While the main symptoms are nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach cramps, you also may have a fever, headache, muscle and joint aches, or blood in your stool. You may also be dehydrated, so your mouth and throat feel dry and you don't pee as often as you typically do. Dehydration can make you dizzy when you stand up.
According to Ketan Shah, food poisoning and gastroenteritis share most symptoms, which include abdominal cramps, fever, chills, nausea, decreased appetite, diarrhea , muscle or joint aches, headaches , and, of course, vomiting.
Check if you have food poisoning
being sick (vomiting) stomach cramps. a high temperature of 38C or above. feeling generally unwell – such as feeling tired or having aches and chills.
You may recover in a few days … or not
Most of the time, food poisoning will pass within 12 hours to 48 hours in healthy people. That's how long it takes for a healthy body to purge most foodborne infections. But your length of illness can vary based on several factors.
Unlike viral gastroenteritis, food poisoning is strictly based on what you eat. It can be caused by bacteria, parasites and viruses. And just like with the stomach flu, you may experience the same symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever.
However, the key distinction is time: The symptoms of a stomach bug will take 12 to 48 hours to develop, while the symptoms of food poisoning typically develop much faster, usually within 6 hours of consuming an infected dish. Another common difference between the two is the length of illness.
This describes a condition in which the joints become inflamed due to a gastrointestinal infection such as food poisoning or following a urinary infection. It affects people of all ages and is also known as 'Reiter's Syndrome'. It is, however, relatively uncommon.
Stomach virus or food poisoning
A person with gastroenteritis may experience intense stomach cramping that radiates to the back. Sometimes, the condition may cause them to vomit so hard and so frequently that the muscles of the stomach and back become sore.
Cramps in your stomach and gut, diarrhea, and vomiting may start as early as 1 hour after eating tainted food and as late as 10 days or longer. It depends on what is causing the infection.
Food poisoning and stomach flu are both gastrointestinal infections. They both cause gastroenteritis, which is inflammation of your stomach and small intestine. Gastroenteritis is the sign that your immune system has been activated to remove the infection.
The illness normally begins with nausea, leading to severe vomiting. Other types of food poisoning such as campylobacter may only cause diarrhoea and abdominal cramps, without vomiting, although vomiting can occur in some cases.
In severe cases, food poisoning or having similar symptoms may indicate a more significant problem. Symptoms that indicate a visit to the ER include: Bloody vomit or stool. Extreme pain and cramps.
People feel sick all of a sudden, usually a few hours after eating contaminated food. Also, bloody diarrhea is more common with bacteria and food poisoning. On the other hand, symptoms from gastroenteritis usually develop a little more slowly. The illness might gradually get worse over a day or so.
It is normal to experience some ongoing nausea, indigestion, or bloating even after the vomiting and diarrhea have passed. Be patient with your body and ease back into eating a normal diet. Start with small meals and pay attention to the way you feel after you eat certain foods.
Green stool can also be a sign of food poisoning. It may also mean that food is moving too quickly through your large intestine and is common in people with conditions like colitis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Food poisoning symptoms can include: Diarrhea. Stomach pain. Nausea.
Some infections that can cause diarrhea can also cause generalized body aches and pains that sometimes could include stiff neck. Examples are gastroenteritis, food poisoning, and traveler's diarrhea. Irritable bowel syndrome is less likely to cause stiff neck.