Nausea and Vomiting

Nausea and Vomiting

Signs and Symptoms

 

Nausea and vomiting are sometimes accompanied by one of the following:

1. Abdominal cramps or pain.

2. Diarrhea.

3. Fever, weakness, and fatigue.

4. Headache.

5. Loss of appetite.

What to do now

 

If you think might have severe food poisoning or chemical poisoning:

1. Trained specialists can help you determine the possible source and whether you need a medical treatment.

2. If you have mild vomiting and diarrhea:

1. Don’t take any antinausea or antidiarrhea medication for 24 hours after your symptoms develop, unless a doctor recommends it. Vomiting and diarrhea are the body’s way of expelling whatever irritant or infectious agent may be causing the problem. (Medication may be necessary for children, who become dehydrated more quickly.)

2. Once you can keep fluid in your stomach, drink clear liquids for about the next 12 hours. Then, for a full day, eat bland foods-such as rice, baked potatoes, and clear soups - if your stomach can tolerate them.

3. Get plenty of rest until symptoms are gone. Because you can lose lots of fluid from repeated vomiting. Dehydration is a potential danger, especially in children and other adults. Symptoms include dry mouth, sticky saliva, dizziness or weakness or weakness, dark yellow urine, and sometimes excessive thirst.

4. If you cannot keep liquids down and are becoming severely dehydrated, you will need to go to a hospital for intravenous fluid replacement.

When to call a doctor

 

1. If, along with vomiting and abdominal pain, you experience blurred vision, muscle weakness, difficulty speaking or swallowing, or muscle paralysis. These may be signs of botulism, a rare but sometimes fatal type of bacterial food poisoning.

2. If you have symptoms of chemical food poisoning-vomiting,  diarrhea, sweating dizziness, excessively tear eyes, great amounts of saliva mental confusion, and stomach pain- about 30 minutes after eating. This is often caused by pesticides or by eating food kept in tainted containers, and can be life-threatening.

3.If you vomit blood or anything that looks like coffee grounds.

4. If you have bloody or tarry stools; this can signal internal bleeding.

5. If you have intense pain or swelling in the abdomen, rectum, or anus; you may have a serious abdominal disorder.

6. If you develop signs of dehydration-dry mouth, sticky saliva, dizziness or weakness, dark yellow urine, and sometimes, excessive thirst. Dehydration is extremely serious in infants.

7. If you symptoms recur after treatment; you may have an  underlying problem such as an intestinal parasite.

8. If your vomiting and diarrhea are severe and last longer than two or three days.

9. If you have a fever of 101.05 or higher.

How to prevent it

 

To avoid catching viral stomach flu:

1. Wash your hands frequently.

2. Keep your immune system strong with plenty of rest, exercise, and a healthy diet.

To prevent food poisoning:

1. Don’t defrost frozen meat at room temperature. let meat melt in the refrigerator, or defrost it quickly in a microwave oven and cook it immediately. Be sure that frozen food (especially poultry) is completely defrosted before cooking, so that it will cook all the way through and any bacterial will be killed.

2. Outside your house, be especially careful not to eat moist foods that have been out in the sun long enough to become warm. Avoid uncooked, marinated food a raw meat fish, or eggs. Cook all such food well.

3. Using soap and hot water, carefully wash your hands and any countertops, cutting boards, and utensils touched by uncooked meat fish, and poultry.

4. Refrigerate perishable items immediately. Set your refrigerator at 37 degrees, and never eat diary products or cooked meat if they have been out of a refrigerator more than two hours.

5. Be sure that all members of your household wash their hands with soap and water after using the toilet and before preparing food or eating.

6. Don’t eat any food that looks or smells spoiled, or any food in bulging cans or cracked jars-a signal that the contents have gone bad.

7. Don’t eat wild berries, mushrooms, or other plants unless you are sure of what they are.

Posted in: Health Tips