Signs or Symptoms
- Retching, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea
- Fever and/or chills
- Irritability, anxiety, tiredness or fatigue/exhaustion.
- Cramping, churning stomach pain
- Lack of appetite
- Sensitivity to odours, especially cooking smells
- Generally lasts 24-48 hours
Causes
A variety of viruses disrupt your gut. They can be contracted from inadequately prepared/stored food or rotten (food poisoning) or from another person who has the infection. The infection tends to be very contagious and often can run through everyone in the house in a matter of days.
Noroviruses
The most common virus responsible for food-related illness worldwide. Norovirus infection can go through entire families and communities. It is most likely to spread among people in confined spaces. People are more likely to pick up the virus from contaminated food or water, but transmission from person to person can also take place.
Rotavirus
The most common cause of viral gastroenteritis in children around the world. They get infected by putting their infected fingers into their mouths or other objects, such as toys, contaminated with the virus into their mouths. The infection is most severe in infants and young children. Adults who are infected with rotavirus may not present symptoms, but can still spread the virus.
Contaminated drinking water is also the cause of viral diarrhoea, however, in many cases, the virus is via someone with a virus handling food you eat without washing his or her hands after using the toilet.
Shellfish, especially raw or undercooked oysters, can also cause this illness.
Is stomach flu a concerning health complaint?
- Debilitating and sometimes painful.
- Majority of stomach virus cases get better within 24-48 hours. However
- Severe or long-lasting stomach bugs make a person feel worryingly unwell.
- The NHS advice for stomach flu - seek medical help if:
Babies and children
See your doctor immediately if a child presents:
- Lethargy or very irritable
- Fever of 102 F (38.9 C) or higher
- In a lot of discomfort or pain
- Bloody diarrhoea
- Dehydration signs — watch for signs of dehydration in sick infants and children by comparing how much they drink and urinate with how much is normal for them
Young baby, it may be normal for your baby to spit up, however, vomiting is not considered normal. Babies can vomit for many reasons and the majority of cases may require medical attention. Call your doctor immediately if the baby:
- Vomiting for more than several hours
- Hasn't had a wet nappy in six hours
- Has bloody stools or severe diarrhoea
- Has a sunken fontanelle (soft spot) on the top of their head
- Has a dry mouth or cries without tears
- Unusually sleepy, drowsy or unresponsive
Adults:
- Been vomiting for more than two days
- Unable able to keep liquids down for 24 hours
- Vomiting blood
- Dehydrated — signs of dehydration - include excessive thirst, dry mouth, deep yellow urine or little or no urine, and severe weakness, dizziness or lightheadedness
- Blood in your bowel movements
- Fever above 104 F (40 C)
Self-help measures
It is important to keep hydrated. Hydration is very important as you are losing vital bodily fluids through vomiting, perspiration or diarrhoea.
Take small sips (best are an electrolyte replacement drink, water, ginger or peppermint tea, or broth) or suck on ice cubes. You can make your electrolyte drink
Electrolyte drink recipe:
- 6 level teaspoons of sugar mixed with 1/2 level teaspoon of salt dissolved in 1 litre of clean/filtered water. Making the mixture a little too diluted (with more than 1 litre of water) is not harmful.
- If there is a fever, it is best NOT to eat.
- If there is no fever but there is hunger, small amounts of banana, rice, apple sauce, and toast (BRAT foods) can help.
- The person with the complaint and people in proximity should wash their hands frequently as well as anything touched by the sick person such as taps and door handles.
Homoeopathy for Stomach Viruses
Since stomach viruses are an acute complaint and fall under First Aid Homeopathy, one will need to have at home a First Aid Homeopathic Kit meaning that means that you to buy a homoeopathic remedy kit to keep at home at hand as part of your home medicine cabinet. Helios Pharmacy in the UK sells homoeopathic first aid kits. Ainsworths Homeopathic pharmacy in the UK also sells them.
If don’t have a kit you can call either of these pharmacies who will advise you and send the remedies on the same day. Health food stores such as Holland and Barrett or an independent health food store near you may have there remedy you need in stock. In the US, you can buy First Aid Homeopathic kits through many online stores.
Furthermore, If you or your loved ones tend to suffer from stomach bugs frequently then a visit to your GP alongside constitutional/chronic homoeopathic treatment to address your overall health and the root cause for this propensity is recommended.
For help with a stomach virus infection right now you can try one of the remedies from the list below. Please note this list only has a few homoeopathic remedies that can be indicated for stomach flu complaints. It is not a comprehensive list since it would take many pages to write homeopathic remedies down that can be indicated for this complaint.
Choose the remedy where the symptoms listed for it fit best to your symptoms. You may not have all the symptoms, but one, two or three will be noticeable.
Aloe
- Involuntary stool on passing wind
- Diarrhoea (worse 5-6 am) with gurgling before stool and lots of gas
- Jelly-like mucus in stool
- Cutting pains and pulsations around the navel, worse after stool Abdomen is heavy & full, hot & bloated
- Spastic colitis is where pain extends over the body
- Often comes with nausea and headache
- Better for COLD applications.
Nux Vomica
- Irritable mood
- Great anxiety accompanies the nausea
- Chilly, even with a fever
- Has repeated urges to vomit, and pass stool but cannot
- Lots of retching
- Hypersensitivity to noise, light, and odours, being questioned
- Spasmodic, cramping pains
- Complaints worse in the morning in bed on waking
Arsenicum alb
- Great weakness, esp after diarrhoea
- Great anxiety and restlessness with nausea, doesn’t want to be alone
- Thirsty for small sips (usually room temp)
- Better heat, warm drinks
- Very chilly
- Worse between 1-3 am
- Vomiting & diarrhoea at the same time
- Stool: can be burning, acidic, yellow, very offensive
- Vomiting immediately after drinking the smallest amount
Ipecac
- Severe unrelenting nausea
- Nausea is not better from vomiting
- Nausea with lots of salivation
- Faintness after vomiting
- Waves of vomiting
- May be caused by excessive eating
- Pains in abdomen
- Lots of gas
- Green stool
Nux Vomica
- Irritable mood
- Great anxiety accompanies the nausea
- Chilly, even with a fever
- Has repeated urges to vomit, and pass stool but cannot
- Lots of retching
- Hypersensitivity to noise, light, and odours, being questioned
- Spasmodic, cramping pains
- Complaints worse in the morning in bed on waking
Phosphorus
- Afraid to be alone, of the dark, etc
- Wants and better from cold drinks
- Better from sleeping, a nap
- Vomiting 15-20 minutes after drinking even a small amount
- Has an appetite with the fever
- Watery, greenish, mucous diarrhoea
- Burning pains eg. throat, intestines or rectum
Veratrum album
- Cold perspiration on the forehead with diarrhoea and vomiting
- Huge thirst for cold water
- Craving for sour things
- Burping after eating and heartburn
- Diarrhoea worse from motion
- Involuntary stool on passing gas
- Violent, forceful vomiting with equally forceful, gushing diarrhoea
- Acidic diarrhoea
No comments:
Post a Comment