to not want to trust the "professionals"-11mo gastroenteritis

[RueLaChesty]

hi more of a WWYD but was hoping for quick replies.

my 11mo DD has viral gastroenteritis. She first started vomiting on thursday and on friday after 24 hours of keeping nothing down i phoned NHS 24 to be advised that she was teething and to keep giving her calpol and teething gel! After i assured the woman it wasn't teething she told me to try her with an oz of milk at a time to try and gauge how much she was keeping down and phone back later. So a few hours later, positive that she wasn't keeping anything down i phone back and get a different chap who tells me to go to gp and he sends message to gp.

So gp phones and gives me an appt for 2pm (this was 11am) and tells me that i should give her 5ml water every 5 min. So we do and arrive for appt to be told its not till 4 and receptionist tells us that the gp that called is gone for the day and all others are on house calls bar one who refuses to see her until 4pm. Another GP walks in at this point and takes one look at her and agrees to see her. He refers us to paed dept at hospital.

We go and they take BM level which is lower than range (3.4) and are told that we shouldn't have been giving her plain water but sugared water or diluting juice but ideally diorolyte which they give us and ask us to try get a urine sample. This is no easy task froma dehydrated 11mo so we sit in a room administering 5ml of diorolyte every 5 mins from 2:30pm until 11pm when we get a urine sample.

it is clear so we are discharged and told to contine with the 5x5 of diorolyte through night and try her with 1-2oz of milk in morning.

We do this and DD vomits again, try again at midday and she vomits again. So phone hospital and they say "oh no if she has gastroenteritis don't give her milk, just bland food". So gave her carrot and she kept it down, hurrah!

Yesterday, however, she was back to vomiting, not a lot so we just persevere with bottles of diorolyte and bland food.

today, she's back to vomiting all solids and is only keeping down her 3 bottles of diorolyte so i phone hospital again and they suggest just giving her diorolyte till thursday but she is screaming for food, although throwing it back up!

Now, my question is wwyd? Does anyone know if diorolyte is fine for a full week? I'm at my wits end and feel like i'm starving her, she is lethargic. Ie she can walk/crawl etc but today she barely has the energy to get off my knee. But shes not floppy or anything.

To top it all off i went to pharmacy to ask for diorolyte from minor ailments so sales assistant went to ask pharmacist who i heard say "can you even give it to under ones" so assistant comes back and refuses to give it on minor ailments so i said ok i'll just buy it and she refuses to sell me it as DD is under one and you can't give it to under ones. She claims that the box states its not suitable for under ones and i tell her it doesn't as the box she had in her hand is same one i purchased from asda and it says for under 2s see a doctor which i have and it was doctor recommended but she still refused!!! Arghhhh.....

Sorry its such a rant! :(

Having had a 2 year old put on a drip for about 8 hours after a stomach bug I would be seriously tempted to go back to a&e. When my daughter was discharged they said that if she started to vomit again to take her straight back in. About a week later she did and I didn't hang around - I went straight back in and they ran a whole load of tests and found that she had a urine infection.

You must be so stressed. Its awful when they're ill. Please take her to a&e - its been going on for too long.

Also, I would try posting this in children;s health. People there are really helpful.

Clux this is what i think so i phoned yorkhill sick kids hospital and i said i wanted to come in but they told me no as they would just send me home with same advice.

She is keeping the diorolyte down but not much else and although is much better than she was on friday its still worrying me. I feel like maybe i'm being paranoid as she is better but how long do they expect an 11mo to go without solids!

And tbh my 2.7yo DD is absolutely fine, surely if it was gastroenteritis she would have picked it up by now?

Lots of sympathy for you, my DD2 is 14 mo and has a rotavirus, so mostly diarrhoea but she's been sick a few times.

All she's eaten since Thurs is two yogurts on sunday and two more today

I can really tell her face is thinner, and I feel awful because all you want to do with your DC is feed them and watch them grow, it's like she's wasting away (in my head).

I rang the dr on Friday and he said not to worry because she was drinking some milk (she has cows now, but we put her back on a formula mix so she was at least getting something).

Took her in today as she's still getting explosive poo nappies and he basically repeated the same thing.

My DDs also lethargic/just wants to sit with us, which you would be if you were ill and hadn't eaten for so long.

I'm not sure any of that helps, but I wanted you to know you're not on your own.

The net says the rotavirus can last up to 8 days, and is pretty harmless (!??) if they don't get dehydrated, apparently improves their immune system

Not a lot of comfort when you have to see them so low

My dd had norovirus when she was about 14months and I have never seen her so ill..... also given similiar advice that you have been given but it was so scary and in hindsight I think she should have been in hospital.

Take to a and e if you're not happy and insist on seeing a peadiatrician.

I would be going straight through to A&E with her, I am not sure the Diarolyte is ok for that length of time and also children can get poorly very quickly and reverse.

Have the urine results been processed?

Hope things get better soon.

BTW, I never call NHS direct as it seems such a lenghty process now, I get the number for the OOH GP from my Drs surgery and call them directly. Cuts the waiting time, and for something like this you dont want to be hanging around. Do other areas have this?

I would try to avoid too much dairy whilst so ill, it can irritate sore digestive systems and cause further upset or a temporary intolerance to dairy products.

If at an eating solids age - arrowroot biscuits are often good following a bout of sickness. Bland, give energy and arrowroot helps to settle sore tummies.

Hope all poorly tummies get well soon. And you get some sleep

If the OP is in Scotland (? phoning Yorkhill) then the only way of accessing OOH GP care is via NHS24, not directly.

emptycrisppacket the urine sample was tested on the ward but also being sent away! She didn't mention when the results would be back.

Ok so whats the difference between gastroenteritis, norovirus and rotavirus and how do they test for them? As far as i know DD wasn't tested for anything! They just said it was likely it was viral gastroenteritis.

She is sleeping atm but will likely wake up around 1am as she did last night. We soothed her with water until 7 then gave her breakfast. I will try the same tonight and if she brings back her breakfast i'll phone OOH doc!

xposts eviscerate, yup in scotland. Oh well, need to try my gp again!

I will also look out for arrowroot biscuits. Where would i get them?

Sounds like youve had an awful time of it with poor advice. Im no expert at all. My 16 mth dd had a d and v bug for 10 days. Milk esp was vomitted up projectile style. Doc said let her eat what she wants some of it will stay down some of the time. She had baby biscuits, toast, gingerbread man etc And some did stay down. Milk was the last thing she was able to tolerate before she got better. She would eat and drink all the dairy stuff but it just went through her. Was very hard when she was crying for her milk .
When she wouldnt drink, I gave her water in the norofen syringe which she took for the novelty aspect!
Youve had very differing opinions and crappy advise I think. Not sure how you can sort that really. If funds allow you could make an appointment with a private doctor to come and see her. Cost between £90 and £150 I think?

Sorry, meant to say, hope shes better soon

When my ds had gastro, similar age, we were told dioralyte in small, very regular quantities as you have been doing was as effective at rehydrating them as a drip would be and much less traumatic. Would keep going with the dioralyte if she wakes in the night rather than water, if you still have some. Good luck, hope she is on the mend.

systems how long did you have to keep up with the diorolyte. I'm happy to do it as long as i know she's not starving but tomorrow will be the 6th day!

I know it's not the same thing but my DS was hospitalised with bronchiolitis when he was only a little younger, partly because he couldn't breathe but also because he wouldn't eat or drink so he became really dehydrated.

Is she producing wet nappies? You could weigh a dry nappy and then see how much it weighs when you change it to tell how much she's weeing? That's what they did with my DS in hospital. If she isn't, then I'd take her to A&E

I would take her back to the hospital. They tend to recommend normal feeding be started asap but if she is still vomiting then continue with diarolyte. Will she take any bland foods like rice, bananas?

Novovirus and rotovirus are both types of virulent gastroenteritis. How many wet nappies is she getting a day? You know your dd best and of you feel she's not right then trust your instincts.

Were all here for support if you need it. Is Yorkhill your nearest hospital? We've had experience of Yorkhill, RAH and IRH paed A&E

It was a while back but I think about a week, felt like forever. It was probably rotavirus, but once he was better he perked up very quickly (and ate like a horse to make up for it). It's the dehydration that's dangerous with these things so as long as you focus on keeping on top of that, they can make up a few days without much food digested without too much difficulty, if it's just a straightforward gastro something. There are calories in dioralyte too so she will at least get some nutrition from that. Keep an eye and if you feel she's getting worse, lethargic, unresponsive, or not weeing, then take her in again, of course; but the advice you've had does fit with what I have always been given. It feels like it lasts forever I know!

helibee she took porridge made with water this morning and kept it down but then threw up banana and soup. So today she has had porridge, a biscuit and 3 bottles of diorolyte. Her nappies aren't very wet and urine is quite dark.

Yorkill isn't nearest (well not our catchment) we were initially in Wishaw but i thought Yorkhill might be more helpful.

She'll get by on the dioralyte and it's more important that she stays hydrated than that she eats.

Typical NHS direct with the teething advice and then suggesting plain water. Complete muppets.

thanks systems. Makes me feel better but i'll definitely be keeping a closer eye on her!

DD had viral gastroenteritis at that age. She had no solids for a week only bmilk.

Hydration is the most important thing, avoid dairy and there's no evidence that restricting to bland foods helps. Let her eat what she wants.

Her tummy will take a while to recover but of course go back if you're concerned.

If she isn't producing many wet nappies and the urine is dark it is a sign of dehydration. Show of hands is right that they don't recommend bland foods now but to restore normal diet asap but if she is still not keeping certain food down then stick to what she will. Try some very diluted fruit juice but not too much, her hydration is more important than her food at the moment.

Try your local A&E, they should be fine. Does she have diahorrea as well or just vomiting?

I was looking fate dn for a week a few years ago and she had bad rotavirus for 10 days. We had her in hospital 3 times, the 1st couple of times it was the same advice to syringe feed her but she couldn't even keep that down so they gave her a drip, which perked her up no end and when we took her home she greatly improved. My ds had gastro at 11 months and he had diarolyte for 6 days and kept down brown rice and rich tea biscuits (the. Drs suggestion) then his appetite came back with a vengeance on the 8th day. Thankfully he took the diarolyte ok so we didn't have to worry about dehydration. We did give him a bottle of cooled watered down fruit juice in between the diarolyte to help keep the hunger at bay. He too cried with hunger.

Really hope your dd is feeling much better in the morning ((hugs))

I'm sorry if I scare you but I really don't like the sound of the dark urine. This might sound weird but how do they smell? If they smell very strong (like wee that?s been sat around for days) or of ammonia, she is very dehydrated.
The only other thing I would suggest is ice lollies, if it would be something she could hold/ manage. I mean the ones that are basically coloured water and sugar. They?re good because as I said they?re pretty much sugar, a good thing in this instance, and water, which will go down slowly and is less likely to be thrown back up. This would be as well as the dioralyte

At the moment you are doing all the right things, but sometimes these things become a vicious circle, as in their little tummies become so irritated, that IV fluids become the best option.
If you are at all worried just go to A/E, yes you may have to wait, yes it will be annoying and quite possibly they will be ?oh over anxious pfb mother syndrome? but at least you will get her fully checked out.

(Was a nurse in A/E and yes we did get mum/dads rushing in with splinters in fingers that had fallen out, the splinter that is, by the time they got there and nappy rashes that you needed a microscope to see. But with LO?s the situation can change so fast and we would always reassure mums and dads better to come in and go home in a few hours with a healthy LO and feeling a bit embarrassed, than sitting at home worrying getting yourself and LO stressed)

If she's hungry, give her something very bland like toast. the important thing is to keep her hydrated. when ds1 was 20 month old he had gastroenteritis and the doctor said that it was fine to let him have coke if that was the only thing he was willing to drink. it had water and sugar in it which is basically what he needed. dioralyte would be better, but if he isnt going to keep that down, then whats the point of making him miserable tryin to get it down him?

unless its breastmilk, i owuldnt give her any milk at all. the important thing is to keep her hydrated

oh and flat 7up, that was my Mums cure for anything tummy related, again sugar and water