicate flower, dammit.
Rather throw up. After that I’ll probably feel better.
I say that as someone who was really morning sick for pretty much my whole pregnancy. I had puking down to an art. Walk to bathroom, tie hair back, take off glasses, drop to knees, throw up. And a list of foods that weren’t too bad to throw up, and therefore safe for consumption before three in the afternoon.
There was a period when no matter what or how little I ate, it would give me this feeling. I think it lasted about two weeks. Probably dysentery or something, I never went to a doctor (stupid me).
At first I tried to tough it out and I felt like hell all the time. One day it was too much for me so I went to the bathroom and did it. It was a lot better and I felt really stupid for not doing it earlier.
For the following days I ate eat just bread or plain rice and when it got unbearable I would go and puke. A few days later it just went away and I could eat everything again.
And a thing I learned from these days: When you are sick, the puke is going to be full of acid and when you throw out it will be disgusting. I found that dissolving a couple of tablespoons of baking soda in a glass of water and drinking it prior to puking will disable the acid and the whole experience will be more tolerable.
Hurl. Get that stuff out of there! I always feel better after. Not 100% better, but at least the queasy feeling is gone. I’m dealing with a stomach thing now, actually. Thanks to Dog80 for the bicarb tip. I thought I was puking fire Sunday night.
I have a severe phobia of throwing up…so I will do all that’s in my power to prevent it. My mind-over-matter ability in this area is pretty well-developed.
The last time my anti-vomiting-fu failed me was after eating an Otis Spunkmeyer muffin about a month ago. My friends swear it must’ve had bad peanuts in it, b/c who the hell gets violently ill for eight hours from a MUFFIN???
I threw up about a dozen times that night. And it was just as horrible and I hated it just as much as I knew I would, as I always have.
Before that it had been years since I’d vomited. I was proud of my record.
Sure I generally feel better after throwing up…even if it’s only for a little while, til the next go-round.
But I don’t care. I hate-hate-hate it. The whole experience is absolutely horrifying. The nausea…the mouth-watering…the dizziness…the retching to get things started…the stomach cramping…and then, finally, the utter powerlessness of the moment where you can do absolutely nothing but open your mouth and spew.
Missy2U, I am a delicate flower also! I get migraines, I get ill when we travel, and sometimes, gosh darn it, I just throw up because it’s been a while since the last time.
I’ve never in my life succeeded in holding back, once the idea has presented itself. If I’m lucky, I can just make it to the bathroom. However, I have lots of stories about persons, places, and things I’ve barfed on.
EXACTLY! My husband thinks I do it “just cause I can.” NO, DEAR, it’s just cause I HAVE to! Who would want to do this voluntarily?? And it’s 100 times worse when you have a migraine. No, 1,000.
Preach it. Just ask my dog. Long story, no one wants to hear it, moving on.
I’m with Audrey. I hate puking, and decided as a kid that I Wasn’t Gonna Do This No More, No Siree. Had a great streak for years.
However, I was helpless to prevent it after a fine rich meal that involved cream of mushroom soup which apparently involved fancy mushrooms and a metric load of heavy cream. The ones that’re yellow, frilly, and taste divinely nutty when fried with a bit of butter. Brainfart, can’t remember the name.
Let’s just say that I spent a LOT of time in my friend’s bathroom lying on the tile and loudly praying for death. Toenails, whole nine. Never been able to touch those mushrooms again.
ETA: Chanterelles! That’s what they are.
Toenails, whole nine. Never been able to touch those mushrooms again.