First of all, I'm not a medical doctor. I have an engineering degree in low power electrical field and I am a web developer 😶
But I do have lots of experiences handling these: stomach ulcer and food poisoning; for myself and for other people around me.
Let me share some of quick treatments for stomach ulcer and food poisoning.
Sometimes, or most of the time, as we get older, we do not take meal with constant periodical cycle like while we were children or teens.
But as I've noticed nowadays, teens also have that habit.
Our human body can adapt, if you notice, to that kind of punishment. At first, it was probably hurt like insane, but as time went by, we don't feel the pain.
It has multiple meanings:
-
Our nerves finally ignore the pain signal because we consciously and constantly pretend it did not hurt like Rambo bit, but our system hasn't actually adapted.
This one is dangerous ⚠️
The wounds are still there, latent. They might be temporarily healed, but when we take it a bit further, some really unwanted things will happen. -
There is no more pain signal, because our digestion system has actually adapted.
Some people have these inborn splendid genes. Fast healing and adaptation.
Like that Highlander bit but minus the visual effects and not that fast.
Regular morning coffee (acidic liquid) without substantial amount of (just) water to balance the acidity will also cause this problem, digestion system, including the front gate, teeth for instance. There's that decaf coffee, which is higher in pH (potential of Hydrogen — potenz des Wasserstoffs) compared to standard coffee. But the point of coffee is that horse-whipping substance called caffeine (alkaloid family, not actually an acid) and those other substances (acids) involved in the production of the powder or granules.
The decaf is actually having the flavor of the coffee. For some people, it can still spark the pacing. That triggering memory/perception based on association without having the actual amount of caffeine from regular coffee.
Soft drinks or highly concentrated sugar beverages with soda can also trigger this kind of digestive problem (and other illness) if we don't take sufficient water to balance the sediment. Fast food always offers (pairs) this with the meals, and we think we "have enough water". No, we have not.
Why is That?
Because those sparkling bubbling concoctions (like we are in medieval time) contain various salts (the soda-bubbling part and flavor enhancers). Salt retains water (hygroscopy), so our body cannot properly absorb the actual water needed.
For instance, if we drink sea water, we will always be thirsty. It's a common sense.
Ocean dwellers 🐟🦑🦈🐋🦀 have the ability to do the filtering. We do not.
These drinks are manufactured to actually make us more thirsty and hungry. The addictive sensation. Well, it is business, so, eh, it is what it is 🤷
Stomach Ulcer: Quick Treatment
Take antacid and water.
Usually common antacid is not expensive. It is a base (high pH, more than 7) substance. It will temporarily neutralize the acidity (low pH, less than 7) in your stomach and the mint will somewhat sanitize the wounds. And your body will have time to heal them.
Antacid can be in tablet (solid) form or liquid form.
There are many brands you can choose in pharmacy. Take the suggested dosage which is written on the package.
Remember, and water. Take some water with it. Do not drink other than that, like tea or milk or coffee or beer or soft drink or gasoline. Clean water.
From my experience, do not attempt to consume banana while you are having stomach ulcer.
If it is really bad, you need to take the liquid form of antacid. It will patch the wound and calm the pain faster than the solid form, chewable tablet.
Then, after the pain calms, take your routine meal.
Afterward, it is recommended to visit an actual medical doctor to say hi, and ask the lady or the gentleman about it. They will prescribe some antibiotics and some supporting multi-vitamins if the ulcers are really bad and ruining the entire body metabolism.
The wounds in the stomach are like canker sore. Ever have that? Stomach ulcer also looks like that, but bigger.
Ulcer means wound, from Latin, ulcus.
Did you notice that medical term is usually either Classical Latin or Ancient Greek? 😂
Before modern world, it was intended only for the knowing group, exclusivity — well again, it was, is, and will be business™, it is what it is.
Nowadays in modern era, same deal but with more leaning toward consistency and precision, because modern language is always evolving and tends to diverge from its original meaning.
Our stomach is an acidic environment. If you remember high school biology class, the acidic environment acts as food processor (with the enzymes) while eliminating the bacteria brought in.
This can be caused by:
- Eat-whatever-without-looking-at-the-expiry-date pattern.
- You eat something too much. Overdose sort of thing.
- You unconsciously take poison. This can happen like 0.01% of the time. Just like number #1.
-
You consciously consume poison.
This is, well, your own choice. But in my opinion, do not do that.
Food poisoning symptoms are:
- Nausea and followed by vomiting.
- You feel intense pain or burning on the left side of your abdomen. Your belly. It might feel like ordinary stomach ulcer, but it's also followed by these other symptoms.
- You taste everything as bitter all around the tongue. And it's paler than your ordinary tongue color.
- Dizziness or lightheadedness with rising body temperature.
- Your skin is paler (freakishly lighter) than its usual color.
- Abnormal frequent flatulence and diarrhea.
- Fever.
- Sometimes, if you touch/press your arm or other parts of the body, it feels hurt.
- In some cases, you can see red dots sprawled on your arm or thigh. If this happens, call the ambulance, or ask your friend to call them. This needs professional medical attention.
- Also, the chest pain (could be heartburn or angina pectoris or myocardial infarction or other) if it is acute. This needs professionals to calm it down.
Food Poisoning: Quick Treatment
Right away, take:
Lots of activated carbon or charcoal (carbo activatus) and warm water.
Activated carbon (charcoal) is available in many brands, you can buy it in any pharmacy.
Activated charcoal works through a process called adsorption. Toxins, chemicals, and some pathogens are drawn to charcoal's (porous) surface. The large surface area binds a wide range of substances using weak electrostatic forces and van der Waals interactions. These bound substances remain attached to the charcoal and are carried out of the body through the digestive system. They will not be absorbed into the bloodstream.
For your information, the vast internal surface area in activated charcoal is formed through a controlled activation process, which then produces countless microscopic pores. The controlled activation can be either physical (steam) or chemical process. Physical process is the most common, while chemical process is mostly used in industrial application.
Activated charcoal is ineffective to adsorb strong acids or alkali, cyanide, iron, lithium, arsenic, methanol, ethanol or ethylene glycol (medical uses of activated carbon).
With that information, alcohol poisoning 🍺🍷🍻🍸 is not recommended to be treated using activated carbon. Since it will be useless. It needs complex detoxification treatment by healthcare professionals.
Ethanol (C₂H₅OH) poisoning treatment usually includes IV (Intravenous) fluids, monitoring (vital signs), glucose, and thiamine. Ethanol is found in beer, wine, spirits, and hand sanitizer (with alcohol).
Methanol (CH₃OH) or ethylene glycol (C₂H₆O₂) poisoning treatment usually includes antidote (fomepizole or ethanol) + possible dialysis. Methanol is found in industrial solvents, windshield washer fluid, antifreeze (some brands), some paints and varnishes, and moonshine. Ethylene glycol is found in antifreeze (common), some hydraulic fluids, and de-icing solutions.
So in theory, moonshine poisoning can be treated using vodka.
Other than that alcohol poisoning: too much coffee, common drugs overdose, or expired food/non-alcohol drink product, or even pure poison, like various pesticides, can be treated using activated carbon.
After you take the activated charcoal, you need to take dioralyte or just lots of water with salt and sugar to refill your body fluid. It's called Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) . The mixture of water plus salt and sugar is called Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS).
For mixing your own homemade ORS, take the WHO/UNICEF's formulation: ORT.
Per litre of water consists of:
- 2.6 grams (0.092 oz) salt (NaCl) (salt)
- 2.9 grams (0.10 oz) trisodium citrate dihydrate C₆H₅Na₃O₇·2H₂O (salt) —
trisodium 2-hydroxypropane-1,2,3-tricarboxylate dihydrate - 1.5 grams (0.053 oz) KCl (salt)
- 13.5 grams (0.48 oz)
anhydrous glucoseC₆H₁₂O₆ (sugar)
Or using this ratio:
30 ml sugar : 2.5 ml salt : 1 litre water
6 teaspoons sugar : 0.5 teaspoon salt : 1 litre water
To sum up, to treat yourself from food poisoning, you need to take the activated carbon with (recommended: warm) water, follow the recommended dosage on the box, then drink the ORS regularly. Repeat the procedure until you feel better.
If this treatment gets you nowhere for 48 hours, then you have other pathogens/poisonous sediment inside of you. Force yourself to drink lots of water, then visit the hospital. To say hi to the emergency fellows.
Stomach Ulcer and Food Poisoning: Maintenance
I had typhoid (together with dengue) fever back then in my first year of college and thankfully cured from it. It was fatal. An agony, really hurt all over the body, total nausea, and my head was having insane hammering migraine and swirling vision. The blood vessels on my arms and legs became red and looked like I was on fire. I was treated first at emergency room, then moved to the ward.
While I was having follow-up treatment at hospital, my aunt introduced me to a Chinese medicine, which consists of dried earthworm in a convenient form of capsule. It's a particular species of earthworm used in traditional Chinese medicine to cure any of digestive disorders. It's the Lumbricus rubellus species. The traditional herbs really sped up the healing.
Right then, that was my own emergency situation experience 🚑
The typhoid fever is caused by those salmonella or escherichia coli or other typhoid bacterium families. It's not quite like stomach ulcer or food poisoning, but it attacks pretty much the same area, the digestive system, connected to the blood circulation.
The dengue fever is caused by dengue virus brought by those striped mosquitoes, Aedes aegepty. It can also bring other, like yellow fever. So those mosquitoes are carriers. Well, they just try to eat I suppose 🦟
Doctors usually prescribe certain antibiotics to eliminate the pathogens.
This worm Lumbricus rubellus apparently has natural antibiotics and protein to kill pathogens and strengthening the mucous membrane of our digestion channel.
In traditional method — in rain forest region, experts in that method excavate the worms from the ground, then serve those as soup — with additional herbs and spices to tone down the gross level taste — to sick people.
I don't know how they (ancient Chinese people) discovered that, it's a mystery to me how they did the researches. But it's proven, the result is me and other people who had the treatment.
Earthworm lives in the soil and literally digests the soil, along with lots of microorganisms within the soil. We know that they (earthworms) are decomposers in food chain, and the sign of fertile soil. We (humans) live above the soil, usually, not eating soil, directly.
Hence it's logical to start researching how it can do what it does, what it is equipped with and how that can be beneficial to us. But of course not all kind of worms can be used to treat indigestion.
Maybe that was the motivation behind the research 🔎
Traditional remedies are fascinating. Not to mention other important survival skills, from hunting to construction (shelter and more). The knowledge is usually passed down and perfected from generation to generation, and it varies between places because the places are different surely.
So you may try this traditional prescription, to maintain your own digestive system and make it stronger, thus you have a healthy body.
It can be a capsule form, or dried earthworm form, or powder form. Some pharmaceutical stores provide it.
In the US or Europe or other places besides China, there're the Chinese herb stores, offline and online. Best is offline, so you can talk to the person directly.
To me, it has no side effect because it came from the nature. It has plenty of benefits.
Anyway, if you always drink coffee in the morning, remember to always drink a glass (or more than one glass) of water before that first sip. Or, put a jug of water beside the coffee cup/glass/mug. You need to drink water; before, after, or between sips.
That will help to thin out the acidity and make your stomach comfier. It will still do the horse-whipping trick and even fresher.
This is an exaggerated and normally-deviated 🤔 deformed physics-defying image to support my advice:
That also applies if we often consume energy drinks. Those are the liquid substances with taurines, B-complex vitamin, caffeine, etc. mixtures with sour sparkling taste. It actually doesn't give us any energy, we are the energy source. Instead, the combination of the ingredients, sugar, caffeine, taurine, and more acids — vitamins, whips our body metabolism to burn more energy which is still stored as raw materials.
Like in racing, turbo mode. Now that mode needs a lot of more coolant, water intake is naturally required even more. Maybe the mouth isn't thirsty, but the overall internal system needs it. Mismatched sensing effect.
Other than that, follow your doctor's advice, they're experienced and surely have the expertise in that field.
My general advice, take standard food, less frequent instant meal, drink a lot of water, and do exercises regularly.
White Sugar
Added on June 20, 2016
This is based on my experience and experiments. When I drank coffee with white sugar, you know, grainy sugar you can find in supermarket or the sugar provided in coffee shop/restaurant/cafe, it always made my stomach had that twisted feeling. But when I put brown sugar (coconut or palm type, the brown sugar block type, not the grain one) or when I didn't put any white sugar for the coffee, just plain bitter coffee, no weird feel occurred in my stomach.
I observed that in coffee that I made, and the cafe/restaurant ones, and also in soft drinks.
In my opinion, soft drinks are just sugar with soda and flavor. The diet soft drink is an awkward branding 😐
But then again, is it not every modern snack sugar in disguise? 😂
The processed refined sugar, or soft drinks, or other factory processed instant liquid always leaves some sour taste in the mouth if you notice. The sourness is because the varieties of acids, with their magic chemical or brand names nobody could figure out or even to pronounce its train of letters. Teeth dissolves in acid, our entire body can dissolve in acid. So, please brush your teeth regularly with toothbrush and toothpaste, and maybe combine with flossing using dental floss plus gargle with mouthwash.
Try to not swallow the mouthwash liquid or floss filament or toothbrush or toothpaste.
Fluoride
It is recorded that it was used to create sediment within the brain, to block some of essential synaptic natural responses, and it was scientifically proven method. The sediment will act like a road block inside our brain. In periodic table, the neutral element (F: Fluorine) is within Halogen group (VIIA). Fluoride is F- (as anion). Halogen group consists of F (Fluorine), Cl (Chlorine), Br (Bromine), I (Iodine), At (Astatine), and the synthetic, Ts (Tennessine). Each chemical element within Halogen group is naturally poisonous for living being, with one exception for iodine; thyroid gland related. So, it's not wise to consciously take it for long term. Unless you know what you're doing of course. Toothpaste usually consists of fluoride, as putty for the enamel, to prevent tooth's outer layer further corrosion. It's fine as long as it's external usage, and not swallowed too much.
Also applies to soap (liquid or solid), shampoo and other personal care products. They're supposed to be applied externally.
Apple 🍎 and Tea ☕
Added on July 2, 2018
This is from my own experiences, so I guess I add this info.
Fruit, particularly apple, is always good for me, the stomach part especially. Actually, all fruits and vegetables are meant to be consumed by us as long as it's not poisonous and taken in moderation. Chewing (apple) properly is good for the teeth, gum, all equipment in our mouth, including the muscles (motors).
Second, tea. Without sugar is recommended, but it is indeed a pleasure to add sugar into that. Hot tea, if consumed regularly, will have remarkable result for overall body. Among others, the skin is pretty noticeable. Anti-aging, as some refer to that result. It doesn't have to be hot, warm is sufficient. Cold is alright, it will have result too, but not as good as hot or warm. The hot beverage can clear the street, it's about the temperature. While cold, way less than 23°C or 73°F, temperature would do the opposite. Cold beverage is useful for other condition, like in hot weather.
Our normal healthy body temperature ranges from 36°C to 38°C (97°F to 100°F). Over that is usually caused by internal infection. Below that, usually is caused by irregular blood circulation, or the blood cell itself, or nervous system.
For short term effect, tea has calming effect, natural anti-anxiety beverage, and it's usually comfortable for stomach, also making the stomach comfortable. Tea consists of a bit of caffeine to keep us alert, but not as intense as coffee. Too much coffee can lead to severe sleep deprivation, diarrhea, nausea, flatulence, painful stomach ulcers, anxiety, involuntarily tremors and cardiac related stories. Too much tea will, well, make us bloated and pee a lot.
Tea also tends to separate (artificial) chemical bonds, as in chemical bonds in modern medicine. Therefore:
it is not recommended to take medications with tea — use water instead.
Regular consumption of tea can also reduce the body odor problem. Since it breaks down plenty of (unnecessary) chemical compounds.
Tea Variants
Tea product has many variants, but all of those actually differ in processing method rather than the base plant itself. Tea plant is Camellia sinensis.
I also learned other traditional knowledge, mostly derived from the Chinese culture, it's about the stomach — referring to the entire digestive system.
In Asian martial art, when we're somewhere at top position, we'll learn about divine concepts: nature and healing.
The starting phase is to strengthen ourselves via rigorous physical combat training. Then the highest is about balancing ourselves with the surroundings and to cure others and ourselves. This peak phase is rarely told or emphasized.
Martial art in mainstream is always associated with "punching kicking throwing locking this and that", because, well, "punching kicking throwing locking this and that" gives us the shock sensation and it fits the entertainment, so it's again, business 🤷
This peak phase understanding in martial art is actually a real science, but with different presentation and more respect.
In many branches of martial art, the body movements and technique drills may vary greatly. However, at this phase, they tend to converge (again). As in having almost similar interpretation about the human body.
Stomach is the center of ourselves. Well, the brain, heart, lungs, pancreas, genital, and more, are also important. But as a whole, those parts of the body get nutrition from the stomach.
Therefore, illnesses such as heart disease, liver problems, irregular blood pressure, or even brain problems start from digestion. The intakes.
That's why people in the country, or village, with literally no access to chain-restaurants or any instant modern meals are healthier. Interesting, is it not?
Fast food industries, to reduce cost, use lots of chemical compounds: metal, metalloid, alkaline, and so forth — which makes the meal to be more attractive, last longer, and easier to cook/bake. We just heat it for couple of minutes and bam! Ready. Isn't it convenient? Ah, yes. But... Something is lurking.
It is fine to consume instant meal and fast food, but we need to be more careful here compared to consuming regular meal. It's about modern convenience trade-off.
Prepackaged meal ➡️ less effort ➡️ less physical activities ➡️ less water intake ➡️ bulking up sediments ➡️ questionable and seemingly preposterous illnesses.
It is like that obscure term "do more", being cut off vaguely. And in actuality, it will be about more sitting down and staring at the screen.
We have this tendency to engineer everything and to control other people's fate. By we, I mean not exactly we. We just follow what they told us, indirectly. That is fine, as long as we (they) understand the boundaries. Which apparently is uncertain, by always expanding the boundaries. That's rather paradocixal and intriguing actually 🧐
We know so very little about what we are, why we are here, and the facts are blurred by mainstream media — there's another trade-off from the convenience — we need to reobserve ourselves, others, and our place on our own. Reobserving takes a lot of time because earth realm is extremely vast with kajillion different beings on and in it. There are the real domain (we can literally see or feel it) and other. The other consists of our imaginations and more other, things and beings which are invisible to human eyes but factually exist.
The good news is, the ancient people had already done some parts and written down their discoveries regarding our habitat and ourselves 📖
The nature literally provides us with everything we need. Ancient people knew things about which and what on this realm. Certain special people had knowledge about special fields. Like, druids or shamans for example. Not all druids or shamans were in dark side. But usually, they knew both sides, who and which and what.
Back then, we built, planted and cultivated things directly. Now, we need the middlemen, the corporates, to do those for us. Thus, no knowledge about anything anymore. Dumbed down and entertained (zombified) very much.
The key from those buried knowledge is always about the concept of balance. It's actually the basic principle in everywhere.
Thank you for visiting. I hope I brought some useful information in above writing 🫡
This has been quite a journey. May all of us stay healthy, cheerful, and productive.
I went through some of this stuff this week. Bananas...who knew???
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, banana is sort of "acid" to wounded stomach.
DeleteLove your writing style (this isn't spam...I'm a real person). It's fun and relatable! Lol! You'd have made an interesting science tutor so I wouldn't have always felt sleepy in college chemistry...lol. Interesting fact about the worms. The researcher in me is intrigued. Summary....just thought to not be a ghost reader and say good job.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! You're so kind. Yep, we should all do our own researches to make ourselves more independent and understand stuffs.
DeleteHave suffered from Typhoid and Ulcers for over two years now but i don't seem to get fine regardless the medication i use
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that.
DeleteWell, if I were you, I would stop taking antibiotics (the basic prescription for those usually), and switch to herbal or other non "modern" "medication".
Yeah of course there are many swindlers when talking about holistic knowledge. You could try to find the worm I mentioned above, usually they are already in packages (capsules). It works for me and my friends and students who had those sort of stomach problems.
How to know you're better is by having normal appetite.
I hope you'll get much better soon.