Food poisoning
Food Poisoning While Travelling What to do next.
Sickness, diarrhoea, cramps and a temperature after eating something abroad? NHS guidance treats most food poisoning as something that resolves with rest and fluids within a week; the decision is usually about hydration and warning signs, not about being examined. That is why a conversation with a doctor often settles it without a clinic visit: Pomodoc connects you by video with an English-speaking doctor licensed to treat you where you are, for a fixed €40. If you cannot keep fluids down, or have dark urine, dizziness or are passing very little, get in-person or urgent care instead.
The decision is usually about fluids and warning signs rather than about being examined, which is why a conversation with a doctor often settles it without a clinic visit.
- €40
- per consultation
- No insurance
- or local registration needed
English-speaking doctors, licensed to treat you in the country you are in.
What Food Poisoning Usually Does
NHS guidance describes the main symptoms as feeling sick or being sick, diarrhoea, tummy pain, a high temperature and feeling generally unwell. Symptoms usually start within a few hours or a few days of eating something, and occasionally not for a few weeks. It usually gets better within a week.
That timeline is the useful part. Most travellers do not need a doctor for this, they need to know whether they are one of the ones who does. With Pomodoc you can speak directly with a doctor by video, talk through what is happening, and understand whether this needs in-person care.
- Consult securely by video
- Avoid unnecessary travel and waiting rooms
- Get clear guidance about your symptoms and treatment
- Access care while travelling or living abroad
Do You Need a Doctor for Food Poisoning?
Often not, and saying so is more useful than selling you a consultation. Here is where a conversation genuinely helps, and where it does not.
A video consultation may be a useful first step when
- you are keeping some fluids down but cannot tell whether it is enough
- you are not sure whether what you have needs treating or just waiting out
- you are somewhere unfamiliar and do not know which local service to use
- you want to know what to watch for overnight, and when to act
- it has gone on longer than you expected and you are weighing whether to be seen
For an ordinary case the honest output of a call is usually a plan and a set of thresholds rather than a prescription. NHS guidance treats most food poisoning as something that resolves with rest and fluids.
Get in-person or urgent care instead when
- you cannot keep any fluids down at all
- there are signs of dehydration, such as very dark urine or dizziness on standing
- diarrhoea has lasted more than seven days, or vomiting more than two days
- there is blood in your stool, or a high fever alongside it
- the person affected is a baby under twelve months old
Pomodoc connects you with an English-speaking doctor by video, licensed to treat you in the country you are in, for €40 per consultation. Fixed price, no surprises.
If you are recovering the way most people do, a doctor telling you so is a reasonable thing to pay for once, and it is a better reason to call than fear is.
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How It Works
Medical advice by video in three simple steps
Start online
Tell us which country you are in and what is going on. It is a short form, not an appointment request.
Join by video
See your English-speaking doctor using your phone, tablet or computer.
Get clear guidance
Discuss your symptoms and receive advice about your next steps.
Why Use Pomodoc?
Explain it in English
Describe your symptoms and ask questions in English, instead of translating them first or hoping the clinic has someone who speaks it.
You do not have to leave the bathroom
This is the illness where getting to a clinic is genuinely the hardest part. A consultation happens where you already are.
Useful for deciding, not just treating
Most of what you need is a threshold: what to watch for, and at what point to stop waiting. That is a conversation.
Understand what to do next
A doctor can help you decide whether you need treatment, rehydration support or an in-person appointment.
Travellers who needed a doctor abroad
I was very happy to find this service
I was very happy to find this service! I was able to get a video visit with a physician promptly and get care.
Easy, competent, nice
Doctor was very nice and adequately thorough, explained everything very well. The whole process was far easier than expected.
Reliable and efficient
Reliable and efficient, able to provide medical support while you're away from home.
Reviews of Air Doctor, our medical partner, published on Trustpilot.
More About Food Poisoning Away From Home
Fluids, and the ones that make it worse
NHS advice is to stay at home, get plenty of rest, and drink lots of fluids such as water or squash, taking small sips if you feel sick. Small and often is the part people get wrong: a large glass on a queasy stomach tends to come straight back.
It also says to avoid fruit juice and fizzy drinks, because they can make diarrhoea worse. Paracetamol is suggested for discomfort, and aspirin should not be given to children under sixteen. Babies should carry on with breast or formula milk, with small sips of water between feeds for those on formula or solids.
Oral rehydration sachets are worth knowing about
Rehydration salts are sold in pharmacies almost everywhere and are the standard way of replacing what is lost in a bad episode. They are cheap, they travel well in a wash bag, and they are more use at 3am than anything else you could have packed.
They are rehydration rather than treatment. They do not shorten an infection, and they are not a reason to keep waiting if the warning signs above have appeared.
What a doctor can and cannot do about this remotely
A doctor can take a history, ask what you ate and when, ask what you have managed to keep down, judge how dehydrated you sound and look, check for the warning signs, and tell you plainly whether you need to be seen. For most travellers that is the whole of the useful answer.
What cannot happen over video is an examination of your abdomen, a stool test, or fluids into a vein. Most food poisoning does not need antibiotics at all, and where treatment is warranted it is a clinical judgement rather than something a consultation guarantees.
Where you are changes what to do next
The medicine is the same everywhere; the system around it is not. Whether a pharmacist can help, whether there is a free triage line to call, and whether the nearest useful service is a health centre, a resort doctor or a hospital all depend on the country.
The country pages below set out what has been verified for each destination, rather than offering a general rule that would be wrong somewhere.
Good things to know.
How long does food poisoning last?
NHS guidance says food poisoning usually gets better within a week. Symptoms typically begin within a few hours or a few days of eating something, and occasionally not for a few weeks. Diarrhoea lasting more than seven days, or vomiting for more than two days, is a reason to seek advice rather than to keep waiting.
Do I need a doctor for food poisoning while travelling?
Usually not. Most cases settle with rest and fluids, and NHS guidance treats it as self-limiting. You do need advice if you cannot keep fluids down, show signs of dehydration, have blood in your stool, have had diarrhoea for more than seven days or vomiting for more than two, or if a baby under twelve months is affected.
What should I drink if I have food poisoning?
Water or squash, in small sips if you feel sick, according to NHS guidance. Avoid fruit juice and fizzy drinks, which can make diarrhoea worse. Oral rehydration sachets from a pharmacy are the standard way to replace salts and fluid after a heavy episode.
Should I take antibiotics for food poisoning abroad?
Most cases do not need them, and taking a course you did not need carries the side effects without the benefit. Whether antibiotics are appropriate is a clinical judgement based on your symptoms and where you have been, not something to settle at a pharmacy counter. A doctor can tell you whether it is even a question in your case.
Can I fly with food poisoning?
It depends on how you are, and airlines set their own rules rather than following a medical standard. A doctor can talk through your symptoms and what they would mean for a flight, which is often the reassurance people want. If an airline or insurer needs a document, check with them first about what they accept, because Pomodoc cannot promise a particular document in advance.
Is it food poisoning or a stomach bug?
In practice the two overlap and the management is largely the same: fluids, rest, and watching for the signs that mean you need help. The label matters less than the thresholds. What would change the answer is blood in the stool, a high fever, or symptoms lasting beyond the usual week, all of which are reasons to be assessed.
How much does a Pomodoc video consultation cost?
€40 is the fixed price of the video consultation with a doctor. It includes the consultation and, where clinically appropriate and local rules permit, a prescription. Medication you buy at a pharmacy, and any in-person care you go on to need, are separate. There is no subscription and no booking fee.
When is a video consultation not the right call?
Not when it is an emergency. A video consultation is for suitable non-emergency concerns: and for a stomach upset, not being able to keep fluids down, signs of dehydration such as dark urine or dizziness, blood in the stool, or a high fever mean getting in-person or urgent care instead. In the country you are in, in a life-threatening emergency call the local emergency number first. It is also not the right tool when a doctor needs to examine you, take a swab or run a test — if that is what your symptoms need, the useful outcome of the call is being told so early, and the guide above says which routes are better for that.
Sources
- Food poisoningNHSThe symptom list; that symptoms usually start within a few hours or days and occasionally not for weeks; that it usually gets better within a week; the rest and fluids advice including small sips and avoiding fruit juice and fizzy drinks; the paracetamol and aspirin guidance; the advice for babies; the reasons to contact 111 including dehydration, being unable to keep fluids down, diarrhoea for more than seven days, vomiting for more than two days and babies under twelve months; and the emergency symptoms including vomiting blood, green or yellow-green vomit, severe tummy pain, sudden severe headache, stiff neck with light sensitivity, blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue, severe difficulty breathing, being confused or not responding as usual, and possibly having swallowed something poisonous.
- Diarrhoea and vomitingNHSThe rehydration approach, the dehydration warning signs including dark urine and passing less than usual, and that most cases resolve without specific treatment.
Sources last checked: . General information, not a diagnosis.
Not Sure Whether You Need a Doctor?
Speak to an English-speaking doctor by video and get guidance from wherever you are.
- €40, fixed price
- English-speaking doctors
- 139 countries
- Prescriptions where available
Video consultations are for suitable non-emergency medical concerns. In a life-threatening emergency, call your local emergency number, or 112 from any phone in the EU. This page is general information, not medical advice about your own situation.