Sick son - need advice

[NeedHelpWithSickSon]

DH and I have been out tonight and I got a stressed phone call from my son (18) who was being violently sick in the toilet. He then said he was OK.

Now it is 2.50am and he has just been violently sick again. He has eaten a whole pizza (salami and Nduja which is a pork sausage) which he cooked from frozen as per instructions.

As said he is being really sick. I am really worried to death as he is being sick and he also has 3 A’levels papers this week.

What can I do for him right now, and…help. What can I do?

I asked because I've googled and still can't see really how anyone works out which it is for sure. Either way, hopefully he'll feel better soon.

That sounds really frightening. I'm sure he will be okay for Tuesday but it would be worth him seeing a doctor if he's still like that today.

I had this with DD a couple of weeks ago. I was also panicking.

Speak to your GP this morning (for advice and so this is recorded).

Then speak to school. They should be able to offer a smaller room for the exams and sit your DS near the door etc. And they would inform the exam board of the illness etc. They’ll also be able to advise what will happen if your DS is too unwell to attend.

My DD had the same symptoms but hers turned out to be appendicitis and she missed her last A-level exam. They take the marks from the previous two papers to award her grade so she won’t be disadvantaged.

But call the GP and school first thing to get advice and so you have a plan in case your DS doesn’t recover quickly.

Can I ask what is frightening about someone being sick twice after a dodgy pizza?

OP the timing is unfortunate but it sounds like food poisoning, which is better than a bug because it’ll be over sooner. Get him some non-sugar-free cordial (not easy to find these days) so he can get some calories in. Plenty of sips of fluids, dry toast if he feels hungry. There’s no magical cure for this. It just takes time.

You’re overreacting. Unless something dramatic has developed overnight, he’s vomited twice, he does not need a GP appointment for that! No wonder GP services are on their knee if this is what people think needs to be seen by a GP 🙄

Put him to bed with a bowl and a towel.

Offer water or dilute squash/juice with sugar/dioralyte. 2 Sips every 5 minutes when awake.

No food.

DH had food poisoning recently, by the next day it had moved on to diarrhoea which is easier to manage just need quick easy access to the toilet.

Contact school re: exam as schools have a 48 clear rule from the last vomiting or diarrhoea episode.

The contact with GP is necessary in case special consideration needs to be applied for regarding the exams.

Just give him dioralite to sip. And let it take its course.

I've just had a sickness bug and have met loads of people who have as well. There's one going round. I was severely sick but recovered in a couple of days.

Give him full fat coke. It will replace the electrolytes he's lost with vomiting. Was recommended by the hospital for my mum who was being sick.

Once you've rehydrated him and called the exams officer then find the food packaging and see if there have been any recalls, and it's worth notifying the company as there have been significant cases of e.coli recently with no clear cause. It is unlikely to be ecoli though as vomiting isn't a specific symptom but it wouldn't hurt to notify them.

@Singleandproud according to The Times this weekend the cause of the E Coli is supermarket sandwiches.

@Hoglet70 ah thanks, I hadn't seen that update

Yet another waste of a GPs time then having to have their ‘permission’ to have special consideration in this kind of situation.

That may be just coincidence though. Norovirus comes on really quickly.

I also can't believe you have an 18 year-old and are panicking like this over sickness! Like PP have said, there's nothing 111 nor a GP can do, unless it's sustained and he's showing serious signs of dehydration.

Though you're very lucky you've got this far and not had to deal with this before! My 8-year-old is very prone to sickness bugs and I've lost count of the nights I've been up with her vomiting (which can be every half an hour for hours at a time).

(I appreciate you are worried about his A-levels, but contact the school to find out what you should do).

Also, if he can't keep water down, try flat lemonade (you can make it flat by pouring it from glass to glass multiple times). A midwife advised this when I was pregnant with DC2 and had norovirus (caught from aforementioned DC1!) and couldn't stop vomiting.

Once he's stopped being sick for a couple of hours and if he feels hungry, let him eat (whatever he fancies - the BRAT diet has been debunked, though go slow and cautious before he knows he's not going to be sick again).

I appreciate its stressful but this part is irrelevant to the 111 people and vomiting is unpleasant but not generally dangerous.
He needs to sip water if possible and eat nothing at all even if he feels hungry until his stomach actually starts to rumble (hungry rumble not poorly rumble IYSWIM) and then just toast. No matter what he fancies tonight or tomorrow morning just toast. And lots of sleep in between a bit of last minute revision
Its not your fault but you need to calm down and tell him it will all be ok. My DD has her last paper on Wednesday so I do undertsand how you feel but he should be ok by then

Sorry, the exception to this is dairy - sickness bugs can cause temporary dairy intolerance which can prolong the symptoms.

But he's not projectile vomiting up the wall. I he's been sick a couple of times.
Give him plenty to drink and send him to bed

There are sickness bugs around at the moment as well, but in terms of the A levels get in touch with school/college asap and agree how he is going to sit them - don't want to infect 100 others - i read somewhere of something similar and they allowed separate room, sick buckets/water etc and straight in and out attendance to avoid anyone else being in contact.

Its awful but its better to sit them than resit them.

DH is not being helpful as its not clear its food poisoning or virus.

Whether it’s a bug or food poisoning, what do you want 111 or even a GP to do? It’s one of those things you just have to ride out I’m afraid, it happens. If he’s that ill will his exams not get postponed?

@Thefaceofboe you can’t postpone a national exam. That’s why OP needs to speak to the exam officer to find out what can be done eg sitting in side room, missing paper and using grades from other papers. And she may need some medical evidence to provide to exam board

🤣 You really think they’re going to postpone a national exam for one sick child?

IF (I 'm sure he's better by now) he is still sick this afternoon you need to talk to the gp for a sick note and school for possible measures, like isolation from other's taking the exam.

Medical evidence in this situation is necessary whether you like it or not. Take it up with the exam boards who decide this rubbish, not posters who are just trying to help.