I think I was poisoned.

[Eracer]

I bought some loose-leaf tea yesterday, thinking it would be a nice change of pace from my usual morning java. So I brewed a cup this morning. I got about 2/3 of the way through the cup, and all of a sudden I started getting nauseous. Lots of saliva, and eventually a bit of retching (and I wasn't even looking at sssmokin's porn...)

About 30 minutes later my lips got a bit numb, and I started feeling a bit dissociated. Very weird. I called my neurologist friend and asked him what he thought. He said it sounded like organo-phosphate poisoning, probably a pesticide residue. He asked if I was feeling better or worse, and if worse, that I should get to an ER right away, as it could be very bad. The organo-phosphates range from compounds like Malathion, which has relatively low toxicity, to Sarin and other nerve agents, which can kill you very quickly. Well, I was feeling quite a bit better, so I didn't go, and I'm feeling fine now.

Pretty scary, though. Sad thing is, there is absolutely no info on the container showing any company info at all. Obviously an import that slipped past any kind of regulation. Tomorrow I'm going to the store where I bought the stuff and letting them know they poisoned me.

[ezra76]

Tell them you'd like to tea bag them in return for the poisoning and all will be forgiven. That is pretty weird though. I breathed something strange in the other day at work and upon snorting and clearing throat to spit I got a nasty, nasty taste, sort of bitter, like biting into an acorn. I almost puked and had to gargle and spit some water. I actually snorted some water up my nose to clean everything out. That's pretty scary though, you never know I guess.

[tn-golfnut-from-nj]

I never trusted that health food crap.
That shit will kill you.

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by tn-golfnut-from-nj

I never trusted that health food crap.
That shit will kill you.

I'm definitely back to coffee, cream, and sugar. At least that stuff will kill you slowly.

[Release]

It's very possible and most likely that you're right on about the impurity of the tea.
There is a slight chance that you were O.D. on caffeine. A cup of brewed tea depending on the amount and type of the tea, could be 3-10 time as strong as espresso.
Hope you get beter soon.

[warbirdlover]

Probably came from Viet Nam and they used "agent orange" on it...

[zaphod]

If an organo-phoshate (insecticide) is suspected there is a simple blood test to prove or disprove ingestion. Pseudo Cholinesterase (PCHE) is an enzyme found in blood serum and its level will be depressed with OP poisoning. It's a routine test many pesticide applicators monitor. Most hospital labs are able to do this test.

Just involves taking a tube of blood. Now you will feel a slight poke. You know the routine. In my former life I was a Medical Technologist (vampire--bench technician--taught--did research all at UW-Madison).

Anyway OP insecticides are powerful neurotoxins. That's a Mr. Yuck. BTW caffeine and nicotine are also classified as neurotoxins too.

Hope all is well.

[mont86]

Thats enough to scare the crap out of anybody.....Eracer, by the way
do you have a will?

[MCDavis]

Originally Posted by zaphod

Now you will feel a slight poke. You know the routine.

I'm sure Eracer knows the "slight poke" routine!

Glad to hear you're ok and didn't require an ER visit, my friend.

[JEFF4i]

Sounds fun!

[5iron]

Wow man, glad to hear your alright. You should tell the people that sold you that tea that is unsafe, just incase what happens to you happens to someone else.

[Rockford35]

On Friday, I went out with the guys from work for some beers. I had two pints of my favorite brew, then came home with intentions of getting some stuff done around the house.

30 minutes after getting home, I'm puking my guts out into the toilet. I feel really, really shitty, so I decide to just soak myself in the shower. 3 minutes into the shower, I feel this inner disgust coming from my lower gut, and realize I have zero chance of making it out of the shower, so I lower my backside to the bottom of the tub and let 'er buck. Right there in the shower.

I can tell you, this is not my idea of fun. I am in serious, serious agony here. I'm literally on tap out of my anus. I've never had this happen to me in my life. The last time I threw up for any reason, I was 14, and i've had my share of diarreha like anyone else, but NOTHING like this.

After 6 more hours of sweating my ass off and in complete discomfort, I fall sleep. I wake up 10 hours later feeling great.

WTF is that all about?

All jokes aside, that was the strangest most helpless feeling I have ever had. It's like my body would not listen to the instructions my brain was giving it. I don't ever want to feel that again or wish it on anyone.

R35

[Eracer]

Sounds like you were poisoned as well. That sucks. Some of the sysmptoms of OP poisoning (this is what I read - perhaps Zaphod can chime in here) are rapid onset of nausea, vomiting, and sometimes fecal incontinence. Profuse sweating is another symptom. Thank God I didn't experience the diarrhea - sorry you did.

Here's an informative - and pretty scary - link.

eMedicine - Toxicity, Organophosphate : Article by Kenneth D Katz, MD, FAAEM, ABMT

[Rockford35]

So crazy tho. I called a guy that was drinking the beer I was, he was fine. No signs of it at all.

I once had an onset of some diarreha that was literally arching into the toilet as I was sitting on the can. That was scary.

This was a nightmare by comparison.

R35

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by Rockford35

So crazy tho. I called a guy that was drinking the beer I was, he was fine. No signs of it at all.

I once had an onset of some diarreha that was literally arching into the toilet as I was sitting on the can. That was scary.

This was a nightmare by comparison.

R35

Did you do a background check on the wife before you married her?