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Difference between Colitis and Food Poisoning?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 11/2/2008 8:35 AM (GMT 0)
I had a spicy meal yesterday lunch time, and in the evening and night I have had explosive diarrhoea. I have been to the toilet about 8 times in 8 hours which seems to have calmed down now that I have nothing left inside me. I am now scared to eat.

I am not bleeding and the stools look like they are starting to get more solid after prolonged watery motions.

How do we distinguish between a flare and food poisoning?

Posted 11/2/2008 10:49 AM (GMT 0)
i would think that if your not bleeding thats a good sign its not a flare.

Posted 11/2/2008 12:21 PM (GMT 0)
I just went again after a period of 5 hours and it was loose stools like diarrhoea but not totally watery and I haven't even eaten anything! I feel sore, and I have a bad feeling this is the start of a flare up. It happened last time like this, but I've never had so many bowel movements before and never really get D. I am so confused.
Posted 11/2/2008 2:45 PM (GMT 0)
It could also be a reaction to spicy food. I tend to have reactions like that with stuff I shouldn't eat. UC is a funny thing. Maybe you should try to stay away from spicy food for a while and see what happens. I have to stay away from spicy food, greasy food, and food with milk products that aren't cooked, or else I may have a reaction like you had. I hope it calms down for you, it isn't fun.
Posted 11/2/2008 3:10 PM (GMT 0)
It has calmed down with Imodium, but I am not eating anything.

Which brings me to my point, can UC flares be controlled by not eating for a day or so?
Posted 11/2/2008 3:57 PM (GMT 0)
If they could, there'd be a lot less drug use and surgery.
Posted 11/2/2008 5:17 PM (GMT 0)

You can stop eating and give your colon a rest.  This is typically done when UC patients have a severe flare and are hospitalized.  If you can find any predigested drinks to take while fasting they will help in providing you with some calories.

Sue

Posted 11/2/2008 5:23 PM (GMT 0)
if you ate something that is bad...imodium isn't what you should take. But, you could try a bit of pepto or Kaopectate.

If you're taking probiotics, do increase them for the next few nights...I take mine at night, all at once.

make sure you are eating something light on your system, spices are usually accompanied by fat. If you drank a lot of water, that would only concentrate the spices in the fat...

Make sure you're taking your meds...

And yes, I have episodes with diarrhea, but not as often as has happened to you regarding food. You do have inflammation higher in the colon, if it continues, call the doc for stool samples.

Keep us posted.
Hope you feel better soon,
quincy
Posted 11/2/2008 7:13 PM (GMT 0)
I've had food poisoning and believe me, you would know if you had it.  I vomited for hours on end and felt like I was dying..........not a pretty picture.  Your stomach was probably just reacting to the spicy food, I would try to avoid spicy food in the future.  Of course it's easy for me to say because I don't like spicy food anyway.  Hope you're feeling much better soon. yeah
Posted 11/2/2008 9:14 PM (GMT 0)
I always eat spicy food though, maybe this food was contaminated or something or I had a bad reaction. I have to say, I have never had diarrhoea like this not even in a flare - my flares are just blood on motions 3 times a day. I vomitted Friday afte a chinese, and had D last night after eating out again.
Posted 11/2/2008 11:27 PM (GMT 0)
Same thing happened to me after eating out, within hours I had terrific pain. Then came the watery D. This went on for days, I started taking imodium which helped and I quadrupled my probiotics. I had no vomiting. My GI said most likely I ended up ingesting a bacteria in the food that would never phase anyone with a normal GI track.

Posted 11/2/2008 11:41 PM (GMT 0)
before Uc I ate some bad cashews and got food posioning. It wasnt maybe 20 minutes after I ate them that I was on the pot and had my head in a trash can. thought I would die are maybe just wishful thinking at the time. and my stomach cramped really bad. I did that for about 3 hours straight. I vomited so much I thought I wasnt going to be able to breath because there was no time in between to catch a breath. Its really bad stuff.
Posted 11/3/2008 6:46 AM (GMT 0)
LondonRed,

IBD has a mind of it's own, and one thing is for sure, just because you never had issues with spicy foods in the past does not mean that all the sudden you won't start having issues...it could be an array of things, it could be what the spices were on and not necessarily the spices...it could be that without really realizing it you just ate too much at one time or have been eating it too regularly...having stupid IBD means you have to always pay close attention and try to be prepared for when things change...you may not be able to eat spicy anymore or at least for a while even...it's a lousy rollercoaster ride but unfortunately that can be the reality of IBD.

:)
Posted 11/4/2008 6:08 AM (GMT 0)
MSG could be a factor. Was it present in any of your meals?

Take a day off from solid food. I take some fiber mixed with some juice 3X a day with a hefty dose of probiotics with it.

Sometimes I will fast for 2-3 days just to give my colon a healing rest and to cleanse my body. I drink tons of distilled H20, metmucil, probiotics and drink 100% juices. It works.

If you are not bleeding and have the access to a restroom often, let the diarrhea take its course.
Posted 11/4/2008 3:01 PM (GMT 0)

ucwarrior said...
MSG could be a factor. Was it present in any of your meals?

I wondered the same thing when she mentioned getting sick after eating Chinese. It may not have been a bug per se, but some kind of additive or preservative you were reacting to. My Mom (non-IBDer) occasionally eats at salad bars and can hardly make it home in time with D.

I'd avoid eating out for a week or so. Stay home and stick to what you know are your "safe" foods or try Absorb Plus, an enteral liquid diet for IBDers... give your system a chance to recover.

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