Food poisoning occurs when harmful bacteria or toxins enter the body from eating improperly processed or prepared food. Symptoms of food poisoning can include upset stomach, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and cramps that appear within an hour or several weeks after eating the bad food. For most people, food poisoning goes away on its own within a few days. However, infants, pregnant women and the elderly should be especially careful to avoid poisoning, as it can cause permanent harm to the body. If you know how to treat food poisoning, you can minimize discomfort and get back on your feet as quickly as possible.
Steps
Stick to a diet
- If you are vomiting severely, call immediately ambulance by calling 103 (from a mobile phone) or 03 (from a landline phone). You may be taken to the hospital to receive IV fluids.
- Drink water, tea or juice. Also drink broth or eat soup - this good way restore the required amount of fluid in the body.
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Consume rehydration solution. It is a powder that is dissolved in water and drunk, allowing you to replenish the minerals and nutrients your body loses through vomiting and diarrhea. Typically, rehydration solutions can be purchased at pharmacies.
Eat soft foods. After you are hungry and the nausea has subsided a little, eat bananas, rice, applesauce and toast. These foods will help calm your stomach and won't cause nausea or vomiting.
Avoid dairy products for a few days. As your body fights the poisoning, your digestive system will not tolerate lactose for some time. Because of this, consuming any dairy products (butter, milk, cheese, yogurt) will lead to further complications. Do not use them until you are completely cured.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol. Because of them, your condition can only worsen. Caffeine and alcohol are diuretics, which means you'll need to go to the bathroom more often, which can lead to dehydration. Along with frequent vomiting and diarrhea, decreased fluid levels in the body can lead to serious problems.
Folk remedies
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Drink barley or rice water. This is useful for restoring digestion. Decoctions will also help maintain the required level of fluid in your body.
Consume probiotics. Yogurt is a good source of probiotics, which will help restore bacterial balance in the body. It has been scientifically proven that consuming yogurt and fenugreek seeds together can help relieve nausea and vomiting.
Take some apple cider vinegar, which has antimicrobial properties. To do this, add two tablespoons of vinegar to a cup of hot water and drink before meals.
Some herbs have antimicrobial properties and may help relieve symptoms of food poisoning. Drink basil juice or add a few drops of basil oil to water. You can eat cumin seeds or make a decoction based on them.
- Thyme, rosemary, coriander, sage, mint and dill are herbs with antibacterial properties (although this has not been scientifically proven).
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Soothe your stomach with honey and ginger. Honey has antimicrobial properties and helps control stomach acid levels, while ginger helps reduce stomach pain and restore digestion. Brew yourself tea with ginger root and honey.
Have a rest
- If you handle food and experience symptoms of food poisoning while working, notify your supervisor immediately and leave the food preparation area. Don't take food when we're talking about about food poisoning.
Don't go to work if you have food poisoning. Give your body enough time to recover before returning to work (usually 48 hours after symptoms have resolved).
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Get more rest. You'll likely feel sluggish as your body tries to flush out toxins. It is recommended to get as much rest as possible to allow your body to use energy to recover. Get more sleep so you don't become overtired.
- Avoid strenuous activities to avoid injury.
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Don't overload your stomach. Avoid heavy and spicy foods for several days. Your body needs to detoxify itself, so don't eat too much in the first one to two days after food poisoning symptoms appear. Don't overload your stomach for a couple of days.
- Drink more liquids and broths, and also eat soups. Wait a few hours after nausea or vomiting before eating.
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Wash your hands often. If you have vomiting or diarrhea, wash your hands frequently to prevent the spread of germs. Do not share towels or prepare food for other people.
- It is recommended to keep disposable cleaning wipes in the bathroom. After using the bathroom, wipe down surfaces you have touched.
Drink plenty of fluids. Vomiting and diarrhea lead to rapid removal of fluid from the body, and as a result, dehydration occurs. Drink as much fluid as possible and you will restore the amount of water in your body. If you find it difficult to drink, take many small sips.
Warnings
Article information
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Every person wants to feel happy and healthy. This is a natural desire. Different people put their own spin on these concepts. Undoubtedly, adequate nutrition is an integral part of good health and well-being. But, no matter how paradoxical it may sound, it is precisely this, in some cases, that becomes the cause of a real disaster, exposing the one who experiences it, and even his life, to serious danger. Today I would like to look at what food poisoning is and what to do at home. On the eve of the holidays, when there is an abundance of food on our tables, various incidents happen. And most people have gone through this one way or another. But some survived it with barely noticeable symptoms, while others suffered the poisoning extremely hard.
The fact is that each individual organism can react to poisoning purely individually.
In addition, its degree is also always different. So, what do you need to know about this, how to prevent food poisoning (prevention), what to do when it has already happened, and so on. It will be interesting, and also extremely useful, since this knowledge may well be useful to you in practice!
Food poisoning in an adult - symptoms
It is not just an unpleasant “incident”, but also very dangerous! Therefore, it is simply necessary to know its signs (symptoms). And don’t forget: they may not appear immediately!
Many people mistakenly believe that food poisoning makes itself felt within 1-2 hours after eating it. This is wrong. More precisely, not quite like that. In the vast majority of cases, the first symptoms begin to bother you no earlier than 5, or even 6, hours later. But it happens, and it’s not so rare that poisoning manifests itself even after a day!
Cases when it becomes bad after 30-60 minutes are also known, but in general quantitative terms there are relatively few of them. As a rule, the fastest poisoning occurs from consuming low-quality dairy products.
Before we tell you how to treat food poisoning at home, let's look at the symptoms.
What directly relates to symptoms:
✔ Pain in the abdominal area in general, and in the stomach area in particular (they can have the character of spasms, colic, pain, aching pain).
✔ Indigestion (“loose stools” with a foul odor, mucus, foam, undigested food particles).
✔ Nausea and vomiting, repeated many times and continuing even when the stomach is completely empty.
✔ Excessive gas formation in the intestines and, as a consequence, increased flatulence compared to normal physiological indicators.
✔ General physical weakness and emotional instability, which manifests itself in irritability, decreased brain activity, sometimes lethargy, and so on.
✔ Disturbance in the functioning of the salivary glands, which is accompanied by very copious secretion of saliva.
✔ Chills alternating with sudden heat and sweating, cold pale extremities.
✔ Increased body temperature (sometimes it can remain stably in the range of 37-37.5 degrees, and sometimes it rises up to 39-40 degrees Celsius).
✔ Increased breathing and heart rate (as a result of an increase in the number of heartbeats per unit of time).
✔ Increased blood pressure (in very rare cases - on the contrary: temporary hypotension).
✔ Headache and other symptoms (since the functions of absolutely any organ can suffer as a result of poisoning).
Food poisoning - what to do at home
In some cases, you can’t hesitate, because how quickly you turn to specialized medical care, not only your health, but also your life depends. This especially applies to those situations where the symptoms are very pronounced, which, first of all, affects well-being. In case of poisoning, in 90% of cases, the more dangerous the condition, the stronger and more expressive its symptoms.
If the poisoning is mild, or proper measures are taken in a timely manner, the condition can be normalized even at home. After this, there is no need to worry, as your well-being will tell you that everything is already behind you.
What can and should be done at home for this:
Emptying the stomach
Empty your stomach of leftover food and stick to the diet for 20-25 hours. Poisoning, by and large, is the intoxication of the body with the products of its vital activity, or the activity of harmful pathogenic microorganisms.
Excess food in the stomach, the digestion of which is also accompanied by the release of a certain amount of toxins, is absolutely useless in case of poisoning. As a rule, poisoning is accompanied by vomiting and a complete lack of appetite. So, you may not need additional measures. But, nevertheless, it may be necessary to induce vomiting (the classic method will help: two fingers in the mouth, only carefully, or a weak solution of potassium permanganate, drunk in one fell swoop).
Sorbents
Sorbents are the saving grace in many cases. These drugs draw in toxic substances like a sponge and neutralize them, facilitating natural elimination, or bind them and help eliminate them unchanged. We will look at which of them are the easiest to use and most effective below. And now we should add that many of them can be combined with drinking. If they come in powder form, they can be dissolved in water and consumed.
Pain reliever for pain
For cramps and abdominal pain, which are frequent accompaniments of poisoning, you can take painkillers. But, if it is possible to do without them, this should undoubtedly be done. After all, any of them, even the safest ones, always increases the load on the liver.
If necessary, taking the drug “No-spa” is practiced. It relieves spasms, inflammation in the stomach and intestines, eliminates pain, and so on. Antipyretic drugs can also be used at high temperatures, but also with extreme caution and strictly according to indications.
Drink plenty of fluids
When a special diet was mentioned above, this is exactly what was meant. Since with diarrhea and vomiting, which are often accompanied by what we are considering pathological condition, rapid dehydration of the body occurs.
This is very dangerous, since all organs can suffer and even fail completely. In addition, the body will not be able to fully resist poisoning and intoxication.
Therefore, drinking plenty of fluids is a must. The ideal product for this is clean, fresh drinking water(the best solvent for poisons and other harmful substances). When the stomach has already been emptied of food, but vomiting still continues, even after drinking water, antiemetic pharmaceutical drugs can help. Just don’t consume them until your stomach is completely empty.
Rest, coolness, fresh air
Rest, fresh cool air, lack of nervous tension. Since the entire body suffers from poisoning, it must be given the opportunity to come to its senses and recover, to prepare for recovery.
So, in addition to drinking plenty of fluids, dieting, and taking medications as indicated, you need to get proper rest, ventilate the room to breathe clean and cool air, and not get nervous. This will also help reduce the severity of symptoms of poisoning and quickly bring the body back into order.
How to treat food poisoning, what sorbents to take?
Treatment must be comprehensive. All this has already been discussed above. But, special attention should be paid to special preparations - sorbents, which will help quickly and safely eliminate even acute intoxication of the body.
The most popular, affordable and, it should be noted, one of the most effective sorbents is activated carbon. Almost everyone has this drug in their medicine cabinet.
The principle of its administration is extremely simple: 1 tablet per 10 kilograms of body weight. That is, if a person weighs, for example, 70 kilograms, then he needs to take 7 tablets of coal at the same time. It is better not to chew it, but to swallow it whole, washing it down with a sufficient amount of water at room temperature. After 12-15 hours, the dose can be repeated.
White coal has a similar effect. But, unlike black, it allows you not only to remove toxins and reduce gas formation, but also to preserve nutrients in the body that have not yet been absorbed by cells. The dosage of white coal is approximately 2 times less than black. Both types of coal, among other things, help to partially get rid of toxins, which helps normalize the activity of the gastrointestinal tract.
Other popular and effective sorbents: “Smecta”, “Lactofiltrum”, “Enterosgel”, “Silicon dioxide”. Very popular recently are the so-called “phytosorbents”, which are produced on the basis of specially selected medicinal herbs, such as: “Modifilan”, “Fitosorbovit”, “Fitosorbin”, “Phytoklin” and others.
For example, Atoxil powder helped me with poisoning. In the summer, my children and I were poisoned, so the whole family took Atoxil.
But, with all due respect to modern drugs, do not forget: the best “remedy” for eliminating intoxication in the body is clean drinking water!
Nutrition (diet) after food poisoning
In the first day and a half after poisoning, it is better not to eat anything, but only resort to frequent, heavy drinking. But, perhaps, if the condition improves, after 12 hours you can add a little lemon juice to the water. Just do not mix it with sorbents. We all know that it is very important that not everything can be consumed. What exactly can you eat and what should you exclude from your diet?
On the third day, introduce lean cereals and boiled vegetables, but not those that lead to fermentation. Oatmeal with water is highly recommended. You can eat mashed potatoes.
Important! It is better to minimize the amount of food, but optimize the volume of liquid consumed.
Dishes should be consumed warm, preferably in a semi-liquid or liquid consistency. Meals are fractional, up to 6 times a day. This diet should be followed for at least 3-4 days.
Among the drinks you can (on the second or third day): rosehip decoction, tea from field chamomile, mint, lemon balm, Indian or Ceylon black tea, dried fruit compote, beetroot or carrot juice (only all this is without sugar!).
Baked apples have a very positive effect on the patient’s condition, chicken breast boiled cabbage, sauerkraut, low-fat soups.
What is strictly prohibited for 7-10 days after poisoning: any types of fish, fatty meat, canned or smoked foods, alcoholic beverages, any sweet desserts and milk, fried and spicy, over-salted. Be careful!
Prevention of food poisoning - warning
It is of great importance, since every person, without exception, is exposed to its risk. Danger is everywhere. To avoid it, and then not have to look for what to do in case of food poisoning at home, follow the simplest, but very important, rules:
✔ Always wash your hands not only before sitting down at the table, but also after visiting the toilet or coming in from outside.
✔ Eliminate from your diet raw eggs, insufficiently thermally processed fish or meat products.
✔ Avoid contact with people currently suffering from acute intestinal infections.
✔ Wash vegetables and fruits very carefully under running water and dry with a clean towel.
✔ Try not to eat canned food.
✔ Observe basic hygiene measures.
✔ Strengthen your immune system.
If preventive measures are followed, and if necessary, timely treatment, the risk of poisoning, as well as serious consequences from them, is minimal! Be healthy!
Most cases of poisoning are caused by the rapid proliferation of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in food products. Poisoning is most often caused by low-quality products that have expired or those that were stored in inappropriate conditions or prepared in violation of sanitary standards.
Poisoning is also often caused by plants collected and consumed through ignorance or carelessness.
Test yourself
The first signs of poisoning may appear half an hour after eating low-quality foods, but most often after 4-6 hours, and sometimes after a day.
Typical symptoms of poisoning: diarrhea (watery, foul-smelling stool with undigested food debris), severe nausea, repeated vomiting.
Also characteristic are weakness, dizziness, fever, chills, heaviness or painful cramps in the stomach, flatulence, and excessive salivation.
Keep in mind
Most often, poisoning is caused by dairy and fermented milk products, cakes and pastries with cream, glazed cheese curds, soft cheese, boiled sausage, pates, eggs, homemade mayonnaise, salads dressed with mayonnaise or sour cream, tomatoes and tomato juice, soybean sprouts.
First aid
At the first signs of food poisoning, the patient’s stomach should be rinsed to empty it. For rinsing, you can use a weak (pale pink) solution of potassium permanganate, filtered through a paper filter or four-layer gauze.
A solution of baking soda (1 teaspoon per 1 liter of boiled water) or table salt (2 level tablespoons per 5 liters of water) is also suitable.The washing solution must be prepared in advance in the amount of 8-10 liters. It must be warm (temperature - 35-37 °C) in order to prevent hypothermia of the body, as well as slow down intestinal motility, which will slow down the movement of toxic substances through the gastrointestinal tract.
At the first dose, you need to drink from 2-3 to 5-6 glasses, and then induce vomiting by irritating the root of the tongue with two fingers.
The washing procedure must be repeated until the flowing water is clean.
We must try to provide the patient with complete rest; if he is shivering, wrap him up warmly.
The first day is better to abstain from food, on the second day you can introduce broth, pureed vegetable soups with rice, mucous decoctions, gradually expanding the menu. Until complete recovery, you should avoid pickled, spicy, salty and smoked foods that irritate the gastric mucosa. The patient is recommended to drink boiled water, weak sweet tea, berry fruit drinks, and jelly. Carbonated drinks are prohibited.
Note
In case of poisoning, enterosorbents are taken. These drugs bind and remove toxins, poisons, germs and bacteria from the body, preventing toxic substances from entering the blood. They help relieve symptoms of poisoning and normalize a person’s condition.
To prevent dehydration caused by vomiting and diarrhea, special saline solutions are used to replenish fluid loss and restore the acid-base balance disturbed due to loss of electrolytes. They are usually produced in the form of powders, which must be diluted in a liter of hot boiled water. The resulting solution in an amount of 10 ml/kg body weight should be drunk after each loose stool in small sips, spreading the portion over an hour.
If diarrhea is accompanied by vomiting, then after each attack of vomiting an additional solution of 10 ml/kg of body weight should be taken.
By the way
In case of poisoning (including food poisoning, but especially with drugs or alcohol), the liver suffers, because it is this organ that has to neutralize toxins and remove them from the body. Hepatoprotective drugs - herbal or containing essential phospholipids - help restore normal liver function.
Also, to improve liver function, dietary supplements containing lecithin, amino acids, antioxidant vitamins A, C, E, selenium and chromium, and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are used.
Go to the doctor!
Most often, the symptoms of poisoning go away on their own within a week; only symptomatic treatment is sufficient. However, in some cases, poisoning is dangerous. Be sure to seek medical help if:
- against the background of intestinal and gastric disorders, the patient experiences severe headache, pain in the kidneys, liver or other internal organs;
- the patient has a high temperature, severe sweating, and a feeling of suffocation;
- a small child or an elderly person has been poisoned;
- there is a suspicion that you have been poisoned by mushrooms;
- Severe vomiting and diarrhea persist for two days;
- symptoms of poisoning last longer than a week.
SOS!
Particularly dangerous are poisonings from home-canned food, in which botulinum toxin has been formed due to improper preparation technologies, causing a serious disease - botulism.
Symptoms: increasing muscle weakness, frequent shallow breathing, dilated pupils, muscle paresis or paralysis, dry mouth, vomiting, loose stools, vision damage, speech impairment, lack of facial expressions, pale skin.
The muscles of the eyes and larynx are affected first, then the respiratory muscles. Botulism can be fatal, so if you suspect it, you should immediately call an ambulance.
Prevention
The best prevention of food poisoning is compliance with hygiene rules when preparing food, proper storage of food and basic vigilance.
Pay attention to the color, smell and taste of food. An unpleasant putrid smell, a sour taste, and a tingling sensation on the tongue should alert you. A sign that the product is spoiled may be a change in its consistency or the appearance of mucus on its surface.
Without regret, throw away moldy foods, spoiled vegetables and fruits, even if only a tiny barrel, swollen cans and bags of juices or dairy products have rotted.
A jar “rolled up” with an iron lid should open with a characteristic pop, indicating that it was sealed hermetically. If there was no cotton, the canned food should not be eaten.
When purchasing, be sure to check the production dates and shelf life of the products, and the integrity of the packaging.
Check your refrigerator regularly.
Do not buy ready-made salads dressed with mayonnaise: they spoil very quickly.Observe the temperature conditions for cooking food.
Wash vegetables and fruits, dishes and cutlery, and hands thoroughly before eating and preparing food.
Before breaking an egg, wash it with soap.
Change kitchen towels and dishwashing sponges more often, because they accumulate pathogenic bacteria.
Get some cutting boards. Greens, vegetables and fruits, cheeses and sausages should not be cut on a board on which raw meat and fish were cut.
Do not store raw meat and fish and prepared foods in the same compartment of the refrigerator.
Don't prepare a lot of food for future use. Prepared foods should not be stored in the refrigerator for longer than three days.
Be picky when choosing food outlets.
| Drugs | |
Remember, self-medication is life-threatening; consult a doctor for advice on the use of any medications.
An unpleasant surprise in the form of poisoning can catch a person anywhere and anytime, especially often in the summer. In most cases, bacteria and viruses that cause poisoning of the body are ingested with food, but there are other sources - objects and things that have been touched by an infected person and through which the pathogens of gastroenteritis are transmitted to a healthy person. In order not to aggravate the situation in case of poisoning, when the first symptoms of poisoning occur, it is necessary to take measures to cleanse the body and alleviate its condition. It is especially important to do this if poisoning occurs in a pregnant woman, child or elderly person. We will learn about what to do in case of poisoning and how to prevent the condition from worsening.
There are two types of poisoning: toxic food poisoning, infectious and non-infectious toxic.
Types of poisoning can be divided into two types: toxic food infectious and non-infectious toxic poisoning. The first type is caused by eating food contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms. Food toxic infection can occur when eating stale food or not following proper hygiene standards. The most common infectious agents are:
- Clostridium botulism or Clostridium perfringens: develops in the body due to poor processing of meat products, as well as chicken and legumes.
- Staphylococcus aureus: actively reproduces in any products, long time stored at room temperature.
- Bacillus cereus: Grows in perishable foods and is also found on rice contaminated with this bacterium long before processing.
The second type of poisoning occurs due to the consumption of food or the ingestion of chemical and natural toxins into the body by other means. These can be poisonous mushrooms and berries, chemicals that enter the body along with poorly washed and processed vegetables and fruits, including nitrates. The group of non-infectious poisoning is also complemented by the intake of methyl alcohol and vinegar. Non-infectious toxic poisoning is the most dangerous, therefore, at the slightest sign of non-infectious poisoning, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Fortunately, the first type is the most common, so you need to know what to do in case of such stomach poisoning.
Symptoms and signs
Symptoms and signs of poisoning The incubation period for exposure to pathogenic microorganisms in humans ranges from 2 to 24 hours. The speed at which symptoms of food poisoning appear depends on the general resistance of the human body to various pathogens, as well as the amount of toxic substances and the type of toxin.
After the incubation period of the infectious agent passes, the following symptoms appear:
- Pain, spasms in the epigastrium, spreading to the intestinal area.
- Nausea, vomiting
- Fever up to 38 degrees, chills. However, the temperature does not always rise.
- Diarrhea, increased gas formation
- Weakness, headache, dizziness
- Rapid heartbeat
- Possible visual impairment
- Excessive salivation
If these symptoms are accompanied by signs of dehydration after assistance measures have been taken, you should urgently call a doctor.
Signs of dehydration include the following:
- Dry mouth
- Dizziness
- Decreased frequency and quantity of urination.
If there are signs of visual impairment, confusion and loss of consciousness, or hallucinations, this indicates infection with salmonellosis or botulism. If such symptoms are observed in combination with an increase in body temperature above 38 degrees, the victim should be immediately taken to the hospital for medical assistance.
H what to do first in case of poisoning?
The victim must take sorbents that will help remove toxic toxins from the body. In case of severe poisoning, as well as in the presence of mild forms of intoxication, it is necessary to take pre-medical measures, which include the following:
- Rinse the stomach using warm boiled water or a weak solution of soda (1 tablespoon of soda per 1.5-2 liters of warm water) or manganese. Rinsing should be done until the fluid leaving the body becomes clear.
- The victim must take sorbents that will help remove toxic toxins from the body, for example, activated carbon or polysorb, smecta, enterosgel. In addition to removing toxins from the body, activated carbon prevents the absorption of toxic substances into the blood. The dosage for oral administration of activated carbon is calculated based on 1 tablet per 10 kg of body weight. In case of severe poisoning, the dosage should be increased. You can also take white coal - this is a concentrated sorbent that removes only toxins, while leaving nutrients inside the body. The dosage of white coal for an adult is 2-4 tablets.
- In order to prevent the process of dehydration that develops due to diarrhea and vomiting, it is necessary to provide the victim with plenty of fluids. You can dilute a weak saline solution (at the rate of 1 teaspoon of table salt per 1 liter of boiled water) to solder a person who has been poisoned. To replenish the body's water balance, you can also use weak, freshly brewed sweet tea, mineral water or fruit drinks. Under no circumstances should you drink sweet carbonated water or alcoholic beverages. The volume of drinking should be at least 2-3 liters per day. To replenish the water-salt balance, you can also use a pharmaceutical product, for example, Regidron or Oralit. They contain special minerals and glucose that help with dehydration.
- Provide the patient with rest, especially in case of severe poisoning, until obvious signs of intoxication disappear.
- If severe chills bother you, you can use a heating pad to raise your body temperature.
- To alleviate the condition of the poisoned person, you can use antidiarrheal and painkillers, but antibiotics can only be given to him after it has been established accurate diagnosis doctor.
Provide the victim with plenty of fluids If, after taking measures, acute symptoms do not stop for more than two days or more, and vomiting and diarrhea do not stop, the victim needs emergency ambulance care.
Folk remedies for poisoning
A prepared dill decoction mixed with honey perfectly eliminates the first signs of a mild intestinal infection Traditional healers also have methods for ridding the body of toxic substances. It should be borne in mind that they should be used only for mild intoxications:
- First of all, it is recommended to take a loading dose of ascorbic acid.
- A prepared dill decoction mixed with honey perfectly eliminates the first signs of a mild intestinal infection.
- An infusion of marshmallow roots is also a good method of cleansing the body of toxins.
- You can make tea from ground ginger. It has a strong immunomodulatory effect, and also disinfects and gets rid of toxins.
- The rapid removal of toxic substances is facilitated by tincture of astragalus, eleutherococcus or seaweed powder. All these drugs are sold at the pharmacy.
- If acute symptoms are present, rosehip infusion or chokeberry with heavy drinking.
Recovery
Keep the kitchen and food preparation clean After the acute symptoms have stopped, you can eat only on the third day. These should be rice soups, glutinous cereal porridges, crackers or drying without additives. You should not eat foods that irritate the gastric mucosa (spicy, smoked, pickled, salted).
After the vomiting stops, you can begin to use products that help restore the intestinal microflora. Such drugs include “Hilak Forte”, “Linex”, “Mezim” and others. If your health has improved significantly, you can go to the bathhouse or sauna, get a massage, or perform simple physical exercise. Along with the release of sweat when performing any of these activities, the remaining toxins in the body will be released.
To protect yourself from repeating such an unpleasant situation as intoxication, you should take some preventive actions:
- Wash your hands before eating and after entering your home from outside.
- Follow food storage rules in accordance with temperature conditions and shelf life.
- Maintain cleanliness in the kitchen and while preparing food.
- Approach responsibly when choosing products in markets and stores, and never buy suspicious food that has expired.
- Do not drink “raw” tap water
- Do not eat in questionable establishments.
Acute food poisoning requires the earliest possible start of treatment, since this determines how much of the toxin will have time to be absorbed into the blood and begin its destructive effect.
At the first symptoms of food poisoning, you can help yourself, but still assess your condition sensibly - many food poisonings are life-threatening. Therefore, it is best to seek help from health workers, especially with young children.
General principles of treatment of food poisoning and differences from the treatment of intestinal infections
Mild food poisoning in general, especially those that often occur in everyday life, are not considered serious diseases. Even without treatment, such conditions resolve on their own within 1-3 days. Main areas of treatment:
- elimination of intoxication and rapid removal of toxins from the body;
- prevention);
- restoration of intestinal biocenosis;
- restoration of gastrointestinal tract activity through a gentle diet.
The fundamental difference in the treatment of intestinal infections is the often prescribed etiotropic treatment to destroy the causative agent of the disease that is actively reproducing in the body (antibiotics or antiviral drugs). In addition, treatment of intestinal infections (botulism, rotavirus, enterovirus, etc.) is a long process, often occurring only in a hospital setting.
First aid for food poisoning
The earliest treatment for poisoning food products, which actually plays the role of first aid to the victim, is extremely important - because the sooner the fight against the incoming toxic substance begins, the sooner the body will cope with intoxication.
- Stomach cleansing
As a rule, the body itself gives a signal about the need to empty the stomach when a poor-quality product gets there. But natural vomiting is not enough to flush out the stomach as much as possible.
After the first attack of vomiting, you need to drink about half a liter of warm water, possibly salted, with the addition of potassium permanganate or soda (a weak solution!). With the next attack of vomiting, the bulk of the food mass will be released, but rinsing, if possible, should be carried out before throwing out clean water from the stomach.
Of course, you should not forcefully provoke vomiting if there is no urge to do so - probably, the spoiled product has already left the stomach and is in the intestines.
- Replacement of lost fluid
Diarrhea and vomiting are protective reactions of the body, but in addition to removing toxins, fluid is removed and lost, the volume of which must be replenished. At home, after each bowel movement or attack of vomiting, you need to take about 200 grams of liquid, but only in small sips: still mineral water, boiled water, glucose-saline solution (for 1 liter of boiled water, 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tsp. salt).
- Natural colon cleansing
The main mistake with diarrhea associated with food poisoning is trying to stop it by taking imodium and similar drugs. Diarrhea is the fastest and most massive removal of toxins from the body. Retention of feces in the intestines is equivalent to a blockage in the sewer, because the processes of rotting and absorption of toxic products will continue intensively. The question of prescribing antidiarrheal drugs is decided only by a doctor.
- Observance of hunger
Previously, at the peak of symptoms, it was recommended to abstain from eating food, especially since there is always no appetite during poisoning. The gastrointestinal tract does not function fully, so it is necessary to withstand therapeutic fasting during the first day of the disease. However, with Nowadays, starvation is not used in treatment, since the intestines and stomach must restore their epithelium, and without food this is impossible. Of course, if you don’t want to eat, then they don’t force feed you. But it is not recommended to specifically observe hunger, especially for children.
When is hospitalization necessary?
In most cases, symptoms of food poisoning can be managed at home.
Hospitalization is indicated for the following types of food poisoning:
- almost any food poisoning in a child under 3 years of age. Treatment of food poisoning in a child younger age It is carried out only under the supervision of medical personnel, since vomiting and diarrhea quickly lead the body to a state of dehydration, which is very dangerous in childhood. In addition, it is difficult to force a small child to drink large number liquids; in a hospital setting, intravenous administration of rehydration solutions is possible;
- food poisoning in pregnant and elderly patients;
- mushroom poisoning, poisonous plants, inedible liquids and compositions;
- severe food poisoning accompanied by:
- diarrhea more than 10 times a day;
- diarrhea mixed with blood;
- high temperature that persists during the second day of the disease;
- uncontrollable vomiting;
- severe increasing weakness;
- poisoning with increasing symptoms on days 2-3 of the disease.
Drug treatment of poisoning
In case of mild food poisoning, no specific treatment may be needed at all, the main thing is to drink more and follow a gentle diet. Let us remind you that only a doctor can adequately assess a person’s condition and determine the need and scope of treatment.
| Rehydration therapy (rehydrants) | When food poisoning is diagnosed, treatment with drugs from the group of rehydrants is the main one, since it leads to the restoration of the deficiency of electrolytes and water in the body. Therapy of this type can be oral and, in severe cases or when restoring fluid volume in young children, parenteral. Oral rehydration with special solutions can be carried out at home, since their use is simple and straightforward; moreover, oral rehydrants should always be in a traveler’s first aid kit. | |
Oral rehydration preparations
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Preparations for parenteral rehydration
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| Sorption therapy (enterosorbents) | Action | Main drugs: |
| Drugs from this group help to quickly remove toxins through adsorption. Their use is justified during the period of absence of vomiting, as well as in the two-hour interval between taking other medications. Sorption therapy is not carried out at high temperatures, and is prescribed with caution to young children and elderly patients. |
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| Analgesic therapy (antispasmodics) | Data medicines indicated for significant pain symptoms accompanied by diarrhea and painful urge to defecate. |
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| Antibacterial and antimicrobial therapy (antibiotics and antimicrobials) | These drugs are very rarely prescribed for food poisoning and are indicated for mixed poisoning. Unreasonable prescription of antibiotics and combined antimicrobial drugs aggravates the picture of dysbiosis that develops as a result of the disease. |
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| Antiemetic and antidiarrheal therapy | Since both vomiting and diarrhea are protective reactions of the body, these, in in this case, normal reactions of the body should not be forced. In extreme cases, when vomiting and diarrhea become indomitable, and the bulk of the toxin has already been released through vomit and feces, the following may be prescribed: |
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| Antipyretic therapy (NSAIDs) | As a rule, with food poisoning, hyperthermia does not reach high numbers, but for people who do not tolerate elevated temperature, as well as children can be prescribed: |
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| Microflora restoration therapy (pro- and eubiotics) | After food poisoning, the normal intestinal biocenosis is almost always disrupted. Therefore, during the recovery period, medications containing beneficial bacteria or their components are prescribed: |
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Other Treatments for Food Poisoning
In case of severe poisoning, as well as in the absence of vomiting or to induce it in a hospital setting, gastric lavage is performed.
Using a probe that is inserted into oral cavity and carefully moves into the cavity of the stomach, water is introduced and removed until the moment when the excreted liquid becomes clear. On average, an adult has to use about 10 liters of water to effectively lavage the stomach.
In the absence of diarrhea, in case of dangerous and severe poisoning, a siphon enema is performed in the hospital.
Using a special hose and funnel, a liquid, the composition of which is determined by the doctor (can be water with potassium permanganate, sodium chlorine, etc.), is carefully introduced into the intestines through the anus, then the funnel quickly lowers down and the water leaves the intestines. Rinsing is carried out to clean water, the volume of liquid consumed is also about 10 liters.
Traditional methods of treating food poisoning
Treatment of food poisoning folk remedies It is possible if it is mild and after prior consultation with a doctor.
- Cinnamon infusion
Cinnamon is considered a natural antispasmodic, as well as a natural sorbent. Pour half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon into a glass of boiling water and stir. The infusion is kept for 15 minutes and filtered. Take warm, throughout the day. The liquid is drunk in small sips, the daily volume is 1.5 liters.
- Marshmallow roots, flowers and leaves
A good remedy that shortens recovery time for food poisoning. The roots should be crushed and pour 1 teaspoon with 0.5 cup of boiling water, let it brew for 30 minutes, strain the infusion, add honey to taste, you can drink 1 tbsp. spoon 4 r/day. Marshmallow flowers and leaves - 2 tbsp. spoons pour 2 tbsp. boiling water, leave for 4 hours, drink as tea 3 times a day.
- Dill infusion with honey
Dill helps speed up the elimination of toxins and eases vomiting without stopping it. Honey retains potassium, which is also lost through vomiting and diarrhea. One teaspoon of dill seeds is poured into one and a half cups of boiling water and left for a couple of minutes. Then the infusion must be boiled for 2 minutes, strained and dissolved in the resulting volume of a teaspoon of honey.
Take during the day, the daily volume is 1 liter.
- Decoction of wormwood and yarrow
Wormwood and yarrow help cleanse the body of toxic substances. Mix one teaspoon of dry plants with 500 ml of boiling water and leave for 15 minutes. The resulting infusion, after filtering, is taken during the day, divided into 5 equal parts.
- Lemon juice
Squeeze the juice of 3 lemons, dilute with water and add sugar to taste. Drink the resulting juice in one gulp, it is believed that lemon juice stops the proliferation of bacteria. This method is contraindicated for persons with and other gastrointestinal diseases, when acidic foods are contraindicated.
Nutrition during recovery
For several days after poisoning, you should not eat heavy or fatty foods; you should limit milk and any dairy products. Spicy foods and alcohol are also prohibited.
You should eat in small portions. Meat products should be prepared exclusively in a dietary manner and in minced form. Good side dishes include boiled potatoes and rice.
Sufficient drinking regime during the recovery period is also important, since the body needs to replenish the lost volume. You can drink weak green tea, chamomile tea, slightly sweetened and warm.
Prevention of food poisoning
- Sufficient thermal processing of food
- Compliance with temperature conditions for food storage, compliance with expiration dates
- Eating only proven and edible mushrooms and plants
- Pre-boiling homemade milk, water from non-centralized sources
- Compliance with hygiene rules when preparing food (thorough washing of dishes, as well as fruits and vegetables), maintaining personal hygiene
When purchasing dairy products, you must check the integrity of the packaging.
Don't eat unfamiliar foods
Meat and fish must be subjected to high-quality heat treatment
It is necessary to combat flies, cockroaches, mice - carriers of infections
Keep raw and prepared meat products separate in the refrigerator
Do not eat prepared foods that have been stored for more than 3 days (even in the refrigerator)
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