Quick Stomach Virus or Something Else?

Updated on May 13, 2016
L.C. asks from San Clemente, CA
6 answers

My 5 year old woke me up last night complaining that her tummy hurt and she needed to throw up. I rushed her to the bathroom and she felt really warm. Sure enough 101.9 fever. So then I give her some Tylenol and she vomits it up pretty good. Then we rest on the couch and she is starting to feel really warm. I take her temp and its 103. At that point a put her in the bath and pray she keeps her Tylenol down this time and she does. Fever goes way down and she finally falls asleep around 4:30am and slept until about 9:30am. Once she woke up she was perfect. Tummy didn't hurt and fever hasn't returned.

Could this be the stomach flu? This seems pretty short to me don't you think? My 2 year old was complaining about her tummy hurting since Monday and I had diarreah last night.

I'm confused because our last batch of the stomach bug was horrible!

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So What Happened?

Thanks for your posts everyone. Now she seems to have a head cold but no more fever or vomiting. I think it was maybe nasal drainage that started this off, since she now has a cold.

More Answers

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J.C.

answers from Anchorage on

Contrary to popular belief the flu is not a stomach bug, it presents as a cough and a high fever. It sounds like she just had a stomach bug.

3 moms found this helpful

D.B.

answers from Boston on

Could be anything. Sometimes if they have some nasal/sinus stuff going on, all that mucus upsets the stomach. That can be in the form of post-nasal drip even if there is no obvious runny nose/congestion going on. Once they throw up and get rid of it, they're better because they aren't nursing any stomach bacteria.

In general, I wouldn't give Tylenol or anything else when someone is actively nauseated. A 101.9 fever isn't dangerous but I would just loosen the clothing and let her cool down. A cool bath was a good idea and, again, I'm not sure you needed to give Tylenol for 103 if she wasn't complaining of aches/pains and when she had active nausea. Making them throw up can be helpful in some ways, but all that acid coming up plus the risk of a little one missing the toilet is kind of negative.

So she feels fine, and that's great. Maybe she had a touch of the stomach thing and fought it off, maybe it was the nasal thing. I'd keep her a little more quiet than normal and hydrate/hydrate/hydrate. You and your 2 year old could have the stomach thing - again, a touch of it, but again, the nasal/mucus thing can affect you both with stomach ache and diarrhea too. So consider simple foods and extra rest. Good luck! Hope it doesn't turn into anything worse!

3 moms found this helpful
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M.G.

answers from Portland on

Sounds to me like a 24 hr one. Stomach bugs can be as short as a day - but up to 10 (or more).

If it was from food, you'd probably all have gotten sick at same time. Sounds more like a virus to me - they can take up to 3 days to catch after being exposed (and you can be contagious without knowing it.)

One of my kids power pukes - gets really sick/hot - and it's done. Every time. Fit as a fiddle the next day. But I always keep him home - because that takes a toll on their bodies.

Hope you all feel better soon :)

1 mom found this helpful
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J.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

Consider yourselves lucky!

I had a 15 minute sickness once. I woke up feeling like I was going to die in the middle of the night. I threw up a few minutes later. Went back to sleep and was totally fine the next day.

1 mom found this helpful

S.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

Most of the time when we have a "stomach bug" or "stomach flu" it is actually a food borne illness. You probably all ate something that had not been cooked to the correct temperature, or that sat at room temperature too long or carried some type of bacteria that made you all sick. It can affect each person differently.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.N.

answers from Orlando on

Take her to the doctor or urgent clinic asap! This happened to my son last week and it turned out to be appendicitis!! His appendix ruptured and caused an infection. They send us to the hospital immediately and he had surgery. Your child's symptoms are exactly the same as my son's. Your child's appendix could have ruptured,and if so, it is very dangerous so he/she would need surgery. I see this was written 2 days ago. I hope you figured out what it was! ADD: if your child's stomach pain went away, it may be because his/her appendix ruptured, so the pain is temporarily gone. If this happened, your child must have surgery to get rid of the infection! Please do not take this lightly, it could be very serious!

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