Vomiting in case of poisoning
Food poisoning is an acute infectious and toxic lesion of the human body, which occurs due to the ingestion of poor-quality food products, or poisons and chemicals.
A striking symptom of food poisoning is vomiting, which occurs a short time after the ingestion of hazardous substances. Treatment is carried out either at home or in a hospital, which depends on the patient's condition, on his age and the cause of the poisoning.
Content:
- The nature of vomiting in case of poisoning
- What to do in case of poisoning?
- What to eat after poisoning and vomiting?
- What to drink in case of poisoning and vomiting?
The nature of vomiting in case of poisoning
Vomiting is the very first symptom that indicates that toxic substances have entered the stomach. Poisoning develops acutely, the latent stage most often does not exceed 6 hours. Sometimes it can shorten up to half an hour or stretch up to a day, but this happens extremely rarely.
Initially, the patient experiences an acute attack of nausea, which soon ends with vomiting. It repeats over and over again, vomit contains food eaten. Depending on the severity of the poisoning, vomit may contain blood impurities, which is a formidable symptom and requires immediate medical attention.
It should be noted that vomiting, which occurs as a sign of poisoning, should bring relief to the patient.
Other symptoms of poisoning are:
- Diarrhea;
- Stomach ache;
- Increased body temperature;
- Headache and muscle pain, as well as other signs of body intoxication.
What to do in case of poisoning?
Mild poisoning, which most often occurs in most people, is not classified as a serious illness. As a rule, even without any specialized treatment, they disappear after 1-3 days.
The basic rules of behavior for food poisoning are as follows:
- Removal of intoxication, ridding the body of toxins.
- Prevention of dehydration.
- Restoration of normal bowel function.
- Compliance with a special diet.
First aid to a patient with food poisoning is to combat a toxic substance that has entered the body.
To do this, follow these steps:
- Gastric lavage. Vomiting alone is not enough to cleanse the organ of toxic substances. Therefore, after the first attack of vomiting, gastric lavage is necessary. For this, a special solution is prepared (3 liters of boiled water are mixed with potassium permanganate until a pale pink liquid is obtained), which is drunk in a volume of 500 ml. After that, vomiting is provoked by pressing the fingers on the root of the tongue. It is necessary to wash the stomach until the moment when clear water begins to come out of it. Potassium permanganate can be replaced with powdered activated carbon, or salt.
- Prevention of dehydration. Since vomiting in case of poisoning is very often accompanied by repeated diarrhea, a person loses large volumes of fluid. It is worth remembering that dehydration is very dangerous for both an adult and a child. Therefore, after each attack of vomiting, you need to drink at least 200 ml of plain water. In order not to provoke another attack of vomiting, water should be drunk in small sips, but as often as possible. What else you can drink in case of poisoning and vomiting will be discussed further.
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Recovery of bowel function. The most common and most dangerous illiterate action that most people perform in case of poisoning is to stop diarrhea with the help of drugs (Imodium, Loperamide, etc.). It should be remembered forever that diarrhea in case of poisoning is a protective reaction of the body, aimed at the speedy elimination of toxic substances. If pathogenic feces are retained in the body, this will lead to the fact that they will begin to be absorbed through the intestines into the blood. As a result, the symptoms of intoxication will only get worse. Therefore, you need to wait for the diarrhea to stop on its own. Probiotics and eubiotics help to restore normal intestinal biocenosis. These are such drugs as Bifidumbacterin, Linex, Bionorm, Bactisubtil, etc. They are recommended for taking during the recovery period after poisoning.
- Sorption therapy. In order to help the body to quickly remove toxic substances, it is possible to take enterosorbents. They should be applied when the patient has stopped vomiting. Sorption therapy is not carried out at high body temperature; it is recommended with caution to elderly people and children under one year old. Sorbent preparations are: Smecta, Activated carbon, Polysorb, Enterosgel, Polyphepan, Filtrum STI, etc.
- Compliance with a diet. You should not refrain from eating for too long, if vomiting and diarrhea were not strong and quickly self-destructed, then after a couple of hours the patient can eat crackers and drink warm sweet tea. In the future, he is shown adherence to a sparing diet, which will restore bowel function.
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Symptomatic treatment. If a person experiences severe pain, then he is recommended to take antispasmodics (Drotaverin, No-shpa, Spazmalgon, etc.). To eliminate high body temperature, it is recommended to take Ibuprofen or Paracetamol, or a combination of these drugs - Ibuclin. The decision on the appointment of antibacterial or antimicrobial agents is made only by the doctor. As a rule, they are used very rarely for food poisoning.
What to eat after poisoning and vomiting?
Every person thinks about what to eat after poisoning and vomiting, because all the body's forces will be directed to its own recovery. A well-designed nutrition scheme can help him in this.
The diet should be very gentle. On the day the poisoning occurred, you need to limit food intake to a minimum. Most often, sweet tea and rusks are enough. If by the evening the condition is normalized, then you can prepare low-fat salted chicken broth. You can cook liquid dairy-free porridge: semolina, rice or buckwheat. Also, doctors allow a small amount of mashed potatoes without butter and milk.
The day after the poisoning suffered, you can diversify your menu somewhat, but only if there is no deterioration in the condition. A little boiled chicken meat or steam cutlets from poultry is allowed. Emphasis should be placed on lean dishes that will not burden the digestive tract and are fully absorbed by the body. It's good to replace the soup with rice broth on the second day.
In the first days after poisoning, such foods and drinks as:
- Kissel, juice, coffee, carbonated water.
- Chocolate.
- Fatty and fried foods.
- Salty, spicy and canned foods.
- Raw vegetables.
- Fruits: plums, grapes, pears. As for citrus fruits, they can be consumed no earlier than 3 days after the poisoning.
- Alcoholic drinks.
- Dairy and fermented milk products.
For fruits, apples are allowed, but they should be baked for the first two days.
It is important to remember not only what you can eat, but also how you should do it. Meals should be frequent (up to 6 times a day), but the portions should be kept small. It is not worth switching to the usual diet earlier than 5-6 days. Most often, a person himself understands that the body has recovered and is ready for the previous food loads.
Nevertheless, in the first 14 days, it is still highly desirable to give preference to cereal dishes (soups and porridges), you can cook borsch with sauerkraut, but without frying. It is possible to carefully include pea puree in the menu (no earlier than 6-7 days after mild food poisoning), which is an excellent source of amino acids. But you need to eat it in very small portions and provided that the body did not give undesirable reactions to this dish before. It is also advisable to limit the consumption of meat, especially fatty varieties, for up to 14 days. Better to replace it with chicken meat and lean fish.
What to drink in case of poisoning and vomiting?
Everyone should definitely know what to drink in case of poisoning and vomiting. The most important liquid component is a special saline solution. For its preparation in the pharmacy, you can purchase special powder mixtures, which you just need to dilute in water according to the existing instructions. These drugs belong to the group of rehydrants and contain salts that are flushed out of the body during vomiting and diarrhea in case of poisoning.
Replenishment of fluids and electrolytes is an important measure, which is the basis for preventing severe consequences of poisoning. Oral rehydration can be done at home. To do this, you always need to have the following drugs in your first-aid kit: Regidron, Oralit, Litrozole, Chlorazole.
In the first six hours, it is important to restore the deficiency of salts and water as much as possible. Therefore, during this time, an adult should receive about 800-1200 ml or more of the drug for rehydration. It is good if you want to drink. He shouldn't be held back. You can also replenish the body's fluid needs with ordinary boiled water or mineral water without gas.
After the bouts of vomiting are stopped, you can offer the patient a rosehip broth, green tea (it should not be strong), chamomile tea, weak black tea or unsweetened fruit drink.
It should be remembered how to properly drink any liquid in the periods between bouts of vomiting. The pharynx should be small to avoid vomiting again. However, the container of rehydration solution should be approached at least once every 10 minutes. The liquid itself should be at room temperature, not too hot or too cold, to avoid irritating the stomach walls.
An adequate drinking regime must be observed without fail, since it is he who will avoid dehydration and will make it possible to quickly remove toxic substances from the body.
Author of the article: Alekseeva Maria Yurievna | Therapist
Education: From 2010 to 2016 Practitioner of the therapeutic hospital of the central medical-sanitary unit No. 21, city of elektrostal. Since 2016 she has been working in the diagnostic center No. 3.
