Got sick, avoided ER thanks to this forum

[Darxus]

Thank you.

Wednesday night through Thursday night I was around some friends who were violently ill with a stomach virus (seems likely to be noro).

Friday night I got it, pretty suddenly.

Saturday morning I was starting to believe that consuming water was bad. While recognizing that lack of it would eventually kill me. I may have been somewhat delirious. I was feeling like the water was only helping the virus. It wasn't staying down.

I hadn't experienced anything like it before. I had immodium / loperamide in my bag because I knew how dangerous untreated diarrhea could be, but wasn't sure what to do about vomiting. I was starting to worry that avoiding death by dehydration might require an ambulance ride to get put on an IV. So I did a google search for: zombie squad vomiting

And that brought me right to the Emergency Rehydration thread in this forum, which I had read before. And I read small sips. And I started taking small sips, and it stayed down.

So, thanks.

In my defense, I had taken one tiny sip of water shortly before getting to this thread. But other than that I guess I had been chugging water.

I did end up opening up my oral rehydration salts to give them a try. Taste was not good. That just reinforced my original plan to try it out and then replace it with Gatorade powder, which I saw recommended around here somewhere. It wasn't actually bad, I'd just rather drink Gatorade.

I really wanted Gatorade, but there was no way I was getting to the store in my condition. I ended up mixing up basically lemonade - water, sugar, lemon juice, tiny bit of salt. That was quite pleasant. Went down easier than plain water or water plus any concentration of rehydration salts. I found it recommended somewhere as a DIY version of Gatorade (while explaining the imperfections of Gatorade). I bet the lemon juice could adequately be replaced with citric acid, AKA "sour salt". Or, you know, just use Gatorade or Tang powder (diluted, of course).

But it seems the most important part of all was sipping.

Also, when you have very recently been around some friends you knew had a highly contagious virus that caused severe vomiting is precisely the wrong time to try kippers for the first time. It's a kind of canned fish.

I guess a lot of people would hate going through this. I'm happy to have had the experience. It came at a good time, and in a good place, and it was manageable, and very educational. But I'd rather not make a habit of it

[Darxus]

"Conclusions: Gatorade and N-ORS seem to be as effective as Pedialyte in correcting dehydration and in improving bowel symptoms. All 3 solutions were safe. Unlike other groups, hypokalemia persisted in the Gatorade group. Gatorade and N-ORS may be effective in the treatment of dehydration associated with mild viral gastroenteritis." - http://pen.sagepub.com/content/30/5/433.abstract

Actual research results. N-ORS is New Oral Rehydration Solution, which I guess is a new version of the rehydration salts I had.

Hypokalemia means potassium in the blood is low. Which makes sense, because Gatorade doesn't include potassium (I think), and my oral rehydration salts do. I'm curious how much it matters.

[SNAFU84]

Good on ya dude.

A buddy of mine just recently came down with a serious stomach bug that caused him to vomit over and over again and if it wasn't comin' out of one end, it was comin' out of the other in liquid form. He was layed up in the hospital for 2 days and lost about 25lbs due to dehydration and the lack of ability to keep food down range. They had to set him up with a saline IV to keep him going and had to give him something to repress the vomiting. He said it was some sort of pill like tab that he had to hold under his tongue until it dissolved. It worked and he finally stopped throwin' up after 2 days.

[duodecima]

Oral rehydration is the way to go! (As long as the sips stay down and it isn't pouring out the other end so you can't keep up).

The dissolve on the tongue stuff is ondansetron orally dissolving tabs. Also really useful stuff. That, plus the small sips, saves a lot of folks from IV's.

Glad you're feeling better.

[painiac]

The dissolve on the tongue stuff is ondansetron orally dissolving tabs. Also really useful stuff.

One of the greatest medications out there: Almost everyone should have this in their home!
It's non-narcotic, so ask your doctor if you can have a script for some to keep in your kit. The only downside is the expense.
It's a LOT cheaper than an ER visit for rehydration, though.

[Jamie]

Did this come about as the result of drinking untreated water to build up resistance?



Jamie

[Fupduck]

All hail Zofran. I've seen it do amazing things. And yes Gatorade contains potassium and other needed electrolyte replacing minerals.

[Jamie]

I use it for dehydration, but always use twice as much water...

Jamie

[IANMCDEVITT]

+2 for the friggin Zofran.........Yea, but cut gatorade by 1/2 with water...........

[painiac]

I use it for dehydration, but always use twice as much water...

This is good advice for preventing or treating mild dehydration.

To explain: by itself, Gatorade has too much sugar in it which makes it stay in your stomach longer, which could mean you throw it up. It's good for maintaining hydration during high activity because the sugar gives you some extra energy, but its electrolyte ratio content is not ideal for treating dehydration.

The ideal is the WHO's simple rehydration formula recipe, which comes prepackaged as Oral Rehydration Salts. As OP discovered, though, the salty taste is off-putting.

Ceralyte is a step up, containing the ORS in the proper ratios combined in a rice-based solution that can apparently shorten the duration of the irritation that is causing vomiting/diarrhea. The taste is a little salty with citrus flavoring, and has an aftertaste like I imagine you'd have after chewing on grains of uncooked rice... in other words, about right to encourage you not to chug it...

Anecdotally, one of the ER nurses I work with insists that eating a banana can also shorten the duration of diarrhea: it bears mentioning, but I have not been able to test it.

[Blitzen2k5]

I have added G2 powder packs to my FAK because of something similar happening to me.

It happened on Halloween night last year. Every year since '86 my friends and I watch horror movies and eat junk food from dusk til dawn. And this year it was hosted at my house. I feeling a little nauseous early in the evening. By 8PM the vomiting started. Every 30 to 60 minutes I heading to bathroom and throwing up. Not just a little either. Full on hangover style vomitting. The kind that makes you want to write a suicide note. By 4AM I just couldnt take it anymore. I felt like hammered shit. So I shooed everyone out of the house and crashed on the couch. The vomitting had stopped but I was still sick. I didnt realize just how serious it was.

The next morning I woke up and every move I made felt like my bones were breaking and muscles wear tearing. I was in full dehydration mode. My body was consuming itself from the inside. My lower back was on fire as well. I learned later my kidneys were in the process of shutting down. I sent my wife, since I couldnt walk, to the store to get me something to drink. I was thinking juice. She brought back 2 bottles of gatorade. Too sick to protest I just drank them over a 3 hour period. By 1PM I feeling a little better. My lower back didnt hurt anymore and I was mobile. So I decided to head to my doctor.

After telling him what happened and a thorough exam he told me what I said previously. My body was eating itself and my kidneys were shutting down. But the gatorade had saved me. He added if I had gone back to sleep instead of forcing myself to stay awake and drink, I prolly wouldnt have woken up.

A few days later and feeling much better, I was in the grocery store and spotted G2 powder packs. I got a major light bulb. So I bought every case they had. When I got home I put them in the pantry, shelter, BoV, and FAK in my BoB. I strongly recommend anyone to include something similar to their FAK or general Bug out/in gear. Dehydration would be a real and serious threat in the PAW..

Blitz