No one likes to get sick, and plenty of health and wellness products help you prevent illness all throughout the year. Unfortunately, flu season, which lasts roughly from November until March, comes whether you like it or not. Despite flu shots, hand washing campaigns, and anti-bacterial products, influenza still affects many people.
Between five and twenty percent of people in the United States come down with the stomach flu every year, and the numbers are similar in other countries. This illness can range in severity from sniffles and a slightly elevated temperature to fever, throwing up, and pain that requires hospitalization. Tens of thousands of people die from the flu every year.
Before you become alarmed, however, first learn how to identify the symptoms of this illness and how serious they are. Stomach flu, or gastroenteritis, is a bit different than what doctors call the flu. A few days in bed with chicken soup may do the trick, or you may need medical attention. Read through the list of ten symptoms explained below to get started.
1. Abdominal Pain
Sometimes one of the first signs that something is not right is a pain in your stomach, sides, or lower belly. This can come with a sour feeling, generalized discomfort, or cramping. Although this can be an early warning signal for the start of an illness, abdominal pain also comes from many other sources.
It could be irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), food allergies, constipation, or just a bad round of gas. Look for more symptoms to self-diagnose with stomach flu. This on its own does not warrant medical attention or, in many cases, a trip to the drug store to pick up over-the-counter medication. Eat plain foods, drink some peppermint tea, and see if the pain diminishes. If not, look for other symptoms starting up.
2. Diarrhea
Indigestion can also lead to digestive problems like this, so if you ate something unusual or tried a new food truck at lunchtime, then that could be the culprit. Most people suffer from this affliction two or three times every year. However, loose stools can also be an obvious symptom of stomach flu. An urgent feeling that leaves you running toward the nearest bathroom often comes with this gastric complaint.
Diarrhea is more likely due to the flu if you have not eaten anything unusual recently and it is accompanied by other symptoms listed here. No matter what the reason, be sure to drink enough liquids, especially water, to counteract potential dehydration.
3. Stomach Cramps
Along with that urgent need to go, stomach cramps can add even more discomfort to loose bowels and other abdominal symptoms. These can occur lower down in the bowels or in the stomach area itself. They are characterized as a tightening of the digestive tract, much as you would get a cramp in any other muscle in your body. A charlie horse in your thigh hurts a lot. Just imagine one in your intestines.
The stomach flu encompasses a collection of digestive tract issues that work together to cause sheer misery for you or anyone suffering from them. They are all a part of the body’s natural defenses against germs that cause illness.
4. Belching
Belching or burping is often considered a simple symptom of drinking bubbly beverages like soda or eating gas-producing foods like beans. However, if belching is combined with other uncomfortable symptoms, it may be a sign that you are suffering from gastroenteritis. Everyone burps sometimes, but if you are experiencing a considerable uptick in the frequency and you did not drink or eat something unusual, it may be a symptom of the illness.
Fevers, irritable bowels, stomach pain, and bloating all contribute to increased belching. Many people report that their burps smell or taste foul or unpleasant when they have the flu.
5. Nausea
If all the other gastric symptoms were not enough to convince you to stay in bed with hot tea and plain toast, nausea shows up. This may be one of the most obvious signs that you have the stomach flu and not just some digestive issues. A feeling of being nauseous continuously or feeling like you want to vomit is highly unpleasant but par for the course with the flu.
Nausea on its own does not cause for alarm unless it is severe. It is recommended that you do not eat spicy, greasy, or food that is harder to digest during this time. Some report that peppermint or ginger help alleviate the symptom, and there are also over-the-counter medications to use.
6. Vomiting
When the nauseous feeling grows too great, vomiting occurs. This is often accompanied by stomach cramps and other symptoms. The purging of stomach contents comes more frequently if you eat the types of foods mentioned above. If you cannot keep down simple foods like crackers or usually soothing beverages like tea, your stomach flu could be quite severe.
With the need to vomit, the most important thing to do is make sure you are getting enough fluids. Take small sips of water or prepared electrolyte drinks or ice pops specifically made for people suffering from stomach flu. If you lose too much fluid, potentially dangerous dehydration may occur. Seek medical help in these cases.
7. Dehydration
Of all the potential symptoms, you might get with the flu, dehydration is one of the most serious. Excessive diarrhea or throwing up can prevent your body from keeping enough fluid inside. The human body is primarily made from water, and if too much of that precious water comes out and is not replaced with drinking, your body systems can suffer.
It is not just fluids that deplete when you rush to the bathroom repeatedly. Electrolytes, which are a collection of various salt ions that take care of many bodily functions and systems, are also purged with vomiting and diarrhea. This level of severity of the symptom requires a specific plan of attack to replenish these important compounds. Usually, this means prompt medical care.
8. Chills
Cold breezes, wet hair, and snowflakes can give you chills, but when these uncomfortable body sensations have no obvious external stimulus, they just may be a symptom of the stomach flu. Illness chills leave you feeling cold and shivery even when you are sitting in your well-heated home, wearing two sweaters, and huddled under a fleece blanket.
If you have the flu, chills come from a fever. It may seem backwards that having an elevated temperature can lead to feeling cold, but it is all part of your body’s natural infection-fighting mechanism. To prevent viruses and bacteria from reproducing, the body sets its internal thermostat higher than normal (to fever levels), which results in you feeling colder and shivering to try to make up the difference.
9. Headache
Any illness can result in a headache, and these can occur as well with gastroenteritis and flu. The causes of these headaches can vary from stuffed up sinuses with influenza or accompanying cold, to dehydration and more severe problems. In most cases, stuffy noses and sinus inflammation do not occur with the stomach flu. Those are signs that you have the regular flu or a cold.
Basically, headaches occur due to pressure changes in the head. Lack of proper hydration causes lower blood volume which can exacerbate aching and pain. Nausea, fever with or without chills, and simply the stress of feeling horrible, missing work, and passing the illness on to others could make the problem worse.
10. Weight Loss
If you are experiencing vomiting or loose stools, you probably are not eating as much food as normal and you are getting rid of it faster than usual as well. This can lead to some slight weight loss that is usually temporary and not severe. If you are sick for a longer period, more drastic losses may occur.
This is not a diet plan. Weight loss causes by stomach flu, if more than a few pounds regained after eating and drinking normally again, can be a dangerous sign. Set up an appointment with your doctor or head to emergency care if the weight loss caused by diarrhea and vomiting is severe.
