Poop envy & Delhi Belly

Warning: This post will be dealing primarily with the less pleasant parts of bodily functioning. For example: Diarrhea. Also: Constipation, menstration and vomitting. If you like to consider yourself delicate and abhor such icky discussion, then I must recommend you look through the links over on your right or read other postings. Or navigate away from Waywardprincess for a spell.

After arriving in Hyderabad I threw myself into all the spicy, new food with relish. (Not to mean I put the condiment known as relish on everything.) After a few days I started experiencing some unpleasantnesss in the bathroom. This could have been due to the long adventure getting to India, the heat, the different routine, the arrival of my period, the food or some combination. In any case, the diarrhea-ish (it wasn't full on) lasted a few days and then seemed to pass.

At first I was relieved that every trip to the can was uneventful. However, things started to be toooo uneventful. Meaning: I wasn't pooping. Nuthin'. Not a nugget. For the first two or three days I didn't even notice. The third or fourth day I started thinking, "hmm... isn't THAT interesting." By day five I was somewhat worried, but as I didn't FEEL bad in any way I wasn't all that concerned. I was, however, starting to get a bit envious of other people's successful bowl movements. Day seven dawned (Saturday) and I was starting to consider talking to someone about it. I was also starting to get some cramping in the lower tummy. That evening, however, a trip to the w/c proved successful and I thought my worries were over.

HA!

Something about dinner didn't settle right with me. Around 10pm I started to feel quite uneasy and rushed back to my room here at the yoga center. A great bought of diarrhea hit me. Not good, but considering the lack of "southern movement" the preceeding week I thought it was somewhat natural and went to sleep with a clear mind.

Until about 1am when I woke up feeling quite ill. This time, in addition to diarrhea I also puked. Puked a lot. I laid back down and thought, "I should speak with the doctor about this in the morning." Unfortunately I had another round at 2am. This time the vommitting and diarrhea happened simultaneously - necesitating the use of a handy trash can (aka "puke bucket.") Things were clearly not going well and I couldn't go out and find a doctor myself so I woke up my nice roommate, explained the difficulty and she went out in search of some help for me.

The doctor came about 2:45 (I had had two additional rounds of diarrhea and throwing up in the interim) and said I had some sort of bug (not a big surprise at that point.) She gave me a shot in the ass that was supposed to stop me from throwing up, gave me some medicine to take (anti nausea, antibiotic, something for the fever and aches and something else whose purpose I've forgotten) and sat with me for a while. The intention was that a half hour or so after I stopped throwing up I would eat a small something, take the antibiotic and go to sleep. Shot in the ass not withstanding, I continued to puke and/or have diarrhea for many hours. Around 4 she left with the recommendation that I sleep and in the morning with breakfast take the medicine. Finally around 8 or so I think my stomach finally settled and I was able to at least drink water.

Things are looking up though. All day yesterday I was so weak I could barely cling to my water and gatorade bottles and sitting vertical sent me staggering for the toilet where I would either have diarrhea or vomit. Today activity on the southern front has continued to a lesser degree, the fever and aches are gone, I'm feeling much stronger and despite a queasy stomach and inability to eat with much relish (again, I'm not referring to the condiment, though I'm certain I couldn't handle even the smallest amount of said condiment) have not spewed once.

Let's hope things continue to look up and that I don't get another round of "delhi belly."