Effects of a stomach virus

[lubawyb612]

2 nights ago I puked for about 7 hours straight every 20 minutes or so.  It was by far the sickest I can recall in my life.  Its been about 36 hours now without much food at all.  My body feels completely weak and my muscle fullness seems to be deflating rapidly.  I realize this may be more mental than anything but how negatively do you guys think this will affect my strength and size.  I cant recall having a virus like this since I began training so I don't know how its going to affect me in the weeks to come.  Anyone with recent experience with this?  Will my muscle fullness recover at all once I'm able to start eating again?   

[PANDAEMONIUM]

2 nights ago I puked for about 7 hours straight every 20 minutes or so.  It was by far the sickest I can recall in my life.  Its been about 36 hours now without much food at all.  My body feels completely weak and my muscle fullness seems to be deflating rapidly.  I realize this may be more mental than anything but how negatively do you guys think this will affect my strength and size.  I cant recall having a virus like this since I began training so I don't know how its going to affect me in the weeks to come.  Anyone with recent experience with this?  Will my muscle fullness recover at all once I'm able to start eating again?   

Your strength will take a dive for a bit but who cares, that will come back.  As for "size", if you're a natty, you're not going to lose any real muscle mass after such a short period of time.  If you're sick for two weeks straight and don't eat any food in that time, expect to shrink.  If you look in a mirror and "think" you look smaller, it's not because you're losing muscle mass.  If you've been throwing up that much, you're body is severely dehydrated--and muscle consists largely of water.  Another thing to remember that you may not look as "swole" because you haven't been working out and getting that blood pumped in there to heal the damaged tissue (this is one of the reasons muscles have that "swollen" look the day after you work out...also because the muscles are more tense having been contracted and under stress recently).  So, in other words, don't sweat it.  You're gonna be just fine.  Just get the rest you need and eat a lot.

[lubawyb612]

Your strength will take a dive for a bit but who cares, that will come back.  As for "size", if you're a natty, you're not going to lose any real muscle mass after such a short period of time.  If you're sick for two weeks straight and don't eat any food in that time, expect to shrink.  If you look in a mirror and "think" you look smaller, it's not because you're losing muscle mass.  If you've been throwing up that much, you're body is severely dehydrated--and muscle consists largely of water.  Another thing to remember that you may not look as "swole" because you haven't been working out and getting that blood pumped in there to heal the damaged tissue (this is one of the reasons muscles have that "swollen" look the day after you work out...also because the muscles are more tense having been contracted and under stress recently).  So, in other words, don't sweat it.  You're gonna be just fine.  Just get the rest you need and eat a lot.

Yes I am a natty.  I am very dehydrated.  I nearly passed out a couple times during the last few dry heaves the other night.  I have been pounding down the water and gatorade and I maybe pissed once or twice today.  Is there anything more I can do to help rehydrate? I finally got a half piece of chicken in my stomach.  Eating anything is pretty rough

[PANDAEMONIUM]

Yes I am a natty.  I am very dehydrated.  I nearly passed out a couple times during the last few dry heaves the other night.  I have been pounding down the water and gatorade and I maybe pissed once or twice today.  Is there anything more I can do to help rehydrate? I finally got a half piece of chicken in my stomach.  Eating anything is pretty rough

Your stomach's gonna be pretty irritated from all the commotion (especially the dry heaves) for probably a day or so after you get over the bug, so ease back into the food.  Start with smaller-portioned meals, and ones that taste good like fatty ones--pizza, ice cream, foods that you can get some high calories from even if they aren't "clean" foods.  Your body's in a starvation state right now most likely, so it'll use anything and everything you give it for fuel.  And don't get discouraged if you get back to the gym and your strength is shot for a workout or two.  That's to be expected.  But it'll come back quickly enough.

[lubawyb612]

any tips on rehydrating? I heard using pedialtye (sp?) is better than gatorade...anything else beacuse I really dont think I can get out to buy anything

[mass 04]

I would have a protein shake mixed with Gatorade when you can keep anything down to get some nutrients quickly into your system. Other than that Panda is spot on.

[lubawyb612]

thanx guys....def some good stuff to hear.  A little less worried now and my appetite is slowly starting to come back.

[mass 04]

I got a nasty 24 hour bug a few months ago. I couldn't even keep water down. You should look back to "normal" ie. hydrated and fuller in a day or two. I would ease back into weights, maybe take the first week easy. I notice that after your body cleanses itself like that you are dead tired for a few days after you recover.

[PANDAEMONIUM]

thanx guys....def some good stuff to hear.  A little less worried now and my appetite is slowly starting to come back.

Yeah, good, the important thing is not to panic and think you're gonna erase the past four months of strength and size gains with one 4-day bug.  It doesn't work like that.

[lubawyb612]

I got a nasty 24 hour bug a few months ago. I couldn't even keep water down. You should look back to "normal" ie. hydrated and fuller in a day or two. I would ease back into weights, maybe take the first week easy. I notice that after your body cleanses itself like that you are dead tired for a few days after you recover.

yeah I couldnt keep a sip of water from coming back up...my mouth and throat were drying up so bad I started basically wetting my mouth and spitting it out.  It was the worst night of my life.

[lubawyb612]

Yeah, good, the important thing is not to panic and think you're gonna erase the past four months of strength and size gains with one 4-day bug.  It doesn't work like that.

I knew this yet I still hit the panic button for sure.  What really bothered me is that some of my numbers this week were looking pretty close to when I was at my best.  I went from feeling very good early this week to the sickest Ive ever been.  Horrible frustration!

[PANDAEMONIUM]

I knew this yet I still hit the panic button for sure.  What really bothered me is that some of my numbers this week were looking pretty close to when I was at my best.  I went from feeling very good early this week to the sickest Ive ever been.  Horrible frustration!

Trust me, your strength will return in no time.  I don't care how advanced you are in the iron, you WILL experience some losses when you get sick, vomit a lot, dehydrate, etc.  It's the nature of being human.  No matter how big or strong we get, we're all in the same boat.  The important thing is to look for gains in the long term.  The short term is full of unknowns--unexpected sicknesses, not getting enough sleep the night before a big workout, getting trashed the night before a big workout and so on.  Just try not to get discouraged to the point that you don't progress anymore.

[lubawyb612]

I still have not made my return to the gym.  I began eating pretty as I normally do on Sunday and gave myself a couple of days to try to fully recover.  Today I pretty much felt 100% and Im debating whether or not to return to the gym tomorrow.  Even though I feel 100% Im sure Im actually not quite there.  When would you go back to the gym?

[mass 04]

I still have not made my return to the gym.  I began eating pretty as I normally do on Sunday and gave myself a couple of days to try to fully recover.  Today I pretty much felt 100% and Im debating whether or not to return to the gym tomorrow.  Even though I feel 100% Im sure Im actually not quite there.  When would you go back to the gym?

IMO, I would rest until you feel completley confindent you are all the way recovered. it sucks to miss workouts but in the long run resting will get you better results.

[lubawyb612]

I decided to lift this morning...went light on chest but felt good to be back...strength was better than I expected so I dont think I rushed it...I guess we'll see if I start to feel run down today