OK. I will spare the details, but in the past I had thought I had had food poisoning, but after last night, I know the difference between a little too much butter and food poisoning!
Four hours after lunch…..
Basically you feel terrible and loose liquid from both end of your body. The biggest danger is dehydration so you need to take in fluids. There were times when I felt dizzy and weak with a fever. I went to crawl up in a ball on the bathroom floor since I was spending so much time in there, only to be thankful that the bowl was near by for what happened next. It is better out than in as most will say when it comes to anything bad.
Since I don’t have real proof, I will not reveal the name of the restaurant, but did report to the DC Health Department last night and checked with my colleague who I had lunch with and he was okay which either means the chicken in my sandwich was bad, or the cook who prepared my food did not properly wash his hands after using the bathroom. I am thinking more along the lines of the chicken being bad as we both would have likely gotten sick if indeed it was dirty hands.
Second Chance?
I don’t believe in second chances when it comes to hygiene or food safety, so I won’t be going back to that restaurant again. Bummer too since it was a historic place and had good food. Of course this can happen anywhere, but I don’t think that once you have felt the effects of food poisoning, you will ever want to go through it again.
I am lucky
I am lucky that my sickness passed quickly. I did take the day off from work today as I felt terrible as I went to sleep last night and did not want to be running to the bathroom or reaching for a garbage can throughout the day. Apparently food poisoning can last for up to 10 days. I can not imagine feeling that way for so long. I had a hard time getting to sleep because of my stomach cramping and trips to the bathroom.