Ever had Salmonella poisoning?

[Eric Karonen]

With all the recalls of food products of late, I wonder how many people have ever actually experienced salmonella poisoning? I, and some of my mates, did in the mid-80s. None of us knew the others were sick until a week later when we met up for a pint or two. And the episode killed a Friday evening tradition at a certain infamous Toronto bar. It was the only explanation for us all getting sick. It took almost two days to kick in, but man, I don't ever want to go through that again.

This is one deadly food poisoning. It's not just a case of a loose stomach.

One pal was refereeing a Karate match in Windsor, Ontario, and came down with the symptoms in the middle of the match! He had to stay in Windsor for several days.

Another pal and I could have really been screwed because we decided to play in a snooker tournament in Peterborough and then head to a friend's cabin in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, our truck got stuck in the deep snow and a passing couple on a snowmobile went and got their 4-wheel and pulled us out. This was at 10 pm. Because it was Valentine's Day we couldn't find a room anywhere and ended up driving back to Toronto. A good thing we did! The symptoms came on later that Sunday afternoon and continued for a couple of days.

Anyway, a news story this morning brought on this moment of recollection.

Show us your scars!

 

[LoveBandit]

I ate a frozen/heated Stromboli at my college's Student Union (I know, my first mistake) back in the 1980's.......within 3 hours I was VIOLENTLY ill in my dormroom bathroom and it lasted all night long. One of the worst nights of my life, I felt like I wanted to die at some of the darker moments. That might have been "e coli" though, I am not sure.

That was NOTHING compared to my kidney stone pain 20 years later, though:!:

 

[EdMax]

I got it once about 10 years ago from a bad egg.

Traditionally on Saturday mornings we will cook up a couple poached eggs on english muffins, a couple side dishes and so on.

That was the last time I ate an egg with a runny yoke. It laid me up for over a week and included a 10 hour trip/stay in the ER, and 2 doctor follow up visits.

This was just before they started putting the warnings out on egg boxes.
It was by far the worst illiness I ever encounterd.

 

[jh45gun]

Not sure about Salmonella or just plain food poisoning but (or is it the same? ) but I think most folks expirience it from time to time and blame it on the flu. I think a lot of folks are careless with food prep. Wipeing off prep counters where you prepare food and cutting boards with a bleach/water solution is a good idea.

 

[TheDragonReborn]

I had it when I was about 12 years old. Must have been some ill pepared
chicken I ate at the restaurant. Anyway, my expierience was similar to
LoveBandit's Horrible.

The following morning my dad took me to the doctor. Doc had to inject
my abs with somekind of muscle relaxant, yup, they were that cramped!
Recovered soon, though.

And jh45gun is probably right. Can't be too careful!

TDR

 

[Westerly Sunn]

But I was raised up on runny yolks...

 

[Eric Karonen]

But I was raised up on runny yolks...

Long as they're heated enough, I think that kills the salmonella. It's things like homemade mayonnaise or caesar dressing that are the real problem.

 

[steve gibson]

Salmonella is one of those nasty bacteria that is present in the environment and multiples quickly if it gets in food products. Many other bacteria can cause gastroenteritis, such as e-coli. The only way to know for sure what caused the symptoms is through a culture. The other cause is virus and hence the name influenza. The two get confused. You can treat bacteria with antibiotics but the are ineffective in viruses. Regardless, it is the symptoms that kill people through dehydration and metabolic disturbances. Old,infirm and babies are most susceptable. Both viruses and bacterial infections can cause violent symptoms (pukin; and poopin') because the body recognizes the little bastards as allien and tries to get rid of them. Get to the hospital if you are experiance symptoms that are not relenting or causing severe dehydration. Bacteria is getting more and more resistent to antibiotics due to mutations. Bacteria have a strong will of survival and will be here long after we are gone. The scary part is most of us have no idea what happens in the processing and preparation of food. If you think about big old greasy Bubba (sorry Boris) not washing his hands after his daily duty and going back to the kitchen, you will probably take all your meals at home.

 

[refin]

Back in '75 I ate some mayonaisse that was opened and left out the fridge for a over 24 hours.Super sick all night,very bad.Couldn't get near that particular condiment for quite a while.

 

[robt57]

Yes unfortunately. Just remembering, whew!

 

[diffeecult]

Back in 79 or 80 before I married my first ex-wife I poisoned myself with some pork chops I left sitting out. Not sure what kind of poison that was but it was bad.

 

[jazztele]

i have had food poisoning a few times (i'm an adventurous eater, i guess), mostly of the 12-24 hour variety. i can think of few things that in the short term are more incapacitating...the idea of something like salmonella is pretty horrible, since i believe it lasts quite a bit longer, right? yikes!

 

[AmericanStd.]

Yeah, I did. I was on a trip with a bunch of customers and we all had the same chicken dish at the restaurant. Then I flew home, and got a call that the others had been to the hospital. It had already started to hit me but I didn't know what it was.

I was messed up for a week or so.

 

[otterhound]

I think that I did once from a McDonalds Quarter Pounder many years ago . Three days of pure hell .

 

[FenderBenderNY]

No, but I went to school with a kid named Sal Manella. No joke.

 

[Durtdog]

I got some form of food poisoning years ago from Buffalo wings. For 3 days I thought I was going to die. In fact, I wanted to die. I was so sick I was hallucinating. Made my wife promise that if I ever get it again to just go ahead and shoot me. It was THAT bad.

 

[Worn]

I've had food poisoning a number of times, whether it was salmonella or not, I don't know. Worst was in Orillia, spent the night on the bathroom floor in the hotel, thought I was/wished I would die. The 2nd worst was after a meal at a Chinese restaurant downtown Toronto day after the black out.
Other times were from a hamburger chain, a sub, clams at a mall food court, shrimp at a restaurant, and a bad western sandwich off a lunch truck.
My cousin was delivering a helicopter, stopped in a small town for burger, back in the air, got sick and had to keep making emergency "pit stops" in farmers fields, eventually calling for help when he got too sick to fly. Ended up hospitalized.

 

[6942]

Bad crab cakes......I bonded with my trash can all night!

Steve

 

[J-man]

I've had food poisoning plenty of times - but never any of the serious ones.

I very rarely throw up, but when I do, I REALLY go for it!

 

[e-merlin]

I don't know if it was Salmonella, but I lost about 10 pounds in diarreah last weekend. Fortunately no vomiting, though I fought it back a few times. 7-Up is a gift from God. I know for sure it was food poisoning, and I know exactly where I got it.