What to eat during stomach flu?

Question

My sister is sick, and throws up all she eats,!
what should i make her eat?

Answer 1

What is stomach flu?

Stomach flu is a viral infection that affects the stomach and small intestine. It is also called viral gastroenteritis. The illness is usually brief, lasting 1 to 3 days.




How is it diagnosed?

Your health care provider will review your symptoms. He or she may examine you and order lab tests to rule out more serious illnesses, such as appendicitis, and to detect complications, such as dehydration.


How is it treated?

The most important thing to do is to rest the stomach and intestines. You can do this by first eating nothing solid and drinking only clear liquids. A little later you can eat soft bland foods that are easy to digest.

If you have been vomiting a lot, it is best to have only small, frequent sips of liquids. Drinking too much at once, even an ounce or two, may cause more vomiting.

Your choice of liquids is important. If water is the only liquid you can drink without vomiting, that is okay. However, if you have been vomiting often for a long time, you must replace the minerals, sodium and potassium, that are lost when you vomit. Ask your health care provider what sport drinks or other commercial electrolyte replacement drinks could help you replace these minerals.

Other clear liquids you can drink are weak tea and apple juice. You may also drink soft drinks without caffeine (such as 7-UP) after letting them go flat (lose their carbonation). Chilling the liquids may help you keep them down. Avoid liquids that are acidic (such as orange juice) or caffeinated (such as coffee) or have a lot of carbonation. Do not drink milk until you no longer have diarrhea.

You may start eating soft bland foods when you have not vomited for several hours and are able to drink clear liquids without further upset. Soda crackers, toast, plain noodles, gelatin, eggs, applesauce, and bananas are good first choices. Avoid foods that are acidic, spicy, fatty, or fibrous (such as meats, coarse grains, vegetables). Also avoid dairy products. You may start eating these foods again in 3 days or so, when all signs of illness have passed.

Sometimes treatment includes prescription medicine to prevent nausea and vomiting or diarrhea. Nonprescription medicine is available for the treatment of diarrhea and can be very effective. If you use it, make sure you use only the dose recommended on the package. If you have chronic health problems, always check with your health care provider before you use any medicine for diarrhea.

If you have been vomiting for more than a day or have had diarrhea for over 3 days, call your health care provider. You may need to have an exam to rule out more serious problems and to check for dehydration. You may also need to have lab tests to determine whether bacteria or germs such as giardia are causing your illness.

Dehydration is a potentially serious complication of stomach flu. It can occur if your body loses too much fluid because you keep vomiting or having diarrhea. If you are severely dehydrated, you may need to be given fluids intravenously (IV). In children and older adults, dehydration can quickly become life threatening.


How does it occur?

Many different viruses can cause gastroenteritis, including rotaviruses, adenoviruses, and the Norwalk virus. Gastroenteritis is caused by swallowing one of these viruses. The body fluids of infected people contain the virus, sometimes even before their symptoms begin. The virus can be spread by direct contact with an infected person (for example, kissing or shaking hands) or by sharing food, drink, or eating utensils.

The virus enters the stomach and intestine and inflames the lining of these organs. As a result, the stomach and intestine are temporarily unable to perform their usual functions. The virus can also cause food to move more rapidly through your gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

Some bacteria, parasites, medicines, or other medical conditions can cause infections that have symptoms similar to those of stomach flu. If your symptoms are unusually severe or last longer than a few days, your health care provider can determine if the diarrhea is caused by a virus or by something else.


What are the symptoms?

When you have stomach flu, you may have one or more of the following symptoms:

* nausea
* vomiting
* stomach cramps
* diarrhea
* mild fever
* fatigue
* chills
* loss of appetite
* muscle aches.

The illness may develop over a period of hours, or it may suddenly start with stomach cramps, vomiting, or diarrhea.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

At this point get her some ginger ale or coke with crushed ice. She can sip the drink slowly and nibble on the ice. Cover her with a blanket and keep her warm as she may feel like she has chills. Get her some chicken noodle soup or broth and crackers. She may also get the diarrhea. Keep a container handy in case she gets sick. Don't try to make her eat if she can't. It took me a week to feel like eating much. Keeping down fluids is the most important thing. Be sure that she does not get dehydrated. I used (along with suppositories that was prescribed by the doctor)Maximum Strength liquid Maalox-total stomach relief in a white and purple bottle and it helped me. Let her empty her stomach out first and you may want to try this.I intend to keep it around from not on!

Answer 4

My son just got over doing the same thing. Have her sip water for now. Pedialyte helps if she has been throwing-up for way to long, I mean like hours and hours. When it's been at least a couple hours since she threw-up try, either a banana, apple, plain toast, saltine crackers, chicken broth, apple sauce, plain rice, anything that is bland to the pallet. Also try small amounts of juice or hot tea, the warmth will help, too.

Make sure she gets plenty of rest, this is half the battle.

Answer 5

avoid eating for about a day. Tomorrow maybe let her eat crackers and take 4 SIPS of water every half hour. The third day make her have some chicken noodel soup and still don't take gulps of water 4 sips every ten minutes. Today just focus on sips of water. And maybe half of a cracker. Just tell her to lay on the couch watch Tv and get plenty of rest. Soaking in the Bath tub works to. Sometime if you clean yourself really good you'll feel better. Remember wash your hands after you take care of her and you'll probably won't catch it. Clean the house reall reallt good with Lysol and that will kill all the sick germs in the house.


Tell her to GET WELL SOON!

:)

Answer 6

for a while she shouldn't eat anything. Slowly, after its been a few hours since shes thrown up then she can try sipping some water, and eating some ice. If that doesn't make her puke then if she feels like it she can eat something lite, like toast or something. Good luck and i hope she feels better!!

Answer 7

Crackers, bread, things like that. try some chicken broth. Make sure she drinks a lot of clear fluids to keep hydrated.

Answer 8

Gold fish crackers! They're delicious andyou won't throw them back up 90% of the time. I luv goldfish!

Answer 9

nothing for now. just water. when she can handle some food use the BRAT diet. bananas, rice, apples, and toast.

Answer 10

Chicken soup or lentil soup.