# To hurl, or not to hurl (TMI, I suspect!) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-hurl-or-not-to-hurl-tmi-i-suspect/487226 "2009-02-24T17:32:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-hurl-or-not-to-hurl-tmi-i-suspect/487226/41 "2009-02-26T10:03:14Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Fortunately I don’t get sick often. > > Hate throwing up, and I will keep my teeth clenched tight for hours, as many as it takes, until the feeling goes away. This has worked for me most of the time. The exceptions have been either drug-related, childbirth-related (too much going on to concentrate on not-hurling while giving birth), and the time I was doing fine until my husband got up to use the bathroom and made the waterbed sway. At that point I knew I was lost, but–he was in the bathroom upstairs. I knew I couldn’t make it to the downstairs bathroom so I waited until I heard the flush and the click of the door, then I bounded up. And surprised the dog, who also bounded up. And I tripped over the dog. > > The result of this was that I had to give the dog (who did not like baths) a bath at 3 a.m. when I wasn’t feeling all that good–although I do have to admit, I felt a bit better than before. And the dog never slept on my side of the bed again. Oh, I LOVE this one! Thanks for the chuckles!!!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-hurl-or-not-to-hurl-tmi-i-suspect/487226/42 "2009-02-26T11:00:52Z")
I had food poisioning back in Janurary 2004. Puked three times, and was fine. I hate puking, and will do whatever I can to avoid it. Before the food poisioning, I hadn’t puked since 1999. Not bad. 4 times in 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![EpicNonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@EpicNonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EpicNonsense)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-hurl-or-not-to-hurl-tmi-i-suspect/487226/43 "2009-02-26T11:16:59Z")
If I feel like puking, I just go let it out. I’ll use the index method if I must. Holding it in just makes you feel a lot worse. The only thing that has made me puke since my appendectomy in 1999, is alcohol… and I need a lot in order to get to the level of needing to hurl. I’ve probably puked about 3 times in the past 9 years… –Oh, last time I had puked was probably 8 or so months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-hurl-or-not-to-hurl-tmi-i-suspect/487226/44 "2009-02-26T14:14:55Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > My mom gets migraines with severe nausea, and throws up anything she tries to consume (sip of water? Comes right back up… we have had her hospitalized just to get fluids in her a couple of times!) She also takes Imitrex, but it is available as an injectable with a needle that you never see; my mom can inject it directly into her thigh. It might be something to talk to you doctor about. It’s a tad expensive, and there is no generic currently available, though, so make sure your insurance covers it! > > I have only puked 3 or 4 times in my memory, and after each time, I have immediately felt better. I take both, the injection and the pill. Pill first, and if that won’t stay down I go for the shot. This week I’ve taken three shots and seven pills. I had to go to my neurologist yesterday without an appointment and beg for a shot of Toradol because I called first thing in the morning and waited for four hours and they never called back. I was sobbing at the receptionist’s desk. Now I am on a five-day course of steroids that is supposed to break up the cycle. I am getting a CAT scan and MRI next month because it’s been a while since I’ve had them, but I know they will be clear. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-hurl-or-not-to-hurl-tmi-i-suspect/487226/45 "2009-02-26T17:39:11Z")
Puke and get it over with, here. Ugh. My last puking episode was just a couple of weeks ago. I had been drinking, and ate a Ding Dong. Then I decided that a glass of milk would go wonderfully with the chocolatey goodness I had just consumed. However, it did not mix well with the rum and coke already in my stomach. Blech. Before that, it had only been a couple of weeks since everyone in my house got hit by a stomach bug over the course of four days. Just a note - don’t eat Taco Bell when your stomach doesn’t feel quite right. Sitting on the toilet with a plastic trash can in my hands, puking and shitting at the same time, was the most disgusting experience of my life - hands-down (I did that on and off for about six hours). And I think I’ll never eat another Spicy Chicken Burrito again. My husband wasn’t even able to help me out, because he was attending our 2 3/4 year old son who was puking up everything we gave him. Applesauce and purple Gatorade make for an interesting visual on a beige linoleum kitch floor, I tell ya. It’s a good thing the next day was MLK day, because hubby had the day off and took care of our boys while I slept. ---
**Author:** ![cuberdon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/45deac/32.png) [@cuberdon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuberdon)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-hurl-or-not-to-hurl-tmi-i-suspect/487226/46 "2009-02-26T20:05:21Z")
I don’t have much inhibition but don’t find myself needing to that often. Many years of non-puking and then once at the end of 2007 (18 hours of food poisoning from hell) and once about a month ago (alcohol). The first time I didn’t feel better until after the whole prolonged episode was over. The second time I felt immediately better. Not good (hah!) but better. Many thanks to my co-worker for holding my hair out of the way. ---
**Author:** ![PotLuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@PotLuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PotLuck)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-hurl-or-not-to-hurl-tmi-i-suspect/487226/47 "2009-02-26T22:49:16Z")
> [@Morgis](#): > > 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. Same here. I’ve learned that as much as I hate to vomit, I hate the “I’m going to vomit … eventually” feeling even more. Now I force myself not to hold in and just let it happen. ---
**Author:** ![SpasticKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@SpasticKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpasticKitty)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-hurl-or-not-to-hurl-tmi-i-suspect/487226/48 "2009-02-27T14:53:59Z")
I have successfully held back before. A few years ago I was at the beach with some of my friends, and I had had WAY too much to drink the night before. The next morning, I found myself in the bathroom _willing_ myself not to hurl by chanting, “Don’t puke. Don’t puke. Don’t puke.” in my head over and over. It worked, but I’m sure I would have felt much better sooner if I had just sucked it up and done the deed. I sure have hurled in some interesting places, though. There was the Shoney’s parking lot somewhere in Virginia when I was 15…right in front of a picture window as people were eating lunch. I’m sure they were just thrilled with me. Then I caught a nasty stomach virus in college and ended up puking in the shower because I thought hot water and steam would help with my nausea. The last time was a couple years ago when Rotavirus was going around the Peds unit where I work, and of course most of the nurses caught it. My husband and I were visiting his parents at their middle-of-nowhere property in upstate NY, and I wound up yakking in the middle of the woods because there wasn’t a bathroom for miles. I’m proud to say I’ve been puke-free ever since, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-hurl-or-not-to-hurl-tmi-i-suspect/487226/49 "2009-02-28T00:43:39Z")
> [@bobo t](#): > > 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. qft. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-hurl-or-not-to-hurl-tmi-i-suspect/487226/50 "2009-02-28T00:54:57Z")
I enjoy puking a lot more than I enjoy the feeling of needing to puke. So I’ll give it a couple of minutes to see if it’ll be inevitable, then I get it over with. I hate the shivering-sweating-acidic-swallowing feeling of an incipient ralph so if it looks like I’m going to tip over anyway I just go ahead and jump. The only downside is, I don’t have to puke very often, but when I do, it’s almost always the result of food poisoning, which means it’s frequently accompanied by diarrhea. So I have to be cautious; I can’t just let my puke flag fly, because then I’ll squirt all over the wall behind me. So I puke with care, and then I turn around, have a seat, and hose down the sharp-scented bowl, trying not to splash chunks back up onto my bare ass. Hey, you did say TMI. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-hurl-or-not-to-hurl-tmi-i-suspect/487226/51 "2009-02-28T03:09:40Z")
I had a gastric bypass a few years back, so puking is not the horrible acid/nasty taste/goes on forever thing it once was…there’s no stomach acid in the pouch, and very little food, so it’s over fairly quickly, and I feel immensely better afters. I’ve tried to resist, on the last few occasions when I’ve had to puke, but then I just remember it’s not that bad anymore, and let go…so much relief so fast! The only bad part is that like someone above, I break a lot of capillaries around my eyes and nose now…this never happened before the surgery. And this last time was a quite rough session…I broke blood vessels from my forehead all the way down to my cheeks. I’ve had to use concealer all week, because otherwise I look like I have a rash. It’s almost cleared up, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-hurl-or-not-to-hurl-tmi-i-suspect/487226.md?page=2)