Can a child vomit repeatedly after fatty food?

[Reastie]

To context this, I have emetophobia. It’s quite bad. I’ve had various therapies, I’m much better than I was, but it’s still a big issue. I say this because it’s the reason for this being a very big deal for me.

So we are on holiday. Dd (7) I’m relatively careful with what she eats in that I don’t give her very greasy etc food, or when I do she has very limited portions. She has school dinners which may be quite stodgy etc so might be used to more fatty stuff from there but at home I control this.

This morning I did cooked breakfast as a treat and she had an egg, bacon, and a teeny tiny bit of bread and beans, so nothing really starchy. For lunch we had fish and chips at the chip shop for a treat. She had about half a child’s portion of cod and chips but she’s never eaten deep fried chip shop food before. I never deep fry anything or give her deep fried anything when out or if I do it’s very small portions.

About an hour after lunch she was saying she was hot and was in a terrible mood (she usually gets in a bad mood before she comes down with something but she might just be in a bad mood!). It was fair enough as the sun had come out and it was warm and we weren’t expecting it. Half an hour later she started complaining of a tummy ache and a full feeling in her throat then another half hour she was sick everywhere all over the car.

Since then she’s been sleeping for a little while, waking up and being sick then sleeping more. This has been a pattern for about 6 hours and she’s been sick maybe 5-7 times. She hasn’t yet had any drink or food as she says she doesn’t want any.

Can a child really be affected this much by fatty food? I’m in panic mode that she’s got a sickness bug. If this is the case it really is for me like a living nightmare. I know it’s hard to understand if you don’t have this but my phobia means I’m living the worst thing possible. It’s like imagine your worst nightmare and how you’d feel if that happened to you and that’s how I’ve been feeling right now. We are in a very small holiday home with thin walls and one small shower room, there really is no escape. Dh bless him has been such a superstar and dd is being very well looked after and cared for by him. I’m worrying that if it’s a bug that could mean we [dh and i] may catch it. The more she’s sick the more I worry it’s too much, it must be a bug rather than food causing this. Dd is not a sicky child (she has had one sickness bug so far which was about 3 years ago) so it’s not like she’s sick at the drop of a hat. Please don’t judge me, I’m here cowering and shaking with anxiety and really don’t need judgment at this point.

I can't really help but I empathise with the phobia.

"Fatty" food seems unlikely to cause repeated vomiting but food poisoning could. Did you all eat the same? Is there any diarrhoea? Does she ache or have a temperature?

I can see this is very very hard for you.
No, it's not from eating fatty food.
As she's been sick that many times, your DH needs to ring 111, and seek their advice.
Could because tummy bug, could be some other medical problem.
Ring them now.DH.,not you- your huge anxiety would dominate the conversation.

If it is a bug, it's not inevitable that others will catch it.
Scrupulous hand washing, use of antibacterial gel, and antibacterial wipes, on anything she touches, such as door handles, may prevent it spreading.

But you need advice on a child who's been sick that many times.
Best of luck.

Dh ate it too and is fine, I didn’t have any. No diarrhoea at all and dh tells me she doesn’t seem feverish (although not sure if this is to make me feel better to try to reduce my anxiety)

I don’t think there’s been a lot of sick every time after the initial incident.... gah, I’m really scared now.

Agreeing with everyone else - she's vomiting a lot even if there's not huge amounts of sick. DH needs to get medical advice.

I’m trying to be careful with washing etc but we have very limited cleaning materials in our holiday home and my hands are already cracked due to overwashing from the phobia anyway.

I will be brave and go up and see with dh and dd how she is.

Vomiting more than 5-6 times, you need to make sure it's not appendicitis.
111 have a set of questions that can tell if that's likely/unlikely.

Full feeling in her throat? Could it be an allergy?

My DD has something similar. I wonder if she has an intolerance to whatever oil chips, fish, McDonald's fries are cooked in. Without fail if she eats them she is sick but no other side effects. We avoid but as she's little sometimes other people buy them for her without knowing and it's always the same outcome.

I can’t tolerate things cooked or fried in animal fat lard/meat/chicken stock or where meat has cooked and it’s juices are on pizza etc. Took me ages to figure it out.

It feels like the food is stuck at the top of my stomach I’m then vilolently sick once and feel absolutely fine.

Being sick many times doesn’t feel right, I’d get her checked out.

Oh lovely. I have this fear too. It’s absolutely terrifying and debilitating and until you actually have it, nobody else can possibly understand the acute fear.

Sadly, I think it sounds like a bug, I really do.

I don’t need to tell you to bleach, handwash etc, because being an emetophobe means you know the drill already.

How is DD now? Fingers crossed she is over the worst, but still best to call an out of hours just to be on the safe side.

and hugs to you - you are doing amazingly well. Let us know how she is.

Good luck.

I'm sorry, I have a friend with emetaphobia (sp?) and I have seen how crippling it can be.

Try and be strong, I know it's hard for you and I hope your dd recovers fast and none of you catch it

I'm afraid there is a nasty tummy bug going around me and dd had it and were being sick every 20 min for about 7 hours. No fever. Terrible stomach cramps.
Good news is dh never got it! He even slept beside dd one night as I was to ill. I did take dd to hospital though on dr advice to make sure she wasn't dehydrated (she is only 1)

Ok, I have spoken to dh and dd. She’s been sick 3 times since we got home. She doesn’t feel aches, she is currently complaining of feeling hot but dh said she only felt a little clammy. She has had some sips of water.

I’m now in full on tears and shaking. I was going to leave and stay in a hotel tonight as I couldn’t be around but I told myself it was down to the food and stayed. Now I’m looking up trains Home in the morning from our holiday.

I can’t bleach and clean as we have no bleach at the holiday home and limited cleaning stuff and I can’t get to a shop, we are in the middle of nowhere and the shops have closed (plus I’ve been too scared to use the car as it still smells of sick).

Honestly, if it if a bug she'll probably be right as rain (albeit a bit washed out) when she gets up tomorrow. I don't think you should go home, you'll really freak her out.

It's probably a bug and she will be better in 24 hours. If not then I'd take her to the doctor.

Sorry about the phobia - I didn't know about it before. It must be awful.

Is there a room you could baracade yourself down in for the night? Ask DH to look after DD for the night as he’s doing such a good job.

Wash down where you are with plenty of hot water.

I’m sorry you’re feeling like this, must be hard

You poor thing. I completely understand the urge to leave. Last time someone was sick in our house I started desperately searching for travelodge rooms to get the healthy people out. But, your dd is ill. If it was anything but sickness, I am sure you would be right by her side cuddling her. She won't be able to understand why you have left her this time. As a pp said, no one who has not experienced it can understand how it feels. She will understand that you have left though.

Last time I was in this situation, we got round it by dh caring for the kids and me just staying in bed - I did a lot of shaking and crying too. Dh just said mummy wasn't feeling well either (which was totally true). That way they understood that I wasn't by their bedside but didn't feel left either.

I don't know if that helps or is something you could try? I really feel for you. It can be such a horrific and debilitating condition. I really need to get some help but have no idea where to start. I hope your dd is better soon and you can enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Thank you. Dh hasn’t left dds side all afternoon and evening. He’s going to sleep in her room tonight. I feel everything is contaminated so I haven’t even managed to clean my teeth this evening as my toothbrush is in the bathroom. I’m trying to use hand wipes that kill bugs (but have limited supply with me) after washing hands and disposable paper towels to dry hands.

First ting in the morning I’m going to head out to get bleach and go crazy with cleaning but it’s probably too late and I can never do everything. Fgs I had a shower straight after dd cleaned the sick off dd in there initially and I didn’t clean it first.

I have headphones on and talk radio on to listen to all night so I hopefully won’t hear dd being sick overnight if she is. I’m still contemplating going home in the morning.

Ah Reastie you’re doing great. Let’s see what tomorrow brings, till then bunker down for the night.

I have a count down app and find breaking the night down into two hour chunks helps.

Just reading this thread is difficult for me, so I can only imagine how it feels for you - I didn't even have the courage to have children, so you're doing better than me!

You must feel terrible, but I have a few little gems for you from a fellow phobe;

1. You cannot catch a gastric bug by breathing it in - you have to ingest it, i.e swallow virus particles. Sorry, gross, but vomit particles are heavy and would have settled to the floor pretty quickly after she vomited - and any aerosolised particles from being cleaned up would also have settled and been washed away by the shower water. So unless you swallowed water from the ground upwards or licked the car upholstery, it's fairly low risk!
2. Scrupulous hand washing, and diligence about not touching your face or mouth unless hands have been washed, is your saviour. Make sure hand wipes are anti viral or contain benzethonium chloride (wet wipes do, anti bac gel doesn't always). That or minimum 60% alcohol.
3. Not allowing anything to pass your lips is a strategy I've used in the past. But even if you do take some virus particles on board, it has to get past the antibodies in your mouth and saliva, then in your gut, before it can make you sick. A healthy adult with a normal immune system fights off many more bugs than you even know about - that particle is a drop in the ocean. So take heart, it is not inevitable.

And finally, 4. This is a tough one, but hear me out. What if you get it? Yes, it will be horrid, and terrifying, and you'd rather die (me too). But you won't die. You'll cope, because you're human and you're normal and everybody copes with it once in a while. And it will pass and life will go back to normal.

Some will probably say I'm feeding your fear by giving you little bits of info to relieve or fend off the anxiety rather than telling you to woman up, but I know you're too far in for that. The bad one at the end, that's what they asked me when I had CBT. What's the absolute worst possible outcome? How will you deal with that if it happens? Have a strategy and believe that you can handle it.

You will get through this, deep slow breaths.

Really feel for you OP I hope your daughter is better very soon and you are coping ok.

Just a random thing - noticed you said your hands were cracked from frequent washing. Mine used to be terrible from washing often and so sore but I've switched to bar soap instead of hand wash and it really helps. I'm a bit squeamish about sharing soap so have hand wash for everyone else but the bar has made such a difference to me.

All the best, take care and keep well

I have emetophobia and live in fear of gastro bugs. I hate the idea of winter looming. We go on holiday this week and I can’t stop thinking about what if one of my children catches something while we’re away. So I really do understand how terrified you are. Whenever my husband drinks too much and throws up (which isn’t often, but is more often than “never”, which pisses me off) I lie in bed shaking uncontrollably.

Hoping the worst is over with your DD soon and no one else comes down with it.

It's most likely a bug, sorry - I have the same phobia. We had a similar situation with DS in France 2 years ago. We got through it - I was a nervous wreck. One tip I got from here is to not touch your face when there is a bug going around (it hasn't failed me yet, touch wood)