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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think it's common knowledge not to eat when you have a stomach bug

75 replies

ThisIsMyNewestName · 20/10/2022 22:27

YABU - I keep on eating even if I'm sick
YANBU - who does that?! Plain toast only after 12hrs .

I really thought not eating for a long time after you were sick was the normal thing to do! I'll leave it at least 12hrs and then have some toast. But recently I was around my SIL when she caught the stomach bug that we'd all had in turn - she was shocked when I told her it wasn't a good idea to eat the takeaway we'd ordered and that she'd be better off having some toast!

DH also didn't realise that not eating is a thing and he wondered why when he came down with the stomach bug it lasted much longer for him than for me - errrr cause you were eating curry and an ice cream a couple of hours after you'd been sick!

Also the boy in a&e who was asking his grandma whether he should perhaps stop drinking fizzy drinks while his stomach was sore and she was saying she didn't know and he should ask the Dr.

So am I being unreasonable to think it's common knowledge to not eat when you've been sick?

YABU - eat what you like
YANBU - you need to rest your stomach

OP posts:
Kokapetl · 20/10/2022 22:59

bigspoonlittlespoon · 20/10/2022 22:37

If you have water left over when you've cooked rice then you're doing it wrong!

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You really shouldn't drink rice water or cook it until all the water is absorbed. Rice can be high in arsenic and if you cook it in plenty of water as is advised, the arsenic goes into the water. BBC link.

As for not eating when you have a stomach bug, you should eat if you feel like eating. I usually lose all appetite and just manage to nibble plain things like toast or crackers. If you feel hungry, you should eat.

thecatsthecats · 20/10/2022 23:00

Perhaps your SIL was surprised at being told what she should eat, as if she were a five year old.

UWhatNow · 20/10/2022 23:02

It isn’t a law! Usually when you have a stomach bug the last thing you can face is food. I would suggest that if someone can eat Chinese, they’re not that ill!

HangOnToYourself · 20/10/2022 23:04

I would just eat what I can manage, just being conscious that throwing up a spicy curry is going to be far less pleasant than throwing up something more bland. At least you know you can have something calorific without worrying about weight gain 🤷‍♀️

Sittingonabench · 20/10/2022 23:11

Flat full fat coke, scrambled eggs, toast or soup. And water obviously. I usually try for something that won’t hurt coming back up but gives salt and nutrients if it does (and coke is because it has something horrendous in it that helps you not vomit)

AriettyHomily · 20/10/2022 23:16

You're supposed to eat whatever you fancy. Your view is outdated.

megletthesecond · 20/10/2022 23:17

Yanbu. I stick to herb tea when I'm sick.

Bunce1 · 20/10/2022 23:20

I was just in hospital with salmonella poisoning.

so prior to going into hospital I couldn’t eat but I forced myself to have some rice and some sugary lemon thing I made up. Dr said that I should probably stick to plain things and give my tummy a rest.

hospital administered a drip and meds and then on discharge was recommended a light diet of bland foods and then kefir and good pro boitics

ivykaty44 · 20/10/2022 23:22

I had stomach flu recently and the pharmacist told me I really should be eating. Told me it was counter productive not to eat, but eat rice, potato, toast

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 20/10/2022 23:28

I eat when I start to feel a bit better, listening to what my body wants. I don’t deliberately starve for a period of time.

I also thought you should make sure to drink, but not only water, something like an isotonic (?) drink - those sachets you get. I was also told (by a GP) something fizzy like Fanta is good, and that apples are a good first food as it’s astringent for your stomach.

The thing i was told definitely to avoid is dairy, which apparently feeds the bug.

Pieceofpurplesky · 20/10/2022 23:29

I always know when I am feeling better as I crave a bacon sandwich! I never eat bacon at any other time. Weird. Must be a salt thing

MarmiteCoriander · 20/10/2022 23:36

OP- do you also advice diabetics not to eat for 24hrs???

So much adverse pseudo 'medical' advice on here. It really is worrying!!!

MarmiteCoriander · 20/10/2022 23:39

OP- what is a 'stomach bug'? Diarrhoea, vomiting or both? Its unclear what exactly you mean, because some non-medical people use these terms interchangeably.

FlissyPaps · 20/10/2022 23:44

Are you trying to make people feel bad/guilty/ashamed for eating when they’re ill???

Because it’s coming across incredibly patronising.

HorribleHerstory · 20/10/2022 23:55

Define stomach bug? I don’t deliberately not eat after any kind of bug, although frequently I don’t feel like it.

are you suggesting that if you had stomach cramps one night and felt fine and hungry in the morning you would deliberately not eat for a specific predefined period of time, based on what? And if you then felt you really needed oranges, you’d ignore that and eat processed white bread?

keeprunning55 · 21/10/2022 00:10

I can’t imagine eating so soon after having stomach bug-no matter what food! If you’re feeling fine, then I imagine it doesn’t matter what. It can’t have been a particularly bad sickness bug if people eat a couple of hours after being ill.

Eeksteek · 21/10/2022 00:17

WhiteFire · 20/10/2022 22:58

That's my viewpoint too, if I'm going to vomit of rather something was there.

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This. Dry heaving is worse than actually vomiting, in my opinion. I was sick for thirty weeks in pg, so I got pretty good at figuring out what was less horrible to see twice. Some things are mich worse than others.

OriginalUsername3 · 21/10/2022 00:36

If you don't eat you end up feeling more sick and it's just acid that comes up that tastes like terps. If you keep eating bland stuff like toast, or plain yorkshire puddings then you keep lining your stomach.
Imo anyway.

GeorgiaGirl52 · 21/10/2022 00:40

Pediatrician recommended the BRATT diet for stomach upset.
Bananas, rice (white), applesauce, tea (no sugar) and toast (white bread)

Michiru · 21/10/2022 05:28

After throwing up many, many times yesterday morning I craved salt around mid-day, so made some salted eggs and much later in the day had a bacon sandwich. It did the world of good for me.

I think listening to your body is important with these matters - eat if you're hungry or craving something, drink plenty of fluids (with D&V not pure water - I find camomile helps, others have rehydration salts added, but water alone is never enough) and do eat. That way, if it comes back up, at least it does so easily.

garlictwist · 21/10/2022 05:33

Surely if your ill you won't be able to eat? If I'm feeling/being sick the last thing I want is food, never mind a takeaway.

Michiru · 21/10/2022 05:36

For some, hunger makes it worse, so it's better to have something than nothing.

When I was a child, I was made to eat bananas and softened rusks in between vomiting bouts, even if it was just a few bites at a time.

lovelilies · 21/10/2022 05:44

Listen to your body, eat if you're hungry.
Lucozade! Just small amounts of what you fancy

LargeglassofRosePlease · 21/10/2022 05:49

redbigbananafeet · 20/10/2022 22:58

I also have been distracted by the river water.

🤣🤣

PinkSyCo · 21/10/2022 05:51

Yep plain toast only and water only, though I couldn’t even stomach that. I can’t understand people who aren’t put right off food when they’ve got a stomach bug and I’m a greedy fucker.