E Coli

You must have a really mild form of it because my nephew had it and he was really sick with it.. He was in the hospital for at least 3 or 4 days.

I feel for you! I hope you recover soon. I'm sure you now already know, E-coli can be deadly. Most important to remember, if your doc hasn't already told you, do not share drinks or food, or prepare foods for anyone until you are deemed fully recovered by your physician. You could possibly transmit bacteria to family members, until you have finished your course of antibiotics.

As for my experience, I had it the year I graduated from college and started my first job (that was quite a while ago). While traveling for work, I drank a Coke and ate a pizza at an airport restaurant, and got violently ill. Doctors never did determine if it was the meat on the pizza or the pop (yes, pop and water can harbor E-coli if the cups, or pop machine wasn't clean or the server didn't wash his hands.

Within 8 hours of eating at the airport, I had to be hospitalized because the bacteria got into my blood and started attacking other organs. I wound up having an emergency appendectomy and had some minor injury to my digestive system.

I was in the hospital for about 7 days, and was on heavy antibiotics and an IV for dehydration. I was pretty weak for a few weeks after because I had to be on a liquid diet until my insides calmed down (I had intestinal bleeding, diarreah,cramps, etc.) and lost a ton of weight because I couldn't tolerate food so well after. In all, I think I was messed up for about a month after getting out of the hospital.

I say the best thing to do is to eat soft, non-spicy food. Drink lots of liquid if you have intestinal problems to stave off dehydration. Get plenty of rest too. Even if you think you're better. Your immune system will be out of whack for a while, and you'll be more susceptible to colds, flu bugs etc. And as I mentioned before, until you get the all clear from your doc, be extra vigilent in washing your hands, handling your kids, etc. so that you don't put others at risk. My doc said no cooking until my antibiotic treatments were done. Also keep the bathroom and house extra clean and sanitized.

My boys had E Coli, and it took exactly 21 days to be symptom free. I remember , because there were bowel movements, explosive, every 7-8 mins. with nauseau...hope this helps you see light at the end of the tunnel.

Hi T.-

I feel your pain. I've been there before and it's not fun. Mine was an Ecoli Bacterial infection- so not sure if the infection area was maybe a little different. I was extremely crampy and unable to eat.
I was put on some meds? Not sure what they were, it was a couple of years ago. However, they didn't tell me not to eat w/in an hour b4 or after taking them - so they had some hefty side effects. I would say about a week... so hopefully you're gettign to the end. I just drank lots of gatorade and water to stay hydrated and refuel- GOOD LUCK. That is an ICKY ICKY thing!