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Never well stocked. Ever.

Please, please stop it with the term "stomach flu" already! There was another post about a ginger honey lemon remedy that sparked some talk about this very issue. And here we go again:

1) The term "flu" is short for "influenza" which is an upper respiratory condition that RARELY affects the stomach in any way.

2) If you're having a bout of the runs (at either end) it's 99% likely caused by a foodborne pathogen. Food poisoning is NOT "the stomach flu."

Please, help us health professionals out. You don't have to use perfect medical terminology......just try not to use totally incorrect terminology......please......and thank you!

That being said, sleep and fluids are the best ways to combat a cold or flu. If your temp rises above 102 or a cough lasts for more than 3 days, then see a doc.

I don't, but ex-room mate's father, a primary care physician, distributes fully loaded tackle boxes filled with OTC medicines and band-aids to every family member; seriously, one for the house and one for every car.

Why did I ever move away?

Feel better leslie!

Bx, my brain is foggy... I've changed the wording, although my fun little experience last year wasn't food poisoning. And my understanding (from interviewing health professionals several times) is that while people often claim to have food poisoning, a very small percentage of cases actually are. So I assume there are stomach ailments that can occur that are neither flu nor food poisoning?

not well stocked. everytime i get sick there is some OTC medicine that ends up left over. by the time i get sick again what's in my medicine cabinet is already past due so i have to throw it out. glad i don't get sick so often anymore. but i'd rather wait until i start feeling symptoms or until everyone at work is sick before i get new meds.

I have a very large family, so if one of us gets sick there's always someone around to go fetch things for us. We keep really basic stuff like ibuprofen around, but stuff like DayQuil gets all used up in a heartbeat, so it's never around at the onslaught of a cold.

I haven't gotten the "stomach flu" (food poisoning) since I was a kid, probably in thanks to my transitioning to a vegan. We're much less likely to come across food that'll make us sick if not prepared correctly.

It's been my experience that any medication I buy is soon outdated - I've had expiration dates that are two or three years old. Unless you are sick frequently, you will probably need to buy new supplies every time you're sick. Hope you're better soon!

I never seem to have the right things in our large medicine cabinet - have a fever? we are out of Advil...need a pain patch for your back? they've all been used...have a sore throat? chances are you don't like the flavor of the throat drops on hand.
Rest up, feel better soon.

oh no! feel better.

while it won't help you now, if your employer offers a health spending account and you have any $ left at the end of the year, use it to restock the medicine cabinet.... we're set with nyquil, claritin, bandaids and ibuprofen through 2009....

Sure, there's a TON of stomach ailments that aren't caused by flu or foodborne bugs. Ulcers, GERD, those kinds of things, if we're talking general "ailments" of the stomach. Those are caused by lots of other things, like H. pylori, which isn't necessarily foodborne.

I'm speaking specifically of "ailments" that cause profuse diarrhea and vomiting that people like to apply the term "stomach flu" to. These are almost ALWAYS caused by ingestion of a pathogen through skin contact, (think fecal-oral, and it happens to adults just as often as it happens to children), or eating unwashed/poorly washed produce or improperly cooked food.

The term "food poisoning" is also vague. A bug that keeps you locked in the bathroom for a few days might not have come from eating that unwashed peach (although it likely did); it might have come from you or someone else not washing their hands properly after using the restroom. Likely, that is what the people you've interviewed were talking about.

The bottom line is, an episode of the runs or pukes is 99.9% NOT caused by any form of influenza, thus people like me (a public health nurse who specializes in educating people on this stuff) getting all bent out of shape when that dreaded term "stomach flu" is used in a public forum run by intelligent people like this.

I hope you feel better soon, get lots of rest and monitor your symptoms carefully. :o)

You need to get yourself a Neti Pot! It will change your life!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8sDIbRAXlg

If you have an URTI don't forget Wasabi, a dose just before a hot steamy shower will leave you feeling a lot cleaner on the inside. Ideal for that stage when you are starting to get better but are still feeling very clogged up.

I have to be on my deathbed before I'll waddle out to get some cold medicine...

Feel better, Leslie!

I've got my Neti pot and it works like a dream for colds and yuckie head gunk. When I fill the sickness comin' on, I load up on Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup). The place up the street makes a mean Pho, and I find that I get better sooner with Pho laced with chili sauce and jalapenos, rest and lots 'n lots of hot tea with honey. Get well soon, Leslie!

most of the time my meds are up to date as i have asthma and can get sinus problems at the drop of a hat, so i try to keep an eye on them---and ALWAYS have a supply of Puffs.
i just need to make sure i have some Pepsi or Coke in the house, just in case i am "hurling" for whatever reason and some jello, too. the Royal Farm is only a block away but thats long when you arent well.
good luck, Leslie!

Keeping stuff on hand seems so pessimistic, but I hate trudging to the 24-hour pharmacy when I should be in bed. Now I try to keep as stock of Emergen-C, various herbal teas for cold or sore throat, an herbal sleep aid, Ricola cough drops, eucalyptus oil, soup, and frozen OJ. It always reaches a point where the natural stuff isn't enough, so I also have Ibuprofen, a variety of sinus & cold medicines, Vicks Vapo-Rub, an antihistamine, and a couple others.

Bx, I've had the stomach "flu" twice. Both times contracted from other people; both times contracted during flu season. Did I get food poisoning by osmosis? The first time, I went to a doctor and he called it the flu.


I always keep a stock of vitamin C and Jagermeister on hand for pretty much any ailment (I swear the Jager works.), and Gatorade for rehydration. The rest I have to buy when I'm sick, which sucks, but I just don't have room to keep soda, chicken soup, and saltines on hand.

Try this.

Either your doctor went to Disneyland Medical School, or he's doing what a lot of them do to make their job easier: dumbed things down in order to not have to explain anything technical, like fecal-oral transmission of intestinal pathogens. Or trying to correct people's ignorant usage of incorrect terminology.

Trust me on this one. In'flu'enza is a respiratory illness, and has nothing. To. Do. With. The stomach or intestines. If you have influenza type A or B and are puking and have the runs, you are simply unlucky enough to have influenza type A or B AND an intestinal pathogen (totally unrelated to the influenza) double whamming you. If you don't believe me, look it up. Google it. Look in a PDR (Physician's Desk Reference) or ask any GI doc.

By the way, thank you, original poster, for graciously accepting my sharing of profession-based, correct information, and changing your post. That rocks, while arguing about it does not. :o)

You learn something new every day, here at AT, either while writing or reading. :)

Thanks for the good wishes! I'm now off to crawl in bed at last.

An excellent site for reading up on medical related things is Medline Plus:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/

That is the National Library of Medicine (nlm) and the National Institutes of Health.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that site. No quackery there, the links are legit, and will take you to respected sites, like the Mayo Clinic or top research sites on various conditions.

There is info on prescription medication, over the counter medication, health and wellness. Latest news. You can even check for clinical research studies.

Go ahead, enter "stomach flu" over there, and you'll get TONS of info...just like Bx says, not a flu at all...
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/gastroenteritis.html
===excerpt begin===
Gastroenteritis

Also called: Stomach flu

Have you ever had the "stomach flu?" What you probably had was gastroenteritis - not a type of flu at all. Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the lining of the intestines caused by a virus, bacteria or parasites. Viral gastroenteritis is the second most common illness in the U.S. It spreads through contaminated food or water, and contact with an infected person. The best prevention is frequent hand washing.

Symptoms of gastroenteritis include diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting, headache, fever and chills. Most people recover with no treatment.

The most common problem with gastroenteritis is dehydration. This happens if you do not drink enough fluids to replace what you lose through vomiting and diarrhea. Dehydration is most common in babies, young children, the elderly and people with weak immune systems.
===excerpt end===

When I feel awful, somehow I find it very reassuring to know that it is not a terminal condition, and I probably will feel much better in 24-48 hours.

As far as keeping supplies on hand, I generally have a bit of everything. I usually end up getting the SMALLEST amount possible on things that have short expiration times or things I would use rarely.

They are more expensive that way, but how expensive is it when 2/3 of the "economy" size is wasted when it expires and you toss it in the garbage?

The general plastic bottles and prescription bottles I keep in an open top round Tupperware-style container. All in one place, and just pull out the container to find what I need. They are all standing up, and I can see through the side of the container too, so I don't even have to pull them out one by one.

I find that keeping a box of the juice pouches (I like the Capri Sun 100% juice in Fruit Dive-tastes like cherry, grape, apple) in the fridge helps. They're all sealed individually, so they can be in there quite some time. And they don't go bad.

That way I don't guzzle the juice all down and have none for when I really need it. Or HAVE to drink it so it doesn't go bad.

Feel better soon, Leslie.

Not stocked. I haven't taken OTC cold/flu/illness stuff in nearly 15 years... I don't really believe in it. I rarely get sick anymore (I attribute to the crap loads of vitamin c I take every day, but that is highly debatable and let's not go there), but when I do I just suffer it out. If a fever reaches 103 I take a Tylenol or aspirin. Otherwise, I crash on the couch with Winnie the Pooh and sleep.

Feel better. :)

I've finally learned to keep some bottles at home of what (I believe) can help me avoid, leapfrog, sidestep, mitigate, or get through as well as possible any cold or flu bug that comes at me. I go to a herbalist/nutritionist (my belief system) and have her flu cold preparations on hand, herbal and homeopathic, also her stuff for heartbreak (true!), general immune system maintenance, bach flowers' rescue remedy for shock or trauma (everything from teeth to taxes) and I travel with it (planes are gonna get you)

I think of it exactly like my larder (if you have an onion, some dried pasta, eggs, parmesan, oil and vinegar etc. you're always fine), that way it's pleasure based. I can whip up a cure.

thank you for saying 'i' am sick instead of 'we' are sick! hope you feel better!