Something new

[kalo]

A couple new thoughts.
Last week, tuesday I got sick. My head felt like there were needles in it and it hurt to move. Diarrhea kicked in and then I puked up a bright green liquid. Afterwards, I puked up all the water I tried to consume. A day later I went to the doctors and she had me go to the ER. They took forever to give me an IV and I was terribly dehydrated at this point. They gave me 2 mg of morphine but I wouldn't allow anything else. I felt better after the third IV and had to continue to stop them from putting more drugs into my body. My neck was very stiff and so meningitis was the thought. But I didn't want the spinal tap so I don't know what got me. I recovered quick by continuing to fast.
I still wake up stiff in my back and neck and I can't jump around because my head will still tingle. The pain was terrible but I have just accepted my fate in this human body. And I'm grateful to feel better.
So I guess eating raw foods has been harder since my appetite is back. Although the last thing I ate was cooked chicken..
Needles in head and most pressure behind eyes, sore back and neck, vomiting and runs. Any ideas besides meningitis?

[FRANCIS HOWARD BOND]

Sorry you are so very ill.   Meningitis is characterized by a rash which does not diminish if you press a glass bottom on it, terrible headaches and stiffness.   It is very serious with rapid deterioration and it does not sound like your problem at all!   You may have a problem than can be dealt with by antibiotics, and however you feel about taking medicine - if you need it you really need it.   Please seek professional advice and do not panic at this stage.   I feel sure you will get better - in time!

[kalo]

Thank you, good I can be sure it is not meningitis! Boy am I thankful I didn't get that painful spinal tap done! I wonder if my symptoms are similar to a type of food poison?

[PaleoPhil]

This does indeed sound serious. Like Francis said, please seek professional help rather than rely on the guesses of strangers on the Internet.

[RogueFarmer]

What kind of water were you drinking? When I am healthy it is hard to force down tap water. When I am sick I would dehydrate before I drank it. One time I was really sick and the only water where I was was tap water. It tasted like chemicals from under the sink, after being filtered by a new brita filter. I tried to drink and puked it back up 3-5 times. Finally i drove myself up to where my animals were and drank the water there. It tasted positively awful, (normally it tasted really good). But I was able to hold it down. I drank it again a little while later, still tasted bad but better and on the third time drinking about an hour after the first it tasted pretty much like mountain spring water.

I'm one of those real crazies who thinks water isn't an ideal beverage. If you must drink water, especially water of not very pure quality, lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and perhaps raw honey help a lot.

[kalo]

Rogue Farmer: My experience was very similar. I live near a fresh stream but was at my parents house and had to use a filter and the water tasted poorly. I truly went to the hospital just for the IV to turn around my dehydration and fasted to get the illness out. But I never thought to try adding lemon or ACV to the drink. Everyone kept drinking to force soda down my gullet which I refused.


PaleoPhil:Very good point. I hate the allopathic style of healing in America but the life saving IV humbled me a bit. Nonetheless, I have a deep dislike for doctors and "specialist" so much so that it is probably a phobia. I am not looking for the answer here, just helpful experiences.


 

[PaleoPhil]

The closest things I have had in the past to your experience are probably viral/bacterial infection, such as influenza and food poisoning.

I ran your symptoms through a symptom checker and food poisoning did come up as one of the top hits:

http://symptoms.webmd.com/#introView

Reported symptoms:
Headache: head felt like there were needles in it, pressure behind eyes
Neck pain and stiffness
Back pain
Diarrhea
Vomiting green liquid (if accompanied by abdominal pain, it could be due to small bowel obstruction)
Dehydrated (only similar symptom in the listing is dry mouth)

Some of the potential causes that were generated:
Viral gastroenteritis
Food poisoning
Irritable bowel syndrome
Gastroenteritis
Kidney stones
Salmonella

[FRANCIS HOWARD BOND]

Hope you are feeling better now and have discovered a solution to your problems!

[kalo]

Thank you sir. I have been feeling strong enough to start exercising again and for that I am very thankful. My blood results came back negative and I threw away the prescription for the drugs the doctor tried to give me. My guess was that it was a viral infection and boy was it miserable. Again thanks for everyones comments.

[PaleoPhil]

Sounds like it. If so, then that's a relief and congrats. Fingers crossed.

[FRANCIS HOWARD BOND]

GREAT NEWS!   Keep us informed of your continued progress!

[PaleoPhil]

If you haven't done it in a long while, I would suggest getting a blood test to check some health markers and see if you can glean any clues as to why you became so ill.

One thing I would check is vitamin D level, which is commonly low in modern societies and that can contribute to infection susceptibility. My own vitamin D level fell to a very low level on raw Paleo, which I had no way of knowing until it was tested, and I was able to get it up to within the normal range on my last test. I'm not saying that applies to anyone else, just that it's good to get some objective tests of health markers now and then, because there can be hidden issues one doesn't know about, even when one feels great.

Another test to consider is a comprehensive metabolic panel. I've noticed that VLCers tend to have some suboptimal results on that test--and I had some out-of-range results on a metabolic panel when I was VLC Paleo (all since normalized after diversifying my diet).

I'm not trying to imply that tests are the be-all and end-all, just that they can sometimes provide some clues. Good luck!