This California woman was on a roll.
Danielle Shapiro, 24, wanted to get her money’s worth at a $50 all-you-can-eat sushi buffet at Sushi 85 restaurant in Mountain View, California, last month.
But after indulging a little too much, including 32 rolls of sushi, her uncooked delights left her feeling a bit raw inside.
Following the binge, Shapiro was rushed to the emergency room with severe stomach pains. That’s where she was diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease, commonly known as acid reflux.
Shapiro shared the experience in a TikTok on Dec. 23, in which she shows off the mountains of food she consumed in one sitting, and the subsequent trip to the hospital that left her with IVs in her arms.
Her warning to sushi lovers has since gone viral with over 11.3 million views.
“All you can eat sushi gone wrong… ,” she captioned her snap. In a video shared on Dec. 22, she went into greater detail about her experience.
“I am a huge fan of sushi. I like to eat it a couple times a month if I’m lucky,” said Shapiro, adding that she had planned a trip to dine on Japanese fare with her friend. “We were both looking forward to the ‘all-you-can-eat sushi experience.’”
“Our dinner was about two hours long because we were so stuffed we had to keep taking breaks,” she added. She started off with miso soup, four gyozas and jalapeño poppers. She then moved on to eight green dragon rolls, eight snow rolls, eight California rolls, eight wakame rolls and a helping of edamame.
Shapiro then revealed what went down after her monstrous meal. “Immediately after dinner we were so full we had to sit in my car for about 30 minutes before driving home,” she said. “My stomach felt very firm from all the sushi and probably the rice that expanded in my stomach.”
She went to her partner’s house to try to sleep it off. “That night I went to sleep at my boyfriend’s house and I had the worst stomach ache but didn’t think much of it since I had a huge meal! I am not a morning person so when I woke up around 6am the next day I knew something was wrong,” she said.
She added, “My stomach and chest had intense pain and it was hard to take deep breaths.” Her boyfriend and her grandmother reportedly drove her to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with acid reflux and given medication to alleviate her pain.
People experience acid reflux when stomach acid flows back up to the esophagus, according to the Mayo Clinic. Acid reflux is extremely common, and can happen to virtually anyone, as about 60 million Americans experience symptoms in any given month, while researchers estimate about 20% of people in the US suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Symptoms include heartburn, chest pain, regurgitation of food or sour liquid and difficulty swallowing.
Following treatment, Shapiro admitted it took several days to recover and feel normal again.
Despite her trauma, she won’t quit her favorite dish. “I will definitely eat sushi again! This experience has not ruined sushi for me, or the all-you-can-eat sushi experience. I did learn that next time I need to listen to my body and take things slower,” she concluded.
