Food poisoning: what to do in the first 24 hours

Vomiting and loose motion after bad food are the body clearing it out. The job in the first day is fluid and salt, not stopping the output, and knowing the signs that mean a doctor today.

What is happening

Most food poisoning is a toxin or an irritation already in the food, not an infection growing in you. That is why it starts fast, often within a few hours of the meal, and why it usually finishes inside a day or two on its own.

The danger is not the vomit or the stool. It is the water and salt leaving with them, especially in a child, an older person, or anyone who cannot say they are thirsty.

The first six hours

• Stop solid food. The gut is not asking to be fed right now.
• Start oral rehydration solution, and take it in small sips. Five to ten millilitres every few minutes is kept down; a full glass at once usually comes back up.
• Continue sipping even between episodes. The aim is a steady trickle, not a long drink once an hour.
• If you have no packet from the chemist: one litre of boiled and cooled water, six level teaspoons of sugar, half a level teaspoon of salt. Measure the salt. Too much is harmful, and a sugary soda is not a substitute.
• Plain water alone, in quantity, dilutes what salt you have left. Use it alongside the solution, not instead of it.
• Note how often you pass urine. That is the honest measure of whether the fluid is going in.

The next twenty-four hours

• Once vomiting has settled for a few hours, eat bland and small: rice water, thin curd rice, soft khichdi, banana, dry toast.
• Take more rehydration solution after every loose motion. This is the step people skip and then relapse.
• Standing rest is overrated; lie down and let the abdomen be warm. A warm cloth over the belly eases the cramps.
• Expect two or three days of tiredness after the acute part is over. That is normal, not a new illness.

Comfort measures that are easy on the stomach

• A little ginger with a pinch of black salt and a few drops of lemon in warm water, once vomiting has stopped.
• Cumin water, sipped warm, for the gas and bloating that follow.
• Buttermilk with roasted cumin and a pinch of salt, when milk products are tolerated at all. Curd is usually easier than milk.
• Ajwain chewed with a little black salt for the cramping.
• Nothing spicy, nothing oily, no coffee, no alcohol for two or three days after.

What not to do

• Do not induce vomiting. What is already down is already acting, and forcing brings acid up into the foodpipe.
• Do not take a medicine that stops motion when there is fever or blood in the stool. Slowing the gut down in those cases keeps the organism in.
• Do not start an antibiotic left over from someone else. For most of these episodes it does nothing and it costs you the gut bacteria you are trying to recover.
• Do not take castor oil or a home flush to clear it out faster. You are already clearing it.
• Do not push food because it has been a day. Fluid first, then small bland meals when appetite returns.
• Do not drink from the bottle between sips to save time. Pour a measured amount into a cup.

Do not wait at home if

Some people should be seen early, not on day three.

• An infant or a small child, anyone over sixty-five, a pregnant woman, or anyone on treatment that lowers immunity.
• Diabetes or kidney disease, where the fluid balance is already tight.
• No urine for eight hours, urine very dark, dry mouth with no tears, sunken eyes, or a child who is unusually sleepy.
• Dizziness on standing that does not pass, fainting, a racing pulse at rest.
• Blood or black colour in the stool, or vomit that is red or looks like coffee grounds.
• Fever above a hundred and three, or a fever that comes with a stiff neck or confusion.
• Severe abdominal pain, or a belly that is hard and tender to touch, which is not ordinary food poisoning.
• Blurred vision, double vision, numbness, weakness, or difficulty swallowing. These need emergency care the same hour.
• Vomiting so much that even sips of fluid do not stay down for six hours.
• Symptoms that have not started easing after three days.

After it settles

• Go back to normal food over two or three days, not in one meal. Oily and heavy food brings the bloating straight back.
• Curd, khichdi and stewed vegetables for a day are kinder than a full plate.
• Think about which meal caused it. Reheated rice and dal left at room temperature, street mayonnaise and cut fruit, milk products kept out of the fridge, and undercooked eggs are where these episodes usually come from.
• Wash hands after the toilet and before cooking for the next two days. Whatever it was, it passes person to person easily.
• Anyone sharing your food should be told what you ate, because they may be next.

In a free video consultation an Aksa physician goes over the fluids you have managed, the medicines you take and the warning signs, and says plainly whether this needs a laboratory and a doctor sitting with you or is finishing on its own.

Every individual is different. This page is general education, not a prescription for you, and it cannot replace an examination.