Struck down with the worst stomach bug of my life

Warning: A brutal stomach bug is fast-spreading across the Coast, leaving its victims bedridden for days, or in hospital:

FILE PHOTO: Sick person in hospital. Picture: OcusFocus

I HATE to say it, especially when it seems everyone is getting sick with the flu, but I'm pretty certain there's something more sinister in the air.

Last week I was struck down with by far, the worst stomach bug of my life.

It was work as usual on Thursday, I woke up feeling pretty sore and a little bit feverish, but I figured it was just muscle soreness from training the day before.

"That's what you get for not stretching," I told myself.

But by midday, my condition had deteriorated. I had the shakes. I couldn't stomach any food but it didn't matter because I didn't have the appetite.

Four hours later, on my drive home from work, I was shivering so bad my hands shook the steering wheel.

I was trying to stifle a stomach full of vomit at the same time as trying not to cause a car accident.

I was freezing cold but my body was sweating.

Driving from Maroochydore to Kawana Waters that day along Nicklin Way was an experience I will never forget.

As soon as I got home I went straight to my room and lay completely still for about three hours.

You ever feel so nauseous that you think it could be the end of you?

That's how I was feeling: a constant state of dreadful queasiness.

There wasn't a single person in the world that felt as sorry for themselves as I was feeling at that moment.

I know what you're thinking - why didn't I just let it happen?

Well, truth be told, I have a pretty awful phobia of vomiting.

Everyone does on some level, but mine is so bad that even when my body is begging for it, I can't do it.

Without going to far into it, I think the phobia crept in during what was supposed to be a fun family holiday, involving a dodgy barge trip, 20 seasick people and a whole lotta chunky dairy.

I rolled out of bed at about 10pm, craving some water. It hit me like a tonne of bricks.

For the next 24 hours my housemates had to step over me and the makeshift bed I created in the bathroom if they needed to use the toilet. It was horrendous. I couldn't stomach anything, not even water. It all had to come back up.

A friend of mine came to look after me on the Friday night.

She took one look at me and said, "No, you're not getting back into bed. You are going to hospital".

I spent the next six hours getting blood tests. In that time I sucked three drip bags dry. Most people only need one to rehydrate their bodies but sometimes two is given by the nurses just to be safe, I was told.

My body needed three. I was discharged from hospital and it took me like four days to feel relatively normal again.

It was one nasty stomach bug. And a week later, the friend of mine who took me to the hospital was sick with it. So was my housemate. Heed my warning - it's spreading.

Although, if there is one positive to come from this story, I believe the experience helped me to overcome my irrational fear of spew.

After spending nearly three days face-to-face with it, I think I'm cured.

Originally published as Struck down with the worst stomach bug of my life