sick bug

[mixedemotions123]

does anyone have a fail proof way of stopping your children from catching the v+d bug that is going around. Other than keep them away from school, locking the doors, and painting a big red cross on it!!!. I have a real phobia of vomitting, and at the moment I feel as though I am waiting for a bomb to drop. Daft i know, but it really scares me.

Shouldn't the half term break help to halt the progress of the bug though? Asks Lonelymum, desperately clutching at straws.

Message withdrawn

I know i probably sound horrible but if we had to get one of the bugs going around I would prefer it to be the influenza B one. I know it is supposed to be really bad, fever, aches, etc but I can handle that its the sickness I hate.

I live in Portsmouth and until logging onto this thread I thought the worst of it seemed to be up north but now I have heard it has reached Eastleigh I feel a lot worse.

I too am hoping half term will help stop the spread of it but dont hold out much hope.

We are based in the west midlands and several of our local schools were closed last week for decontamination. So far we have been lucky and I hope that this remains the case as it would be bad enough for our 4 yr old DD, us grown ups to get it without it affecting 5 mnth DS.

I seem to remember that a good way to prevent catching bugs is to add 1 to 2 drops (any more may cause skin irritation) of tea tree to a bath of tepid water and bathing in it can help to boost the immune system and make you and the family less prone to illness.

The good hygiene is also an excellent way but that goes without saying really doesn't it.

Our local schools have also stepped up the frequency at which the toilets and surrounding areas are cleaned/disinfected.

HTH

Oh and putting tea tree and eyucalyptus oil in some water in a room burner or on cotton wool on the radiators can help kill air borne germs.

All this talk about vomitting must have got to me last night, I had trouble sleeping because i felt so cold, just could not get warm but then when I did doze off all I dreamt about was people throwing up. Not the best type of dream for someone with my phobia!

I may have to try the oil thing although doubt if Dh would like it, he hates that sort of thing, makes him feel ill but if it stops us catching these bugs it will be worth it

Pebblemum, I haven't been sleeping well for the last few nights for precisely the same reason and I had a very vivid vomiting dream the other night.

Well, I spoke too soon re dd. She seemed on the mend yesterday but she is a lot worse today. High temperature (although I have got that back to normal with Calpol) and she is still asleep, having gone to bed at 7 last night! Only woke up briefly to take Calpol and have a tiny drink.

Sorry to hear that lonelymum. Has dd been sick or is it just the tiredness, temperature thing.

I hope for both your sakes that this is her version of the bug and today is just her body reviving itself. My ds2 often takes an extra day to recharge his batteries after being ill.

How old is DD?

Oh Lonelymum hope you are coping okay and that DD is feeling a bit better. I am sure she has just got this nasty cold virus as Dylan has had this coupled with an ear infection and there was a point when I worried he would be sick but he wasn't. He slept with me on Tuesday night but through the night I crept down the bed just in case he was ill.

Pebblemum - hope you are okay too, its a terrible thing and I know it makes you worse going on these threads, I too feel the same but all I can say is try not to think about it and if you look on the website for anxiety and breathing it teaches people with phobias how to breathe, tbh it has really helped me.

Aimsmum - you must be cured if you could sit in that waiting with that man!!!! I could never have done that.

I have just applied for a job in a doctor's surgery - I MUST BE MAD!!!!

Errr CD, you are mad. Or is it a job in the records office? On reception, you will be in the firing line!

Anyway, thanks for your kindness re dd. She is 5, coming up to 6. I saw her teacher yesterday (she was so much brighter and was quite able to walk to school to pick up her brothers, but now I think I over-estimated her strength) and she said there were only 13 in the class yesterday. They all had the same thng: tiredness, temperature, etc - no vomiting that I have heard of. She also said, "Don't hurry to bring her back to school" but I thought yesterday dd would be fine today. No chance now of her being back at school until after half term now.

I just hope the boys don't get it although they seem completely symptom free, touch wood.

BTW, she is still asleep.

under normal circumstances I expect you wouldnt mind dd still being asleep but if you are anything like me you worry a bit more just in case they are worse than you think. I expect she will be up, running around, complaining she is bored in no time. Thats what I normally get from ds1 (8yrs) once he is over the worst.

I went for a receptionist job at my old school last year, didnt get it but in a way im glad, theres no way I could be supportive to strange kids throwing up uurgh. My sister is a teaching assistant and has to deal with that and little 'accidents' quite regularly, she is braver than me. So are you CD, good luck!

By the way Im not normally as bad as this about sickness it is just when you start hearing that theres a lot going around it panics me a bit. Ona normal day to day basis I am quite sane, honestly!!

You are lucky then Pebblemum: I am obsessed on a daily basis and even count the years until my kids are old enough to look after themselves.

DD is still asleep although I have just woken her up for a moment to have another little sip of drink. I am rapidly becoming slightly hysterical about her actually.

If you get too worried get the doctor out. Who cares if they say it is just the bug she's got. If she has got a lot worse than yesterday and is sleeping too much get it checked even if it is just to put your mind at ease. Oh and dont take no for an answer, she is obviously too ill to be taken to the surgery and doctors have a legal obligation to come out to children even if they dont think it warrants it.

Whatever you decided hope dd is better soon.

By the way when i said i am sane most days , well its not totally true, as soon as someone says they feel ill i turn into the wreck i am now. So I kind of know how you feel. My ds2 is only 2 so I hve a few years left before he can look after himself.
Why cant kids be illness free until at least the age of 12?

Lonelymum

• i have to log off for a bit, Dh just woke up (works nights)and he already thinks I spend to much time on pc as it is without him catching me at it during the day!! so shhh you havent seen me

Anyway I will come back later to see how you and DD are. Good luck, Im thinking of you and hope everything soon gets better. Bye

I didn't realise so many people had this phobia! When weighing up the pros and cons of having children the only thing that made me not want to do it was having to deal with sick..and it was a serious condsideration. Sounds daft though doesn't it? Everyone says it's easy to deal with when it's your own child, but I'm not so sure. It amazes me how stupid some people can be though when it comes to avoiding the spread of germs. If you are ill you stay at home and certainly don't visit people with babies!!

Lonelymum, just to let you know on Monday, dd slept from mid-day until about 7 the next morning. She would wake up for a few minutes at at time for a drink and then fall asleep again. She's now quite weak and has a cough but she's much better than she was. Don't panic!!

btw sorry I didn't realise you (and the others here) had a phobia. It must make every illness seem 10 times worse . Must dash too.

lonely mum, I hope you and yours are feeling a bit better today. my little ds seemed fine yesterday after having s&d through Tuesday. No appetite though. He was sick again this morning at 7.30, nothing since. He keeps asking for MACARONI CHEESE for dinner!!!! HELP!!! i know that is the last thing he should have. tried to pacify him with a rich tea bisc but he was not impressed. Pebblemum i am exactly the same if my DH gets a sick bug, I sleep downstairs, change all of the bedding before I attempt to go back in my bed, he just has to put up with it. I can't have him anywhere near me for days after as well !

Thanks for all the messages. Despite being a mother of four and a dd of 2 doctors (so usually quite up on how illnesses go and what to do) I was getting a bit worried when I last wrote.

Anyway, dd is now awake. She has finished the cup of Ribena I have been trying to get her to have all morning, and at 12 o'clock asked for breakfast! She has eaten a fair bit of one sandwich and is now down on the sofa watching CBeebies (and seems quite bright again). Thank God for that! (That is a genuine, heartfelt prayer, not just a saying!)
Part of what scared me was that she was ill on Tuesday and better yesterday, so it didn't seem to make sense that she was a lot lot worse today, but I guess hse just overdid it yesterday. We live and learn.

Tatties, I have to say I do not find it any easier dealing with my own children - a lot worse in fact, although I think other emetophobes would say the opposite. The way I see it, you can't leave your own children to someone else. I am progressively getting worse and worse in my phobia - it now extends to all illness, not just D&V, although only in so far as I worry that another illnes might develop into D&V - well, just the V bit really.

Oh and pebblemum, I am scarcely better off than you as, although my oldest is coming up to 10, my youngest is still only 2 (3 later this month). So by your reckoning, I still have 9-10 years of having to care for them through every illness too. No, don't think that way Lonelymum!

Mixedemotions, sorry to hear ds is still bad. No stay clear of macaroni cheese for now. Perhaps, he would settle for just some macaroni? His diet really needs to be very plain right now. It is awful when they ask for really inappropriate things, isn't it?

Luckily my older children no the score now with food after vomiting. We don't let them have any dairy for three days after the last vomiting episode and then only watered down milk, say on cereal. Richer things like chocolate don't go back on the menu for nearer a week! Cautious is my middle name! But at least my kids know and it helps that they don't ask for inappropriate things too soon.

know the score!

The D & V bug seems to be following on from the flu/cold virus at the moment. My sick phobia is if either me or the children throwing up in a shop or in the street, I can just about cope with it at home.

has anyone spoken to GP about the phobia? 2 years ago I had viral Meningitis, and I felt really sick and they gave me injections to help. BUT when I was discharged they gave me some tablets to help me if I felt sick. MOTILUM or DOMPRIDONE is the other name. I know you shouldn't take medication for the hell of it, but because I get in such a state at times like this my GP lets me have them for reassurance really. It does help me to a degree, but obviously I would never dream of giving it to the little ones.

Funny, because last time dd was sick it was on the way home from school and I found that rather liberating: I could just walk away and leave it, no mess to clean up. The rain dealt with it.

I tried to get therapy through my GP but it didn't really come to anything unfortunately. I know some other people here on Mumsnet have similar medicine as you mixedemotions. I tend to trust in my cast iron stomach and live a very cautious life.

I am sure that realistically your way is best. I spoke to my gp surgery this morning and she said that it is mainly affecting children, bad for them but a bit comforting for us mums!