Someone please help - food poisoning or appendicitis?
Sorry if this doesn’t make a ton of sense - I’m somewhat delirious right now. It’s 1am & I (29F) have been experiencing what I thought was food poisoning from bad meat on Thursday lunch for the last few days. Here’s the timeline:
Thursday night: woke up at 2am with intense stomach pain, transitioned to vomiting about 5 times in a row at 3am.
Friday day: very, very lethargic & uncomfortable. Trips to the bathroom with liquid stool every ~20 minutes. Was not in the mood to eat, finished 2 rice cakes & half an apple.
Saturday day: much better. Still liquid stool, but less frequently. Was able to go out with friends & have a lemonade. Came home & was actually hungry so I ate some pasta. Went to bed.
Saturday night (present): couldn’t fall asleep with increasing stomach pain. Got up every 45 mins or so with liquid stool. Had a fever for the first time (99.5 but my “baseline” temp on my thermometer is always closer to 97) & chills. Vomited up the pasta about an hour ago.
Current state: stomach is still bloated, gassy, & crampy but I’m now feeling it concentrated on my lower right side. It hurts extremely bad when I move or turn over & I can’t sleep.
Is this run of the mill food poisoning? Or could it be appendicitis? My understanding is that appendicitis does not come on this quickly/so much later than other symptoms.
Also an important note is that I live in a city in the US - so hospitals have extremely long waits & are very expensive. I do not want to put myself through that just to be told it’s a stomachache.
TIA!!!!
Posted Jul 13, 2025, 5:04 AM UTC