Abdominal Cramps, Sweating, Vomiting, Diarrhea & Figs

[Shaft]

The title pretty much says it all. This is a question about your worst experiences with figs, and maybe some home remedies or precautions you take to avoid such a fate. This question is inspired by today's adventure...

On the weekends, I'm a delivery driver. On the weekdays, I'm a stay-at-home dad. Today (Monday) I had a dentist appointment so I figured I would bring a ladder, like most normal people do for their dentists. On the way home, I stopped at different fig trees that I had spotted during the course of my deliveries, obtaining permission where necessary in advance and then again (if possible) today. Some of these trees are between twenty and forty feet in the air, so I made sure to bring the extension ladder.

At the very first tree, I am stung by an angry wasp. Not deterred, we move on to the next trees in our series. A few cardboard boxes FILLED with figs later, not to mention a belly full as I picked, and I go to the post office to mail today's fig tree shipment. Mind you, it's a warm and humid day, and all I've had to drink is 1/3 of a Bang energy drink. No water, nothing. My stomach begins cramping at the post office, and mind you this usually takes me around an hour (I use an outlet called POSTAL ANNEX where they do all of my boxing for me. It's much nicer than I could do myself, and my customers appreciate it). I've brought a box of figs in for everyone, employees and customers alike, to enjoy but now the smell is making me sick. The figs I'd enjoyed so much earlier were feeling like rocks in my stomach. Things were not going to be pretty, I did not make it home. Instead I stopped at a local grocery store chain and sweated in their bathroom for about 20 minutes. By the time I get home, I'm almost doubled over. I spend the next 5-6 hours in there, only thinking to get gatorade for electrolytes about 3 hours in. A gatorade and a pack of nabs later, I feel like a new man, but I'm still not sure I ever want to eat a fig again. =(

[JT1923]

Oh man, that sounds miserable. Too much of a good thing! I hope you're recovered.

[RosyPosy]

Well. It did what fruit does— clean a person out. 😖 Think of all the toxins & junk that have been evacuated from your body! The back up & poisons are gone. Continue eating good fruit, stay away from the junk foods, and you’ll be like a new man with shiny, clean insides! ✨🛁✨

(It is the worst though the clean out begins while you’re out. 😳 Emergency bathroom stops are NOT cool! 😬)

...Might be better to start slowly & eat a little less. But, I bet it was great fun in the moment of getting them!

[Shaft]

It was great fun, but here's the thing. I almost exclusively eat fruit. Junk food isn't even allowed in my house, so I really don't think this is what was occurring. I'm hoping to figure out exactly what happened, but I suspect it's a combination of heat exhaustion, too many figs (and the digestive issues they're known for like bloating), and the wasp attack. My buddy just went into overload? IDK my buddy insists I ate a bad fig. IDK if that's possible so I made this thread.

[RosyPosy]

Shaft Do you have a latex/rubber allergy? Unripe figs have latex, and if you somehow ingested that your body may have over reacted. Though being in heat can also mess up your stomach. Sometimes stuff we ate in the days prior, even if healthy, with a lot of fruit on top just doesn’t go well together. It’s hard to say because there are so many possible contamination issues, whether something was sprayed on the figs, or even the drink and other food you had.

I was just making light of eating well and cleaning out, have too many jokesters in my family. But hopefully it was just a one off thing for whatever reason.

[Shaft]

RosyPosy nah I basically bathe in the latex. Climbing that tree, I was coated in it. Not my first tree climb for figs. I've never had this happen before. I've also eaten wayyyyy underipe figs with no ill effects. Won't do that again, but I've done it... I'm not the brightest Crayola in the box, my friend.

[Ktrain]

Sheesh....what an adventure.

Glad you are feeling better.

[LadyGT]

I noticed to be sure to eat completely ripe figs. Do not eat any part that has the latex seeping out like the neck area. I noticed that when I did, I would get chest pains. I have heart problems so I am more intune with my body whenever something changes.

[Shaft]

Cool, I will keep that in mind. My friend thinks I ate a spoiled one, but every one I got was nice and soft and super sweet and decadent. Under-ripe wasn't much of an issue since I got about 15 pounds of figs, I left anything that wasn't perfect.

[Vitooch1]

Talk about the figfever, Damn!! How many figs did you eat that day? Maybe, you ate the bad one ☝🏽. Well, at least you detoxified 😆 hope you’ve recovered pal.

[Shaft]

yeah I have no idea lol. I'd guess around 20-50. I'm used to gorging myself on fruit, like peaches, plums, other high fiber things too. I really don't know what happened to me

[davej]

HarveyC has occasionally mentioned being sick from eating a spoiled fig. Or maybe your stomach just could not handle so much fruit?

[Shaft]

Anything is definitely possible. But I eat a mostly fruit diet so I don't think so? I would love to hear what Harvey has to say. I haven't met him, could you tag him in this for me?

[Realtorbyday]

Do you think you may have eaten figs that had been sprayed with some kind of noxious chemicals? They're just hosing chem everywhere these days on public and commercial lands, parks, wild lands and similar areas. Think about all those fires and the chem they're using to fight them. I wonder how that impacts the landscape longterm?

[Shaft]

Yeah I've considered that too. Two of the trees are in high traffic areas, so it's possible, but I'd already eaten from these two trees with no ill effects. The one tree in question might be an issue is a residential one near the side of someone's house. Luckily I'm nowhere near the fires, but chemicals are chemicals and maybe they're spraying something else.

[Realtorbyday]

They periodically go through with herbicides and mosquito spray in a lot of places at different times of the year. I guess you'll have to be extra careful from now on. I hope you figure it out.

[Shaft]

Realtorbyday thanks a ton!

[TNJed]

Cut out the Bang energy my man! Iced coffee is the way to go…

[Shaft]

Haha I love both. Either way caffeine is a diuretic and I think I may have dehydreated myself along with heat exhaustion, fig bloating and a wasp bite. I think it was a conglomeration of effects but I wanted to know if anyone else had similar experiences.

[Drfig]

Bro, you got food poisoning. Did you wash the figs, I know this sometimes screws up the taste, but if landscapers etc or the person him/herself may be putting things to prevent weeds etc.
wash em
as my wife would say when I do a poor job washing things from the grocery or the farmers market. "you know they pee in the fields instead of leaving to go to the bathroom"

[Shaft]

You could be right, but I've had food poisoning before. Cooks put weird things in our bodies. You are right though, I definitely didn't wash a single fig. I have a habit of not washing my harvests at home, too, especially when it's been raining a lot like it has been.

[PBfigs]

Shaft I wonder if you are hypersensitive to fructose, the sugar in fruits, or you don’t absorb it properly.
“In people with fructose malabsorption, the cells of the intestine cannot absorb fructosenormally, leading to bloating, diarrhea or constipation, flatulence, and stomach pain. Fructose malabsorption is thought to affect approximately 40 percent of individuals in the Western hemisphere; its cause is unknown.
Next time, don’t eat so many. You won’t suffer as much and your dental visits will be better too.

[jrdewhirst]

Shaft -- Do you have any problem with other sources of fructose -- other fruits? Sodas that are sweetened with HFCS? Honey?

Possibly are you allergic to latex?

[Shaft]

jrdewhirst

Nah I mostly eat peaches, kiwi, mangoes, plums, bananas, all kinds of fruit. It's maybe 50% or more of my diet. HFCS has never bothered me, I used to drink a ton of them (not any more). As far as the latex, I have basically bathed in the fig latex as I harvested. Never had an adverse reaction or even tingling or burning skin.

[cvarcher]

I get that when I use to eat at Chipotles . I dont eat there anymore

[Realtorbyday]

good decision!

[Halligan-]

Nothing like Caffeine and laxatives(figs) to make a great story😂😂.

Glad you recovered!

[Shaft]

Add in heat and humidity, not sweating in a 30 foot tree, and yeah I think you just hit the nail on the head. The wasp bite didn't help either.Just imagine Halligan- if I had drunk the 5 hour energy I'd purchased for that day, as well. (I forgot it at home)

[arachyd]

Always wash fruit before eating unless you don't eat the skin. Some of the nastiest germs and parasites that can do some real harm are found in bird poop.

[Shaft]

Heard and understood.

[MyDogMike]

Are you sure you didn’t eat at Taco Bell?

[Shaft]

Not in the last decade :-) I didn't even have this happen when I did eat there 3x a week back in my late teens.

[don_sanders]

Moderation. 50 figs is way too much to eat especially on an empty stomach and no liquids. That's probably roughly 50 grams of nothing but fiber, lol.

Don't eat under ripe or over ripe figs, eat with something else, and drink plenty of cold water...and don't eat so damn many at one time.

Gas/bloating, stomach aches, diarrhea, allergic reactions, light sensitivity, reduced calcium absorption, rectal and vaginal bleeding, liver/kidney/gallbladder complications are all touted as possible issues with figs. Results may vary.

[Shaft]

I appreciate that but I have to say, if I start having vaginal bleeding, I'm going to the doctor right away!

[Wisner]

Too much of a good thing. I had an old Aunt who had to go to the hospital from eating too many figs at one time. She loved figs and over did it. Your lack of hydration, wasp sting and heat didn't help your situation either.

[Shaft]

Thanks. This was kind of my synopsis as well. Do you think it's coincidence that fluids and cheese crackers with peanutbutter (nabs) made me feel better? That to me made me think dehydration instead of figs, but Don just pointed out I was on an empty stomach with no fluids, so maybe eating and drinking helps with figs not just dehydration

[Anaba1030]

Figs are very high in potassium and seeing how you ate 20 to 50 in a short time it can really mess up your system. Too much of a good thing....

[Anaba1030]

Heres a link https://my.clevelandclinic.org/healt...lood-potassium

[Shaft]

Thanks, I'm packing for fig festival in Ocracoke but I'll make sure to read it through ASAP! I hear that town closes up early at night so I should have plenty of opportunities to read