Felt bad, got violently ill, felt better.
April 26, 2018 2:02 AM Subscribe
Is it possible that a sudden, single occurrence of diarrhoea rid my system of a viral infection? TMI and details inside.
I've had a low fever and mild flu symptoms for two weeks, which my doctor diagnosed as a viral infection. The worst part has been the lack of energy, headaches, and brain fog. It felt like the physicality of deep depression, without the mired thoughts. I was finally able to stay awake all day on both Monday and Tuesday so I forced myself back to work yesterday and then to my fitness class. I struggled through both and was regretting it all by the time I got home. Then...
Long story short, I ate something for dinner that had surprise onions which made my intestines explode. (My previous question gives some context about getting onioned, but I can't link to it with my phone) Within an hour, my head fog cleared, fever broke, and headache went away. I woke up this morning comletely better.
Is it possible the diarrhoea cleared something out? Can a viral infection settle in the gut but not cause problems there? To be clear, I never had any gastrointestinal symptoms during my illness. Is it all a massive coincidence?
I've had a low fever and mild flu symptoms for two weeks, which my doctor diagnosed as a viral infection. The worst part has been the lack of energy, headaches, and brain fog. It felt like the physicality of deep depression, without the mired thoughts. I was finally able to stay awake all day on both Monday and Tuesday so I forced myself back to work yesterday and then to my fitness class. I struggled through both and was regretting it all by the time I got home. Then...
Long story short, I ate something for dinner that had surprise onions which made my intestines explode. (My previous question gives some context about getting onioned, but I can't link to it with my phone) Within an hour, my head fog cleared, fever broke, and headache went away. I woke up this morning comletely better.
Is it possible the diarrhoea cleared something out? Can a viral infection settle in the gut but not cause problems there? To be clear, I never had any gastrointestinal symptoms during my illness. Is it all a massive coincidence?
My totally uneducated guess-
Your diarrhoea maybe cleared out stuff that your immune system didn't have to deal with anymore? Or the surprise onions kicked your immune system into gear, which meant you were able to get on top of the virus.
posted by freethefeet at 4:41 AM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
Your diarrhoea maybe cleared out stuff that your immune system didn't have to deal with anymore? Or the surprise onions kicked your immune system into gear, which meant you were able to get on top of the virus.
posted by freethefeet at 4:41 AM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
I can tell you that I have had abdominal discomfort where an act of either vomiting and diarrhoea alleviated the discomfort. But it's also possible that you were beginning to feel better anyway, and the diarrhoea was coincidental.
posted by ubiquity at 6:25 AM on April 26, 2018
posted by ubiquity at 6:25 AM on April 26, 2018
What I'm seeing from your previous question is that you have a gut inflammation issue that's maybe something auto-immune related? So when you eat certain foods you get a lot of self-caused inflammation in your gut. I guess it's possible that your body wasn't mounting enough of an immune response to get rid of the virus, and when you gave yourself an auto-immune reaction, you kicked your immune system into high gear and it finally killed off what was left of the virus. This is just my conjecture though - not an expert in immunology.
It's a lot more likely to be purely coincidental. You were starting to feel better and then you happened to experience an auto-immune reaction, and when it was over you were coincidentally over the viral infection.
posted by permiechickie at 6:29 AM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's a lot more likely to be purely coincidental. You were starting to feel better and then you happened to experience an auto-immune reaction, and when it was over you were coincidentally over the viral infection.
posted by permiechickie at 6:29 AM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
I've thrown up as part of a flu before, and then directly felt all better.
I don't think it's coincidence. I say yay for your onion problem saving the day!
posted by aniola at 8:04 AM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't think it's coincidence. I say yay for your onion problem saving the day!
posted by aniola at 8:04 AM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by bilabial at 2:39 AM on April 26, 2018