Frequent tummy bugs

[booboobutt]

Please help to shed some light on this, I have frequent stomach bugs and I don't know why. It's awful, I wake in the night with stomach pain and nausea, about half an hour after that I start to either be sick or (far more commonly) have dioreah (sorry, I can never spell that). It's usually short lived with active d&v lasting an hour or two but I feel crampy, nauseous and bloated for another day or two afterwards.

I work with children and have two little ones but no-one else in the family gets them. I wash my hands, the house isn't immaculate but it's not dirty. We do have an outdoor cat who carries fleas despite regular treatment.

I don't eat meat or dairy, I do eat a lot of bread but it doesn't seem to correspond.

I probably get one every 2 months. Maybe that's not much, but it feels like a lot to me. I have one now and it's only 11 days since the last one.

Any ideas?! Or is this actually a usual amount of stomach bugs when you have small children? Thanks in advance.

Have you ever had a really bad bout of food poisoning? I only ask because two people I know who have (in one case 30+ years ago) seem to get tummy bugs all the time. If there's one going around then they are guaranteed to get it. It's like their gut bacteria has been altered forever.

Its not normal!
I don't know what to suggest, but I'd say I get a funny tummy once every 2 years, not every 2 months.
My only other through is are you sure it is germ related, and not due to hormonal cycles or an intolerance to something you are eating?

Thanks so much for your replies.

No, I've never had food poisoning. I did have a bad stomach bug about 6 months ago that had me running to the toilet for about a week, but with no nausea, just watery diarreah. But this has been going on for about 4 years now, started around the time my eldest was going to toddler groups.

I have no idea if it could be hormonal or food related. I will start to keep a diary. I used to be quite intolerant to wheat but now I can eat that with no obvious side effects - unless that's what it is and it's just taking a different form (used to be immediate bloating but I don't get that anymore). I would have thought if it was food it would be happening even more frequently...?

Even though it's mostly diarreah I get full on sickness bug symptoms, stomach cramping, mouth watering, feeling like you're going to faint, but then at the last minute it goes down instead of up. Feels like a definite bug to me but I could be wrong.

I do get migraines... I've heard of stomach migraines, could that be it??

Thinking about it, I used to get bad stomach pains all the time as a child...

Have you tried a really good probiotic to see if that helps? These ones have worked minor miracles for me. However, the standard optibac probiotics didnt have much effect: www.optibacprobiotics.co.uk/shop/saccharomyces-boulardii?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIi9equqHM3wIVCyjTCh2qWwy6EAAYASAAEgIcRfD_BwE

You have my sympathy. I am similar in that if there is a bug going, i get it. I've had four this year. I don't know what to do but think the probiotics one is a good suggestion. I am pretty sure it's something to do with my gut flora.