Severe Reaction to Cereal - Lucky Charms, Chicago Illinois

102 West Division Street, Chicago, 60610 Illinois, United States

I purchased a box of Lucky Charms on 04/04/2022. I rarely every purchase this cereal - maybe once or twice per year.

On 04/06/2022, I had a large serving of the cereal, consuming about 3 cups around 11AM. I had been snacking on the dry cereal for a bit, mainly the marshmallows. This was the only food I had eaten that day. During the early afternoon of 04/06 (around 3PM), I started feeling very unwell which started with stomach cramps, then nausea. I ate an apple/drank water and tried to lay down. From here, things got much worse - about 10 minutes later, my sickness started with vomiting and diarrhea. I could not keep anything down, including water/ice chips. That night I woke up almost every hour and was sleeping in my bathroom. Taking so much as a sip of water would cause me to vomit.

The next morning, I woke up feeling miserable and extremely dehydrated. I also had a low-grade fever, presumably from the dehydration (at this point, I was still unable to keep down any liquids). Fever persisted most of the day, subsided with Tylenol then my fever returned in the afternoon. By the evening of 04/07, I was finally able to keep down water and bites of saltine crackers.

Morning of 04/08 I was feeling better but still had diarrhea/cramping. Was able to keep down some rice in the afternoon. Then continued limiting my due to neutral foods (rice, banana, vegetable broth).

I remained sick for 3 days, with a fever persistent for ~2 days. Between 04/06 - 04/07, I was basically unable to keep any food or liquids down. I have never felt so sick in my entire life and 100% believe eating lucky charms was to blame. This was worse than any flu I’ve ever had and I will never go near that cereal (or any General Mills cereal for that matter) with a 10 foot pole. | Symptoms: Nausea, Diarrhea, Vomiting, Fever, Cramps, Dehydration