Flu/cough with gastro pain/nausea

[Mygangofthree]

Hi,

So on Christmas Eve, Eve I woke up shivering body aches and a cough.

Christmas morning - still the same symptoms as above but also the worse HEARTBURN and NAUSEA!!!

I'm now on day 23 - yep I'm counting because it is miserable!

Coughs still lingering a little bit but much better but the gastro symptoms are horrible! Upper stomach pain/burning, reflux. Nausea is getting better ( I think mostly due to Silicon gel from boots)

I've got a drs appointment on Friday l, just wondering if anyone else has/had this?

What did the Dr give, how long did it last?

*Note I've never had reflux/heartburn before. I'm mid thirties, healthy weight, don't drink/smoke, not a coffee drinker - I don't fit and of the "reflux criteria"

Thanks

I also started on christmas Eve, I now have pneumonia. It's not nice. Hope you feel better soon. I have had antibiotics but chest still crackling although cough is better.

Do you also have the gastro symptoms? To be honest that's my worse symptoms.
Wishing you a speedy recovery!

@boulevardofbrokendreamss do you also have the gastro symptoms? Their probably my worse symptom, the cough seems to be going on its own (although taking some time!)
Speedy recovery!

Yes I do and I've hardly eaten. I've lost a stone. So many people I've spoken to have had the same it really is horrible.

@boulevardofbrokendreamss it's awful isn't it! Has the Dr given you anything for the gastro symptoms or given any insight into if it's linked to the pnemonia? Sorry for all the questions but does your upper tummy feel sore? Mine is constantly "burning/sore" and I feel so full even if I've eaten nothing 😔

Bump

I had it for the whole of November, most of December, and briefly again beginning of this month OP. Thought it was never going to get better, but in my case it was viral and I had flu closely followed by COVID, on top of the gastric symptoms. It was grim. Apparently lots of people have had the gastric flu and either nasty colds or COVID on top this winter. Maybe that's what you're experiencing? In the end I had antibiotics for the chest infection I was left with, and when I started taking them I was terrified the gastric trouble would come back, but by then the symptoms were mostly in remission. I drank lots of peppermint tea and had a pretty bland diet for a while. Sugary stuff, gluten and potatoes made mine worse.

Hopefully the GP can put your mind at rest tomorrow and give you something helpful for it!

@baroqueandblue wow, that sounds almost identical to me! I had flu end of November, a cold mid December and then flu/COVID again at Christmas.
Can I ask what your gastro symptoms was? I've not had the stomach flu.
This started with what felt like heartburn/reflux and is now a real burning pain in my upper part of tummy whenever I eat and for a couple of hours after (which ends up being most the day with breakfast/lunch/dinner) I also feel full straight away - so have zero appetite!
I've actually noticed today that mashed potato really hurt my tummy!
I'm basically eating rice/toast, well cooked veg, porridge.

I really appreciate your message, you feel pretty alone when you're ill!

Yes it can feel really lonely OP, and I'm sorry you're going through this 😞 I had reflux symptoms sometimes but my worst and longest lasting symptom was pain! I would wake up with horrid uncomfortable sensations in my lower abdomen, often on the right side but sometimes on the left, higher up. I think that's intestinal inflammation? 🤔 Some days it would calm down after I was up and moving about, and not bother me much until I ate, when the pain and discomfort would often return. Other days it didn't matter what I did, the pain lasted all day and I was absolutely miserable. I even started a thread about that a few weeks ago 😄 Weirdly, a lot of the time my appetite was fine, it was just that there was not much I could eat without worrying it would set off another attack. And times when I couldn't eat a proper portion of anything because a little felt like more than enough. (I'm now trying to put a bit of weight back on because I look haggard after it all.) I drink a lot of sparkling water usually but I could only drink still water for a while, and omg my bladder constantly kicked off too, I was up and down to the loo constantly!

One other thing - lower back pain. Have you had any of that on top of the abdominal pain?

@baroqueandblue sounds like we both caught the same virus! Did you have any upper abdominal pain, in the actual stomach Or was it all lower? I'm also experiencing some intentional pain.

No lower back pain but I do have some upper like where my lungs are.

Did you see the Dr at all about the tummy pains?
My Dr is quite dismissive so would be interesting to know what other people drs thoughts are on it .

I'm so glad you're all better, gives me a bit of hope lol when your ill the days feel a lot longer!

@baroqueandblue would I be able to send you a private message?

Hi @Mygangofthree to be honest there's not much more I can tell you that would really make any difference. I would say though, don't take no for an answer with your GP, you're perfectly within your rights to ask the surgery for a second opinion from another GP. I know we've had similar symptoms but it sounds like there might also be some important differences which you'll need to push the GP to look into. I've put up with mine so far but something's still not right and this week I'm.going to make an appointment myself and tell my GP what has been going on and how long. My latest symptoms are loose poos, niggling deep flashes of intestinal pain, and what feels like oral thrush. Also horrid fatigue, I feel shattered! So I've ordered some fluconazole tablets from Amazon and I'm going to see if they make any difference. But definitely aiming to see the GP this week if I can get them to give me an appointment, otherwise it'll be the following week.

Hope you're ok and maybe even seeing some positive signs of recovery 🤞

This week GP gave me meds for gastritis (Google symptoms). I've had omeprazole, anti nausea tablets, cocodamol and two bottles of gaviscon. It's working. But I'm following the diet beige. So toast, mcvities digestives. Ham sandwiches. Eating little and often. No coffee, soda, just weak tea or water.

Nsaids set mine off so no more of those.

Can take a few weeks for your tummy to heal.

Yes I have had a horrible virus that started with d&v then went to fever, headache, chesty cough. Chesty cough lasted a couple of weeks as did tummy ache, nausea, burning, pain, difficulty eating. I started to get my appetite back after a couple of weeks but still if I eat too much the tummy ache comes back. It's been horrible. I just took it very steady, lots of dry foods like biscuits and crackers then working up to soup with bread, then small portions of proper food but always very plain, nothing greasy or spicy.

@justasking111 I had actually though my symptoms really fit that.
Did you start off with a flu/cold virus?

@owly these winter bugs Re really doing a number on us all! Glad that you're feeling a bit better though!

@baroqueandblue hope your feeling better soon!
I've had oral thrush before, fluconazole worked really well.

No I have scoliosis which causes sciatica. Over Christmas I ate and drank too well. Took more painkillers than normal because we were out and about visiting family and friends. It's the same result as gastric flu though. I've buggered up my poor gut. 😞

So like, for example, influenza, which has been very high this winter, along with other respiratory infections can mess with the intestines. Especially with the microbiome. Which can lead to dysbiosis, inflammation and in some leaky gut. Increasing friendly bacteria which make short chain fatty acids which seal and reduce inflammation may help.

Theres such a downplaying of the effects of covid/flu/colds on the body it’s unreal. Especially this weird notion that, especially for children, catching all the germs somehow “builds their immune system” when really successive challenges are much more likely to damage it and damage the body. But it sounds like you had 3 infections in a 6 week period. Which absolutely sucks. Hope you feel better soon.

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/iai.00734-20#:~:text=Along%20with%20lung%20disease%20per,diarrhea%20(4–8).

@Youthinkyoureuniqueyourejustastatistic that is great info. all my symptoms are high up in my stomach, my intestines have been ok (thankfully)

@Owly11 was you given antibiotics for your chesty cough?

No I didn’t go to the gp - just recovered at home.

It's an absolute bastard thing that's been going round. Me and DH were floored and not right for weeks although better now. The gastric element was awful, including abdominal pains so bad it felt like I'd busted a couple of ribs. Awful cough, crackling chest. Very nasty.

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

@Owly11 hope you continue to feel better

@AmandaHoldensLips it's certainly a nasty one! Did you eventually get over the cough at home or did you need a prescription, my cough is so much better after 3 weeks but just a bit crackly when I wake up.
Did you also get the horrible nausea feeling with the virus?
I think it's the first year that I've actually lost weight over Christmas 😄