Possible Food Poisoning!

Yesterday at work at around 2.30pm, I started to feel nauseous, faint and generally rough. I felt like I was going to collapse and had to do some sitting down jobs. Scott kindly took my BP which was more or less perfect 119/80, so I told myself to man up and carry on....... but I couldn't. So did some sitting down jobs like writing notes etc. When I finished work at 4.30pm, I saw a text from Lucy saying she had been up all night (Wednesday night) and during Thursday with sickness and the other end! She had a temperature and generally felt crap. As soon as I read that, I didn't eat anything at all for fear of being sick. I found it very odd that we were both ill at more or less the same time. Our lunch at Marriott's Warehouse on Tuesday wasn't exactly brilliant and the only thing that Lucy and I had the same was a Summer Pudding, which didn't taste perfect to be honest, but we ate it anyway. Vivien didn't have any dessert at all. Had we got food poisoning?

As the evening progressed my temperature rose to 38C and I felt shivery/hot, stomach pains and generally not very well – I felt sick, but wasn't sick as Lucy had been. I phoned Marriott's Warehouse to discuss this, in case anyone else had phoned in and I was told the chef would ring me after work on Friday (I presumed I would be at work) to discuss this. I felt like I couldn't keep my eyes open, so went to bed the earliest I have ever gone at 7.45pm! I slept for around an hour maybe and then the most severe acid reflux took hold, which meant I could not lay down and spent most of the night sitting on the sofa wrecked. The acid reflux was so bad, it was even painful sitting upright. Now, I am on Lansoprazole anyway, but took an extra tablet, but this made no difference whatsever!

I started to worry, I suppose you do on your own, so I phoned 111 just to get some reassurance really and a nice doctor phoned me back and after discussing all my symptoms and talking about Lucy's too, he concluded that I could have food poisoning and labelled it as "Viral Gastroenteritis". He recommended that I get a prescription from my GP for Ranitidine, which he said I could take alongside my Lansoprazole, to reduce the acid reflux – he specifically said not to take Gaviscon. I let work know, that I wouldn't be in today.

I sent the usual form that you have to fill in on line to my GP to request the Ranitidine, a lady doctor rang me back in the middle of the afternoon to ask all about my symptoms and said Ranitidine is not now available and to take some Gaviscon or 'ride it out'!! Other doctor had told me not to take that?! She wanted me to bring a 'sample' in, but because it was late in the day, I found out later that this could not be done until next Tuesday! (Bank holiday etc), because of my temperature, which had gone up slightly to 38.1C, she suggested I may have Covid and asked me to arrange a test!!! She also said I should phone Public Health to let them know, which I did and they said it is the doctor's job to do this, as they have to fill out a special form etc!

I didn't have a thing to eat from yesterday at work at 12.30pm until 4pm today, when I had one thin slice of bread with margarine and than later at 6pm, one round of toast with half a small tin of baked beans. I did a lateral flow test at home, which said I was negative, but I phoned and booked a PCR test at a centre in King's Lynn, which I had at 7.30pm this evening and have to wait up to 48 hours to get the results. I think that is highly unlikely personally. Did the chef ring me back? NO!

The acid reflux has now mostly subsided, but still have a temperature, feel hot and rough! When looking at the reviews on Trip Advisor for Marriott's Ware House, they are particularly bad for August, if I had known this, I would not have gone and won't be rushing back. It might not be food poisoning, but I will find that out over the next few days/week.