Moms with several kids and vitamins AND how to prevent stomach bugs??

[Kimmiepie]

Hi mamas!

My first question is this:

1. Those of you who have several children and want to purchase items to help boost health/treat illness...how do you afford it? When I buy the whole food vitamins for the kids, the cheapest I can get is around $10...but when I have 4 kids, it runs through in 2-4 weeks instead of a month or two months (depending on the kind). Then the probiotics and other stuff adds up to.

What kinds of things do you buy that are reasonably affordable?

Secondly,

2. I'm emetaphobic. I HATE the winter simply because I know someone will get a stomach virus. I'm positive we'd have more of them if I didn't monitor their handling everything, taking vitamins, washing hands/sanitizing, staying home more etc. My oldest son ALWAYS gets at least one a year and passes it on to everyone else. This drives me insane. Is there any way at all to possibly prevent getting one of these? What should I be doing specifically to prevent these, not just overall immunity? This is a HUGE issue for me, so any advice is appreciated.

Thanks sooooooo much! :

[Kimmiepie]

Anyone?

[pianojazzgirl]

Cheap immune boosting: A friend of mine swears by nettle tea. She takes it herself and gives it to the kids daily mixed in juice (it's the only time her kids get juice so they think it's a great treat!). Also chewable vitamin C tablets often seem to go on sale (at least at my pharmacy). Keep your eyes open for sales.

As for specifically guarding against stomach bugs I'm not sure, though I think handwashing is the #1 key. I'm sure probiotics must help as well. For cheap probiotic options you could look into making your own Kefir.

ETA elderberry flower tea is another good immune booster. You can buy it in bulk (as well as the nettle) at lots of health food stores and online.

I also remembered another cheap and effective immune booster which is good old garlic! (Though maybe a bit tricky to get the kids to take...).

[Cascadian]

If you're not vegetarian, you might want to consider making and freezing bone broths, and using them every chance you can get, especially in the winter. Bones are super cheap in the butcher store - not even displayed most of the time, and the amount of minerals and vitamins from a properly brewed broth is phenomenal! The taste in soups, etc. is out of this world. I even googled some videos when I was making them to ensure I did it properly (adding white vinegar to leach said minerals/nutrients from the boens).

hth

[BellinghamCrunchie]

I understand emetophobia. When DD gets a stomach virus (fortunately, she has only had two so far, and the most recent one resulted in only 3 vomiting episodes) I get panic attacks, to the point where I have diarrhea, I can't sleep, I can't stop thinking about it, my heart beats way too fast and I can't calm down. I respond with panic to every cough, sneeze, burp, or unusual noise... as I'm sure you know, its not so much the vomiting itself, its the anticipation.

There really isn't anything you can do to avoid the norovirus. Its highly contagious and its questionable whether hand-washing helps all that much. Its a stubborn bug. Not even hand sanitizer kills it. Hiding in your house all winter and not having guests is the only way to absolutely avoid it. It also can have an incubation period of up to 4 days, so for 4 days your child might be exposed to another child who is carrying the virus before any symptoms show.

The good thing is that every time your child or you gets the virus, the more immunity you have. The virus mutates but often partial immunity is enough protection. Plus, it usually (unless its a particularly virulent strain) is of shorter duration and fewer symptoms the more you have it. DD's preschool teachers, for example, haven't gotten a stomach virus in 15 years even though it goes through the preschool at least once a year.

Its hard to try to focus on how this is building up your childrens' immunity to stomach viruses while they are sick, but it helps a little to shift the focus from how awful this is to that there is a small, but good thing, about the whole damn thing. Also, each episode, you are learning how to deal with your panic. Its hard to stay panicked for 5 days straight (but I've done it!). Usually by the end of the virus you've managed to get a little calmer.

The best thing you can do is prepare yourself (as an emetophobic) for surviving the next batch. If its really bad, you can ask your doctor (in advance! Like now) for a small amount of anti-anxiety medication to keep on hand (like 5 tabs Ativan). You take these half a tab as needed to calm your panic. If you're against benzo's, even on a short term basis, you could try benadryl which has a sedative effect. Remember that your child is probably not feeling as bad about vomiting as you are, and you don't have to keep watch over them 24/7 waiting for the next vomiting episode. Its okay to have your DH watch over them while you take a break (I mean a complete break - where you can't be listening for every sound they make) and get yourself into a huge distraction. Go out of the house for an hour or two, take a long walk, watch a really good movie just for yourself. Anything to break the hold the vomiting has on you.

[Stella_luna]

As a fellow emetophobe, I just want to echo the handwashing (which of course you know, but your oldest son may need a reminder--and you may want to send him to school with Purell for his backpack and in his lunchbox, and reminders that he needs to use it every time he is about to eat).

Bellinghamcrunchie's post is excellent. I second everything she says, especially the last paragraph. I just want to add that you may want to ask your doctor to prescribe an anti-v* medication for you to have on hand for the next time a virus hits. It may make you feel better just knowing it is there, even if you never have to use it.

Also, before we had a child, I told DH that v* would be HIS job. Forever, every time. Cleanup, holding the bucket, etc. This is the only job I will never do. (Although I have to admit that when DD had her first virus :, it came on at night, and he dealt with it, but he *had* to go to work the next day, so I was able to sit next to her all day, with the bucket, until she stopped getting sick later in the afternoon--and I was very proud of myself!) You may want to institute this policy in your home as well .

Here's to a virus-free winter for all of us . . .

[Kimmiepie]

Thank you all! Yes, it is more the anticipation than the vomiting itself...and the sound it makes. : Every little noise I hear when they are sick freaks me out! My dh is very understanding and will do everything when he is home, which is great...but obviously he's not always home. He also doesn't sanitize well at all so I usually have to go in after him and try to deal with that.

We've had norovirus and it was awful. Just awful Last year we only had one tummy bug (and only the 2 olders got it) that was pretty mild. I"m soooooooo hoping it stays that way this year. I know worrying about it does me no good, but I can't help it.

I will look into some rescue remedy since I don't like meds. That's probably a good idea.

Thank you again!

[SuburbanHippie]

I'm a fellow emetaphobe so I understand where you're coming from. Hand washing is key, but I know you already know that. I'm giving my kids vitamins that are heavy on the vitamin D this year in hopes that they will have a stronger immune system and bring less home. I bought them from homefirst.com. They are pricey though (I bought them when they were on sale before school started).

I totally get the anticipation part. I have panic attacks. I will lie in bed, paralyzed in fear, waiting for any sign or sound. It's often too much to handle.

We had our first go-around this year on the 3rd day of school! It started with ODS, then both my YDDs at the same time. DH, my sister (that lives with us), and I all super dosed on the Vit D and luckily didn't succumb to the virus (which is a first for all of us, usually it hits us last). YDS never got it either, but he is still nursing heavily. I know it could be completely coincidental, but I don't feel like it was. You may want to try giving them some of these vitamins (if you have the $ to spend). They also have probiotics in them.

[Peony]

I think I'd kneel over if we only got one stomach bug a year, we seem to average 6 or so a year, yuck. I'm trying to really focus on hand washing this year because yeah, there more kids you have, the more sick kiddos you end up with. Sigh.

[be11ydancer]

I really appreciate this thread. I know it's old but I stumbled across it.

You know what is the best feeling? Right after everyone has gotten over a stomach virus, because then you can rest easy and not have so much anxiety. We haven't gotten a stomach virus yet this winter so the anticipation is really a hard thing for me right now. We're taking acidophilus daily and I really want to believe that it will make our systems stronger against an oncoming bug. We got norovirus really, terribly bad last year - what a nightmare.

So tell me more about this Ativan. I'm curious. Also, are there any anti-vomit drugs available? Does Pepto do anything to ease the symptoms?

Also, did you hear that a pharma company is running its 3rd trial on a norovirus vaccine? I don't vax my kids but I can assure you we'd be the first in line for such a vaccine.

thanks for listening.

[Sares1435]

Hi I just wanted to say I know exactly how you feel! Im emeptophobic too and I HATE it :( I give my kids vitamins, send my son to school with antibacterial hand wash and also if he tells me someone was sick at school I keep him home for a few days. I wish there was a vaccine for just general vomitting bugs :( or something that could be taken to rid the poor kids of them!

[northerngirl]

Just reading this thread made my tummy feel funny . We've been lucky this past year and actually last year as well. Dd1 has not had a tummy bug since her 3rd birthday. Yep on her birthday. She's 5 tomorrow. That one dh got and I felt like crap but never, you know. About a month ago dh all of a sudden was like I DONT feel well and then a few min. later was sick and I took DD1 and DD2 and we *hid* in the bedroom with the door shut until it was over. Then I crept downstairs and he gave me the all clear. My heart was pounding. Then I went into sick mode where I am asking dh every 2 seconds if he's ok or does he need anything. Being really annoying I'm sure. Then sanitizing the hell out of nobs and switches and the toilet. This time I'm pretty sure he got food poisoning  and no one else was sick. He did eat at a salad bar and Taco Johns so either of those could be the culprits. I go through periods of not thinking about it and then also thinking about it almost obsessively.