Nargh

[cleolinda]

Damn Norovirus.

Last night I had an invalid's cocktail bar--grape Gatorade, ginger ale, ice water, Advil, Tylenol, saltines--on the nightstand, and I've managed to sleep for four and five hours at a shot. I don't really wake up to do anything in particular, just ache and toss a little. The fireworks were over by 5:30 am on Saturday, so it's just been fever (which went away early this morning, I think) and soreness and generally wishing I was strong enough to take a shower ever since. I would really, really, really like to eat something, if only because my stomach's been rumbling aggressively for about three hours now, and I'm trying to decide if a couple of scrambled eggs would kill me.

ETA: Okay, BRAT adherents, I had a banana and a piece of toast, and... I don't feel so good. This may be because it's the most food I've had in two days. Glad I didn't try the eggs, is what I'm saying. I might try plain tomato soup (can I? please?) tonight, I don't know. Meanwhile, Sister Girl, who came down with it at almost the exact same moment I did, stir-fried herself some chicken and green beans and is running around driving and seeing friends. Arrgh.

Comments

[turtlespeaks.livejournal.com]

I had this a year ago. Sucks to hell and back don't it.

Advice, seriously, don't eat. That way lies badness. Liquids for at least another day would be my advice. I gave in and ate when I had it and THOROUGHLY regretted it. It seems to need at least three days to get through the system.

Ugh, just remembering it makes me feel awful. Feel better soon!

[hannasus.livejournal.com]

When you do attempt to eat, stay far away from eggs. It's always best to stick to the B.R.A.T. diet after a stomach malady: bananas, rice, applesauce and toast. Seriously, nothing else, and especially not anything high in fat like eggs or dairy. Bananas are especially good because they're high in potassium which your body needs when it's dehydrated.

The norovirus truly sucks. Hope you're feeling better soon.

[angelene.livejournal.com]

I wholeheartedly second all that's said hereabove.

[jasminelily.livejournal.com]

Agreed! And this I know because I hate the damn BRAT diet (except for the toast art) so I alwasys try to eat too early, and it is never ever a good idea. Stick with clear liquids for another day, supplemented maybe by some toast if you fell up to it.

[clamore.livejournal.com]

The statewide outbreak article is from January of last year, but it DOES seem to be going around rather heavily again. Practically everyone I know, including myself, has it. :/ SUCKKKSS. As above, can't be stressed enough, do not eat. It hurtssss.

[maetang.livejournal.com]

Norovirus is rampaging through the UK at the moment as well. It's nasty stuff, and very infectious. Hope you get well soon.

[firei.livejournal.com]

I hope you all start feeling better soon! <3

on a different note: I believe you've said sister girl went to culinary school. would you mind me asking which one, and whether or not she enjoyed it? (I'm looking to go to culinary school, and just trying to gather some opinions.) thanks.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

The Culinard, in Birmingham, AL. I think she enjoyed it--she was going to work days and school nights, though, so she was kind of whipped. And she did end up deciding that chocolate was more difficult than she wanted to work with, and she didn't so much like some of the early, "savory" classes she had to take (cleaning fish, etc). But those are things you'd run into at any cooking school, I'd imagine. She seems to have enjoyed it, yeah. Loved her teachers.

[firei.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

And again, feel better!

[wumbawoman.livejournal.com]

Ugh. This has hit Austin twice luckily 15 years apart.

Chipped Ice is good. It's easy on the stomach and it'll keep you hydrated. I usually drink Gatorade Ice.

Hope you and everyone feels better soon.

[sucrelefey.livejournal.com]

Tomato might hurt on the acidity front. Condensed cream soup of some kind thinned with water not milk might be easier. The more plain the starch the better.
Mix fruit juice with bubbly pop and sip slowly.

[phorie.livejournal.com]

that BRAT thing is ghastly! when I'm sick the last thing I want to be eating is bananas. generally i go with what my body craves, peeled apples slices. mm.

if you're having soup have a light soup, like some kind of broth. aww, i hope you feel better!

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

See, this is where you want a fainting couch to loll luxuriously on, while a young boy fetches you books or a basin, as necessary.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yup, I had this too, this time last year. Look, don't listen to crap about what you're supposed to eat or drink. You eat or drink whatever you think your body will accept. If you want to jump from mere sips of water to pepperoni pizza, do it. (Every time I get a bad stomach flu I always crave something weird as the first meal and it's always best if I listen to that craving.)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heh, I know what you mean. I was hospitalized for flu-related dehydration for a week when I was four (!), and when I came home, I demanded a (plain) hot dog and baked potato, and kept it down, too. Right now I'm craving spaghetti, but I'm too tired to do anything about it.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I so hope you feel better soon!--Oh, and tell anyone else who lives/visits you to be super-careful with the hand-washing. Norovirus is so catching it isn't even funny.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Oh, the whole family came down with it--now it's a matter of them not going out into the world and spreading it.

[derangeddarling.livejournal.com]

I hope you (and your fam!) feel better soon! It sounds awful. My only advice is stay hydrated. Even when you feel terrible, cold water makes a world of difference.

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

DRINK PEDIALYTE! (or however you spell it.) Seriously, it helps because it replaces electrolytes, but it won't make you more sick feeling. Also it doesn't taste half bad. :)

*hugs*

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

It's pretty much the same thing as Gatorade (which is also electrolyte balanced).

I got your card, BTW! Thanks!

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

Is it? I knew it was...salty-tasting, to help replentish lost salt (which kind of yucks me out, but that's another matter), but I didn't know it had electrolytes. Cool.

Hooray! I don't feel like a total holiday loser since I got some cards out. :)

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Yeah, electrolytes aren't some new special thing, they're just another name for salts (plural). (By 'salt,' I'm guessing you mean just sodium chloride. Gatorade has other electrolytes besides that.) Gatorade was formulated to maintain the same balance of sodium and potassium salts/electrolytes that your body is supposed to have.

[sualocin.livejournal.com]

I had this right after Christmas. & my doctor suggested only liquids the first day, then work your way back to regular food. Get better soon.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

Oh, God! Norovirus. I've had it twice: my mum had that for nearly a week once. I only had it for a few days that time. My brother and I also had it for 24 hours during which you could set a clock by the vomiting. Every hour on the hour, exactly. It was hell. It's one of those illnesses where you just lie there and chant a mantra like 'please let that be the last time I'm going to throw up, please let that be the last time I'm going to throw up'. Ick. I have much sympathy for you and your kin. I recommend blue or white Freezies. Those are made of awesome.

[yarha.livejournal.com]

I had something like this. Don't push the food. Some nice soup, possibly icecream. Juice. Sloooowly ease into solids.

Yarha, Who Did Icecream, Too, But Optionally

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Ice cream was okay? Even though it was dairy?

[yarha.livejournal.com]

Well, ok-ish. It would've been better if it had not been green tea icecream. Not one of my finer moments.

On the other hand, cherry-flavored Emetrol for nausea now *does* taste like cherries. A vast improvement from my childhood.

Yarha, Great Breakthroughs in Medical Science

[biblio-filia.livejournal.com]

This is so incredibly, incredibly off-topic, but since I remember you mentioning her a few times in your journal, do you happen to know of any quality books on Empress Sissi? I'm using my January term at school mainly as an excuse to get some serious work done on a writing project of mine, and I can't believe I've never seen until now how perfect her life is as a basis for one of my characters. Randomly searching on Amazon doesn't seem to be a very productive method, and I trust your non-fiction recommendations.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

You know, that's actually a question no one's ever been able to answer for me. I'd love to know of a good Empress Sissi bio--the only one I ever read was a memoir written by one of her ladies in waiting, but it was more interesting as an artifact of the time. I mean, it was extremely whitewashed and sentimental, you know? So it was valuable in its own way (I'll have to look up what it was--I read it years ago), but it wasn't a definitive bio by any means. Maybe if I raise some more hell about it, we'll get an answer.

[biblio-filia.livejournal.com]

Period memoirs would be helpful, too- if you come up with the title, I'll definitely look that one up.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Turns out it's Marie Louise von Wallersee-Larisch's memoir. Look for her as the author and you should be able to find it. I have a few other leads I'll post tomorrow, as several people were interested. : )

[pinstripe-bindi.livejournal.com]

My brother and I both had this a few days ago, during the last of our vacation in Louisiana. I had it last year, too. Luckily for me it was pretty much only a 24 hour thing, although my brother got a worse case of it. Stay away from eggs and dairy for a while, as they're the hardest things for the body to digest. Drink lots of clear fluis like apple and grape juice, 7-Up and Coke (regular, not diet) and Gatorade. Crackers will be your safest bet for solid food for the next couple of days.

[angelene.livejournal.com]

I might try plain tomato soup (can I? please?)

Tomato soup might be either good or bad for you, I'd figure -- highly depending on your stomach's tolerance to tomatoes' acidific power and how the soup is made. Chicken (soup) sounds good too.

Are you taking probiotics too? They might be of some help.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I wasn't taking anything other than fluids and saltines, but it seems to have run its course--I did okay with the soup (your basic Campbell's), but then, so much of my diet is tomato-based that I figured I could probably handle it.