Stomach Flu UGH!!!!!!

Gatorade

Or pedialyte.

Same thing (essentially). But Gatorade tastes better.

Both have salts (potassium salts as well as regular salt) aka "electrolytes", which is the big danger from vomiting &/or diarrhea. Electrolytes get out of kilter, and cause seizures (what long distance runners, athletes in the heat, and a puking kid all have in common).

Both have sugars to protect the brain that are absorbed through the mouth, esophagus, and stomach lining. (One time not to gripe that kids arent swallowing is when they have something sugary in their mouth when sick. WeWANT those sugars to absorb. And if the stomach is flushing itself out... Not a lotta time to absorb.

Both have water to he'll combat dehydration & lower fevers.

ALSO good is soda (salt & sugar, but no potassium) the carbonation helps both in absorbtion rates as well as a propellant so the body doesn't have to work so hard to vomit (bulemia trick, there). Ginger Ale is a good choice for the antinausea properties. Sprite or 7up is next best (no color).

Once food can be kept down: high fat soups (chicken or phò are our favs... Jewish & Vietnamese penicillin!!!)

Cool daml cloth over the eyes & nape of neck w/fever.

REST!!! Invoke movie days. Sleep the sleep of the exhausted. Rest & recuperate. Activity shuts down the immune system. No bueno. Its couch time.

Tylenol or Ibuprofen to help manage the pain. Liquid is best for fast absorbtion before its expelled.

Vaseline on the rectum for diarrhea ... To prevent acid burn. Stomach acid is one of the most caustic in the world. Apply before & after every time, preferably.

Stomach bugs are going around like crazy right now – I'm waiting my turn ;-p. My daughter and son-in-law both got hit this weekend. Not much to do but keep hydrated, eat moderate amounts of "white" foods as able, and sympathize a lot. There may be OTC remedies; other moms will have to mention those. If fever is involved, you might try fever-reducers, but they can be pretty hard on already-upset tummies. Some people get help from the live cultures in yogurt, which compete with the microbes in the gut that are causing the illness.

Influenza is actually ONLY an upper-respiratory illness (though sensitive people can also get nausea), so this is NOT THE FLU. If the symptoms are all digestive, it's one of many common forms of gastroenteritis, which can be caused be caused by different kinds bacteria or viruses. (http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/gastroenteritis)

These spread easily through physical contact, so wash hands and surfaces often. Plain soap and warm water, scrubbing for at least 20 seconds, is as effective as anti-bacterial cleansers on your hands. On hard surfaces, you can wash with straight hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol. A solution of water and 1/10 bleach also works, but chlorine bleach is becoming a fairly persistent environmental toxin.

I wish your son a speedy recovery!

Btw, Peg's right about the nomenclature here. "Stomach flu" is really stomach virus. It's a catch phrase for lots of different bugs that hit and go around like wildfire. There is no vaccine for it like there is for Influenza A, Influenza B and H1N1 (swine flu). We do seem to say "stomach flu" instead of saying Gastroenteritis, the actual term for "stomach flu". The reason Peg is differentiating it is so that Mommy of 1 will not misunderstand and think that this season's flu shot could have prevented it.

Mommy of 1, my son was in the hospital with "stomach flu" too (gastroenteritis). He was in 3rd grade. He was vomiting so badly that he laid in front of the toilet and slept inbetween upchucks. It was awful. I talked to the doctor on the phone and she told me the things I told you to do for vomiting. When the suppository didn't pull the fever down and he continued to vomit, she sent us to the ER. They determined his temperature (had to take it rectally because they kept getting different readings within a few minutes), took a blood sample, and with the same needle prick, inserted an IV for an IV drip bag. (I didn't know they could do that - it was great to only get stuck once.) Here's the thing I found out on the ER visit. If your child gets dehydrated TOO much, it can affect his heart. It scared me because he threw up everytime I gave him that little ounce of water to sip. However, the doctor told me that I got enough in him STILL to prevent his heart from being hurt. I was SO glad about that.

Dehydration when you vomit over and over produces ketones in the urine, and that will show up in the testing. Getting fluids in you by IV bag clears out the ketones and can help pull down the fever. My son needed that IV fluid bolus overnight in order to combat the fever and give him a chance at recouperating.

Also, the hospital will want to rule out meningitis as well. They don't necessarily have to test for it (that's a lumbar puncture) but they do want to assess your child, just in case.

If they determine that it is viral, which it usually is, there is no medicine. It has to run its course. However, you just HAVE to get the vomiting or diarrhea and fever under control because dehydration can turn into an emergency fairly quickly.

This is why I said not to let it go on too long.

Hope this addition helps.

Original:

Push fluids, mom. An ounce every 15 minutes, even if he throws it up. I assume he has a pretty substantial fever, is that right? You should send hubby to the drugstore and get suppositories to get his fever down. Ask hubby to go to the pharmacist and tell him how old your son is and how much he weighs. Get a proper dosage and put a little vaseline on it and insert. It should pull the fever down and help the vomiting abate.

If this is diarrhea and not vomiting, continue to push the fluids and only feed him the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce and toast.) For fluids, he needs water and gatorade. You can also give him popsicles.

Don't let it go on too long. If he doesn't get better, get him to the doctor/urgent care center/ER.

Good luck,
Dawn

I had to pick up both of my boys from school on Thursday. They were both sitting in the office throwing up into trashcans. They spent most of the weekend lying on the couch watching Netflix and drinking Gatorade. When they felt up to eating they had dy white toast, soda crackers, pretzels and bananas. Last night they were up to eating baked chicken breast and white rice. It was a fairly mild case this time around and fortunately I haven't gotten it (yet).

Don't do anything medical.

Drink a LOT of fluids. Do not take any meds to stop diahrria or vomiting.

This is how the body is getting rid of the poison that is the virus. If you take a med to stop the symptoms you are basically making the body keep the virus and letting it sit in their body multiplying and getting stronger. If it works it's way out it goes away quicker. So the more fluids you drink the faster it flushes away.

There will still be a few little bugs hanging on somewhere so keep the fluids coming even after the violent vomiting seems to be over.

Those leftover bugs will grow and make the symptoms come back maybe twice. Then you're probably over it.

We had it for about 2 weeks. Just sitting on the toilet puking straight out and squirting almost clear water out the hiney.

It is painful too. This Australian Norovirus is one nasty puppy. People are reporting they lost 15 lbs in 8 hours. It's a crazy virus.

Here are some links to stories about it.

Google search for the words Australian Norovirus:

http://www.google.com/search?q=australian+flu&rlz=1C1...

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/01/25/170249648/new-...

Tulsa News station has this good report.

http://www.newson6.com/story/20756283/new-stomach-bug

There is such a thing as the stomach flu, my son had it once and was hospitalized with it for a few days. It does exsist and its nasty. Hope your son is better.

Yep, it's made it's way through our house twice (over a few months). Yesterday it was the 3 year old's turn. There isn't much you can do.