The incubation period after potato poisoning is very short, usually tens of minutes to several hours. The first symptoms are often itching and burning sensation in the throat, followed by abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, tinnitus, and photophobia. If the poisoning is severe, fever, convulsions, coma, dehydration, difficulty breathing, and loss of consciousness may occur. A few patients may also die due to bruising of the skin and mucous membranes and respiratory paralysis due to hypoxia in tissue cells.
First aid treatment for potato poisoning
1. Induces vomiting. As with other poisoning treatments, you must first induce vomiting, that is, use chopsticks or fingers to stimulate the back wall of the pharynx to induce vomiting to reduce the body's absorption of toxins. Catharsis can also be used, that is, taking 20 ml of sodium sulfate or magnesium sulfate orally as a catharsis to promote the excretion of toxins.
2. Drink tea, vinegar or boiled water with sugar, as well as licorice and mung bean soup to replenish water and correct dehydration.
3. Symptomatic treatment. People with cyanosis can take methylene blue or intravenously drip it. Those with convulsions can be given 5-10 mg of diazepam once. Patients with high fever can use physical cooling, that is, use ice packs or cold water towels to apply cold compresses. For unconscious patients, foreign bodies in the mouth should be removed and the respiratory tract should be kept open.