Sign-in to Ask A Doctor - 24x7
OR
Sign in with Google
What Do Nausea And Stomach Cramps Indicate After Eating Potato Bar
Question: Hi im diabetic type 2. Yesterday my company served us a potato bar with all the usual fixings. And a cupcake. I ate half the potato and scrapped off the frosting, except for a small amount. 20 mins later my stomach began to cramp up i began to feel likea wanted to vomit and was light headed. Stomach craps grew worse till it was unbearable. I began to feel super tired and sleepy and down right miserable. Left work went home to take my blood sugar, but was too disoriented to figure out how to do it. So went to bed and woke up 2 hours later. Took my blood sugar and by then it was 156. Did have a diarrhea episode. Went back to sleep 2 more hrs. Then felt better, but still felt groggy, and had a sick feeling for 24 hours. What happened and what is this episode called?
Brief Answer:
Food poisoning
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
What you described sounds like you had food poisoning. This is caused by eating food that has certain bacteria growing in it (from contamination and or being left out unrefrigerated too long or other improper food handling). The bacteria produce a toxin that then causes the symptoms. Typical food poisoning symptoms are abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, light headedness, sometimes chills and fever. Usually, in the US, the kinds of food poisoning we get last only temporarily such as hours to a day.
People can also get viral gastroenteritis ("stomach flu") but this is less likely to come on abruptly or violently or to cause light headedness or disorientation (unless there is a lot of fluid and electrolyte loss, which you did not have prior to your light headedness). This usually lasts for a few days with vomiting, diarrhea, or both.
My guess is that if you ask around, there may be other people who were affected to varying degrees too.
Regarding your elevated blood sugar, any physical stress or infection can kick up the blood sugar temporarily. Your body produces more cortisol (stress hormone) which causes an increase in blood sugar to make available to you to deal with the needs of the stress.
Has your blood sugar returned to your baseline, and are you able to take in fluids and some calories now?
Food poisoning
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
What you described sounds like you had food poisoning. This is caused by eating food that has certain bacteria growing in it (from contamination and or being left out unrefrigerated too long or other improper food handling). The bacteria produce a toxin that then causes the symptoms. Typical food poisoning symptoms are abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, light headedness, sometimes chills and fever. Usually, in the US, the kinds of food poisoning we get last only temporarily such as hours to a day.
People can also get viral gastroenteritis ("stomach flu") but this is less likely to come on abruptly or violently or to cause light headedness or disorientation (unless there is a lot of fluid and electrolyte loss, which you did not have prior to your light headedness). This usually lasts for a few days with vomiting, diarrhea, or both.
My guess is that if you ask around, there may be other people who were affected to varying degrees too.
Regarding your elevated blood sugar, any physical stress or infection can kick up the blood sugar temporarily. Your body produces more cortisol (stress hormone) which causes an increase in blood sugar to make available to you to deal with the needs of the stress.
Has your blood sugar returned to your baseline, and are you able to take in fluids and some calories now?
Note: For further follow up on digestive issues share your reports here and Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
Get personalised answers from verified doctor in minutes across 80+ specialties
