Everyone has had those horrific moments where you feel like your stomach is doing hula hoops around your body. And all you want to do is curl up into a ball, except doing so makes you feel nauseated. When you’re feeling horrible, you need to visit an ER near me to find out if you have food poisoning or a stomach bug. The symptoms are quite similar, but the causes are different. Visiting an ER in Abilene will help you clear up exactly what is going on so you can go about your life in considerably less distress.

What is a Stomach Bug?

A stomach bug is generally something that’s causing you to have digestive distress resulting from another illness. For example, the stomach flu is associated with the influenza virus, and that could be considered a bug. There’s nothing you can do, sometimes, to avoid stomach bugs. They are contagious and cause fever, sweats, discomfort, diarrhea, and vomiting. Usually, bugs resolve themselves within a short period of time. Sometimes, antibiotics may be required, but this is generally rare as the illness usually passes on its own.

What is Food Poisoning?

Take everything you know about stomach bugs and apply the results to food poisoning but not the cause. Food poisoning is caused by eating something that’s contaminated. There could be a whole host of reasons that the food you eat is contaminated. For example, if eating meat that has not been cooked to the proper internal temperature, that meat can cause your body to react violently like it would a stomach bug. This is because there is some organism that hasn’t been killed in the cooking process. This is why OSHA has such strict food handling regulations.

Conclusion

There is no reason to be in continual gastric distress. If you’re not sure if you have a stomach bug or food poisoning, get to a 24-hour emergency room near me so that you can learn exactly the nature of your problem. The doctor will give you what you need to calm down your stomach.