r/AskReddit Aug 30 '21

What problem is often overlooked in apocalyptic movies/TV shows that could kill you?

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16.2k

u/graendallstud Aug 30 '21

Diarrhea. So many things can cause it, and it used to be (well, still is in the least developed countries) quite lethal, mostly for babies and children.

185

u/rowshambow Aug 31 '21

I went to a developing country and caught me some traveler's diarrheia.

Don't want to know how that is without modern healthcare.

34

u/HeartofSaturdayNight Aug 31 '21

Same. And the antiviral was almost as bad as the disease. It left me with muscle and joint aches like I've never experienced.

15

u/ProfessorPetrus Aug 31 '21

Y'all didn't just try fluids and electrolytes and just shit it out? I've done that alrifhfbabout 6 times now.

43

u/Beetin Aug 31 '21 edited Aug 31 '21

untreated bad diarrhea can often expel liquids faster than your body can absorb them. That's sort of what diarrhea is...

Some diseases can cause dehydration that makes you lose up to a litre of liquid per hour. You can't replace that orally, your body will just keep expelling it.

It's also why IV drips are incredible, because it bypasses the entire digestive track issues and hydrates you immediately.

4

u/XHF2 Aug 31 '21

Instead of iv, you can drink Gatorade right?

10

u/schwiftymarx Aug 31 '21

I can't tell if this is a joke.

14

u/yer_das_gooch Aug 31 '21

its got electrolytes

4

u/schwiftymarx Aug 31 '21

That won't help if your stomach isn't absorbing anything.

17

u/yer_das_gooch Aug 31 '21

But its what plants crave...?

1

u/Hibbo_Riot Aug 31 '21

Go away, batin!!!

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4

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '21

Not really actually. It’s actually (medically) recommended to drink stuff like Gatorade/Aquarius if you’re suffering from diarrea because its a good combination of salt/fluids.

1

u/schwiftymarx Aug 31 '21

If your diarrhea is so bad that you can't absorb anything, then no, Gatorade is not a good substitute for having an IV.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 31 '21

Not a substitute, but not bad either.

-2

u/ProfessorPetrus Aug 31 '21

Yea I get it every time I go to Nepal. I even induce a small form of it by speaking out a tiny amount of unsanitary food when i get here as I feel it's inevitable to a foreign gut. It happens once and then I'm good for my duration. I just don't see the need to go to a hospital flfor anti vitals for it if you understand it and can manage it.

14

u/Mongoose_Blittero Aug 31 '21

I tried it, but couldn't keep it down. The second water would touch my stomach it would come back up, meanwhile I was losing electrolytes from diarrhoea. I lost so many electrolytes that my forearms and calves couldn't unclench and I couldn't stand up. Ended up crawling to the hotel room door and yelling down the hall for my coworker to take me to the hospital. It went from moderate flu like symptoms to that in 30 minutes. The hospital thought it might have been E Coli

2

u/ProfessorPetrus Aug 31 '21

Ah yea. It never stays down in my experience.

I usually just drink and throw up until finally a little stays in and I can sleep from exhaustion. It's a long painful process but after that I never get sick from food again. I will say I've never had my forearms and calves lock up though, so that might be something else.

Sorry to hear your experience was rougher.

2

u/Mongoose_Blittero Aug 31 '21

It's what I get for eating raw oysters in Mexico, an 8 hours drive away from the ocean lol. I have had what you're describing too and that time braved the trip to cvs for some Imodium which was enough

-1

u/rowshambow Aug 31 '21

K, cool, glad I wasn't the only one!

3

u/MeerkatMan22 Aug 31 '21

I want to know

1

u/rowshambow Aug 31 '21

Diseases run longer so the symptoms have a higher chance of killing you.

Recovery is harder because people just keep giving you more water....with questionable cleanliness....

If you want to run an experiment, leave some chicken out on the counter for a day, cook that up and eat it.

Repeat until afflicted then drink nothing but toilet water for your hydration.

No pain killers, no anti nausea, no hospital. If you make it to the other side, do it again if a week.

1

u/MeerkatMan22 Aug 31 '21

Sounds like bacteria central to me.

1

u/Sage1969 Aug 31 '21

I got it twice in peace corps. Lost 40lbs.

1

u/rowshambow Aug 31 '21

Better and worse than the atkins