# Not for the faint of heart... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 1, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-for-the-faint-of-heart/165782 "2003-04-01T20:42:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-for-the-faint-of-heart/165782/21 "2003-04-02T02:55:19Z")
Violently hungry/sick is always bad. Just break down and go to the ER. I had some severe stomach problems last year and I felt like I was going to die. Finally, I got my wife to take me to the hospital. Once there, the doc started an IV and gave me two injections, one for nausea and one for pain. I got high, I fell asleep, and I woke up feeling like a million dollars. IANAD. Don’t sue me if this is bad advice. And go buy yourself a copy of _Dreamcatcher_. It’s great bathroom reading. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-for-the-faint-of-heart/165782/22 "2003-04-02T03:16:13Z")
If you`re not throwing up, maybe eat some crackers or lightly salted pretzels. I like to drink Seven-Up when I`m going through the gears like you are. Seven-Up and Saltines. I had the runs really bad when I had Crypto. It felt like I was pissing out of my ass. I probably was. On the lighter side, maybe eating a pound of cheese will block you up.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-for-the-faint-of-heart/165782/23 "2003-04-02T03:21:39Z")
He’s on the Isle of Man. Do they have an emergency room on the Isle of Man? Symptoms of giardia. [http://giardiaclub.com/giardia-symptoms.html](http://giardiaclub.com/giardia-symptoms.html) > [@](#): > > Diarrhea, bloating, flatulence (farting), stomach cramps, fatigue and weight loss. Those are the classical giardia symptoms given in the medical literature. > > From my own personal experience and that of outdoor people interviewed, we’ll go a step further. And we’ll go into the symptoms from other problems you might have from drinking bad water or eating bad food. > > Giardia Symptoms Cycle > Typically someone gets giardia symptoms about two weeks after ingesting the critter. You’ll often feel off your feed. The first symptom is often a loss of appetite. You should be ravenous after hiking 10 miles, but instead you suddenly don’t feel like eating anything. Giardia is known as “beaver fever” here because you most often get it when you’re out camping and drink water out of a stream. Even the most pristine-looking stream can harbor giardia microorganisms. So, that sound like something you were doing a couple of weeks ago? Giardia isn’t something you can normally cure by yourself, so if your diarrhea isn’t better by this time tomorrow, I’d definitely get to a _different_ doctor. Also, if you’ve been drinking steadily, you’re probably not dehydrated, but check out these symptoms anyway. Plus it has a recipe for homemade electrolyte solution to replace what you’re losing through the runs (instead of buying Gatorade). This is what your doctor was talking about, but cola drinks aren’t really an adequate supplier of electrolytes, if you really are dehydrated. [http://scc.uchicago.edu/dehydration.htm](http://scc.uchicago.edu/dehydration.htm) > [@](#): > > To 1 quart or liter of drinking water or boiled water, add the following: > > • 2 tablespoons sugar or honey > • 1/4 teaspoon salt > • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda). > > If you don’t have any baking soda, add another 1/4 teaspoon of salt. If possible, add 1/2 cup orange juice or some mashed banana to improve the taste and provide some potassium. > > Drink sips of the ORS every 5 minutes until urination becomes normal. (It’s normal to urinate 4 or 5 times a day.) Adults and large children should drink at least 3 quarts or liters of ORS a day until they are well. > > If you are vomiting, keep trying to drink the ORS. Your body will retain some of the fluids and salts you need even though you are vomiting. Remember to take only sips of liquids. Chilling the ORS may help. > > If you have diarrhea, keep drinking the ORS. The fluids will not increase the diarrhea. > > If you have symptoms of severe dehydration, you need to go to an emergency room or other health care facility to get intravenous (IV) fluids. If you are able to drink, you should also drink the ORS. ORS stands for “oral rehydrating solution”. It’ll taste bizarre, “almost but not quite entirely unlike salt water/sugar water”, but it’s good for you. Also, bear in mind that it’s possible to be so hungry that you actually feel nauseated. You may just be on the mend. Try drinking something with actual nutrition in it, as opposed to “sugar water”. Have you got any clear chicken or beef broth? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-for-the-faint-of-heart/165782/24 "2003-04-04T13:57:40Z")
Well? How did everything–er–_come out_? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-for-the-faint-of-heart/165782.md?page=1)