Just had 6th bout of (adult) nausea/diarrhoea/bad stomach pains since december - what could it be?

[amazonianwoman]

Satruday night I was very nauseous (should've been sick but I'm emetophobic so do anything to avoid vomiting) with awful upper stomach pains, gurgling, griping, diarrhoea (not v watery, but very loose - sorry tmi) and generally feeling dreadful. I feel ok today but still not 100%

Same thing happened last weekend, the weekend before, middle of February, once in January and just before Xmas (diarrhoea was v bad the 1st 2 times)

There's no pattern, ie I can't relate it to anything I've eaten, alcohol etc. No one else in the family has had anything.

I'm really fed up, esp of the nausea because of emetophobia, but also because it floors me for a couple of days each week and I have 2 young children to look after.

Any ideas? Surely a virus wouldn't persist for this long?

more here

agree it could be something like campylobacter - dh picked this up and it presented as frequent episodes of diarrhoea.

Oooh! Campylobacter is horrible! I had it about 3 years ago. It was easily sorted with a course of anti-biotics. I was diagnosed with UC last year which is also horrible. Don't worry - your doc won't fob you off.

I hope you get it sorted soon. These things are SO UNDIGNIFIED!

Think I'm doing too much googling now...

Wouldn't the rest of the family have had something like campylo too? Esp DS 11mths? We all eat the same food.

Just realised I have heard of giardia - when I did loads of backpacking (years ago) in Asia/India etc. It was one of those travellers' illnesses!

Feeling quite sick again so off to bed with some deep breathing

Hoping that the doc will be as helpful as you lot

I couldn't get on the internet earlier but giardia or similar was in my mind, too. I live in the tropics and have an alarming tendency to pick up such bugs. They usually present like yours has, often with a tender stomach lower down where your intestines are. Dh and dd never seem to get them.

Just recovering from another bout So trotted (excuse pun) off to GP with wee & poo samples this morning Although DS 12mths started with v bad diarrhoea on Good (not) Friday and DH was feeling v fluey & nauseous most of the weekend., so could just be a bug, but feeling exactly the same as other episodes.

Until I wait for (no doubt inconclusive) resluts to return from doc, any suggestions as to how to improve general immunity/gut function? Have ordered some Solgar acidophilus tablets, already take Yakult or Actimel every day, have a reasonably healthy diet, doing quite a bit of exercise... What else can I do? I'm SO SICK of feeling this crap every week or two

Sounds like noro to me and the more times you have it, the less likely you are to vomit. DP and I kept getting it before Xmas(I'm also an emetophobe!)I've only actully vomited with it twice, the rest of the time the symptoms are the same as yours!

I thought that too, but (other than diarrhoea this weekend) no one else in the family has had it, and noro is highly contagious? GP didn't seem to think so when I saw him a couple of weeks ago, but didn't know what it could be

What I've found is, when DP and I have it, the dcs don't catch it. However, when they have it, it's another matter. I think them still being in nappies helps - not sharing bathrooms etc.

Have you had your drinking water tested?

No, although the thought ran through my head last night! Any idea how to go about it?

Probably local council, environmental services or environmental health would be a good place to start. I am really not sure what the responsibility of EH is these days, but it wouldn't do any harm to ask.

It really does sound like giardia lamblia to me.

Has one of your children just started school? The first winter DS was at school I got these kind of symtoms approx every three week. He got lots of colds, but nothing more and no-one else in the family got it. I don't know waht caused it, I was just about to sya enough is enough and see the Dr, when it all stopped and I've been Ok since (almost 3 yrs).

I always thought it must have been things DS was bringing home, but poss not as no-one else caught it. I do think tho' that sometimes we can have the same bug as them,but the symtoms and severity can be different.

DD started morning pre-school last Sept, and this is is DS's first winter, so yes, lots of opportunities for bugs Except DD has been remarkably healthy (touch wood) and DS hasn't had anywhere near as many episodes as me.

Perhaps it's a specific bug drawn to knackered rundown mothers...

Thanks 3littlefrogs, think I'll try Environmental Agency 1st

I caught 5 stomach bugs within about 4 months of DS1 starting nursery. So it could be possible it's just bugs. My husband has never caught any stomach bugs, yet I get them from DS1 most of the time. And DS2 has only had 1 of the 3 DS1 has brought home from nursery this winter.

I find that too mumtoben. Ds1 will be a bit off colour for about 8 hours, I feel like I'm dying for 2 days and no-one else suffers at all.

My Mum was like this for months and months, finally diagnosed as giardia.

She has no idea how she caught it.

Don't let it go on, pester you gp if necessary.

My husband does his fair share of clearing up sick and changing nappies and clothes, so I just don't know how he has avoided them. I sometimes get them much worse than DS1 like you perpetualworrier. Sometimes I get to the point whether I am hallucinating. I only have to see the sign up at the nursery that there is another D&V bug and I start dreading the inevitable!

Giardia is relatively easy to treat, so it might be worth treating, via GP, and seeing if symptoms abate.

Giardia is one of the reasons we have had a water filter for the last 12 years.

I suffered from IBS for a while and all your symptoms match mine.

I still (very occasionally) suffer from it and the worst symptom is the griping pain, often followed by very, very watery diarrhoea.

Stress definitely exacerbates it and I sometimes find that if I've been overdoing the carbohydrates that the symptoms start to growl again (so to speak!)

Have you had a course of antibiotics at all in the recent past? A personal theory of mine, based on reading around the subject of candida (thrush) which I also suffer from now and then, is that antibiotics can knock out so much of the good bacteria in the gut that bad bacteria can flourish - the result being conditions like candida overgrowth and IBS.

Thanks all again.

What puzzles me most is that I used to have an iron constitution, + regular as clockwork bowel movements etc. And I've had more episodes than the rest of the household combined, even DS 12mths has only had diarrhoea once and winter vom bug in Dec.

GP did question IBS, will wait for test results then see...

The griping pains don't feel like the ones associated with usual runs, in that they're much higher up, ie above belly button.

I haven't had any ABs since last April when I had mastitis. I take yakult and have ordered some good quality probiotics, so will see if they help.

Can you "catch" giardia from cats? We have 2, and they have a disgusting habit of sitting on the kitchen table/bench at night I obviously clean surfaces thoroughly (several times a day )

Praying that this latest episode will be the last, finally feeling normal now for 1st time since Sunday

Yes - you can catch giardia from cats.

@amazonianwoman did you ever get to the bottom of this?

Ooh that was a while ago! Not really, from memory, but only have this problem now if I eat and drink too much too late, which is v rare and avoidable.