sick as a dog...

September 2, 2006 12:54 PM

BurgerKingFilter: Why would eating at two separate Burger Kings from different menu items cause me to get sick in the exact same way? More inside...

Little more background, this previous Sunday, I went to a Burger King and got a Large Order of French Fries. Nothing too impressive, and then the next morning I first had diarreha and then vomitting. This lasted the rest of the day, I wasn't really able to keep anything solid down for the entirety of it.

This morning, being a glutton for punishment, and forgetting completely about the previous incident, I decide to get some breakfast at the BK. Egg and Cheese Crossanwich, Hash Browns and Chocolate Milk.

I woke up with acid reflux at around 11 (I work third shift, and should have known not to eat this and then go to bed, but I'm a dumbass) and then following diarhea again, and now vomitting just a little while ago.

WHY WOULD THIS BE HAPPENING?

I'm a vegetarian, so I'm not sure if they're now putting beef in the fry oil or if I'm just hitting the food poisoning jackpot. I have allergies at the moment, which are causing a constant post-nasal drip, so that could be aggravating the problem in my stomach.

I felt as though my stomach didn't want to deal with what was in it after I ate, almost bloated. I wish I had taken the hint the first time this happened... I'm not looking forward to more 7up.

Please help MeFi!

posted by gregschoen to health & fitness (22 comments total)

Seeing as you're a vegetarian, you may not be acclimated to the high levels of fat in fast food, and it may be giving you intestinal upset. Fries and breakfast entrees are the grease jackpot. Too much grease will give just the symptoms you describe.

The fact that you said this happened on Sunday does ring a bell.... my two instances of fast food poisoning were on Sundays, so I have a pet theory that the restaurants have poor oversight on those days or that's the day the dumbasses work there.

I would think that with high fat it would be purely digestive-related, and with food poisoning you may have some chills and fever with it.
posted by chef_boyardee at 1:06 PM on September 2, 2006

Maybe you're just sick and BK is a coincidence.
posted by Airhen at 1:07 PM on September 2, 2006

Within the past 30-60 I've started manifesting chills, although it started as being too hot.

I should probably also add that these two instances of eating at Burger King have been the first for me in several weeks/months.

My second theory was that perhaps I was getting potato allergy, although, I don't know that that is even possible. I say that because I tend to get heartburn when eating them occassionally, and I sort of put it all together as I lie here.

Any idea how I can curb the nausea? I'm thinking of trying to down two Dramamine, but I'm pretty sure the nausea is the returning stomach acid.
posted by gregschoen at 1:11 PM on September 2, 2006

Well, I did wonder if you were a vegetarian, because the common factor is the fries and hash browns, which I'd imagine would have the same or similar ingredients and preparations...and the food is provided corporately, so if it were a food allergy or a vegetarian-eating-meat-product thing, that wouldn't necessarily change location to location (as opposed to a cleanliness or contamination issue). I do remember a few years back McD's getting into some hot water because their fries, which they claimed were vegetarian did actually contain animal fat for flavor.

On the other hand, I find I get a little sickly after BK anyway...it's the greasiest, grossest of all fast food, which is saying a lot. I'd be a bit surprised not to get diarrhea after eating BK. Or at least bad gas. ew.
posted by lampoil at 1:11 PM on September 2, 2006

I too am a vegetarian and get sick from things like McDonald's french fries (I can eat their hashbrowns though -- or no more one of them a day).

Let's face it, all that fast food has been processed to death (all kinds of chemicals), cooked in grease along with the Chicken McNuggets and yes, I do believe that the french fries have some kind of meat juice in the coating on them.

So diahrrea is no big surprise. Been there done that. Even a meatless egg McMuffin made me very sick.

This is nature's way of telling us that fast food is shit. But we eat it anyway.

Hope you feel better soon.
posted by bim at 1:14 PM on September 2, 2006

Regarding McDonald's fries:

6 Apr 2001 -- McDonald's admits that their "vegetarian" french fries contain "a small amount of beef flavoring." A company spokeswoman says: "We use something similar to beef broth, just to enhance the flavor."

...so it wouldn't surprise me if BK fries are similar. Ack.
posted by bim at 1:18 PM on September 2, 2006

BK French Fries: Potatoes, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Modified Potato Starch, Rice Flour, Potato Dextrin, Salt, Leavening (Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Dextrose, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate added to preserve natural color.*

BK Croissant:Enriched Flour [Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid], Skim Milk, Vegetable Shortening [Partially Hydorgenated Soybean & Cottenseed Oil, Milk, Salt, Monoglycerides, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Annatto (Color), Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Yeast. Contains 2% or less of each of the following: Salt, Calcium Propionate (Preservative), Soy Lecithin, Egg Yolks, Corn Syrup, Wheat Gluten, Sodium Caseinate, Whey Proteins, Soy Flour. Contains: Egg, Milk, Soy, and Wheat.

BK Hash Browns: Potatoes, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Shortening, Dehydrated Potato Flakes (Potatoes, Mono- and Diglycerides, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Citric Acid), Salt, Corn Flour, Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Natural† Flavoring, Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate (to promote color retention), Dextrose. †Natural flavors from plant sources. Contains: Wheat.

*- French Fries are fried in a fryer desugnated for French Fries only. All our products are fried in Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening.

[source]
posted by ericb at 1:45 PM on September 2, 2006

*designated*
posted by ericb at 1:46 PM on September 2, 2006

An ingredients list is here in PDF, here on the website and here on the UK site.

French Fries

Potatoes, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Modified Potato Starch, Rice Flour, Potato Dextrin, Salt, Leavening (Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Dextrose, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate added to preserve natural color.
posted by ed\26h at 1:48 PM on September 2, 2006

I don't know that just because there is a bit of beef in there that it would make you so sick... it could have a lot more to do with the sheer amount of oil absorbed into the food. Many fast food places (I don't know about Burger King) keep their frying oil far from clean, and change it as infrequently as they can get away with. My first job was a teen was at a fast food joint. In the entire 6 months I worked there the oil was not changed even once (and they used the same oil for the fries, the corn-dogs, and every other disgusting fried thing they made).

As a side note, I used to get sick all the time from eating fatty foods, it was just like really bad food poisoning. After getting these frequent bouts of "food poisoning" every few months for a couple of years, a doctor finally discovered that I had a diseased gallbladder full of stones. The illness you get from a sick gallbladder can closely mimic the reactions one gets with food poisoning... and these can be initiated by eating fatty foods.

Whatever you've got you should probably get checked out at this point. Food poisoning can lead to severe dehydration or worse. Consider having them take a look at your gallbladder while your at it.
posted by RoseovSharon at 2:09 PM on September 2, 2006

im vegan and although i used to be able to handle alot of fast food after i cut down i always get sick from it, even though occasionally i forget and make myself sick again. i have attributed it to two things, these are not pure potatoes, they are VERY processed to be able to withstand certain environments and to cost next to nothing. second, anything heavy with grease will weigh your stomach down if you arent used to it, even if its fried in soybean oil.

the bottom line is fast food is not healthy food so getting sick should be no suprise.

on the subject of mcdonalds fries, or at least before the big lawsuit, i worked for a restaraunt that used the same fries from the same distributor and we were informed that the fries are soaked in milk with beef broth and some other ingredients....
posted by trishthedish at 2:22 PM on September 2, 2006

Yeh, what they said.

I was going to reply to that, but I didn't really have the energy at that moment. That's part of the reason I was posting to MeFi, cause I wasn't sure if they had ADDED meat to their potato products. I used to live off of Burger King a couple of months ago (I used to live with 2 other guys, and they didn't keep a decent kitchen, if you know what I mean) and I've never had a problem like this. Now I live with my girlfriend and there's not a lot fast food eating I've been allowed to do. (I've already been berated by the GF for eating BK after I got sick on it before ;) )

At least, I'd never gotten sick so closely together like this from Fast Food. Maybe this is my wakeup call to just stop eating it all together.
posted by gregschoen at 2:25 PM on September 2, 2006

Whatever you've got you should probably get checked out at this point. Food poisoning can lead to severe dehydration or worse. Consider having them take a look at your gallbladder while your at it.

Oh man, don't tell me that, I tend to be a hypochondriac about stuff like this. I don't have insurance either, so I'm doubly screwed at the moment, because thanks to Wikipedial, Gallstone sounds like the problem.
posted by gregschoen at 2:35 PM on September 2, 2006

Roseovsharon -- If you don't eat meat or meat byproducts (like chicken stock, beef stock etc.) and mistakenly eat something with this junk in it, trust me, you will get wicked diahrrhea. It's like having an intestinal virus.

This is why you have to be careful with sauces (especially cream sauces whcih often use chicken stock) and even stuff like tomato based soups (they throw chicken stock in a lot of soups too).

It's no fun sh%tting your brains out for a couple of days.

And if you ever eat a hamburger or something, well it's not pretty.
posted by bim at 2:56 PM on September 2, 2006

Most likely what happened is that you got a GI infection from something and its still going on. What you ate after doesnt matter. A GI tract infection could have started two weeks before seeing symptoms.

Id suggest some zantac for the the heartburn.
posted by damn dirty ape at 3:05 PM on September 2, 2006

and some Imodium.
posted by damn dirty ape at 3:06 PM on September 2, 2006

The cynic in me is wondering if you're somehow infecting yourself with a garden-variety bacterial infection, and the food has nothing to do with it.

Wash your hands. ;-)
posted by frogan at 4:17 PM on September 2, 2006

I'm thinking gallstones.

Homemade test, no guarantees, IANAD, etc (but I have had my gallbladder out) :

Eat a big bowl of ice cream before bed.

If you have a bad gallbladder you will be cursing my name at around 2 am.
posted by konolia at 6:07 PM on September 2, 2006

Is there MSG in those two meals? Maybe you're allergic to MSG. I was looking recently at the ingredients to McDonalds' breakfast menu and there's MSG in practically every item.
posted by robbie01 at 6:43 PM on September 2, 2006

Wash your hands. ;-)

Its really funny that you should say this. I have tried to completely swear off anti-bacterial soap, because of all the bad things I've read about it creating super bugs and all that fun stuff.

But I suppose that the thing that the Fries and the Hash Browns have in common are that they both are ate with your hands, and if I have some sort of infection, it could have just reinfected myself.

Homemade test, no guarantees, IANAD, etc (but I have had my gallbladder out) :

Eat a big bowl of ice cream before bed.

I'm not sure that really would be a good indicator, since the fat or the milk could cause reflux. Milk sometimes will cause me to have reflux... actually I'll get reflux pretty consistently unless I keep myself from eating too much before I go to bed. When I stay away from heavy foods really late, I don't have a problem. I can eat myself a bowl of Oatmeal Squares in milk and have no problem, so I dunno.

My stomach has been screwy since I took Accutane when I was 18 (I'm 24 now), I got all of the crazy symptoms you're not supposed to get, and ever since then, my stomach has been really sensitive. It's one of the reasons I never drink anymore, because I can't drink more then one beer without getting sick to my stomach and wanting to puke.

I love you Metafilter, thanks for all the answers. I would mark you all as the Best Answer, but that would be redundant, and I have no idea what the real problem is, so if I figure out what it is, I'll be sure to come back here and leave credit where credit is due.

[MeFi and Metafilter should really be in the Spell Check Dictionary]
posted by gregschoen at 7:36 PM on September 2, 2006

Just to follow up on what I said earlier about the gallstones... for the longest time I attributed my various symptoms to other things too... food poisoning, germs, reflux, spicyness, etc... I didn't realize that these weird stomach and digestion problems were related.

That is, until I got diagnosed with the stones and had to have my gallbladder removed. Since the surgery, I've never had any of those symptoms happen to me again. Lo and behold, I never really had a problem with reflux, or heartburn, nor did I have a sensitive stomach. I was just sick with a diseased gallbladder... once it was removed, I was fine.

We have no way of knowing what's wrong with you, only a doctor can tell you, so even though you're not insured, please do find a way to get checked up. It could be a real problem or it could be nothing to worry about and will pass. Since you stated that you have these other digestion issues as well and have had them for some time, it might be more than just Accutane or the BK to blame. I thought it was everything else too.
posted by RoseovSharon at 11:31 PM on September 2, 2006

I'm going to have to unite with Airhen (2nd poster) and say coincidence. You're sick is the pronlem, more than likely not the BK. You'd have to be not-currently-sick and still have the same reaction to rule us out.
posted by vanoakenfold at 9:09 AM on September 4, 2006