The flu and vomiting

[mooki]

This last week I have been the sickest I have ever been probably in my life. Six days ago, I took a cross country flight. I was sitting on a 737 with 3 seats on each side and one aisle. I was sitting on an aisle seat. There was a woman next the window coughing who seemed sick or getting over being sick but would cough regularly. There was another guy coughing regularly across the aisle and one row behind me. I said to myself, I that I bet within a few days I'm going to come down with something. By the next day(friday), I had a dry cough developing. My sleep pattern was messed up and I wasn't getting proper rest and not even eating well. I went on a hike with friends Saturday and it was quite cold and windy. I was shivering at times and uncomfortably cold. I think that lowered my immune system. My stomach was feeling off all day and I took both ginger and pepto bismol. That night I decided to go out and celebrate a friends birthday. The cough seemed to be getting worse. Sunday, I finally was able to get caught up on some sleep, but the damage was done. by Sunday evening, I knew it was too late, I was coming down with something bad. I started feeling feverish, got chills, headache, sore muscles, you name it. I had had a bowl of vegetable soup on the stove I was making but by the time it was done, I could not eat, my appetite was gone, even though I hadn't eaten that day.

From Sunday night through last night(Tuesday), I was suffering. Could barely sleep I was so miserable. This was the mother of all flus I have never gone through a flu this severe. My temp got up to 102.7. Medicines didn't seem to be making me feel much better. I kept feeling like I might vomit even when I just burped up a little air. I barely ate because anytime I took more than a few bites of something, I started feeling waves of nausea. Tried to make a bowl of soup a couple times and couldn't get through even a few spoons before I had to lay my head on the table. It's now Wednesday night and I think the worst is over but I'm not out of the woods. The fever is gone so that's a good sign, but I'm still weak, still have a headache, I have this weird throbbing pain in the center of my gut that happens when my blood pressure or heart rate goes up for any reason, and worst of all, I STILL cannot eat. I know I need to get my strength back, I've not had a solid meal in 4 days just about. I just made myself a turkey sandwich and have some fruit to nibble on, but I took exactly one bite of the sandwich so far and a little fruit and I'm feeling the nausea coming on again. For a moment there, I thought I might vomit, but it seems to be settling down now. I have not yet actually vomited with this flu, but I know I could easily if I wasn't listening to my body carefully. My stomach has been growling almost constantly for the last several days due to lack of nutrition, but if I swallow more than just a few morsels, it's like my stomach is saying, "okay, that's enough! Stop!" I need to get my strength back in order to fight this illness, but I don't want to vomit either. I'm in a dilemma!

This might be kinda gross, but as an indication of how little I have eaten, the food that I ate Saturday is coming out now. I know, because I took pepto on Saturday during the day and it turns your stool almost black, so anything you eat during or after the pepto will be black. The black stuff is coming out now. 4 days later! So I'm wondering if that means my digestive system was essentially shut down by this flu. I know pepto contains some anti-diarrheal agents but 4 days to exit??

I know they say the flu does not attack the digestive system, but whatever strain I have, it clearly does. The good thing is that the nausea has been easy to control so long as I only eat very lightly and it small portions. Worse than the nausea is the hunger pain.

[kaiilyn_23]

Sorry you're feeling so crummy
I took a Pepto today and my tongue is black and so is my stool... creeps me right out lol!

[Rebecca85]

The flu doesn't attack your digestive system. What happens is your immune system needs all the energy it can get to fight off the flu. So that's why it makes you so tired. As your digestive system slows right down to conserve energy. The best thing to do is keep sipping at soup or something. If two mouthfuls makes you n, just have one mouthful and wait 15 minutes or half an hour. And I would stick to an easily digestible diet for a bit- soft or liquid foods only, until you're feeling better. Hope you're better soon!

[Natiebear]

H1N1 causes n* i heard that sounds just like it my parents had it last year. Hang in there you are almost through it by now. Call your doc if it gets worse and see if they could give you some meds to calm down your tummy to get through this.

[stella9]

I was in Florida over winter break. While there I caught a head cold from my cousin. I stayed in Florida a few extra days for two reasons of equal concern to me. I did not want to fly with a cold because it could be hard on the ears and I did not want to spread my cold. The day I flew home, I still blew my nose and had a cough, but both were productive. I was in the sixth day and clearly no longer contagious. Air planes are petri dishes.

I am so sorry you picked up this nasty flu, but I am glad that you are on the mend. You sluggish gastro tract has to do with the fever and your body fighting the virus. Influenza is a respiratory virus. V* from it is usually due to the fever, mucous in the stomach, coughing to the point of gagging to name a few reasons. The virus does not proliferate in the gastro system.

Stella

Stella

[ButterfliesInHerEyes]

Some people vomit with the flu, many don't. Depends on the person, the strain of the particular flu, etc etc. But the zero appetite for a long time is very common. Your appetite will come back... in the meantime drink lots of fluid and rest.

Hang in there... this too shall pass.

[AndiGirl]

I'm sorry you feel so awful Mooki. I am one of those people who feel like vomiting when the flu first hits me. I have to remember that it is probably just my body reacting to the virus, the temperature change, etc. It seems like after I remember that, I can calm down and the nausea goes away.

[mooki]

I'm pretty much okay now. My stomach still is acting a little weird with food believe it or not, but it's tolerable and gets a bit less each time. I'm sure by the weekend I'll be completely normal again. I just have a bit of lingering congestion and coughing.

[turbokinetic]

Awe dude sorry to hear you've been feeling like that. Hope you get a 100% recovery very soon.

Can really sympathize with the congestion. I've been congested since arriving in China. It's the freezing weather and the dust on the ship (under construction) that have done it to me.

Take care!
David

[2u4u4ever.com]

So happy you are feeling better. Like Rebecca85 so well said, never to worry about appatite or stools when you are severly ill like that. The body isn't simply prioriting its resourches to digestion at the time. The most important is that you get the fluids and energy.
I had a really nasty flu back in 1998. God I was so terribly ill, high fever etc. I literally slept myself through it, for the first 24 h, waking up only a few minutes every hour for something to drink. Should have had a potty, almost fainted on the way to the toilet for a pee...
As far as i can remember I only had water and fruit/berryjuices the first 48 hours, maybe some vitamin C. Sometimes I believe our culture has an overbelief in eating. Even perfectly healthy our stomachs and bodies need some rest once in a while, that's why some people sometimes are fasting. It's not dangerous to pause a bit from proteines and carbs unless you're not an athlete or something. The body recovers just fine no matter.

[hairyfairy]

I once felt very nauseated with flu when I was 17, I know that it wasn`t a normal symptom of flu, but then I was very prone to getting sick when I was that age, for reasons that I`ll never figure out.

[ButterfliesInHerEyes]

A few years back my mom and I had the same flu within a week of each other. She vomited, I didn't. Some people do, some don't I guess. It depends on so many things.