Really sick and young DCs - help please?

[overweightcat]

Hoping for traffic.

TMI warning.
Yesterday I had a sensitive stomach throughout the day and had to go to the toilet 6 times.
I didn't eat much. Around 9pm I had another bout of an upset stomach and spent the rest of the night with a raised temperature and cold shivers. Tossing and turning in bed as I kept feeling like I'll be sick but it never came until 5am when I had a drink of water and felt sick and threw it back up.

I'm knackered and very weak, achey and dizzy today, have a pulsating headache on the right side of my head around my eyebrow.
All I've had so far is some ginger ale and lucozade. I have young 2 DCs who I'm just throwing snacks at and frozen food and they seem ok but I'm frequently dozing off on the sofa and have a hard time getting back up.

Should I make myself eat something? I'm not really feeling up for it. Can I take paracetamol on an empty stomach?
I just want to curl up in bed but can't leave them.

I don't know if it's a virus of some sort but I need advice on how to try to shift it.

Any recommendations ?

You can take paracetamol on an empty stomach and don't eat unless you feel like it. Keep up with the fluids, and follow the BRAT diet when you feel able to eat again.

Sorry you are suffering sounds awful. You should get yourself a COVID test that's for sure. For some people it starts with stomach issues.

You can take paracetamol on an empty stomach. Do NOT take aprin or ibuprofen though it won't help your stomach at all.

Keep your liquid intake up don't worry about food for now.

Hope you feel better ASAP.

If you can eat something plain like bread or rice I’d go for that. Sip water to keep your fluids up. And request a postal Covid test.

And the kids will be fine on snacks and frozen stuff until you’re feeling better. Been there done that when mine were small.

You're probably over the worst already, it's normal to feel exhausted after you've been so sick. You just need to keep your fluids up, this is much more important than forcing yourself to eat at this stage. The kids will be fine, just relax all rules around snacks and screen time until you're feeling stronger. Definitely get a covid test to be on the safe side.

Nurse here:
First thing you need to do is rehydrate : lots and lots of fluid. Any type of fluid you can manage. Do you have any dioralyte sachets in the cupboard? These would be brilliant to take
Secondly: yes, you can take paracetamol on an empty stomach. Take the paracetamol regularly (every 4-6 hours) even if you don't have pain, it will keep the fever at bay.
Can you ring and arrange a covid test? Have you been exposed to any positive cases? A lot of covid positive patients start off with gastro problems - it would be worth a check anyway. I wouldn't be venturing out until you have this arranged and you know for certain it's not it.
I know you probably don't feel like eating, steer clear of any dairy products, they'll make the gastro issues worse - try simple dry foods if you can: toast/crackers/plain pasta with some salt.
If you're having abdominal cramping, you can take buscopan (it's an over the counter medication) and it works wonders for those awful cramps before you poo.

I hope you feel better soon - if it's a bug it should be gone within 48 hours. You're hopefully over the worst.
Good luck 💐

Also - gastro bugs are highly contagious so keep washing your hands and decontaminate anywhere you touch so your children don't catch it from you

For energy try some sugary drink, once that kicks in you might find you can stomach other things like dry toast , banana etc

Not much use at the moment , but I get those tubes of rehydrating tablets that dissolve in water with electrolytes for runners or cyclists , because I have found they are the best thing for me after a stomach bug or post migraine . Hopefully it is almost over for you although it feels like forever xx

I have this at the moment and after 3 days rang the Drs to ask advice. They wanted to see me face to face due to where my pain is they have taken bloods. Also advised me to take dehydration powder and buscopan they have really helped. Really try to get fluids. I'm on my 4th day and starting to feel better.

BRAT diet about 6-8 hours after vomiting or the other end has finished (Bananas, plain Rice, Apple sauce, plain Toast), sips of water every 15 minutes. Don't guzzle loads of water, it won't clear you and you will just being up lots of water.

How about seeking medical guidance vs Mumsnet? 🤔🤔🤔
You have internet, as you posted it so likely you can also contact 111 , nhs direct - allegedly you feel weak, so why not preserve your energy for the proper medical advice?
(No offence to acclaimed nurses and medically qualified users, it their comment is unlikely going to result in a follow up)

Thanks to all the helpful posters.
DP came home from work early so I could get off to bed. I kept dozing and waking back up though.

It was the same throughout the night I'd fall asleep and then wake up with discomfort and pain in my stomach region which would sometimes either go after a few mins and a couple of times sent me to the loo - but there wasn't anything there as I didn't eat anything bar from 5 small crackers and just stayed on liquids yesterday.
I did take some dioralyte a couple of times now thanks for the reminder @coffeewithmilk I'm hoping it will help as I hate the taste of it for some reason.

Today I've felt a bit less sleepy but still tired and have a headache when I stand up.
What's not so great though is the stomach cramps and pains. I've not been to the toilet much as I'm basically running on liquids but every 10-30mins I get these cramps that come and go and it's rather miserable.
I've sent DP for some buscopan earlier and took some but it's ether not having an effect at all or not kicked in yet.