Anyone else got this Virus - ongoing Nausea - I have had it for 4 weeks

[Concepta]

Just been to the doctor. I have had Nausea now for 4 weeks. The doctor says it is a virus and I should be OK soon. He said that unlike the Norovirus this one can linger for a while. Was wondering if anyone else had anything similar and if so how long did it last. One good thing I suppose I didn't put on any weight over Christmas!!, but I would just love to feel healthy again.

Hi @pebble21uk

I’ve not gone anywhere as I’m still suffering unfortunately! Have felt better today, but I am not taking any comfort in this as I know in a day or two the nausea will be back.

Had blood tests done which showed high white blood cells which doctor said showed a virus so need to get that redone but thought it would probably still show if I’m feeling ill. Going to return to the doctor next week if I’m no better as that will be four weeks.

Like you said, the anxiety makes it all worse. I also eat healthily but can’t really stomach anything other than white food and I’ve lost weight

Hello All, first post. I've been reading this thread with interest.

I too have had ongoing nausea with no other symptoms except gurgling stomach and some stomach cramps at night since mid December, so 6 weeks + now.

The nausea feels like the same type you get if you feel really hungry and haven't eaten in a while or skipped lunch, it seems a bit worse in the morning but lasts all day.

I had a blood test a couple of weeks ago which was normal and a have an ultra sound booked for early Feb.

I'm really hoping it's just anxiety caused by stress of work, home, tax return etc, but the length of time is causing me to worry that it's something more sinister, which probably isn't helping with the symptoms.

Hope everyone feels better soon.

Hi All,
How are everyone's weekends coming along?
I know for now I am pursuing an anxiety/ depression diagnosis but yesterday met a friend for lunch and I just couldn't do a thing - felt horribly sick, couldn't eat.... couldn't even talk :( I went home & slept most of the afternoon...
I am so surprised that anxiety could cause such dramatic physical symptoms :(

Hi @Relapse. It sounds similar to what I’ve been having, but my blood test showed high white blood cells which the doctor said was a virus. I have to retest but as I’ve still been feeling ill I haven’t been, going to wait until the sickness passes but it’s been over three weeks now. At least yours all came back fine - did the doctor suggest what it could be?

@Mimi85 Sorry to hear you felt so bad at lunch. If the doctor has said anxiety I would trust that’s what it is, I know it can have all sorts of physical symptoms and if you’re extremely worried about the nausea I would imagine it can cause that. I’m still feeling sick on and off, and now I’m feeling SO tired. I’ve struggled to get up the past three day’s (since getting back from holiday) after sleeping around 11 hours each night. I’m thinking it’s jet lag made worse by feeling ill, as I’ve never had it this bad before. To add to my worries I am starting a new job tomorrow and I’m so scared I’ll feel sick - I can’t call in sick on my first day!! 😭

Morning All,
Well I had a really bad evening with it all yesterday. Ended up calling 111 again. They said a heathcare professional would call back within 12 hours!! When still hadn't heard anything by 8.30 this morning after a really bad night, I called back and they upgraded me. I don't know, 111 doesn't seem fit for purpose - no wonder so many people end up in A&E when they shouldn't really be there... where else do you go!?

Anyway - a really good doctor eventually called me back and asked lots of questions and then said had anyone ever suggested I might have Diverticulitis (which they haven't) and she's arranged an out of hours appointment for me today at lunch time. I'm so hoping it IS that as it can be treated with particular antibiotics! She's also writing to my doctor to suggest further investigations.

So hope I get somewhere this time as this is really impacting my life now!
Hope everyone has a good day sans nausea!

I cannot believe it but today I felt as bad as I did when it first started. I can not believe that this is a virus that’s been going on for nearly four weeks!!! 😩😱😭 when will it get better

I'm at the 5 week mark today and in the same position! Dr didn't think diverticulitis - no pain in the right place, so back to square one again in all senses!

@pebble21uk I just don’t see how a virus could last this long 😭 does yours come and go, or has it been constant?

Melly1801 It comes and goes but is always there in the background too! I've been given omeprazole to help with stomach acid and constant bubbling/gurgling and an anti-nausea tablet too. Then I have a drs appointment on Thursday for them to do some further tests - possibly for h.pylori bacteria?? I've gone back to liquids only at the moment. I was doing much better last week with bland food but then it all kicked off again!!

One doctor did say to me that if you've had a gastric virus then the stomach gets all out of kilter - you're not eating as you usually do and so the stomach reacts to that and it continues beyond the end of the virus!
Hope you're doing better today!?

Hello, I'm sorry you're suffering with the nausea. It is such an unbearable feeling.
I think that my ongoing virus/ stomach bug turned into full blown anxiety and completely messed my system up. I am spending the next week at home trying to re-establish by appetite & put some weight on.
I am still taking anti nausea meds & gaviscon when needed. I am also using the next week to sleep as I am permanently tired...
Melly - when are you due back at your Dr's?
I got a home kit test for h.pylori as it was a next day delivery on Amazon and I was desperate for some answers quickly

Hi Mimi85 you sound pretty similar to me. Symptoms bring on anxiety and that always affects gastric issues anyway! It's a vicious circle! I spoke to the doctors this morning and they have said it's okay for me to use Diazepam in the short term, so I'm trying that from today.
I'm also permanenlty exhausted at the moment. I've been tending to try and push through it as keeping busy keeps me distracted and lowers the anxiety, but it really doesn't help in the long term - so like you I'm taking some time out to just sleep and try and relax - hoping the Diazepam helps with that!! I've been having some awful headaches from pushing too much!
Hope today is better for you

Hi Pebble21uk - so I had three weeks of nausea... Occasional tension headaches, diarrhoea, wretching, tiredness...
All blood tests came out normal
I thought the symptoms were making me anxious and I just couldn't believe the a&e Dr who told me I was anxious/ depressed.
I have lost so much weight I have colleagues approaching me telling me how terrible I look.
Each meal I eat results in indigestion But I guess when you've inadvertently starved yourself this is what happens...
I'm waiting 10 days to go & see a therapist...
I'm guessing I had a lot of stress in my life and I was in complete denial...

Stress and anxiety definitely play their part. But I also know I get anxiety as a result of my symptoms, not the other way around. I'm really hoping my blood tests show something, but have my doubts. Some I had done mid-December showed raised inflammation markers, which suggests something is going on somewhere!
I think the problem is when it's vague symptoms it's always put down to a virus and they're reluctant to take things any further until several weeks have passed!

Hi @Pebble21uk and @Mimi85,

I’ve felt awful again today!! I honestly want to cry I can’t believe it. The thing worrying me is my blood tests did show something - which the doctor said was a virus as it was high white blood cells but I really don’t see how this could be a virus that’s lasting nearly four weeks. On Thursday it will have been four weeks since I started feeling sick, and the past two days it’s felt like how I did the first week the nausea has been that bad. I’ve made an appointment to see another doctor on Friday 😭

So sorry Melly1801 it's really so frustrating and impacts daily life so much. Mine started 23rd December and today I have been in bed all day (luckily only work part time) and managed a round of toast so far! It's the exhaustion and anxiety which have now been getting to me as much as the nausea and bubbling tummy and total lack of appetite!
I had a spell (a week ago now) when I felt I might be doing a bit better, but then it came back, as you say, as bad as when it started!

The things that have been mentioned to me by doctors (or flagged by Dr Google) are: Inflammatory Bowel Disease, H.Pylori, Stomach Ulcer, Diverticultis, Giardia.
Any and all of those would be treated with antibiotics, so if it is one I just wish I could hurry some tests along and try some!!

Oh and Melly1801 high white blood cells means you are fighting a virus OR a bacterial infection, or there is inflammation in your body. If it's a bacterial infection rather than a virus, chances are it won't get better until treated - usually with antibiotics as in those I mentioned above!

Thanks @pebble21uk - when I went to see the third doctor she said it wasn’t bacterial after looking at a blood test result, not sure which one, so said it must be viral and said it should go within a week which is why I’m worried.

When will you have any of those tests to find out if it could be one of those?

Like you said, the symptoms make the anxiety worse not the other way round so I know this isn’t solely down to anxiety. It’s really affecting my life now as I can’t focus properly at work as I’m so worried about being sick or passing out, but it still comes and goes.

I spoke to the doctors this morning and they were trying to get me in for blood tests ahead of my appointment on Thursday, but there were no spaces as usual.
I don't know which tests she'll recommend on Thursday. I think the problem with some of them - like h.pylori and giardia, is the medication you currently take can affect them (like omeprazole with me), so you may get a false negative! Some are stool tests / breath tests too but the same applies.
The thing is I know this had a defiite start - with a high fever for days at first and my temp still spikes occasionally. I'm so fed up of being fobbed off and everything taking SO long - I need some answers!

Hi Girls, I had exactly the same thoughts regarding h.pylori & giardia...and was tested for both too.
I can't tell you how surprised I was about the anxiety/ depression diagnosis at A&E. I think you should mention anxiety to your Dr's.
Not eating for pretty much a week has wrecked my entire digestive system. I have lost almost a stone due to this...
I also went to help a friend at the weekend and the same nausea/total lack of appetite thing came on and I just had to tell myself that this is how my body processes stress (apparently!)

I'll definitely mention the anxiety Mimi85 - they know I am using Diazepam now in the short term anyway... which I have to say is helping immensely as regards the anxiety - but then I still have the other physical symptoms!

Tonight for example I tried eating one cracker and a cup-a-soup. Got half way through, nausea came on, felt like I had a tight band around the top of my stomach and couldn't stop burping (tmi sorry!) but that was definitely not caused by anxiety!! I was feeling perfectly chilled at the time thanks to the Diazepam. There must be some underlying cause. I know my system is probably now f**cked after 5 weeks of this but I don't buy that it's all anxiety based.

I'm also going to ask the doctor about the special shakes they can give to people on prescription which have a broad range of vits and minerals in them. They are only small bottles, bit like flavoured milk (my elderly Dad has them on prescription) but at least I'd feel I might be getting some nutrients!

I too have lost a stone at least I think - my clothes are hanging off me. Are you going to get a second opinion on the A&E diagnosis..? Maybe a referral to a gastroenterologist or a specialist rather than frontline medical care doctor. Feels like you have to push for everything though!

If I get no joy with drs tests then I'm going to ask for a referral - even if privately done a conslatation is about £200 and right now I'd be happy to pay that to see someone quickly and have it looked at more closely.

Hi Pebble21uk - I'm sticking with my diagnosis for now as my stomach symptoms are improving every day especially as I increase food intake... I just had to stop myself obsessing the over physical symptoms and think I've starved myself and lived off rice crackers and bananas, obviously reintroducing food has been tough... My main symptom is now tiredness...
What tests have you had? I'm guessing you have anti nausea meds? What other symptoms do you have?

Mimi85 I had blood tests about a month ago but need them doing again - it's getting them done, everything takes so long. Inflammation markers were up but they didn't do any specific gut related tests then.

I had a stool test for all the basic food poisining possibilities - e-coli etc but that came back negative.

It's taking so long because after the initial 3 weeks I thought I was doing better for a week or so - I was managing to eat small portions and felt like I might be on the mend (though still far from right) and then the nausea and symptoms hit me like a train again last Wednesday for no apparant reason at all - and seem to have been getting worse since.
I'm on anti nausea meds but they don't seem to do much.

Since writing that first bit the doc has phoned and said I can get bloods done at the hospital today and results might be back by tonight or tomorrow - so I'm going to try that as feeling at the end of my tether now!

Hi everyone, I've been reading this thread because in 2018 I was posting here for a while (name changed since). And while it's important to do what you can to rule out anything more sinister, you might be reassured to hear that I had the stomach virus from hell 20 months ago and thought it would never end, but it did. Think I had it at least 6 weeks and it didn't seem to matter what I did or didn't do, it wouldn't budge. In the end it started to get weaker and that was after I'd given up hope of ever having a settled stomach again. I drank a lot of herbal tea - fennel, ginger, chamomile. Took prebio 7 and had to stop taking the antidepressant I was on at the time because my tummy simply couldn't tolerate it.

Hi @PeninsulaPanic,

What were your symptoms? I feel sick normally earlier on in the day, then it eases off but the weird dizzy feeling seems to stay most of the day. It’s so hard to describe what it’s like because it’s not normal dizziness, it’s dizziness with light headedness and just a weird spaced out sort of feeling.

Did you have any tests done when you were I’ll? I’ve been taking a probiotic and ginger tablets but they don’t seem to be working. It started four weeks ago and the first week was awful, then I went away for two weeks and it seemed to be two days okay, two days sick, then when I returned to work on Monday I felt as bad as I did the first week. I had blood tests which showed high white blood count which the doctor said showed a virus but would a virus really be like this, on and off?!

It’s really affecting my life, I can’t concentrate at work and I’ve not been to the gym in four weeks when I usually go every other day, so it’s not just a little bit of nausea which makes me worry it’s something sinister ☹️

Well my bloods came back normal which is encouraging but doesn't get me any further forward. White cell count fine which doesn't suggest infection or virus, viscosity is the only one high which does suggest some inflammation though.
Dr says next step is a CT scan!