Ever had MILD food poisoning

[kally]

Last Sunday night I got stomach pains (not awful, just enough) It has gone on now until Friday. The pains are just like a mild stomach ache, but they don't quit.

I am hungry, and I am eating and doing regular stuff, but just a bad tummy.

Went to my dr. and she suggested it is mild food poisoning. She ruled out the deadly things like appendix, gall bladder etc.

Ever had this yourself?

[janharker]

I have. Shouldn't last more than a week. Bowel movements may change in nature/timing. Try drinking, as fast as you can because it's awful, 1 Tablespoon epsom salts in 8 oz. of water. Then rinse your mouth. In about 45 minutes your bowels will empty, so don't do this unless you're at home near a toilet. But you'll wash out your system and maybe flush the nasty bugs away.

Also, ginger ale through the day to calm your stomach.

[Bastelmutti]

I am a food poisoning magnet and have had everything from mild to severe. It never lasted that long, though. Whenever I go to the doc w/ something mysterious like this, the docs always tell me it's a virus. Hope you feel better soon.

[H-work]

I second ginger ale, but make sure you get some with real ginger. A lot of the cheaper ones use "ginger flavor."

[kally]

Maybe time maybe lemons, but the food poisoning has passed, thank god. Last night I reamed out 2 complete lemons and added a bunch of sugar, but no water and drank that. Maybe that killed the bug or something, but I feel so good now I am dancing.

[Zoebird]

glad the lemons worked. :)

here are two herbals that might help:

1. mint tea -- either wash home-grown mint and put it into a tea pot and pour boiled water over it and let it steep for 10 minutes or use Traditional Medicinals Eaters Digest.

2. ginger cordial for all kinds of ills.

take fresh ginger and cut it into rounds ('bruising' it as you put it into the pot). add 4 cups of water and bring it to a boil, then let it simmer until it is a consistent, golden-brown color. pour it into a large jar, and add 2 cups of raw honey (we use manuka, because it's here. but pretty much any good honey will do). Use a dry measure for the honey. I often cut the honey, too, btw -- down to about 1 cup of honey, but hey. :) dissolve the honey in the hot ginger, and then -- if you wish -- you can put it in nicer bottles for storing.

if you can those bottles (seal), then it will keep for a fair good while in a cupboard. But, we use it a fair bit, so it lasts about a week in the fridge.

Anyway, after you make the cordial, you can use it lots of ways, but these are our favorite two.

1. cold -- add sparkling (fizzy) water to one shot of cordial (ice it if you want).
2. hot -- add a slice of lemon to the bottom of a tea cup, then add a shot of the cordial, then boiling water.

both ways are really delicious. the hot version is known to be a strong immune booster; the cold is an excellent digestive.

you can also use the cordial to make all natural soda, assuming you make the soda starter (takes a week), and then you add water plus soda starter and let it ferment for a bit (if you're using honey, it takes longer to ferment than using sugar). that makes an even better digestive than simply adding fizzy water, but that's a whole other conversation. :)

[catherine]

One of my most horrendous life experiences was having food poisoning on a trans-Continental flight from San Francisco to Newark Airport. I spent 5 hours in the airplane bathroom--no joke. Crowded flight, people banging on the door, me an absolute MESS and the flight attendants treating me like a leper.

Food poisoning is not fun.

ETA: Kally, sorry, my post was all about me--as far as you are concerned, I'm glad you're feeling better.. but in the future, I'd revisit the doctor if it goes on a few days--I'm not sure food poisoning lasts a week. That seems too long! But happy to hear you're dancing!

[kally]

well technically it was Sunday night to Thursday night, so 5 days.

[Zoebird]

I had the worst in africa. 24 hrs, coming out of both ends, rushing to the bathroom every 1.5 hrs. slept in between. it was. . .interesting.

[Jemima]

I'm especially sensitive to food poisoning, but I've never had it last five days. What did last five days and then some was intolerance to gluten. I had chronic stomach pain, bloating, and alternating constipation and diarrhea. It was off and on, probably depending on what I was eating. Then I read a book about gluten intolerance, recognized the symptoms, and within three days of cutting all wheat, barley and rye from my diet the problems stopped and have never come back.

[Simpler at Fifty]

Last Sunday night I got stomach pains (not awful, just enough) It has gone on now until Friday. The pains are just like a mild stomach ache, but they don't quit.

I am hungry, and I am eating and doing regular stuff, but just a bad tummy.

Went to my dr. and she suggested it is mild food poisoning. She ruled out the deadly things like appendix, gall bladder etc.

Ever had this yourself?

Has your gallbladder been removed? DH had a stomache off and on for years. He had a CT Scan when he had an ileus and they noted a gallstone. A year later he had his GB removed and the stone was the size of an egg. All those years he suffered and could have been pain free. His stomaches would last about a week each time. Several times a year then more frequently until it was daily.

[kally]

Thanks I will watch for something like this. Now I feel fine and I will see if any diet triggers it again. Thanks for the heads up.

I'm especially sensitive to food poisoning, but I've never had it last five days. What did last five days and then some was intolerance to gluten. I had chronic stomach pain, bloating, and alternating constipation and diarrhea. It was off and on, probably depending on what I was eating. Then I read a book about gluten intolerance, recognized the symptoms, and within three days of cutting all wheat, barley and rye from my diet the problems stopped and have never come back.