Reagan Spends Bad Night With Upset Stomach

President Reagan said today he felt “pretty good” even though he stayed up half the night nauseated and vomiting apparently because he ate “something that disagreed with me.”

The President waited until dawn to call his doctor, who later issued a statement through White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater pronouncing Reagan “in good health” with no other signs of illness.

After sleeping in and canceling plans to attend the funeral of longtime aide Edward Hickey, Reagan went ahead with a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita (Story, Page 2) and said: “I’m looking forward to lunch. I feel pretty good.

Looked Slightly Drawn

“Evidently I ate something that disagreed with me,” he said, but when asked what it was, he said, “That’s what I don’t know.

“The doctors think maybe something is going around, but I have a hard time believing that because everything else seems so normal,” said Reagan, who will be 77 next month. He spoke in a soft voice and looked slightly drawn.

Later, the White House announced that Reagan will undergo a routine six-month cancer check on Friday at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Fitzwater said the examination was scheduled before this morning’s episode of “mild gastroenteritis.”

Inflammation of Stomach

Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the stomach lining and intestines that accompanies many diseases. It may be caused by bacteria, virus, chemicals or certain chronic conditions. Symptoms are loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Dr. Michael Field at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York said the ailment the President suffered was not any more dangerous because of Reagan’s colon cancer surgery in July, 1985--in which about two feet of his intenstine was removed.

“The condition would be worse in someone who lost part of their bowel. But from what I understand, (the President) lost very little (in the surgery),” Field said. “I don’t believe it would be any worse for him since he lost so little. That shouldn’t be a problem.”