How do you survive your own body?

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Wildone39

Joined
Dec 17, 2007
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I stay prepared for almost anything that comes my way be it storms, blackouts, riots, cold, what ever but I was not prepared for what hit me over the Holidays. I got an Intestinal Flu and OMG it was bad. For a solid week I laid on the couch and ran back and fourth to the toilet while holding a garbage can. I dont think I have ever gotten so sick so fast. I lost 10 pounds in just 5 days. If I were in the wild I think I would have died. It didnt matter how many guns or knives I had because I didnt have the strength to pick them up. I guess this has taught me a lesson I had forgotten. I got this same feeling as I do now when I had my Heart attack 9 yrs ago at age 32. The lesson being is that It doesnt matter how prepared we are, we can never be master of everything.
 
Thats why simple stuff brought in by others kills off the natives and why something that would not kill somebody at home can wipe out half a refugee camp.
 
great observation.it is good to be reminded that we are not masters of the universe no matter how much we know.ultimately we are mere mortals whether we have the latest gear or not.

ryan
 
What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger and hopefully wiser. You knowing what took place prior to your getting sick, what could you do differently the next time, to avoid that happening again?

I went through a similar sickness a couple years ago and I hadn't really been anywhere for 10 days prior. As near as I could pinpoint it, was that our daughter works at the local hospitals ER and brought it home with her. I probably picked it up when I did her laundry (scrubs), because she didn't get sick, but the rest of us did. Me first, then her daughters, then my wife, who cared for her daughters while they were sick. What I changed, was how I did laundry. I took precautions like wearing gloves and an appropriately rated mask and still do that today, along with using a hand sanitizer.
 
I try to keep in shape..and am a pretty big advocate for fitness as an overall life enhancer ... I try to eat healthy but do enjoy food that is less than ideal for me.. but other than trying to live a healthy lifestyle, staying active and doing you best to avoid contagious illness (washing your hands..is a bigger deal than most people realize.) you just got to hope for the best and play the odds.
 
My wife is a R.N so that may very well be were I got sick from because I wash her scrubs all the time and I dont wear gloves. Thanks for the tip.
 
Having a toddler in daycare, I have found there isn't much I can do about the virus stuff. I picked one up over Thanksgiving and it was much as you describe, but thankfully mine only lasted 24 hours. I literally could barely move. I had the same thoughts, had I been in the wild in a 'survival' situation, it very likely would have been the nail in the coffin, or at least reduced the odds of surviving significantly. In the wilds in a non-survival situation, ie a backpacking trip, I think I could have weathered it, but it would have made for the most unpleasant trip ever. We stack the odds in our favor, but you know, sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes you are the bug. :grumpy:
 
Good observation. I always pack medication for minor problems that could still kill you. Such as packing immodium. Diarrhea can dehydrate you MIGHTY quick.

But something like that, a stomach virus, that's something I don't know how to prepare for.
 
Noshtero said:
Good observation. I always pack medication for minor problems that could still kill you. Such as packing immodium. Diarrhea can dehydrate you MIGHTY quick.

But something like that, a stomach virus, that's something I don't know how to prepare for.
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Yes, I'm not sure either. I pack immodium as well, but in these cases it is useless as it would not stay in your system long enough to take affect. Dehydration would be the killer here. If you were not VERY close to a source of quality water, it would get ugly very quickly. In my recent case, after my body was through attempting to turn itself inside-out, I probably drank a gallon of water or more in an hour or two.
 
These symptoms kill many people each year. Now imagine a 3rd world country with lack of proper sanitation, properly handled food and medicine that is few and far between and you have big problems fast.

Working with 7 and 8 year olds exposes me to lots of funky stuff throughout the school year. I make an effort to wash my hands often and I've been relatively ok. Being away from teaching for a year and a half seems to have lowered my immunities to the common school stuff because I've been hit with a variety of minor illnesses this year. Before my sabattical, I was a powerhouse and could shrug off nearly anything that came my way. Don't ask about my first year teaching though. Scary stuff! My body didn't know what hit it. Glad you're on the mend.

Side question, when you are traveling to a foreign land, do you think we are more at risk being that we're not used to the particular germs that might be easily be dealt with by the locals? I'm thinking Montezuma's Revenge type stuff. Would that explain a good deal of the travel-related sickness?
 
Wildone39 said:
I got an Intestinal Flu and OMG it was bad. For a solid week I laid on the couch and ran back and fourth to the toilet while holding a garbage can. I dont think I have ever gotten so sick so fast. I lost 10 pounds in just 5 days.
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You aren't kidding. That bit me hard the day after Christmas. My energy levels still haven't returned to normal it has been ~17 days since that first miserable day. I wouldn't wish this bug on my worst enemy.
 
Working in a high school, I rarely get sick anymore. I am around so many running noses, coughing kids and nasty surfaces. On a positive side note, did you guys know you come in contact (albeit indirectly) with, if I remember correctly, 7 private parts daily? Think about how many door handles are touched by someone who doesn't wash their hands after using a urinal. Yummy germs!

My philosophy, wash your hands often, everything in moderation including moderation and sometimes you just have to say, WTF!
 
k_estela said:
My philosophy, wash your hands often, everything in moderation including moderation and sometimes you just have to say, WTF!
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This is the best advice that I believe anyone can give. I wash my hands often and I rarely get sick, while everyone else at home or at work go down for the count.
 
I do wash my hands and I keep germx with me all the time but in my case my immune system may be low because of the last 2 yrs I have been battling kidney problems and havent worked. I hope to go back to work in March but I did lose my right kidney. Anyway being at home and not going places alot has problably lowerd my immune system. My wife never got sick but my youngest daughter had some of the same symtoms that I did but she got over it fast. I thought I was gonna die. Maybe its just being 40 now. Am I getting old? haha.
 
our outdoor kit includes pepto, immodium, nyquil, sudafed, and children's tylenol. You may end up needing all of these in different ways- tylenol will help with a fever, sudafed can help a lot with breathing and drying up nasal passages, and I've been known to do a couple double doses of nyquil if I have something bad (maybe once every couple of years).

Best option is to come in, but if you can't and are stuck with it, have lots and lots of water IN ADVANCE (situational awareness), more blankets than you think you'll need, bullion cubes and medication. I don't think there's an ideal answer here, but if you can hole up, stay warm and hydrated, and wait it out, you are far better off.
 
my other job is driving garbage trucks, all sorts of nasty crap every day. I haven't been sick for years. Now i've had close to a month off and i'm getting all stuffed up in the sinuses....


something to be said for exposing yourself daily to germs.

CBC Canada did a in depth news story on how Society is so obsessed with this anti-germ thing, using alcohol hand sanitizers all the time and disinfectants in the home, that the rates if VRE, MSRA etc have skyrocketed amongst middle to higher income brackets, while remaining the same amongst low income persons who dont use or have access to such products.

.
 
mapper66 said:
Yes, I'm not sure either. I pack immodium as well, but in these cases it is useless as it would not stay in your system long enough to take affect. Dehydration would be the killer here. If you were not VERY close to a source of quality water, it would get ugly very quickly. In my recent case, after my body was through attempting to turn itself inside-out, I probably drank a gallon of water or more in an hour or two.
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I might be misunderstanding you, but it sounds like you are saying that the imodium will not stay in your system long enough to help you if you are suffering frequent diarrhea.

If so, that is incorrect. The average half-life for imodium is 10 hrs, which means one dose is in the system between 4 and 5 half-lives and is not dependent on the frequency of diarrhea events. This means one dose is in you for approx 40 to 50 hrs.

Dosing is normally: 4 mg ORALLY followed by 2 mg after each loose stool up to a maximum of 16 mg/day.

Don't go crazy with it as it can shut you down if you overdo it.

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I remember an old article when I was younger about a guy who contracted a bad case of diarrhea out in Alaska somewhere. He made himself drink several charcoal slurries a day to help absorb the toxins. He felt it saved his life.

Just another tool for the tool box.
 
zenheretic said:
I might be misunderstanding you, but it sounds like you are saying that the imodium will not stay in your system long enough to help you if you are suffering frequent diarrhea.

If so, that is incorrect. The average half-life for imodium is 10 hrs, which means one dose is in the system between 4 and 5 half-lives and is not dependent on the frequency of diarrhea events. This means one dose is in you for approx 40 to 50 hrs.

Dosing is normally: 4 mg ORALLY followed by 2 mg after each loose stool up to a maximum of 16 mg/day.

Don't go crazy with it as it can shut you down if you overdo it.

=======

I remember an old article when I was younger about a guy who contracted a bad case of diarrhea out in Alaska somewhere. He made himself drink several charcoal slurries a day to help absorb the toxins. He felt it saved his life.

Just another tool for the tool box.
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What I meant there was during the acute part of my virus, immodium wouldn't have had a chance to work because it would have come out one end or the other before before the 'I' was even dissolved off. I know, too much info. But I think once you are beyond the worst of it, it can be a lifesaver. For instance, we had some anti-nausea meds from a recent surgery, and once I got one of those to stay down, it helped alot.
 
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