Stomach Flu While Pregnant – Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatments
Nausea and diarrhea are natural symptoms of pregnancy, but do you seem to be sick all the time? Are you worried that you might have a stomach infection and that it may harm your unborn child? If you nodded along anxiously, you might be suffering from the stomach flu. But, don’t panic! Read our post here to learn all about stomach flu and how you can treat it while you are expecting.
What Is Stomach Flu?
Stomach flu or gastroenteritis often occurs due to bacteria or viruses. It is quite difficult to differentiate stomach flu from morning sickness. So, if you suffer from nausea, diarrhea along with fever, cramps, and weakness, it might be the stomach flu. It could occur due to a virus, a bacteria, or uncovered food. If the symptoms are too virile and severe, consult your doctor at once.
Causes Of Stomach Flu While Pregnant:
The stomach flu or the stomach bug occurs due to a virus that spreads from one person to another through contaminated food. You might also contract stomach flu when you share a towel, utensils, or food with someone who is infected. The symptoms typically take 1-2 days to show up and are rather mild.
Symptoms Of Stomach Flu While Pregnant:
The symptoms of Stomach flu appear only within one to three days and can be either mild or quite severe. The symptoms may last anywhere from 2-10 days depending on the severity. Here, we list some common symptoms of stomach flu:
- Diarrhea
- Stomach Upset
- Vomiting
- Fever
- Abdominal cramps
- Headache
As the symptoms are similar to other diseases, it is often easy to confuse stomach flu with salmonella, E. Coli or parasites like giardia.
Diagnosing Stomach Flu While Pregnant:
Doctors typically diagnose the condition by observing the symptoms. Your doctor may ask you a list of questions, which include:
- Are you able to keep liquids down for 24 hours?
- Have you been vomiting for more than 2 days?
- Have you vomited blood?
- Are you dehydrated- signs include excessive thirst, dry mouth, and deep yellow urine, little or no urine.
- Do you feel weak and dizzy?
- Is there any blood in your stool?
- If you had a fever above 104 F?
Depending on your answers, the doctor might suggest a stool test to detect norovirus or rotavirus (1).
Treating Stomach Flu While Pregnant:
Once your doctor diagnoses your condition, he may prescribe you some over-the-counter medicines depending on the symptoms. The doctor might also suggest painkillers to relieve the pain and help you sleep. Antibiotics are not effective on viruses, and thus you might need self- care measures for quick recovery (2).
Self-Care Measures For Stomach Flu While Pregnant:
Here are some self-care measures to help quicken your recovery:
- You need to ensure that you get enough water. Dehydration can be dangerous for the developing baby. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids like water and electrolytes juices.
- If you do not feel like eating, you can skip solid food for a few hours. Start eating only when you think you are feeling ok.
- Gradually get back to eating, start with semi-solid food, and then go to solid.
- High temperature could be dangerous, and so the doctor should know whenever you have a temperature.
- You might also try drinking some clear soda or eat ice chips.
- Give yourself complete rest; it is the key to easy recovery.
- You can take over-the-counter medicines that are safe during pregnancy, only after talking to the doctor (3).
Home Remedies For Stomach Flu While Pregnant:
The good news is most stomach bugs clear up by themselves within a day or two. If you want to quicken the process, you can include some of these foods in your diet:
- Diluted juice
- Clear broth
- Decaffeinated tea
- Hot water with lemon
- Ice chips or popsicles
- When trying to eat solids- keep the food bland, and fat-free.
- Ginger does wonders for a sick stomach, try to add it to the lemon water or add it to the tea. In China, people have used ginger to treat nausea and diarrhea for more than 2000 years. Researchers conclude that ginger can help treat everything from pregnancy and even help during chemotherapy. Ginger can help relieve stomach cramps, and you can consider eating ginger candies as well.
- Peppermint is an effective relaxant, and it has a calming and numbing effect. You can either have peppermint tea, peppermint leaves or peppermint supplements. Studies conclude that peppermint helps ease gastric spasms and eases the symptoms of stomach flu (4).
Stomach flu can lead to inflammation of the lining of the small intestine, stomach, and large intestine. It is highly contagious and affects a lot of people across the world. It affects the immune system and leads to mild to acute pain in the abdominal region. If you cannot keep any of these foods down, you might want to speak to your doctor about some rehydration fluids.
Once you start feeling better, it is best not to eat anything and everything. You should have stopped vomiting, to begin eating again. Having stomach flu is never fun, and could be dangerous if not treated quickly. As the immune system gets suppressed during pregnancy, the body is more susceptible to viruses. So, visit the doctor if you feel that you may have the stomach flu.
Recipe For Home Made Electrolyte Drink:
Staying hydrated is the best way to avoid stomach flu. Here we list a recipe for a homemade electrolyte drink that will help hydrate your body.
You Will Need:
- ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- ¼ cup of lemon juice
- 2 Cups of filtered water
- 2-4 teaspoons of honey
- 1/8 teaspoon of unrefined salt
How To:
- Add all the ingredients to a blender.
- Blend the contents until you have a smooth paste.
Note:
Avoid having too much sugar when you suffer from the stomach flu (5).
Stomach flu can lead to nasty complications during pregnancy. It is important to take necessary measures for speedy recovery.
If you have more information on stomach flu or would like to share your experience, please write to us. Leave a comment below.
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