Once DD starts vomiting she just keeps on going... anyone else experienced this?

[ItsAllComingBackToMeNow]

DD is now 8 and since she was around 4 she has been prone to vomiting. It is always connected to another illness, virus or a case of gastroenteritis. She used to be prone to tonsillitis and that also brought on vomiting too. Unfortunately though, once she starts vomiting she tends to just keep on being sick, it’s like her body gets caught in a loop and it just keeps rejecting all fluid. It gets to the stage where she takes a few small sips and vomits it all back up and then some. Unsurprisingly, this results in her becoming dehydrated and she has been hospitalised with dehydration three times.

Her 2 siblings and 2 cousins (in our extended household) have all had a nasty virus (not covid - tested negative) which began with each child vomiting once, before spiking a temp briefly and being generally lethargic for days. DD came down with this yesterday and has already been sick 9 times in 24 hours 😢 and I don’t think it’s over.

GPs don’t seem very interested. But I feel there must be a reason for this and if we knew the reason I could help her more effectively when it starts.

I would be really grateful to hear from anyone with experience of this.

Sorry to hear this. It's tough isn't it. My dd has this problem as well and I've not understood why. She managed 40 vomits in one night when she was about 2 and ended up in hospital. Prior to that she'd had a sick bug which was pretty bad but only about 10 episodes in 24 hours.
When she went to hospital they sent us home after 24 hours and it started up again so we had to go back in for a few more days.
I dread her getting a bug as even now at 8 I imagine things haven't changed. Her body just seems to go into overdrive and can't stop.
My ds has this problem slightly too but not as severe. He managed to burst many blood vessels in his eyes vomiting when he was about 13 which was 2 years ago.
I'd love to know why this happens with some kids and not others.
Hope your DD is better soon.

There was a thread on here about cyclical vomiting syndrome very recently, liked in the last day or two. Have a search for it, might give you some useful info.

My dd is exactly the same, she's 8. Every bug results in her vomiting violently until there's nothing more than bile. We have a constant stash of ice lollies in the freezer and when she's particularly bad we make lollies from re hydration sachets

Has she got large tonsils? Dd was like this and once her tonsils removed she was so much better. Now when she gets tummy bugs, they still last longer than most people and take a bit longer to recover but she's sick so much less than she used to be!

Just wanted to come back to thank those who responded and an update if anyone ever searches this.

DD ended up in hospital with dehydration after my post which was not unexpected. It was much easier to get her seen and dealt with without a struggle this time, I guess we’ve reached enough admissions/GP appointments that they believe us when we say she’s going downhill now.

For the first time, despite asking in the past, we were offered an antiemetic. Which unfortunately didn’t work. We were admitted and she had three bags of IV fluids and as has has happened previously, once the cannula was in and she was receiving the fluid, the vomiting stopped and she began to recover.

I had a good chat with the consultant, who ruled out cyclical vomiting syndrome as suggested by a PP (thank you though for your suggestion, the thread you mentioned made interesting reading). It was ruled out as we know a trigger for every vomiting episode (virus, tummy bug etc) which is unlike CVS, where the vomiting seems to come from nowhere every three to four months.

He suggested that DD gets depleted very quickly (she is very skinny at the best of times despite efforts to build he up) and that she works into her limited reserves which makes her feel sick and it becomes a vicious cycle. He advised that, after a vomiting episode, we should try to get her to drink sugary drinks like fresh fruit juice, full sugar squash or lucozade to boost her glucose straight away (we already do try to do this pretty soon after a vomit but not immediately). We should also try to encourage her to eat as soon as possible, which is definitely something I don’t do if she doesn’t want to, which she never does. He suggested giving her as starchy food as she will tolerate. On top of this, he said he was going to add to her notes that the GP should prescribe a different antiemetic to be administered ASAP when a vomiting episode starts.

Unfortunately, having got home from hospital on Thursday, DD had a backwards step on Saturday and started vomiting again, despite managing to eat as recommended pretty well and drink as recommended very well. So we got onto 111 and managed to get the new suggested antiemetic, which worked. We also encouraged more of the recommended eating and drinking (cooked cold pasta pieces went down well, as did fizzy lucozade with the fizz removed and fresh apple juice).

I hope this helps anyone who might be desperately searching for ideas when their DC are continually vomiting. It is nice to have a bit of a plan now.

Thanks again to those who replied to my OP.

Would be good if the GP will prescribe some of the anti emetic in advance so you have it in the house.

I wonder if some of it might be psychological? Not that she’s pretending....but that there is a slight placebo effect from fluids or an anti emetic.....that if she thinks she’s had something to stop sickness then she doesn’t feel as sick anymore? The mind is a weird thing at times.

That’s a possibility for sure, although I have to say, having watched her do this a lot, it seems to me like a spasm in her stomach that can’t stop once it gets going. Which apparently is something the stomach can do once it is low on sugars and electrolytes. But who knows?

The antiemetic we have now comes in a little bottle, so we have enough to do a few more doses. Good to know we have as as a back up if this starts again, particularly at the weekends when we have to jump through the hoops of 111.

@ItsAllComingBackToMeNow

That’s a possibility for sure, although I have to say, having watched her do this a lot, it seems to me like a spasm in her stomach that can’t stop once it gets going. Which apparently is something the stomach can do once it is low on sugars and electrolytes. But who knows?

The antiemetic we have now comes in a little bottle, so we have enough to do a few more doses. Good to know we have as as a back up if this starts again, particularly at the weekends when we have to jump through the hoops of 111.

Hi. If you dont mind saying , what is the name of the antiemetic?

My DD does this. She started at 3 so we traipsed to the hospital and got an antiemetic each time. Fortunately we've had a break from the vomiting bugs this year as better hand washing so waiting to see if she's grown out of it...