How can you tell the difference between having the stomach flu and a bacterial infection: food poisoning?
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at
3:02 am
I have experienced what I thought was the stomach flu this week. It began with a headache followed by a temperature and vomitting and diahorrea. At day 4 I felt much better except now I have bloatedness and my stomach seems very irritable? Could this just be part of recovering from stomach flu or could I have a bacterial infection?
Filed under: Bacterial Vaginosis
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
The difference between stomach flu (sic) and a bacterial infection caused by food poisoning-
There’s no such thing a stomach ‘flu.
You know those TV ads for yoghurt that contains "good bacteria"?
Well, you already have lots of good bacteria living inside your intestines. Some were given to you by your mother when she breastfed you and some you’ve picked up during your life from the food you’ve eaten.
They all live happily inside you, helping to digest the food you eat.
If something throws them out of kilter- say some new bacteria try to muscle in on their territory (food poisoning), then you become unwell; your small intestine becomes a battleground, food is not digested and it exits anyway it can- vomit if it’s near enough to the top, or diarrhoea if it’s lower down. Your bodies own defences get involved to sort out the problem (this can also result in D&V- your defences don’t discriminate between "good" and "bad" bacteria- both are alien to the body. The helpful ones are only tolerated in the digestive system because technically it’s outside the body (not in contact with blood)).
I digress.
Basically, you’ve had a bacterial infection & it’s getting better.
Don’t worry about having lost all your good bacteria- colonies hang around in out-of-the-way places like the appendix and will pop out and start repopulating your gut as soon as the cost is clear.
Interestingly- when you go on holiday and don’t drink the local water ‘cos it’ll make you ill; the reason the locals get away with drinking it is ‘co they’ve been drinking it all their life and are already colonised with the local bacteria. They’d probably have just the same problem if they started drinking your local water.
Bottled water has all bacteria removed from it to make it drinkable to everyone.
There is no such thing as a flu in your stomach. The flu is a virus that affects your respritory system. Stay hydrated. If you feel too sick, see a dr (but wait outside so you don’t get other people sick. My husband has needed an IV before at the emergency room when he lost too many fluids.
Simple answer, there is no such thing as stomach flu, full stop ! all flu affects all of you, it is a blood borne infection, and as such, is everywhere that blood goes inside of you, and even in body fluids that do not have blood, hence the reasons that it can be caught from someones sneezing.
It sounds to me to be bacterial, but only tests can tell and you may be past the infectious stage, try places where hygiene is a high priority in future, when you choose to eat…..
There is no such thing as the "stomach "flu". Let me explain: the stomach flu is only a virus. Not the actual flu. See your doctor.