Ugh! This is not good. ETA Asking for help

[Night Elf]

Christmas morning and ds is in the bathroom with a stomach bug.

 

Update: He threw up all the contents of his stomach but he's still feeling extremely nauseous like he can throw up any moment. I gave him a zofran we had left over from dd's illness. He kept it down for about 15 minutes thinking he was finished throwing up because his stomach started feeling better, but then he got sick again so he probably threw it up. The directions on the bottle said only one every 8 hours so I can't give him another one. We're trying an OTC medicine called Emetrol but it's having no effect. We're not familiar with lingering illnesses like this. The zofran worked for my dd when she took it. Can  you give me an idea on how long this may go on? I can take him to Kaiser urgent care, but how long does he need to be sick to do that? I told him he may just have to ride it out but can't give him an idea if that is going to be one hour or several. I need to call the Kaiser nurse I suppose, but I can't tell them I gave him a zofran because it's not his prescription medicine. What should I do? Suck it up and tell her?

Edited December 25, 2016 by Night Elf

[mellifera33]

Oh no! Poor guy. I hope he feels better quickly.

[emzhengjiu]

Oh no!  I'm so very sorry he's sick.  Praying for a quick recovery!

[Night Elf]

Bumping asking for help.

[MedicMom]

Honestly, there probably isn't much they will be able to do at urgent care. Viruses just need to run their course, and if a zofran didn't really help they won't have much else to give him.

Let him sip ginger ale and Gatorade. If tomorrow he still can't keep anything down and it's been over 24 hours, call and see if they want to evaluate him for dehydration.

[TechWife]

I think you can go ahead and take him in to urgent care - if they can give him something to stop the vomiting it will help prevent dehydration, which will make him even more miserable. Sorry you're having to deal with this on Christmas Day - I hope he feels better soon!

[itsheresomewhere]

We have a bug like this going around in our area. It is up to 24 hours and then they feel fine. Urgent care more than likely will not do anything more than tell you to have him rest and make sure he has fluids.

 

DD had it and it lasted about 8 hours with her.

[Classic Mom]

Please tell the nurse/doctor all medications you have given. They can't effectively help your son without knowing the whole story.

[regentrude]

I would not take him to urgent care. This likely resolves itself in 24 hours. Try to keep him hydrated. There is not much else to do.

Hope he feels better soon.

 

[gardenmom5]

how long has he been sick?  most stomach bugs dont' last more than 24 hours of nausea - much less for actually vomiting.

 

hydration is important - coconut water is really good for that, without the added sugars of gatorade.

re: coconut water.  during the war in the pacific - they didn't have any lactate - they would stick a tube in the coconut directly to the patient becasue it is sterile in the coconut and has approx the same electrolyte balance that humans need.

[poppy]

Put him in front of the tv with a bucket and a blanket.  Poor kiddo.

[cintinative]

If he has a stomach virus this should be over in 24 hours. Keep him hydrated, clean like a crazy woman behind him so he doesn't spread it, and make sure he is resting. 

[Matryoshka]

I would not take him to urgent care. This likely resolves itself in 24 hours. Try to keep him hydrated. There is not much else to do.

Hope he feels better soon.

 

:iagree:  If this morning was the first time he threw up, he'll probably just keep on till it gets out of his system.  There is absolutely nothing modern medicine can do for a stomach bug.

 

This is what I do with a puker.  I put them on the sofa (I let them watch movies if they want) with towels under them and on the floor (and if they need a blanket or pillow, they get covered with towels too).  I give them a bucket.  They are not to move from the spot unless they need to puke, then I have a designated bathroom no one else can use for that day.  They need to bring the bucket along in case they don't make it.  

 

I know they need to keep hydrated, but I give nothing at all until the first round of pukes dies down - I've found even a tiny bit can extend the cycle.  Once there's been no puking for 2-3 hours, I start with sips of Gatorade (never water, that can cause the cycle to repeat).  If they keep that down, more sips of Gatorade and add saltines slowly.  Nothing but Gatorade and saltines till 24 hours, then start on the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Toast... I forget what A is!!) for another 1-2 days. Chicken broth is also good during that period.

 

Knock lots of wood, I've never had puking last more than 24 hours or come back later, and keeping the kid on the sofa and bleaching the cr*p out of the designated bathroom and all the towels used the next day has managed to also almost always keep it to one kid and not have it go through the family.  

 

Good luck!

Edited December 25, 2016 by Matryoshka

[Night Elf]

I laid a pallet of towels on the bathroom floor for him because he's afraid to go back to his room. I also gave him a heated rice pack. I found some home remedies like lemon water and ginger,  but I don't think he'll try it because he's a picky eater and he might not like the taste. Besides, it's Christmas morning. I don't think any grocery stores are open for me to buy a lemon. I feel horrible for him. He's so miserable.

[Mom2kjba]

This just ran through our house. My rule- nothing by mouth until vomiting has stopped for at least an hour if not longer. Then a sip or two every 10 minutes of sparkling cider, Sprite, really whatever appeals to the child. If they hold that down, I'll let them have some bland food 6 or more hours after last vomiting. Usually they don't want to eat anything for a day or two. No worries as long as they're drinking.

 

I wouldn't give Zofran, nor would I go to urgent care for a stomach virus. You want him to vomit- it's how the body eliminates the virus. For my kids, the vomiting phase usually doesn't last longer than 6-12 hours. Then they're lethargic and puny for another day or two and then it's business as usual. Only once did we have to go to the dr for a stomach bug and that was when we all got norovirus. My oldest daughter couldn't get past the vomiting part after a week and needed meds. That was more extreme, but even still she just took some reglan and was fine.

 

Hope he feels better soon!

[Night Elf]

He started feeling sick at 8:00am (2 hours ago) and started throwing up at 8:30am. So he's got a long way to go. Thanks for all the advice. He hasn't thrown up in at least 45 minutes. He just feels like he needs to.

Edited December 25, 2016 by Night Elf

[Matryoshka]

I laid a pallet of towels on the bathroom floor for him because he's afraid to go back to his room. I also gave him a heated rice pack. I found some home remedies like lemon water and ginger,  but I don't think he'll try it because he's a picky eater and he might not like the taste. Besides, it's Christmas morning. I don't think any grocery stores are open for me to buy a lemon. I feel horrible for him. He's so miserable.

 

Do you have any Gatorade?  Ginger is good if you have it - can you make Ginger tea?  But I'd still recommend *nothing* till he's been puke-free for at least a couple of hours.  Even a tiny bit of sipping can trigger the reflex and that just extends the time he's sick, and they also lose more fluid than you tried to put in, so it defeats the purpose.  Let the body purge the virus - that's what it's trying to do.  

 

Can you find a comfy place for him to be?  Bathroom floor sounds awful. Find him a bucket in case he's worried he won't make it to the bathroom. Definitely surround by towels (and bleach them tomorrow).

 

:grouphug:

[regentrude]

He started feeling sick at 8:00am (2 hours ago) and started throwing up at 8:30am. So he's got a long way to go. Thanks for all the advice. He hasn't thrown up in at least 45 minutes. He just feels like he needs to.

 

He may be done and just feel like puking for a day. Or there may be more. But two hours really is not a long time and not a "lingering illness". He will be fine.

It is possible that he does not have a "stomach bug" but simply ate something that did not agree with him, and the body needs to get rid of it. Once that has happened, it's fine.

 

I would encourage him to go back to bed and put a bucket next to his bed.

[The Girls' Mom]

Yeah, keep him as hydrated as possible and give it 24 hours.  There is a nasty virus going around right now.  I had it this week.  If it is the same one, be prepared for severe diarrhea as well.  I couldn't keep anything down for a full day.  

[bettyandbob]

My local grocery is open. Check online and find which stores nearby are open. I'd recommend popsicles and ginger ale. Popsicles because sucking on them is like taking small sips.

[Rachel]

One of my kids tends to puke every 10-15 minutes for 4-6 hours, then his stomach settles down. I generally don't see or call the doctor until it has been 24 hours. My rule of thumb is small amounts of fluid once it has been 45 minutes, wait 20 minutes then give a little more fluid. After 3-4 hours of no vomiting offer bland food, if he is interested. If he starts puking bile or blood, call the doctor right away.

 

My other kids can catch the same bug and not puke nearly as much, it just affects my one son differently.

 

In my experience zofran helps more with nausea than vomiting. If you call the doctor, please tell him you gave it to your son. The worst that can happen is that they will give you a mini-lecture, but you want your son to receive proper treatment.

[Night Elf]

We do have gatorade. I think he fell asleep on the bathroom floor. I think it's uncomfortable too but when I asked him about moving to his bedroom he's very nervous. We don't have a bucket but I can give him a trash bag. That's what I did for dd and now even the smell of a trash bag has a bad association. I don't know what else to do. He works the graveyard shift as a stock clerk at a grocery store so his normal schedule is to sleep from about 8:30am to 5:00pm, so he's been awake since yesterday at 5:00pm. I'm sure he's exhausted. If I can get him into his bed, he'll probably sleep all day and I think that's good for him. Then we'll work on liquids.

[Soror]

When we've had tummy bugs here 12=24 hrs was pretty typical. There is not much to do but try to keep him hydrated when he tolerates it and watch for dehydration. At just 2 hrs in I'd not be concerned, it is entirely not fun but not alarming. I had a nasty stomach bug a few Christmases ago and threw up for 24 hrs +, stomach pains so bad I felt like I was going to die. But it passed. I just balled up in bed, slowly sipped Sprite and gatorade (and the like when I felt able) and slowly reintroduced bland food when it seemed the nastiness had passed.

Edited December 25, 2016 by soror

[Matryoshka]

We do have gatorade. I think he fell asleep on the bathroom floor. I think it's uncomfortable too but when I asked him about moving to his bedroom he's very nervous. We don't have a bucket but I can give him a trash bag. That's what I did for dd and now even the smell of a trash bag has a bad association. I don't know what else to do. He works the graveyard shift as a stock clerk at a grocery store so his normal schedule is to sleep from about 8:30am to 5:00pm, so he's been awake since yesterday at 5:00pm. I'm sure he's exhausted. If I can get him into his bed, he'll probably sleep all day and I think that's good for him. Then we'll work on liquids.

 

Our puke bucket is just a largeish tupperware-like container.  It doesn't need to be that big - what comes out is less than you think.  Do you have any tupperwareish plastic containers? A bag is nasty.

[Selkie]

Poor guy, stomach viruses are just awful! Hope he is feeling better soon.

[Lanny]

I think you can go ahead and take him in to urgent care - if they can give him something to stop the vomiting it will help prevent dehydration, which will make him even more miserable. Sorry you're having to deal with this on Christmas Day - I hope he feels better soon!

 

Dehydrating can kill.  Potassium level can drop and that can cause death. Try to get him to eat some Bananas. If he has severe vomiting and/or diarrhea, for more than an hour or two, take him to the E.R.

[Night Elf]

Ok, I got him into bed. He wasn't asleep in the bathroom but he did say his bed was much more comfortable and he thought he could sleep. He takes sleep medicine to help him sleep and he took that an hour before he started throwing up so hopefully the combination of that and probably feeling exhausted from throwing up will help him sleep. I'm going behind him and disinfecting every surface he was even near and have been washing my hands like crazy. I was the one closest to him so I'm worried I'll catch it next. I hate stomach bugs. I'm such a big baby with them.

[Night Elf]

Our puke bucket is just a largeish tupperware-like container.  It doesn't need to be that big - what comes out is less than you think.  Do you have any tupperwareish plastic containers? A bag is nasty.

 

I really don't. The largest bowl I have has sloped sides, it's not deep. I'm worried it will just splash everywhere. Then I'll be cleaning his room too. When this sickness is over, I'm going to bleach his bedding just in case. I might should disinfect his computer keyboard too.

 

[displace]

In general it's not recommended to give kids medicines to prevent vomiting/diarrhea unless there is a true dehydration. It's a natural response to get rid of infection and you want his body to have its natural response, not prevent it. Pain medicine sometimes helps with stomach pain, depending on the cause.

[Erica in OR]

Our puke bucket is just a largeish tupperware-like container.  It doesn't need to be that big - what comes out is less than you think.  Do you have any tupperwareish plastic containers? A bag is nasty.

 

We use a 2-quart rubbermaid pitcher, then bleach when done.

 

Erica in OR

[Night Elf]

We use a 2-quart rubbermaid pitcher, then bleach when done.

 

Erica in OR

 

Oh I do have that. That's a good idea.

[Night Elf]

In general it's not recommended to give kids medicines to prevent vomiting/diarrhea unless there is a true dehydration. It's a natural response to get rid of infection and you want his body to have its natural response, not prevent it. Pain medicine sometimes helps with stomach pain, depending on the cause.

 

This may not matter but he's not a kid. He's 20. And his vomiting lasted less than an hour. He may not be really dehydrated but I'm still going to have him just sip gatorade later when he wakes up. We're moving our Christmas dinner to tomorrow so he can eat with us.

[CadenceSophia]

This may not matter but he's not a kid. He's 20. And his vomiting lasted less than an hour. He may not be really dehydrated but I'm still going to have him just sip gatorade later when he wakes up. We're moving our Christmas dinner to tomorrow so he can eat with us.

Your family must be very lucky with illness for any of this to be unusual to you :) We just had a stomach bug run through the house. Everyone was vomiting non stop every 10 minutes for 6-12 hours. Things you can throw up into include everything from a small plastic trash can (like you keep by a desk) to a 1.5 qt straight sided food storage container, to an ordinary pot.

 

He's not severely dehydrated after an hour of vomiting. Offer the Gatorade or water or whatever else seems good but don't push it if it doesn't just yet..

[BlsdMama]

Put him in front of the tv with a bucket and a blanket. Poor kiddo.

Yup. I'd wait 24 hours.

[Ali in OR]

Sounds like our Christmas of 2012. I'm sorry. Ours was norovirus (thank you young nephew and young nephew's parents who had us over as he was recovering). It started with our 12 yo and went through the whole family over the next few days. First 12 hours was the worst and then a few days of recovery with not much eating. If it's noro, it's very contagious. Like bleaching and handwashing were not enough to save anyone. But it is a much faster recovery than a flu.

[maize]

Your family must be very lucky with illness for any of this to be unusual to you :) We just had a stomach bug run through the house. Everyone was vomiting non stop every 10 minutes for 6-12 hours. Things you can throw up into include everything from a small plastic trash can (like you keep by a desk) to a 1.5 qt straight sided food storage container, to an ordinary pot.

 

He's not severely dehydrated after an hour of vomiting. Offer the Gatorade or water or whatever else seems good but don't push it if it doesn't just yet..

Yeah, I couldn't believe that a person vomiting a few times is unusual in this family! We certainly don't like dealing with stomach bugs, but they're not particularly unusual or worrisome. I worry about dehydration if I have an infant or very small child who can't keep anything down for a day or more or with ongoing diarhhea.

 

Adult vomiting for a few hours? Miserable but no big deal.

[Shellydon]

Yeah, I couldn't believe that a person vomiting a few times is unusual in this family! We certainly don't like dealing with stomach bugs, but they're not particularly unusual or worrisome. I worry about dehydration if I have an infant or very small child who can't keep anything down for a day or more or with ongoing diarhhea.

 

Adult vomiting for a few hours? Miserable but no big deal.

 

We've never had a stomach virus run through our family.  The last time more than 2 people were sick with a stomach bug was when my now teens were 1 and 2 (Norovirus).   It has been at least 5 years since anyone in our family has had stomach flu and that was just one child.  For our family, it would be really unusually for everyone to be sick with anything at the same time.

[maize]

Ok, I got him into bed. He wasn't asleep in the bathroom but he did say his bed was much more comfortable and he thought he could sleep. He takes sleep medicine to help him sleep and he took that an hour before he started throwing up so hopefully the combination of that and probably feeling exhausted from throwing up will help him sleep. I'm going behind him and disinfecting every surface he was even near and have been washing my hands like crazy. I was the one closest to him so I'm worried I'll catch it next. I hate stomach bugs. I'm such a big baby with them.

It's possible the sleep medication didn't make it into his system--digestion often slows down with a stomach bug, I've had stuff come back up that was eaten a good 8 hours before.

 

I do hope he can sleep though and gets over this quickly. Stomach bugs really are miserable.

[maize]

We've never had a stomach virus run through our family. The last time more than 2 people were sick with a stomach bug was when my now teens were 1 and 2 (Norovirus). It has been at least 5 years since anyone in our family has had stomach flu and that was just one child. For our family, it would be really unusually for everyone to be sick with anything at the same time.

I am insanely jealous of you!

 

We do sometimes go a couple of years at a time without getting a stomach virus, but this fall we managed three iterations!

 

Also, in my family if someone catches strep it tends to manifest as stomach symptoms.

[MomatHWTK]

When my kids had a stomach bug a few years back, one of them spent about 24-hrs in the bathroom non-stop. It was indescribably horrible. DH had to be in there with him on cleanup for most of the time. We managed to avoid the need for a trip to the ER, but only because DH had been through something similar and we knew to push fluids. 

(DH did end up in the ER when he had a stomach bug when we were first married.)

Edited December 25, 2016 by MomatHWTK

[Ausmumof3]

I really don't. The largest bowl I have has sloped sides, it's not deep. I'm worried it will just splash everywhere. Then I'll be cleaning his room too. When this sickness is over, I'm going to bleach his bedding just in case. I might should disinfect his computer keyboard too.

 

You probably have this sorted but we have used a small trash can in the past when nothing else was handy. Also empty ice cream buckets because you can just ditch them. I haven't been as successful as others with infection control we generally all end up with it. I think in part because I get stomach stuff at the drop of a hat and almost always end up having to care for the kids while I'm sick.

[Ausmumof3]

For recovery the brats diet is generally not recommended medical strategy anymore. The suggestion is rehydrating fluids or plain water and basically let the person eat or drink whatever they feel like except for lactose. (Stomach bugs can cause temporary lactose intolerance). This has mostly worked for us except once with my dd I did restrict her because she is the type to want pizza or roast chicken two hours after vomiting.

[Night Elf]

I appreciate all the help. He is back to normal already. He slept for a couple of hours, got up for an hour and sipped on a gatorade, then got back in bed for another almost 5 hours. When he woke up, he wasn't feeling sick anymore at all. He still didn't eat but he drank more. He doesn't normally go to bed until 8:30am, but DH said when he got up this morning at 6:30 that our ds was in his room with the door closed and the light out, so he must have felt super tired and gone to bed early.

 

We've been lucky about sickness. It's rare for us to get sick. The last illness we had in this house was when dd was in high school last school year. That's why I had zofran left over. And as for my son personally, he went from the age of 4 to age 20 with barely a runny nose. He started working in a grocery store in early October and had two bouts of nausea that we thought was going to end up in throwing up, but they never did. This time it did.

 

When dd was sick, it was for several hours. When I called the advice nurse, she had us bring her in to urgent care so they could check for dehydration. They gave her some fluids and zofran to ease the nausea. It worked for her because she came home and immediately fell asleep. So no, I'm not familiar with long illnesses without medication. That just seems horrible to me.

[maize]

I'm glad he is doing better!!!

 

And still quite amazed that this felt like a long illness to you; you and your family have been very, very fortunate in the illness department. That's a good thing, I'm glad there are people out there who rarely get sick :)

Edited December 26, 2016 by maize

[poppy]

I gotta agree, if you think 24 hours is a "long illness", you must have genes made of iron.  (Not a bad thing).

 

Glad he's feeling better!

[Guest]

I appreciate all the help. He is back to normal already. He slept for a couple of hours, got up for an hour and sipped on a gatorade, then got back in bed for another almost 5 hours. When he woke up, he wasn't feeling sick anymore at all. He still didn't eat but he drank more. He doesn't normally go to bed until 8:30am, but DH said when he got up this morning at 6:30 that our ds was in his room with the door closed and the light out, so he must have felt super tired and gone to bed early.

 

We've been lucky about sickness. It's rare for us to get sick. The last illness we had in this house was when dd was in high school last school year. That's why I had zofran left over. And as for my son personally, he went from the age of 4 to age 20 with barely a runny nose. He started working in a grocery store in early October and had two bouts of nausea that we thought was going to end up in throwing up, but they never did. This time it did.

 

When dd was sick, it was for several hours. When I called the advice nurse, she had us bring her in to urgent care so they could check for dehydration. They gave her some fluids and zofran to ease the nausea. It worked for her because she came home and immediately fell asleep. So no, I'm not familiar with long illnesses without medication. That just seems horrible to me.

I agree that you have been lucky to go so long without much experience with a stomach bug. :) We have been pretty lucky like that here, too. We haven't so far had one of those "whole family gets a stomach virus" episodes as some of my siblings or in-laws have had. But this past summer, DD19 got a food-borne illness (I suspect the food truck at the county fair was the culprit) and she was in BAD shape for five days. That was the worst stomach-intestinal episode that has happened in my family so far. (Incidentally, I did take her to Urgent Care for that, but only after a day or two and she had a fever also.)

 

So glad he is better. I second the advice to sterilize all surfaces; cleaning the computer is also not a bad idea at all, as well as phone(s), doorknobs and light switches. Clean all the bedding, too, and face towels. Maybe toothbrush replacement also.

[chocolatechip]

I gotta agree, if you think 24 hours is a "long illness", you must have genes made of iron.  (Not a bad thing).

 

Glad he's feeling better!

This! To us, 24 hours is a SHORT stomach bug!!! We also don't generally medicate for a stomach bug so that's normal to me. (This brings to mind the time when one of us got a three day stomach bug right after coming home after an appendectomy... Oy. That was one to remember.)

 

Glad he's bouncing right back and hoping none of the rest of you catch it :)

[KarenNC]

Glad he's doing better. I had an episode on Christmas Eve when I was in my early twenties that I initially thought was food poisoning because I threw up violently every 15 min for about 8 hours (the only other time that happened it was actually food poisoning at the World's Fair). At that point, I took myself to the ER (no doctor's offices open as it was a weekend and prior to the easy availability of urgent care) and told them to either stop my throwing up or shoot me, I didn't particularly care which. It turned out to be the start of the flu, as I started spiking a fever while in the ER getting fluids and phenergan and was sick with more usual flu symptoms for several days (but no more throwing up). It's one reason I get a flu shot every year!

Edited December 27, 2016 by KarenNC