Nobody enjoys feeling unwell, especially when an illness slows you down from leading an active lifestyle. Internal issues like infections or bacteria are hard to detect, but to eliminate a problem, you first need to find out what is causing it.
These five signs that you may have food poisoning will help you detect the problem and find a solution faster. Fixing the problem before it escalates is the best way to prevent more severe discomfort that could lead to dangerous consequences.
High Fever
A fever means your body is trying to fight off unknown organisms and bacteria inside your system. Fevers are how your body naturally responds to infections. This symptom usually appears within five hours of ingesting something contaminated or rotten. It is important to monitor this fever and not let it increase; high fevers could cause the body to go into shock.
Gas and Cramping
Your body digests food through gastric acids in the stomach, and when contaminated food and gastric acids come in contact with each other, they create a chemical reaction that is not natural to your body. Gas comes as a reaction to the mixing of these elements when digesting food. Depending on the levels of toxicity of the food, you may also experience cramping in addition to gas.
Diarrhea
Your body will try to eliminate the food that’s causing problems as soon as possible. If your stomach is losing the battle against digesting bacteria, it will not have time to absorb water and will instead eject the problematic substance any way possible. This typically manifests as diarrhea. There are different bacteria that will cause problems involving food poisoning, such as E. coli or listeria, but the feeling of getting salmonella poisoning is one of the worst because it leads to more severe symptoms.
Nausea and Vomiting
When foreign elements enter your body, they can throw it off-balance and create unpleasant physical symptoms. Nausea is the sensation that precedes vomiting, but it doesn’t always lead to it. Nausea and vomiting are two of the first signs that you may have food poisoning, warning you of what’s to come. Treating these feelings with urgency before they worsen could help you feel better more quickly.
Pale Skin
Another symptom that goes hand-in-hand with nausea is pale skin. This physical change is a clear symptom that something is wrong. If a certain part of your body, like your stomach, is struggling to function as normal, it will send blood to fight that problem with white blood cells, thereby sending less blood to other parts of the body, such as the skin. Pale skin is often accompanied by weakness and sore muscles. If problems persist for more than two days, you should contact your doctor.