Did McD's Make Me Sick or Just a Coincidence?!

shaunoppe
shaunoppe Posts: 4
in Food and Nutrition
I have been eating very clean for approximately a month now. Last Friday night, as I was commuting home for the weekend, I decided to stop and grab a quick sandwich and those famous fries. I knew I was way under my calories for that day and, although not the best choice, I could get away with it. The next morning I awoke to explosive diahrrea and terrible nausea that lasted all day. The day after, I was still nausious and had a burning feeling in my gut. Even today I am slightly nausious, I have no appetite, I'm dehydrated and everytime I think about that food it gets worse. Then I had a bowel movement that had an odor or a rotting corpse. (sorry for the graphics). I don't think I have ever had this reaction when I ate there regularly. My question is: Has anyone else had this experience or could this just be a coincidence that I had a stomach bug that manifested after eating that I am just associating with the McDonald's? Either way,....never again Ronald,....never again!

Replies

  • suncluster
    suncluster Posts: 539 Member
    I don't think it is a coincidence. Even when I had poor eating habits I could always count on a "bad poop" after Mickey D's.
  • shaunoppe
    shaunoppe Posts: 4
    Well, I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. I really do like those fries once in awhile. I think I may be ruined for life.
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
    The mcd cleanse.
  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
    tbh, if you have that kind of reaction to fries and a sandwich, I'd start worrying about some kind of food allergy, but that's just me.
  • obsidianwings
    obsidianwings Posts: 1,237 Member
    If you'd said it seemed to have gone straight through and/or given you bad gas i'd say your body wasn't used to all the grease any more, but what you say seems kinda extreme, so I would say coinceidence
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
    The truth is you can get sick from any meal. You don't really know what happens in a restaurant, any restaurant. The waitress has cold, sneezes over your food and now you have the cold. The cook drops your hamburger patty on the floor, brushes it off, cooks it and serves it anyway. The last time I got sick from eating out was at an award winning, highly recommended mom and pop hamburger joint. I was sick for days. I have never gotten stomach flu from McDonalds, but I have caught the cold a couple times.

    When I was young, I worked as a waitress in family style restaurants and some of the cooks had deplorable habits. I have never been able to eat at the restaurants where I worked. Now, I rarely eat out.
  • BrienJD
    BrienJD Posts: 541 Member
    That occasionally happens to me if I haven't eaten it in a while, not really the stomach pains, but most certainly the express train through the digestive tract. McD's and movie theater popcorn butter. Look on the bright side...it probably didn't stay in there long enough to be absorbed as fat:tongue:

    I find that if I normally eat well, my body lets me know when I don't.
  • David_AUS
    David_AUS Posts: 298 Member
    OK - the food stuffs you consumed at McD's - a grilled sandwich and fries - was that it? It is unlikely to be food poisoning since 1. diarrhea due to food poisoning usually has a longer incubation period; 2. These food types are not readily associated with food poisoning. 3. Yes restaurants vary even within a franchise but McD's food safety standards (at least in Australia) are very high and they try to be open as possible - complete visibility into the kitchen areas etc...

    I think it is more your body was not use to the fat intake probably from the fries and this passed straight through your system - and upset your normal body balance leaving you feeling rung out. Just get back on track and be wary of fatty foods in future :)
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    the stinkiness of the bowel movement suggests that the cause is a bacteria or virus. It could be a co-incidence (is the noro virus going around? that one can be food borne or caught through breathing/droplet infection) as that's known to cause the symptoms you describe plus characteristically stinky poop. Some bacterial infections cause really stinky poo as well. It's possible that a food intolerance can cause these symptoms (including stinkiness), although if you previously ate McDs without any problem then it's unlikely to be that. So I'd say it's probably a virus or bacteria, most likely from the McDs, but it could be from breathing in someone's germs (e.g. if it's the noro virus which could be from either).
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    OK - the food stuffs you consumed at McD's - a grilled sandwich and fries - was that it? It is unlikely to be food poisoning since 1. diarrhea due to food poisoning usually has a longer incubation period; 2. These food types are not readily associated with food poisoning. 3. Yes restaurants vary even within a franchise but McD's food safety standards (at least in Australia) are very high and they try to be open as possible - complete visibility into the kitchen areas etc...

    I think it is more your body was not use to the fat intake probably from the fries and this passed straight through your system - and upset your normal body balance leaving you feeling rung out. Just get back on track and be wary of fatty foods in future :)

    1. she had diarrhoea the next day... that's a long enough incubation period to be food poisoning, the incubation period varies according to the type of virus or bacteria. It can be as little as 6 hrs. Salmonella the incubation period is 12-36 hrs so it's not likely to be that but could be any number of other bugs. Exotoxin food poisioning can strike very soon after eating, i.e. within a couple of hours

    2. fast food can be the source of food poisoning

    3. not all kitchens follow the rules that they're supposed to

    Also, fat is an essential nutrient, no-one should be avoiding fat. If someone gets an adverse reaction to eating fatty foods then they need to slowly reintroduce fatty foods back into their diet. This should include foods high in omega 3s and fat soluble vitamins. However i'm not sure that being unused to fat would cause the symptoms described, at least not to that severity. It seems more like an infection.
  • David_AUS
    David_AUS Posts: 298 Member
    1. I did say "Likely" not that it was not: Exotoxins generally cause upper digestion tract reactions - vomitting. Infections usually are lower digestion track diarrhea

    2. Absolutely no argument there - once again we are talking about likelihood not possibility taking into consideration the types of food consumed in this instance.

    3. People will always be people and they can be lazy and cut corners - people do not always follow standard operating procedures and even these do not always ensure 100% - it is all about risk reduction

    4. Absolutely fat is important in any diet! But everything in moderation a serving of french fries is estimated around 45% fat, 50% carbs, 5% protein - there was no other "bulk in the digestive tract" and this was a nutrient dense meal - with 25g of fat in just the fries alone.

    Yes it could have been an infection but based on the food types, the background information, the symptoms and personal experience if I "pig out" on a serving of greasy fried salt and pepper squid that exactly the same thing happens to me. My estimation is that the most likely the meal F/C/P ratio that was the problem rather than an infection.
  • David_AUS
    David_AUS Posts: 298 Member
    OK - the food stuffs you consumed at McD's - a grilled sandwich and fries - was that it? It is unlikely to be food poisoning since 1. diarrhea due to food poisoning usually has a longer incubation period; 2. These food types are not readily associated with food poisoning. 3. Yes restaurants vary even within a franchise but McD's food safety standards (at least in Australia) are very high and they try to be open as possible - complete visibility into the kitchen areas etc...

    I think it is more your body was not use to the fat intake probably from the fries and this passed straight through your system - and upset your normal body balance leaving you feeling rung out. Just get back on track and be wary of fatty foods in future :)

    1. she had diarrhoea the next day... that's a long enough incubation period to be food poisoning, the incubation period varies according to the type of virus or bacteria. It can be as little as 6 hrs. Salmonella the incubation period is 12-36 hrs so it's not likely to be that but could be any number of other bugs. Exotoxin food poisioning can strike very soon after eating, i.e. within a couple of hours

    2. fast food can be the source of food poisoning

    3. not all kitchens follow the rules that they're supposed to

    Also, fat is an essential nutrient, no-one should be avoiding fat. If someone gets an adverse reaction to eating fatty foods then they need to slowly reintroduce fatty foods back into their diet. This should include foods high in omega 3s and fat soluble vitamins. However i'm not sure that being unused to fat would cause the symptoms described, at least not to that severity. It seems more like an infection.

    ...hmm I re-read the initial post because it was playing on my mind. Nausea over an extended period does lean more towards an infection. This could have been from the food or surfaces in the restaurant - the serving tray table tops etc... I appreciate being challenged :) ... thanks.
  • MoniYum
    MoniYum Posts: 10
    I had an experience similar to yours before. Once your body is "cleaned out" so to speak by eating clean and healthy, then you say 'hey, I can afford the calories' and go there, it can be an awful experience.

    As I said, my experience was just like yours with a month of very healthy eating. Then after my first trip back to the Golden Arches i had bad stomach cramps, gas and diarrhea. I don't think mine was food poisoning. I think it was my clean gut reacting to the additives, preservatives and other mystery ingredients that were in the burger and fries I had.

    May be tasty going down, but your body's reaction to food doesn't lie.

    But as you mention other symptoms, I suspect maybe your case may have been food poisoning. I've had food poisoning several times, and it includes explosive diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. With food poisoning, it doesn't take me very long after I've finished the meal to start feeling symptoms. Hope you feel better soon.
  • KingofWisdom
    KingofWisdom Posts: 229 Member
    Every time I get McDonalds, I feel light-headed immediately after eating (or sometimes during). But I've never had it worse than that.
  • palmerdanielle
    palmerdanielle Posts: 341 Member
    Honestly I've been finding that almost anytime I eat out I've had an upset stomach, and usually feel nauseous with a bad stomach ache through the night it's horrible. I used to eat out all the time and now if I do or just eat less healthy foods I feel sick. I think your body gets used to not having it then sort of rejects it or something. I don't know for sure, obviously, but this is just my experience. I'll find that it throws me off for as much as a couple of days when I eat really poorly.

    It sucks since I used to eat whatever and this never happened, especially not the stomach aches they're the worst, always at night. Even when I slightly over eat now, instead of just feeling uncomfortable like I used to I feel quite ill.
  • MissBabyJane
    MissBabyJane Posts: 538 Member
    Yep, it's from the food. I was like that last Sunday. I ate junk food, and the next day I felt so awful all night and the next day. UGH
  • Rocbola
    Rocbola Posts: 1,998 Member
    Oh definitely that crap made you sick.
  • MonaLisaLianne
    MonaLisaLianne Posts: 398 Member
    One thing on MickeyD's sandwiches *always* gets me (and makes for stinky poo too!) and that is those dehydrated onions they put on the burgers. Sometimes they seem to not be fully re-hydrated (a bit crunchy) and maybe they continue to rehydrate, and swell up in my stomach? At any rate I usually check to see how hefty the onion portion is, and will scrape off most of them.

    You certainly could have gotten a stomach bug from your fast food, but for me there are other pitfalls in MickeyD's as well.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Post hoc ergo propter hoc lol
  • FerretBuellerr
    FerretBuellerr Posts: 468 Member
    I've had the same thing happen to me (mind you, not as severe, but I felt like I was going to violently expel from both ends within a half hour of eating two double cheese, and still felt off the next day).

    I used to eat McD's at LEAST once a week for years, but since eating my own homemade meals at home over the past year, if I ever eat one of their burgers I feel disgusting. I just think it's the grease and preservatives that my body is no longer used to - I can eat their wraps with no problem, it's just the burgers :ohwell:
  • 1shauna1
    1shauna1 Posts: 993 Member
    You could have gotten food poisoning (it does happen), or maybe just too much grease for your system if you've been eating really clean.

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