DD's sick again! Is this normal? Help.

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DD (aged 5)has just come through to my room complaining of feeling sick. She has sore legs and her hands are shaking a little.

After a while of her sitting with her head over the toilet, I have convinced her to eat something and have a drink, which she is doing just now, incase she might be feeling hungry rather than nauseous, if that makes sense.

Bit of a backstory too. She has already had 2 sickness bugs in the last few months, neither of which have been caught by me or her sister.

She has been struggling with a persistent cough for quite a while (at least a month) which has started improving but has also developed dark circles around her eyes which haven't shifted. I've been to the GP with her who felt that the cough was a viral infection which was picked up as a result of her immune system being low after her most recent sickness bug.

She doesn't have a temp, has been eating and drinking well (obviously apart from the days she's been sick).

I just worry about her a bit. It seems like she just never gets a break!

Grateful for any advice.

Thanks.

Ring your GP and ask for a telephone consultation.

Sorry, I posted already in AIBU but only got one reply so I copied and pasted it over. Update is, after eating she said she felt better. I had given her a little scotch pancake and a banana which she ate half of. Then later, she ran to the toilet saying she was going to be sick again. This passed in 5 minutes and now she's happily singing & playing in her room. Just concerning that these sort of things keep happening to her though.

Is it likely today's episode was maybe just low blood sugar?

I can't offer any advice I'm afraid, but I'm in the same boat. My dd (12) has had a sickness bug 5 times since September. The most recent one today. I'm just trying to get through to the doctors now.

She could just be unlucky but I also wonder if she could have developed a bit of a dairy intolerance after her first sickness bug. The cough could be reflux related to an intolerance if you see what I mean.

I would push for a blood test. A basic white cell / red cell count (sorry not technical) would indicate underlying infection, immunosuppression and exclude absolute worst case scenarios like leukaemia. It’s a simple blood test batch, and once excluded will give you peace of mind.

And maybe a kidney and liver function to add to the tests done on the blood. They can also do a urine dipstick at GP. First order is definitely a revisit to GP. Don’t get fobbed off, you know your child.

Just wondering, maybe the sickness bugs weren’t bugs maybe it was food poisoning? I only say this as you said no one else in the family caught it and when I had food poisoning some years ago, it took me ages to feel ok and I had lots of little episodes of nausea/feeling sick in the weeks afterwards like you’re describing. Just a thought. I wouldn’t be overly worried, but go back to GP if you need your mind putting at rest. Hope she’s ok soon.

That’s frequent enough to ask for GP advice over the phone.

Is she in reception? It could just be that her immune system is being bombarded with exposure to new viruses. It’s worth getting her changed out of school uniform at home and also insisting on hands washed when she gets home, small things but can make a difference in a virus developing.

One of my DC had a recurring sickness bug during one school year. Sometimes these things can take a long time to actually leave the system. I knew this because a friend worked in the food industry and was off for months before they tested as clear and were allowed back to work.

I would talk to the GP, and push for tests.
I would also talk to her about what she feels when she thinks she is going to be sick. Maybe it's quite a mild reaction, or even a burpy feeling that reminds her of being sick?

Try looking for alternative reasons she is feeling sick, might not be a sickness bug etc. Could be something as simple as heartburn or trapped wind.

I sometimes get heartburn and/or trapped wind in my stomach (throwback from pregnancies and weight gain) and quite often I feel sick as the wind gets trapped or the heartburn starts. It took me a long time to realise it was the heartburn and not actually sickness (pregnant at the time), so would take an antacid, always helped.

If I am unwell (bad cold at the moment) I also get heartburn or trapped wind a couple of times a day, unsettled stomach brings it on, and an antacid settles things and makes me burp a few times, so releases the trapped air. It seems, with me, an illness (however big or small) means excess stomach acid production so sorting that gives one less thing for my system to deal with.

It might be worthwhile looking for different things to settle her stomach. With me milk makes it better, but toast, weetabix, shreddies, citrus and bananas make it worse. For some people it is the other way round.

Try different foods to help settle her stomach or release wind. I can't remember if antacids are suitable for 5 yr olds, but if they are you could try half a dose to see if it works (they are available over the counter). If they do work then when you take your dd to the gp you can tell them what affect they have so the gp can look into if she keeps getting heartburn and look into why (just gives them a head start), if they don't help then you know it's probably not heartburn/trapped wind.

I know when ds2 was about 10 yrs old he had gastroenteritis. I think the doctor put him on antibiotics and unofficially said I might want to try him on probiotic yoghurt drinks. She did say she wasn't supposed to recommend them, so didn't officially recommend them, but said we should (not could, but should) try them. They certainly helped ds's stomach, I wonder if it would have been cheaper to have tried a couple of antacids then!

Hopefully with your dd it is just something like trapped air/excess acid in her stomach causing her to feel sick. It is so easy to sort.

It would be the fact she was a little shaky that would concern me more I think.

Get the GP to check her blood sugar levels. People with diabetes have reduced immune systems due to the condition which could explain why she keeps picking things up.

Hope DD feels better soon.

Rather than toast you could try and give her some juice or something - it'll give her sugar without being 'food' if she feels sick.

Maybe ask for a coeliac test?

Dd has coeliac disease and had years of fairly frequent vomiting. If she eats gluten now she gets weird and shakey as well as vomiting. The dark circles can also be a sign.

Was also going to suggest investigating a gluten allergy. Hope the GP can help.

They certainly helped ds's stomach, I wonder if it would have been cheaper to have tried a couple of antacids then!

Gastroenteritis and antibiotics both attack the gut flora - which is increasingly being seen as very important for health. A Probiotic might help this, similarly live yoghurt and a health diet.

I'd be wondering about low blood sugar if she was shaky. Nausea and vomiting can also be symptoms of diabetes.

Any other symptoms?

With sore legs, frequent bugs/coughs, dark circles etc I would want blood tests doing