Turns out, taking a chance on those leftover chicken salad sandwichesthat had been sitting out on the free table at work all day wasnt such a greatidea.
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Now youre home with dreaded food poisoning, splitting timebetween the couch and the bathroom.
While we think of food poisoning, or foodborne illness, as one thing, its actually a broad term that encompasses more than 250 kinds of disease-causing germs, including Salmonella, E. coli and rotavirus. And those germs can cause varying degrees of nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, depending on a number of factors.
Gastroenterologist Christine Lee, MD, answers some commonly asked questions about how to get through a bout of food poisoning.
A: You get foodpoisoning from eating or drinking food that is contaminated with pathogenicviruses, bacteria, toxins, parasites or toxic chemicals. It doesnt always comefrom rotten or spoiled food. It could come from perfectly good food that wasjust improperly handled or cooked.
A: It depends on what the culprit is, how much was consumed and a persons individual immune system. For example, common food poisoning like Bacillus cereus can set in within 6 to 16 hours. But there are some foodborne illnesses that are latent, meaning they have to reproduce in your system and get into a large load. Hepatitis A virus, for example, can take 15 to 50 days to present.
But in general, most common types take 4 to 24 hours to set in.
A: That alsodepends on the individual. In general, 1 to 10 days, but it can be longer insome circumstances.
A: Yes,viralorbacterial food poisoningcan sometimes produce fever.
A: Its best to stick to a BRAT diet. That would be things like bread, rice, rice pudding, applesauce, toast and bananas. Something bland. Or chicken noodle soup.
You want to stay away fromfood that is more challenging for your digestive track to digest, like greasy,fried or spicy foods.
You want to drink lots offluids, and not just water. Water is isotonic. If youre ill and youre losinga lot of water through diarrhea, or if you have a fever and youre sweating,the best replenishment isnt exactly water. It really should be a not-isotonicfluid. That would be something with salt, sugar or electrolytes in it, likeGatorade, broth, ginger ale or juice. When you consume that kind of fluid, youtend to keep it in your body its less likely to just run off or go straightto your kidneys where youll urinate it out or you have diarrhea output.
Consult your physicianif you have a medical condition that limits yoursodium consumption, such asheart, liver or kidney disease.
A: Bismuth subsalicylate (PeptoBismol) is generally fine to take. It has soothing and anti-inflammatory effects. But be aware that it will turn your stool toblack due to the bismuth. (This is normal but can be alarming if youre not expecting it!)
I would not recommend taking something like loperamide (Imodium) to stop diarrhea, as its better to expel the toxin out of your system rather than keeping it in.
A: Formost of us with healthy immune systems, we can usually recover from foodpoisoning on our own. As long as youre able to keep food or liquids down, thenyou can try to hydrate at home and let it run its course.
But if your nausea is sosevere that youre unable to keep any fluids down, you need to seek medicalhelp. IV fluids can be administered for hydration and to replete lostelectrolytes. You should also see a doctor if you develop a high fever, bloodydiarrhea or extreme pain.
For people who are on immunomodulatingdrugs or medications that suppress the immune system, or who have medicalconditions that suppress the immune system, I recommend seeking immediatemedical attention.
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Food Poisoning: How Long It Lasts + What to Do When You've Eaten Something Bad - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic
