[mychichi]

My five year old son woke up early hours of Easter Monday vomiting, he got to about five times during the day and I took him to the doctor.

When checked by the doctor he said looks like gastro but DS has vomited so violently he had burst a few blood vessels in his face and in the corner of his eye! He advised me to take him to hospital, as it looked like a rash on his face and needed to rule out meningococcal and possibly appendicitis.

He had all the routine tests done and nothing came up abnormal, so said it was gastro. He was put in a drip and anti-nausea meds and he started to pick up the next day and was sent home Tuesday night.

He stopped vomiting in early hours Tuesday night and diarrhea Wednesday.

However he isn't really eating much still. He's had some weetbix, a few tiny teddies and bit of flat bread. He only will drink water.

They said he won't feel like eating for a few days but I still can't help feeling worried! We've never had bad gastro in our house before, so just wondering if anyone has an experience with it?

[ally0812]

poor little guy try him on hydralite from chemist, comes in icy pole form and will help a lot replacing lost salts and minerals. dry toast. salada bikkies with vegemite. chicken noodle soup. banana. maybe a bit of watermellon if its about. nothing strong in flavour, maybe a piece of baked chicken thigh? plain pasta. hopefully he feels better soon, it can take 2 weeks or more to feel normal again

[Maple Leaf]

We had our first gastro experience in Nov, and it was SHOCKING.
DD vomited for 24 hours straight and finally stopped after taken anti vomiting meds. It took a full week for her to start eating again normally, I think she was scared of eating in case she threw up again.

Was the worst week ever.. She lost about 5kgs and couldn't afford that.
Hang in there and expect a long recovery.

[roses7]

Both of my children have been hospitalised with gastro in the past and it is horrible.

We've also had a few epsiodes where it went on for 24 hrs or so and we were thinking we would have to head off to Emergency.

What we've learned it that rehydration plays a huge part in how well they feel and how quickly they recover.

Icypoles are your friend. Hydralite icypoles are great but they do have that slightly salty flavour that not everyone likes. Our GP says that regular lemonade flavour are just fine if they refuse the hydralite.

Food is not really that important in the early days. If he is hungry then give it to him but if not, don't worry too much. Just keep the fluids up!

If he is willing to try a bit of food then plain boiled rice is the best thing. We also offer toast, crackers, plain pasta, bananas, boiled potato.

I hope he feels better soon.

[Julie3Girls]

Sounds pretty normal to me.
Severe gastro can take a LOT out of you, and taking a week or so to recover from it wouldn't be unusual.

[mychichi]

Thanks everyone. After writing my post I ended up ringing the paediatric ward number that I was given. Didn't think of it at first being so sleep deprived . The nurse assured me that it was normal and to keep up fluids and not to worry about food so much just follow his lead. She said she did hear of his case due to the rash/eye and also his flat refusal to drink anything but water!

It took a full week for her to start eating again normally, I think she was scared of eating in case she threw up again.

I think this might me DS he said he was worried. I keep reassuring him that the nasty germ it out of his tummy now and will take a bit of time to recover. I keep telling him sweet ice blocks and hydalite will make him feel better quicker but he said he only wants to drink water.

Thanks for the reassurance everyone, think I needed it! Just wasn't sure what he was feeling is normal or not.

[Alacritous~Andy]

An acronym my GP told me for foods when recovering from gastro was BART. Banana, Apple, Rice, Toast. They are still my "go-to" foods if I am feeling off. And definitely focus on keeping him hydrated.

[nicka]

My family had a bout of gastro recently. My son and I didn't eat anything for 3 days, we had a small meal which we promptly brought back a few hours later, resulting in food for a further day. All up we didn't eat a thing for 4-5 days. Even then it took a few more days to get an appetite. On top of that we were both bedridden for the first 3-4 days. The main thing is that the vomiting/diarhhea has stopped and he's drinking fluids.

[clm1982]

Its definitly going around really bad at the moment. It may take him a week or so to recover i only had it mildly last week and still didnt feel well or eat for about 5 days.

[pod30]

watermelon - helps in this house.

Rehydrates and sugar for energy.