I think I have norovirus

[Sunnywithachanceofjinglebells]

Hello all

I spent most of last night in the bathroom, or lying on the floor holding my poor stomach. I'm now exhausted and have been able to keep down liquids and a cream cracker. Needless to say I feel like shit...

Any tips for a swift recovery?

[roundabout1]

"marne" - I think that its so commonly assumed that anti bac stuff works on everything. It was only a few months ago I realised it didnt.

I would hate to think I'd infected others especially as if its noro it can be such a nasty virus for some.

[ProudAS]

Bleach kills it on surfaces.

It's also a good idea to put the loo lid down when flushing to avoid sending traces of the virus round the bathroom and potentially onto toothbrushes.

[Ninetyninepercent]

Bleach is the gold standard for killing noro on surfaces. Apparently Dettox Antiseptic spray with xylitol can have variable results too (ie sometimes will work, sometimes doesn't - so hardly ideal).

For the person that cooked food for friends while contagious - noro is a bit like the flu virus, in that there are various different strains. So although its quite likely that your friends had the same strain of noro, its not necessarily a given. So they might catch your strain. Plus, you only have immunity from noro for 14 weeks, and after that time you could catch the same strain again - so if they had a while ago, then they would still be at risk from your bugs.

As for the OPs query - my MIL just had this. She found flat coke quite good. She had awful vomiting, then quite severe diarrhoea with lots of bloaty belly as soon as she ate something. I wondered (but couldn't get any) whether Deflatine might've been good to try. It gets rid of abdominal gas and so might be good for noro recovery? I also read (not sure how true) that some people get a bit lactose intolerant after noro so maybe worth avoiding dairy products. My MIL seemed to find that after every night's sleep that passed she felt immensely better. Hope you feel better soon.

[Sunnywithachanceofjinglebells]

I've been a bit better today - I've kept a small amount of food down and am drinking slowly but well. I've got pain where I strained muscles the other night, which is annoying.

[SquidgyMummy]

DP took a pillow and duvet to the bathroom and slept on the floor, he was running to the loo that often and exhausted.

He had it on and off for 10 days as his IBS flared up. In the end he took immodium to stop the diarrhea as he was going so often. (Not sure if this would be good for others)

HE was constantly drinking lucozade, tea and then eased back with some tomato soup and instant noodles was his first solid meal.

I had it back in October and all I wanted to do was sleep, it is so draining. Best advice is to try and get some one to help with DCs and shut your bedroom door and once the running to the loo has stopped; sleep to receover.

[nannyof3]

Wouldnt say norovirus.. More like d&v

[SydneyB]

It has completely ruined our Xmas... DH got it on Xmas Eve and then me, DD & DS got it on Xmas day. We shifted it in 24/36 hrs but DH is STILL in bed, not sure why he is suffering far more than us but wondering about forcing him to GP or is that a bad idea?

[Tailtwister]

I had d&v on Christmas day, but don't know if it was the norovirus.

We were at PIL's with elderly relatives visiting for lunch, so I quarantined myself to the spare room/bathroom. It was depressing to miss the festivities, but tbh I wouldn't have enjoyed it and I couldn't risk passing it onto the GGP's who would probably end up if hospital with it.

I also like flat coke or lemonade in the recovery period. Water before that.

I still feel very washed out, but stopped being sick after about 24h.

[seasonsyule]

I had it Boxing Day after trip to a furniture store.

I drank boiled water at first but realised that was just going through me too so settled with 48hrs of no drink or food and then after 20hrs of no symptoms (except stomach cramps, head woozy etc) was able to eat a dry slice of burnt toast yesterday (charcoal good for these type of things). and hot water with sugar in. Still feel woozy and not eating very much. But keeping fluids down and drinking peppermint tea is soothing now. Slept most of it had no energy. Isolated myself, seperate bathroom etc to stop spread to other family members lucky my mum here to look after my ds!

[whats4teamum]

I am supposed to be hosting dinner party tonight. Feel achy, hot/cold, tired and faintly nauseous. Do I go ahead as not been sick yet just well below par. GRRRRRh .

[redwellybluewelly]

There was a thread a whole back about noro and stomach bugs and general consensus was stomach bug you feel tired but stop feeling sick etc 24 hours after started. Noro hits you like a ton of bricks and can take weeks to get over.

I remember having stomach bugs around this time of year, never made it to a nativity play in school!

[Sunnywithachanceofjinglebells]

I've stopped being sick (hurrah!) but feel absolutely washed out, and I can't / don't want to eat very much. Thankfully, my temperature has returned to normal.

I've had a boiled egg and a bit of bread today which is my biggest meal since boxing day.

I'm not sure if it's noro or 'just' d&v, either way I'm being more careful than usual about handwashing etc.

[seasonsyule]

I have had viral symptoms (still have) for 6 days before any D&V and I believe they are both unrelated...just caught the D&V after going to a busy place ( as was not out for 5 days before due to ?chest infection/high temp...so you may just have a viral infection and need to get another person to cook and self medicate whiskey hot water and spoon sugar helps sleep at night!

Mind you ds was diagnosed as whooping cough beginning of December and had 'viral' symptoms and although antiB's finished he was vomiting for 3 days over xmas too and he is still unwell 21 days now for poor ds.

Maybe you should cancel whats4 people will understand just for 24 hours to see how you are?

[NanaNina]

I had a mild attack about 3 weeks ago but I felt washed out for a week. I remember a GP telling me that when we have an infection or virus, our body uses its energy to fight the infection/virus which is why we feel so shattered.

Now have chest infection.........ho hum.........Happy New Year!!

[BlackAffronted]

DH still suffering, DD & Ds completely over it. Me & other DD still fine .... are we likely to get it though? Or do you think the "danger period" has passed?

[BirdyArms]

I think I had it a few days before Christmas, I was very violently sick anyway. Four days later I though I'd recovered and went out for a big christmas lunch with friends, I didn't eat or drink as much as I would have done normally but it was still way too much for my recovering stomach. I was up all that night with stomach cramps and then had the runs and felt rotten for the next couple of days. So I would say be extremely gentle to your stomach for at least a week after any sickness has gone. DS also had it the same time as I did, though wasn't as sick, but he is still eating a lot less than he normally does.

I've also been taking probiotics, I was sick down to bright green bile a couple of times and so I think that they might help my stomach get back to normal.

[devonshiredumpling]

try actimel or yakult for the recovery phhase and when you are in the grips of it small sips of rehydration salts. another good tip passed on by a distict nurse is boiled egg as they bind you up GOOD LUCK

[roundabout1]

Even better than yakult is probiotic powder as sometimes dairy can irritate the tummy after a bug, or the capsules. My friend was advised by a nurse practitioner to avoid dairy for up to a week if poss as sometimes it can make this worse again.

[Sparklingbrook]

DH has something like this. Yesterday he felt lousy all day then started with the squits last night. Then that stopped, he has spent today on the settee but nothing much happening. then tonight he started being sick, and has the squits really badly again.

[NanaNina]

You just have to wait for it to pass, as there is no medication that will help. Need rest, sips of water but no food while diarrhoea as this stimulates the bowel and there will be more of the d word. You need to be careful as you can about not catchingit. Don't drink out of the same cups/glasses/give him his own towel, and wash your hands and swab down worksurfaces etc. Mind I think it's airborne anyway so all the care in the world might not prevent it spreading.

Apparently it's 80% up on last year and previous years and there does not seem to be a reason for it, or at least they haven't found one.

[pinkyp]

Plenty of sleep, once you've stopped being sick plenty of water but drank in little sips. If thst stays down maybe try eating something like ready salted crisps and a banana etc, rest as much as possible

[bergedorf]

So should we avoid these families?


We are on holiday for New Year with 2 other families. They are sharing a house and we are around the corner.

We had supper with them last night. This morning they rang to say 2 of them had been sick in night with suspected norovirus.

Is there any point in avoiding them all or are we likely to be infected already?

On NHS website it says people are infectious when they start feeling ill.

Does this mean we could go on a walk this afternoon with the ones who aren't ill?

Or aibu for trying to avoid catching it given that we've spent an evening with them already?

Obviously I'd rather my family didn't catch it!

(We all live in the same town so this isn't a great big reunion or anything, but at the same time the kids were looking forward to be together.)

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[Sparklingbrook]

Hi berge. If it were me I would just carry on as normal TBH. You could catch it from going shopping, if the children were at school they could be catching it there.

A walk with the well doesn't seem too risky to me, is it possible it was something the two of them ate/drank and not Norovirus anyway?

[bergedorf]

I don't think it's something they ate as kids and adults had separate meals at different times.

It's just awkward. They were supposed to be coming to our house for supper tonight! ( obvs not the ones who are ill! But are they infectious because theyvshareca house with people who are ill?)

[bergedorf]

Sorry .. Share a house with people who are ill.