My husband, I, and half a dozen of my close friends I have seen in the last week or so are also at home, very ill, struggling with this rotten affliction, also known as "a tummy bug", "stomach flu" or "gastric flu". The symptoms are:
- loose stools;
- feeling sick;
- bloating and cramping which are not relieved by a bowel movement;
- heavy chest;
- lung and nasal congestion;
- joint pain;
- earache;
- itchy eyes;
- heavy head, feeling that a bird has scratched your head;
- pain in the ribs....
...and everything in between.
You may have some or all of the symptoms.... The condition must be pretty drastic to require hospitalization. Most of us will just feel abysmal for 3-4 days, and then suffer from lack of energy for another couple of weeks or so.
The reason why we feel so poorly is the inflammation of the lining of the stomach, the small and the large intestine caused by viruses, bacteria and parasites. Wikipedia has a good article on gastroenteritis.
And because the gut is at least 5-6 meters long, you do the maths. Imagine a very sore throat which is 15 feet long... 15 feet of painful swallowing, 15 feet of not being able to absorb nutrients. Not nice.
So what can you do, realistically, to speed up the healing process?
First of all, if you have blood in your stools, please make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible.
Second of all, if you have heavy chest pain that radiates in your arms, please go to the doctor immediately.
If you have checked yourself out and this condition is indeed gastroenteritis, nothing more serious than that, then here are the simple steps that you can take:
- see if you can stay at home as long as you possibly can. Cancel all non-essential meetings. Work remotely. Hit the sack. The more you can rest, the easier it will be for the body to fight the disease.
- the most essential reason why people feel rotten for longer than they have to is DEHYDRATION. Stay hydrated. Sip room temperature water with a tiny pinch of salt in it (not enough to taste it but enough to create an electrolyte solution) all day long.
- "warm, wet, boring diet": chicken soup with noodles, boiled rice,rice congee, steamed veggies and warm fruit compote. Nothing cold, raw, spicy or heavy. Small portions. You don't need to eat loads to survive while you stay in bed.
- slippery elm and marshmallow. When we (+Shoela Detsios who is our super-professional product formulator, +Ian McDougall of Practitioner Supplies, the manufacturer, and me, +Galina Imrie, the crazy inventor) created this product, it was mainly for people suffering from IBS. But we are being told that it is amazing in fighting gut infections!
- a good high-quality probiotic supplement. My favourite brands are Optibac, Lamberts and Higher Nature.
- watch funny movies. Laughter is a great healer, it produces endorphins that increase pain resistance and hence reduces the need for painkillers.
5 things you need to know about gastroenteritis
How to treat gasrtroenteritis
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