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Suggest Treatment For Painful Urination, Body Aches And Excessive Thirst After Food Poisoning
Question: I think two days ago I had some food poisoning. I have had the craps and have thrown up once. I have also had a painful time urinating and for a while I had orange urine. But that has subsided. At first I was shivering even though I wasn't cold. Now I feel as though I have a fever. I ve used imodium and Pepto, but to little effect. My prostate feels as though it is swollen and urinating is painful and exhausting. It is hard to eat and I can't sleep. lots of all over body pain too. I am constantly thursty. Do I need to go to the emergency room after two days of this or is there something I can do myself?
Brief Answer:
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
The symptoms I would send you in for are the urinary symptoms. It's possible that you are having a hard time passing urine because you are dehydrated from diarrhea and vomiting. But it may be that you have a genitourinary tract infection too, particularly a you say it's painful to urinate and possibly a swollen prostate. The fever may be from the food poisoning, but people can get fever and chills from a kidney infection, and given that you have a fever already, we wouldn't be able to tell without an exam and urinalysis.
So... I do recommend that you go in to be seen. The doctor should get a urinalysis and if there are signs of infection, send it for a full culture and sensitivity (sensitivity testing tests the cultured bacteria against common antibiotics to see which it is sensitive or resistant to). The doctor should also examine your prostate. If there are signs of bacterial infection, you will be given an antibiotic. If your flank (kidney area) is tender on exam (or even without an exam), there are specific antibiotics to cover that too.
Given that you are constantly thirsty, you are probably dehydrated. Sometimes just getting fluid replacement with an IV, while the gastrointestinal system is rested can make you feel a lot better and slow down the diarrhea. They will likely give you medication for that too. Also, there can be significant losses of potassium with diarrhea and vomiting, and so they will likely check your electrolytes and may give you potassium through the IV fluids if it turns out you are either dehydrated or have electrolyte imbalance.
So yes, do go in to be seen now.
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
The symptoms I would send you in for are the urinary symptoms. It's possible that you are having a hard time passing urine because you are dehydrated from diarrhea and vomiting. But it may be that you have a genitourinary tract infection too, particularly a you say it's painful to urinate and possibly a swollen prostate. The fever may be from the food poisoning, but people can get fever and chills from a kidney infection, and given that you have a fever already, we wouldn't be able to tell without an exam and urinalysis.
So... I do recommend that you go in to be seen. The doctor should get a urinalysis and if there are signs of infection, send it for a full culture and sensitivity (sensitivity testing tests the cultured bacteria against common antibiotics to see which it is sensitive or resistant to). The doctor should also examine your prostate. If there are signs of bacterial infection, you will be given an antibiotic. If your flank (kidney area) is tender on exam (or even without an exam), there are specific antibiotics to cover that too.
Given that you are constantly thirsty, you are probably dehydrated. Sometimes just getting fluid replacement with an IV, while the gastrointestinal system is rested can make you feel a lot better and slow down the diarrhea. They will likely give you medication for that too. Also, there can be significant losses of potassium with diarrhea and vomiting, and so they will likely check your electrolytes and may give you potassium through the IV fluids if it turns out you are either dehydrated or have electrolyte imbalance.
So yes, do go in to be seen now.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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