In spite of all of our best intentions and careful planning, food poisoning is still something that happens to a massive number of people every year. If you’ve ever had it before, you know just how debilitating and awful it can be. If you haven’t, there’s no way to sugarcoat it: that first brush with whichever bacteria it is that makes you sick (typically salmonella or E. coli) is going to be rough. If you are careful and take steps to protect yourself, you will get through it. Here is what you need to do to make sure that your food poisoning stays controllable. How Did It Happen It is imperative that you figure out which food it was that brought you down. Was it something you cooked yourself from scratch? Was it something you bought prepared? Was it something you ordered at a restaurant? According to Heard Robins, a food poisoning lawyer firm, food poisoning is on the rise because of the way “food is packaged, stored, and sold.” If the cause is something over which you had no control (pre-packaged food or a restaurant order), you need to tell the source what has happened. The source may need to issue a recall or take a look at its food storage and prep staff. Rest Look, there are plenty of illnesses and issues that you can just power through in order to go to work or to take care of other responsibilities. Food poisoning is not one of them. You will be lucky if, for the first 6-8 hours especially, you’re able to go more than a few feet from your bathroom before having to go running back. Accept that your bowels are rebelling and call in sick for a couple of days. Trust us: your coworkers, fellow dance parents, whomever, will be glad that you stayed home. While food poisoning isn’t contagious, it isn’t pleasant for anyone who has to encounter it in any form. Get comfy. Binge watch something online (even trying to concentrate on reading can be difficult). Accept that you are going to be sequestered for a while. The more you allow yourself to rest, the easier it will be for your body to get rid of the bugs making it sick. Hydration Food poisoning can dehydrate you faster than most other illnesses. That dehydration exacerbates your symptoms and helps the bacteria get stronger and better at fighting back against your body. You need to replenish your fluids. It’s true, you might not be able to hold much of that water (or Sprite or 7-up or ginger tea) but it’s better than none. If you aren’t able to keep down even small sips of plain water, you should head into your local ER or an urgent care facility. These places can give you fluids and nutrients via IV and monitor your symptoms so that, should they increase in severity, that severity will be noticed right away. Monitor Yourself Even if you don’t go to the ER or urgent care, you need to monitor your symptoms. If you spike a high fever, start having blurry vision, start getting easily confused, or anything else that feels weird, you need to call your doctor. Trust us when we tell you it is much better to be safe than sorry and your doctor will tell you the same thing. While as common as a cold, food poisoning is no joke and it should be taken very seriously. Getting Nutrients Your body can go a day or two without eating much in the way of solid foods as long as you’re hydrated so don’t try to force food into your system right away if you don’t think you can handle it. After a day or so, start introducing “gentle” foods like broth, saltines, applesauce, plain bread, etc. back into your system. When you can keep these down, you can graduate to more complicated meals. Sleeping Try to get as much sleep as possible. For one thing, the more sleep you get, the less time you’ll spend feeling sick. For another, your body needs you to sleep so that it can use all of its energy to fight off the bacteria that is making it sick. Medication There are some nausea and diarrhea medications that can help alleviate symptoms for a few hours at a time. Before you try them, however, talk to your doctor about your symptoms (calling in is enough here). Your doctor might be able to prescribe something that is more effective than the drugs you can buy over the counter. Finally, know that if you take care of yourself and monitor your symptoms, you will get through a bout of food poisoning. Views:]]>