Block or bug?

Yesterday I had a late lunch with a friend. The restaurant is one I know well and I had nothing I have not eaten before. I woke at 1 am with terrible stomach cramps and a bag full of liquid. 2 am same. 2.30 same plus vomiting. This (vomiting and bags) went on until 6 am when it calmed down. The vomit was thick, acid and full of undigested food. The only things I took during this were Mint tea and some electrolyte replacement.

My stomach feels sore but everything seems to be working OK again. I seem to remember (when I had normal plumbing) that I'd get this reaction if I ate something bad.

Does anyone else have that experience? Also does anyone else find that they have become more sensitive and get stomach upsets more easily?

These things always seem to happen in the middle of the night and I was reluctant to go to A&E in case I got one of those "Uneducated fingers" my surgeon warns me about. Anyway, don't need to go now but thought I'd raise this as it can be difficult to tell if it's a block or a bug or does anyone have a way to tell the difference?

By Mare5785
Reply 3333784
August 30, 2012 at 12:25 pm
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Hi Happy,

Hard to say which it is... as they both react very similiar. I hate when "both ends" are running.. It's no fun!! Undigested food in your vomit, would say that it was still in your stomach ... The extra fluid in your pouch could say it was your body going into High Gear to flush out a blockage.. but.. if it were truly blocked.. the fluid would not have been able to get through.. Normally with a blockage, there is a fairly long period of the "Quiet" before the "Raging Storm".. With my blockages... I would vomit food, if I had just eaten it, but it was mostly stomach acid and fluid .
Could have been a partial blockage. It's tough when we are out with friends and we talk and chew at the same time, sometimes not paying the most attention on our chewing and might swallow something larger than we had intented to do. : ( We always have to be on top of our game! If I think I've swallowed something I shouldn't have, I immediately push with extra fluids and fruit juice, just to help things along. Wondering what the intensity of your pain was.. Blockage pain for me, puts me in a fetal position.

So.. I dont' believe it helped you any.. cause.. it's still up in the air as to what it could be... Flu like symptoms.. blockage/partial.. food poisioning. It's the duration of the attack I would pay attention to.. and go from there. How is your friend? Did they eat the same foods?

I hope you are feeling better and this condition has righted itself around! MOST IMPORTANT!!! Replace all those electrolytes you lost with both ends running!!

Prays are with you

By dollyme (Inactive)
Reply 3333811
August 30, 2012 at 12:39 pm
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Sorry Happy that you got so ill. I can only answer one question my stomach is so much more sensitive and I do get an upset stomach since the surgery more often.

I am glad you are feeling better take it easy and eat lightly for a few days.
God bless you
Dolly

By HappyS (Inactive)
Reply 3333851 · In reply to 3333784 by Mare5785
August 30, 2012 at 12:57 pm
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Hello Mare,

He's fine but it's possible whatever was bad was just on my plate. Yes, with normal plumbing you can sit and hold a bucket but with an Ostomy it's quite a challenge. Thanks so much for your advice and input.

By HappyS (Inactive)
Reply 3333853 · In reply to 3333811 by dollyme
August 30, 2012 at 12:59 pm
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Hello Dolly,

interesting about your stomach sensitivity, I'm sure mine is too. I keep saying I have to lose some weight so it's a good chance!

By gr8fulgirl
Reply 3334063
August 30, 2012 at 2:20 pm
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my husband and i once shared a dish, bite for bite, and he got super sick like you are describing. his was salmonella, which just takes 1 bug in 1 part of the food, could be the cause. so call your doc, of course, if it keeps up! other than that i'd second the comments about hydrating, eat a banana to get the potassium back and also some live active culture yogurt always helps me when i have any kind of vomiting / diarrhea experience as it replaces the good bacteria you need to recover.

hoping you feel better fast!

By tjane
Reply 3334277
August 30, 2012 at 3:50 pm
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Sorry to hear you had a bad night Happy. I am glad you are feeling better. No fun when you have problems at both ends. I guess I would just monitor how you are felling and that you are getting good output to make sure you have not got a blockage. Hopefully it was just a bug and you are good to go now. Keep us posted if you have any more troubles.

By HappyS (Inactive)
Reply 3335630
August 31, 2012 at 4:45 am
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Thanks everyone. I think it must have been a bug of some sort because back to normal now. I'm super careful about everything but I guess it's not possible to protect from everything. Years ago I lived in Africa and we always drank out of the bottle in bars because they washed up the glasses in some pretty unsanitary places! I've followed the no ice rule after a friend of mine died from contaminated ice. He was staying in the best hotel in Buenos Aires and it turned out that their ice supply was delivered early morning behind the hotel and dumped in the road - cat, dogs, mice, rats maybe even some humans got on it before it finished up in the hotel kitchens for distribution.

By debleerl
Reply 3335670
August 31, 2012 at 6:10 am
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OOhh Yuck! I don't think I'll leave the states. Glad you're doing better. I do think you had a bug, mostly because of vomiting chunks. I've had both and they do feel different although describing them they seem the same. For me, cramping from a blockage is usuall on the lower right sid on the abdomen. Food poisoning higher and to the left or center with more nausea. The follow-up is the same, fluids, fluids and more fluids.

Hugs,
Debbie

By HappyS (Inactive)
Reply 3335723 · In reply to 3335670 by debleerl
August 31, 2012 at 7:07 am
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Debbie, I've travelled a lot and lived in quite a few Countries. I only had one problem in the US in NYC. Strangely never in India, always everywhere in S.America, most places in Africa, France 80% of the time, Germany and N Europe never. Maybe I've just been lucky/unlucky in my experiences - certainly I think everywhere has a problem to a greater or lesser degree and I try to choose food I think will be OK. Once I was in the middle of France and could not find anywhere to eat (it was August and they shut down) finally I found a cafe in a small village. I asked to use their toilet (I always do that - dirty toilets = dirty establishment) the toilet, a hole in the ground (I think they are called Turkish toilets), was separated from the kitchen by a bead curtain. Desperately hungry I ordered Cheese, bread a jar of olives and a bottle of beer. Weird dinner but kept me going until I reached the German border.

By alan41241
Reply 3335805
August 31, 2012 at 7:45 am
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I can't imagine all those nasty places you wrote about, Happy. And that last one in France I believe would have kept me from eating anything in that establishment. I'm glad you're better this morning.
Blessings,
Alan

By herbsgal70
Reply 3335829
August 31, 2012 at 7:58 am
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Sorry you had such a bad night, Happy. I can't imagine, because I have never had a blockage and I can't remember the last time I threw up. When you raise 4 children - two years apart - you are exposed to all kinds of nasty stuff and I guess I developed an immunity to a weak stomach. I eat a very limited diet - mostly peanut butter and crackers, lots of mashed potatoes, chicken and fish, and no red meat, other than hamburger. No salads or raw vegetables - I also avoid corn, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans - and we very seldom eat out. Sometimes I don't finish what is on my plate because I get so tired of chewing The only trouble I had was when I ate Betty Crocker scalloped potatoes and they came through and out almost all at the same time. Crossed them off the list too, along with baked beans. I try to cook special things for my husband that I can't eat and substitute something I can at the same meal. Glad you are feeling better now - guess I would avoid that restaurant! Hugs from Marge

By HappyS (Inactive)
Reply 3335952
August 31, 2012 at 8:49 am
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Thanks for that Marge, I raised (helped to) five who played in fields and ate what was put in front of them; a lot has changed!

You know the problem with bugs is that it's pretty difficult to know where one picked it up, could have been the restaurant, could have been touching a door or rail that someone who hadn't washed their hands had just touched who knows - just glad it was quick. I do carry hand cleaner but also one can't get hysterical - it's a balance between protection and neurosis.

By lorday
Reply 3336047
August 31, 2012 at 9:23 am
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Did you have any other symptoms of a "bug" like headache, body aches, fever, etc.? If not, I believe also that you had a partial blockage. Did you eat a lot more than you usually do at one time during this lunch out? The first time I went out to lunch with friends after surgery, I really which I hadn't because I ate what was probably at least twice as much as I was use to eating at one time. ( I have found out that eating small amounts 5-6times a day works the best for me. And my stomach has strunk to adapt to that diet) My stomach was very distended and uncomfortable, and I had a lot of stoma output that night---so much that I think I emptied twice. When I have probably been partially obstructed, I get very quiet in my abdomin also and get distended. My output is only liquid, if anything, because nothing else can get through the blockage. I hope this helps. And thank you for all welcoming me. It is nice to talk to other people that are in the same place that I am.

By alan41241
Reply 3336281
August 31, 2012 at 10:42 am
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What do you mean "younger, Marge!!" I had the chance to be married five times. I only chose one. Two of those women are already dead. Maybe they couldn't live without me! lolol The other three are married to somebody else. One of those three is my daughter's mother. We are still friends. As a matter of fact, she and her husband drove up here from Gainsville, Florida to be with me during my surgery and I served brunch here for them, my daughter and her husband the Saturday before the surgery.

Lorday does have a pretty face and so do you.

Blessings,
Alan

By HappyS (Inactive)
Reply 3336410 · In reply to 3336047 by lorday
August 31, 2012 at 11:32 am
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Lorday, ate the same as usual - I'm pretty disciplined. Head and joint aches, yes but of course one gets them (and a fever) with dehydration which is why I forced electrolytes down my throat. I guess it will remain a mystery.

By Sheri213
Reply 3336753
August 31, 2012 at 1:55 pm
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Glad to know that your fine! That was horrible that happened to you. I try not to eat like I use to its makes me afraid of the outcome. My family and friends say I eat like a bird now. But they don't understand!

By Chriswife
Reply 3336806
August 31, 2012 at 2:17 pm
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I have a colostomy and had some output a little bit ago with undigested crackers in it. I am also pretty constipated right now(I took immodium on Wednesday becuase I had diarrhea due to chemo). I am drinking alot, which I always do, but is there anything that will help with the undigested stuff? I dont know if I ate too fast due to nausea or what.

Happy I am glad you are feeling better! I have had food poisioning and know it is not fun!

Kerri

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