The diarrhea came back around 5 AM, after apparently having taken a nap while I slept, and I've been running a fever of about 101F off and on all day long. I did manage to eat some easy-to-digest food during the day but no idea if it actually got absorbed. Looking at the symptoms -- runny watering diarrhea (but not bloody), fever, started 5 days after I ate something questionable -- it appears that the likely culprit is e. coli, but a relatively mild variant.
So I've spent most of the day either flat on my back in bed, or running to the toilet. SIGGGHhh! At least I'm not vomiting or nauseous... thank the Great Penguin for small favors, eh?
- Badtux the Flattened Penguin
Do you have any plain yogurt with active cultures in your house? That can help re-establish normal intestinal flora. You're a smart penguin, so you know about the danger of electrolyte depletion with longterm diarrhea. So I hope you're drinking sports drinks. This is one of the few times those overpriced things are necessary. Be aware of clostridium difficile, too. We all have C. diff in our intestines, and it can over-proliferate when the normal gut bacteria go out of balance. I hope you're not having yellow, frothy, overly stinky poo, because that's an indicator of C. diff. We nurses who have worked a long time on medical wards can diagnose it by the smell. I can't help you with that through the computer, though.
ReplyDeleteYuck. Been there, pooped that. Hope it passes soon (so to speak). Do what Bukko Canukko says. Take care of yourself, Badtux.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry B,
ReplyDeleteDo you have a rice cooker? That and "Smart Water" which has electrolytes, but not the dyes, sugars and salt that Gatorade have in it should help. 5 days? Have you seen a doctor?
Bukko, C. difficile is one of those things that most people pick up in the hospital. Hospitals are bad for people. At least, hospitals as they are currently organized and run.
ReplyDeleteRegarding sports drinks, luckily I made a Costco run within the last month, so I had a whole case of them in my garage. Emphasis on "had", the case is getting a bit down now. My electrolytes are fine, I do desert hiking so I know what it feels like when my electrolytes get out of whack.
Will see about getting plain yogurt with active cultures. I haven't the foggiest idea where I could get such a thing in my neighborhood, though. This isn't exactly a whitebread yuppy neighborhood with a Whole Paycheck or competitor on every streetcorner, this is a primarily-Asian neighborhood with a pho shop or bibimbop shop on every streetcorner.
Nunya, it's only been 48 hours since this crud started. If it's still going on tomorrow morning, I'll call the nurse at the HMO to see what they want me to do. If there was any blood (other than a slight amount from irritated hemorrhoids which don't appreciate all the patting down with toilet paper they've been getting) I'd call immediately, but I know what the nurse would say if I called now -- chicken soup, electrolytes, this too shall pass, blah blah. But it started 5 days after I ate the questionable food, which was an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at a place I'm not going to name to protect the guilty. A five-day incubation period rules out most organisms, most of which act *much* faster...
- Badtux the feeling-somewhat-better Penguin
Tux -
ReplyDeleteFirst, way, way TMI!
Second, Dannon and Yoplait both have active cultures. It says so right on the container. Costco sells Activia, which is pretty culture rich. When you have a chance, get to GNC or some near equivalent and get a bottle of multi-strain probiotic capsules. They're expensive as hell, but best not to take chances in the nether regions.
Good Luck,
JzB
On second thought, my gut seems to be feeling pretty good this morning, so I'm going to let sleeping guts lie (heh!) rather than subject it to a new load of foreign bacteria. If I were a regular consumer of the yogurts in question I would take the advice to take some, but right now... not so much.
ReplyDeleteJzB, if you think this is TMI, you *really* don't want to know why I've had to wash two loads of laundry over the past two days :).
- Badtux the TMI Penguin
Right. I REALLY do not want to know.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're on the right track.
Cheers!
JzB