..to think that I haven't got Norovirus, but that something has triggered a nasty IBS attack? (bit graphic)

[Enfyshedd]

DM & I went shopping on Sunday & shared a slice of lemon meringue pie in a supermarket cafe so I could give DD (7mo) her lunch. Monday morning we both woke up with upset stomachs & DM also had the runs (DM rang me at lunch to ask how I was - neither of us are aware of being in contact with anyone who's ill & no one else has been ill in our respective households). I spent the day feeling nauseous, but not actually being sick.

On Tuesday DM felt better, but I felt really drained after being awake half the night with trapped wind. Spent a couple of hours in bed in the afternoon while DP looked after DD, with a horrendously bloated stomach (I looked 5-6 months pregnant). Unfortunately, our planned tea for Tuesday night was curry - I ate a little bit (probably about a tablespoons worth), but didn't feel up to eating anymore. An hour later, I needed a very fast dash to the loo followed by vomiting. Slept a bit better last night, but needed the loo twice in the night for the runs and still had a bloated stomach this morning.

So on to today, I've eaten next to nothing all day (slice of bread, an apple, and 4 fish fingers & about 3 chips) and drunk loads of water and a bit of lucozade for energy. I've taken a peppermint oil capsule & a dose of liver salts to try free the ongoing trapped wind, but all evening I've had to go to the toilet every time I need to break wind (about every 15 mins) as I'm still having a tiny bit of the runs each time.

Seriously, it's called the winter vomiting virus, not the winter farting virus. Do I have the norovirus or not?

It's certainly possible. You and your mum could easily have picked it up while shopping, if the previous person sitting at the cafe table was infectious, for example, or if you used a public toilet that someone had been sick in.

I always get vomiting bugs mostly at the other end.

Sounds like Norovirus to me.

It can be passed on through food.

its noro. i had backpain and tiredness last thursday, vomiting on sat/sun, flu-like symptoms, a nasty cold with loads of sneezing and today, the other part of the noro. i'm so tired.i can't take another day off work, i've got to get in tomorrow. i feel terrible.

Could well be.

Mine started by keeping me up all night with mega wind - loud and long and stinky and frequent. Good job DP was away

Had a touch of the runs early the next morning (DS and I were catching a flight at 7am so put it down to lack of sleep/travelling stress. Got to the airport and had a bit more (super swift exit from that toilet ), but felt fine after that.

Really bad stomach started at 10pm that night, by 1am it was coming out of both ends. Repeatedly. Spent the next day in bed with flu like symptoms.

I'm so glad it didn't start up properly while on the 3hour flight, or during the 4 hour airport transfer the other end. Christ, can you imagine

I've had it and it doesnt sound like it to me. Isn't Norovirus supposed to be short duration? I started getting stomach cramps and literally an hour later I couldn't stop running to the loo, started with diarreah, then vomiting, then both at the same time .... I could not get out of bed with it other than running to the toilet. I also had severe chills and was freezing cold. Spent the whole next day in bed then it just stopped but spent around a week feeling like crap because of the dehydration/not eating. Seriously you ate 3 chips? I swore I would never eat again during the worst of it!

Sounds like IBS, im having the most horrendous attacks this winter, what you describe is how i feel everyday, along with the feeling of always wanting to be sick, its horrible.

Eat plain food, loads of fluids and it should pass, if not see your gp about what you can take to ease the symptoms. Imodium thats for trapped wind is a good one.

There are other stomach bugs about - Noro just gets all the news because it's pretty awful & spreads so easily.

I'm afraid your "next to nothing" is plenty enough to feed any nasty little bugs you may have caught, the fish fingers & chips probably didn't help though the bread was OK (as long as it didn't have any butter/spread on it). Plain bread or toast (preferably toast) & plain boiled rice, with maybe some plain biscuits, were the only things I can tolerate when I have a stomach bug; anything else is just feeding the bastard bugs.

Nah - no butter or spreads on the bread I'm a freak who only eats dry bread/toast. Thought I'd go for fish fingers & chips as that's reasonably plain. DM always taught me to eat something even when I least feel like it just to make sure I don't feel worse (plus I'm still BFing DD, so I think it's even more important to make sure I get something in me).

No sign of being sick again yet - over 24 hours since the one occasion. Just hoping that my stomach won't cramp up with wind again during the night & am considering someone on another thread's idea about having a nappy in my knickers during the night just in case...

I've just had something like that. Started with bad stomach pains on Friday. Then headache Sat, Sun. Splitting headaches and very sleepy Mon/Tues and massively bloated stomach. Was horrible.

I'd say it was noro to be honest. The trapped wind and bloating I have had with it (two weeks ago and three years ago) was awful. Deflatine is helpful for this.

This current bout of norovirus, certainly round here anyway, seems to be mainly upset tummy related rather than the projectile vomiting. I was only sick for one day but had the runs for two weeks. The bloating is a big part of it and a specific symptom.

Any food I ate went straight through me for a fortnight. Keep off any dairy if you can - it made me lactose intolerant temporarily due to damage to the cells in the gut.

You more than likely caught it from the food or from coming into contact with someone or even a surface that an infected person had touched. It's too much of a coincidence if both you and your mum were ill to be IBS.

And please for god's sake, don't come into contact with others until you are 48 hours clear of symptoms.

Schools are now closing due to this and anyone else you infect is more than likely going to have a very shitty Christmas.

If all three of you got stomach/bowel problems around the same time, then its more likely to be some sort of bug rather than your IBS alone.

There are quite a few common different bugs that cause the kinds of symptoms you describe.

Hope you feel better.

Well, woken up this morning feeling a lot better. Haven't braved the loo yet though - I think my body's hanging on to everything I managed to eat yesterday for grim death.

At least still DD's fine - she's teething like a demon at the moment (just cut one tooth last week and there's another 2 which look like they'll be here in a week or so) so she's had looser than normal poos recently as all she wants to is BF instead of eating solids, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Need to be well - Future MIL is coming down for Xmas on the weekend, and I do actually like her so I don't want to make her ill!

Glad you're feeling better.

It tends to be the small (commonly touched) things that hold onto the bugs, and which people forget to clean... light switches, oven/microwave buttons, keyboards, remote controls etc.

I keep a couple packs of easy-to-grab antibacterial wipes for post-bug cleaning, and when we're all recovered, just consciously make sure to wipe everything I touch that day (Disclaimer: I can be a bit OTT!)

Deep clean of house taking place later today & tomorrow due to FMIL's impending arrival. Was going to brave the rain shortly to get some disinfectant for the bathroom due to living with DP, DSS1 (14) & DSS2 (6), at least one of which has a rubbish aim for the loo . Methinks the whole kitchen & the living room floor will be having a dose of it as well to be on the safe side.