DD vomiting bug - A&E?

[HighlandCow78]

DD (19) has had really severe diarrhoea and vomiting for the past 24 hours. Can’t keep anything down whatsoever, at this point I don’t know how she even has any fluid in her tummy to vomit - we’ve tried small sips of electrolytes but 10 mins later they come straight back up again. She’s feeling awful - really weak + dehydrated.

Also has a very high temp of 39.5 degrees, again she can’t keep any paracetamol/ibuprofen down to make her more comfortable

AIBU to take her to A&E? Please be kind - I’ve never seen her so ill before and don’t know what to do. I’m concerned that she’s going to end up needing IV fluids as she isn’t peeing and she’s desperately thirsty

A&E NOW!! Why do people play fast and loose with their health and the health of their loved ones?

Sorry OP @HighlandCow78 - glad yours is settling a bit Hopefully with some sleep, she'll be feeling much better in a little while.

@itwasnevermine - trouble is our A&E is rammed and have put out a red alert. So it's really difficult. Her phone is tingjng...

That's neither here nor there.

Weird one - boiled water. Fill a cup. Let it cool to warmish and get her to sip that. For some reason the temperature of the water is more easily tolerable.
The only thing they will do in A&E is put her on a drip. But that will be after 3 - 4 hours triage and waiting. And if she is V&D ing she needs the bathroom not a waiting room.

@nessnessness have you tried ringing your GP?

As per my post above when i did this for my mother the GP surgery sent an ambulance for her. Under the circs that might be worth a try rather than going to sit in A&E with what could be something catching.

I definitely wouldn’t wait for a call back - head straight to A&E if she’s passing blood

How is she? Vomiting bugs can be really really grim. Hope she’s over it soon.

Well in 20 years of working as a midwife I have never given it to a woman 😂 It's not even in our ward drugs cupboard 😂 It's contraindicated antenatally. Maybe some hospitals use it postnatally but we don't.

Well this one doesn't 😂

One of the worst foods to get food poisoning from - I remember it well 🤮

So long consult (25mins) on phone with a Dr. I had BP machine, pulse ox, thermometer etc so did all those for him. He was very good and thorough, and "thinks" it's likely norovirus. The blood in diarrhoea is not uncommon but need to monitor. Plan is see if she can settle in next few hours, maybe get some sleep, and see if any relief from the D&V. If not, call back and escalate. Current wait in A&E is 6-8 hours, so we all agreed to give it until lunchtime. She mostly needs to sleep (so do I!).

One of the options if we call back 111 is to get urgent referral to our practice. Can't ring our surgery direct anymore - they refer to 111. It's a never-ending ring round!

Norovirus is hell. I had it recently and honestly it was the most unwell I’ve ever been. I’m actually a bit traumatised by it to be honest.
She may feel very out of sorts for weeks. It’s taken my stomach 3 weeks to feel even slightly normal. I still can’t eat much.
I had to throw away towels and blankets that I was wrapping myself up on the bathroom floor with because I had vomited over everything. At one point it was coming out of both ends at once, violently.
Horrific. She has my sympathy.

Just a tip for anyone who has a sickness bug. As soon as you have been sick, drink as much water as you can. It'll not come straight back up so you'll get a chance to absorb some of it. Also means there is something to throw up next time it hits you, rather than bile which burns. When you have a bug you'll throw up regardless of if there is anything in your stomach so it's better to have liquid there ready.

If you and she can bare it, go to the pharmacy and buy some paracetamol suppositories. They are absolutely amazing in these circumstances. My sone was inclined to vomitting whenever he had a high temperature and it was the only way we could get it down..once administered the change was almost miraculous. Worth the 2 seconds of discomfort x

Absolutely not. It's neither an accident nor an emergency. It will pass, in time. And you can't spread this around A&E.

Dehydration, plus a fever is an emergency and can kill people within hours.

@HighlandCow78 NO to A&E

You will infect everyone there.

I had a really awful vomiting bug around the time of Badminton Horse Trials- was struck down before leaving.

It was relentless vomiting for 36 hrs.

Just a bug.

Ride it out.

A&E can do nothing.

It's grim, but she WILL stop vomiting , even a teaspoonful of liquid can set it off again, it's grim.

Hope she feels better soon.

It's just a nasty vomiting bug by the sounds of it, A&E is not the place to be vomiting and spreading the virus around.

@oakleaffy her DD hadn't passed urine for 14 hours on OP's last update. That is not normal.

Type O+ blood groups are more prone to being more severely affected by Norovirus

I agree about 'room temp' water.

Ice cold is not good.

@HighlandCow78 Peppermint tea and honey when she can start to hold stuff down I find really soothing after norovirus type bugs.

Sure but your kidneys don’t fail after a day. Call 111.

Your body can function for a few days without drink. Frankly I had the serious vomiting thing during pregnancy and couldn’t keep anything down at all for days. I was fine.

Sounds like from what you have said it might be food poisoning. It needs a bit of time to work it’s way through.

Sometimes I do worry about the jump to A&E after a day. Call 111. Call your doctor.

It is for me when I get norovirus- I don't pee at all as lose fluid from vomit &c

A&E is really not the place.

They won't thank you for causing their staff to be ill, it's hideously catching.

@oakleaffy the consultants who treated my dad, who didn't have norovirus like the GP said, said otherwise.