What is the stomach flu?
When stomach flu hits, it hits hard.
Nobody relishes getting sick, but the stomach flu presents
its own brutal mix of symptoms. When it connects, it can immediately render you
non-functional and completely miserable (i.e., lying on the bathroom floor
inside constant reach of the sink or toilet).
The beginning stages start with chills, fever, and nausea,
which change into vomiting, diarrhea, and stubborn aches and pains. It’s
tremendous, and there is no cure. Stomach flu has to work its course.
That said, the remedies below may render relief from the
most challenging symptoms and assist get you back on your feet once the
toughest phase subsides.
What Causes the Stomach Flu and How is it Treated?
1. Drink lots of fluids
Fluids are critically necessary since you’re dropping vital
bodily fluids through sweating, vomiting, and diarrhea. If you’re producing
trouble keeping liquids down, try exercising small sips at frequent intervals
or chewing ice chips. The most helpful fluids to drink are:
•
translucent liquids, such as water and broth
•
over-the-counter products like Pedialyte (good choice for any age)
• sports
drinks, which can assist with electrolyte replacement (this should be
maintained for older children and adults)
• some
teas, such as ginger and peppermint, which can assist calm your stomach and
relieve nausea (avoid extremely caffeinated teas)
What not to drink
Most possible, you won’t be in the mood for these through a
bout of stomach flu anyway, but avoid:
•
caffeinated drinks like coffee, strong black tea, and chocolate, which
can transform your sleep at a time when receiving enough rest are crucial
• alcohol,
which serves as a diuretic.
All of these things can further upset your stomach.
2. Try eating the BRAT diet
Having food down can be challenging with the stomach flu.
Don’t force yourself to eat if the mere idea of food makes you cringe. When you
do eventually feel you can get something down, it’s enough to start slow and
simple.
The BRAT diet — bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast can be
your go-to when it grows to an uneasy stomach. These four foods are simple to
digest, include carbohydrates to give you energy, and provide nutrients:
• Bananas: Bananas are simple to digest,
can substitute the potassium you lose from vomiting and diarrhea, and
stimulates the stomach lining.
• Rice:
White rice is simple for your body to method and provides energy from carbs.
Brown rice has further much fiber and may create excess gas.
•
Applesauce: Applesauce presents an energy boost due to the carbs and
sugars, and it includes pectin, which can assist with diarrhea. It’s
additionally easy to digest.
• Toast:
Avoid whole-wheat bread, as fiber can be hard on the digestive system. White
bread is prepared and easier to digest.
What not to eat
Frequently, avoid dairy, fibrous foods, and anything fatty
or salty.
• Dairy:
Not everyone has a problem with milk if they have stomach flu, but it could be
difficult to digest and can increase gas and diarrhea.
• Fiber:
You don’t require the extra fiber if your bowels are loose.
• Grease:
Avoid greasy and salty foods similar to bacon.
• Spices:
Stay continuously from tomato-based dishes, curries, and chili sauces.
3. Try acupressure to reduce nausea
Acupressure Trusted Source has done shown to be useful in
treating some types of nausea. The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
recommends getting pressure point P-6 by measuring the diameter of three
fingers down from the bottom of your palm.
Hold below that width with your thumb and you’ll feel a
tender spot between two tendons. Lightly massage with your thumb for two or
three minutes.
Sea-Bands are a result worn on the wrists. These can be
beneficial in managing nausea if the P-6 acupressure point provides you relief.
4. Get plenty of rest
When you hold the stomach flu, your body requires rest in
order to fight off the infection. Get loads of sleep and decrease the amount of
activity you usually do during the day. This means resting on the couch when you’re
not in bed.
While you’re sleeping, your body is working hard to fight
off the contamination and repairing destruction on the cellular level.
5. Medicate with caution
The stomach flu can’t be corrected by medications, and
antibiotics won’t improve when a virus is a culprit.
You can take over-the-counter medication to manage the
symptoms but do so sparingly. For fever or aches, ibuprofen (Advil) can
support, as long as it doesn’t make you have more of an upset stomach. It can
additionally be hard on your kidneys if you become dehydrated. Take it
sparingly and with food.
Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is usually recommended for the
stomach flu except you have liver disease. It reduces fever and aches, has
fewer side results than ibuprofen, and is less prone to aggravate your stomach.
If you are asking for relief from nausea or diarrhea, there
are some prescription medications that can promote your symptoms. Your doctor
may appoint an antiemetic such as promethazine, prochlorperazine,
metoclopramide, or ondansetron to stop nausea and vomiting.
You can additionally try an over-the-counter antidiarrheal
medication, such as loperamide hydrochloride (Imodium) or bismuth subsalicylate
(Pepto-Bismol). Check with your doctor before attempting over-the-counter
benefits. Do not apply Pepto-Bismol in children.
Remedies for little ones
As shocking as it is to get the stomach flu yourself, it is
also harder to watch your child go through it. If your infant’s symptoms
haven’t fallen in a day or two, take them to the doctor.
Their doctor can create sure your child is on their approach
to recovery without any complications. They can further check to produce sure
there are no other causes for their symptoms.
Encouraging children to proceed to take sips of water (or,
in infants, breast milk or formula) to restore lost fluids is essential to
prevent dehydration. All infants and toddlers can additionally drink an
electrolyte solution like Pedialyte.
Causes of the stomach flu
The stomach flu (also known as gastroenteritis) is regularly
caused by any number of various viruses that can charge your gastrointestinal system. It’s not produced by the influenza virus, which provides you the
seasonal flu.
Less often, bacteria can produce it, typically due to
contaminated water or food that was provided inadequately or in an unhygienic
environment.
Preventing the stomach flu
If you know the stomach flu is running around, practice
extra precautions. Avoid close association with infected people if possible and
wash your hands often.
Some basic methods to avoid getting the stomach flu (and
illness in general) involve washing your hands frequently and getting loads of
rest. Here are additional methods of prevention:
• Practice
the dishwasher preferably washing dishes by hand when possible.
• Use soap
and water sooner than hand sanitizer.
• Hold a
sick family member isolated. Try to reduce them to one bathroom, and have the
rest of the household use another.
• Clean off
shopping cart handles.
• Washed
countertops and surfaces with a disinfectant spray, and be certain to wash
clothes and bedding as well.
Is stomach flu contagious?
Yes! Usually, a virus makes the stomach flu. Symptoms
develop one to three days after exposure, so you are catching them before you
begin to produce symptoms.
And even after you’ve collected from your symptoms, you can
continue contagious for up to two weeks. Children can stop contagious for an
even longer period afterward.
To reduce the risk of passing it onto others, do not go to
work or school with indications. If you have a fever, wait till it’s gone for
24 hours before retorting to your routine.
The road to recovery
While the stomach flu is not a pleasing knowledge, the
greatest people perform a full recovery without any complications. Visiting
hydrated throughout the illness can be the most important challenge.
There’s not enough to do for the stomach flu besides wait it
out and use the remedies discussed above.
You should call your doctor if you haven’t done able to keep
down liquids for 24 hours or are showing any symptoms of dehydration, are
vomiting blood, have bloody diarrhea, or produce a fever above 102°F.
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