Illness and what to do about it

 Ever since last Thursday, I’ve had some kind of weird stomach thing going on. It started out with 3 days of nausea, which always makes me paranoid since I’m terrible at tracking my cycles and I my first thought is always, “Oh no, I am somehow pregnant!”. This has happened multiple times in the last year, which does make me wonder what the heck is up with my stomach.

In this particular case, the nausea progressed by Saturday into some really gross stuff. I won’t go into it, but most of the things I was eating came right back out in some way or another.

Now the dilemma. Of course, I tried at first to just let it run its course. When it kept up for more than 2 hours nonstop, I tried herbal teas (chamomile and ginger) and essential oils (peppermint, applied to the stomach area). After 5 hours, nothing had changed so I progressed to Pepto Bismol. Here’s where it gets a little iffy for me. I get annoyed to be taking a medication at all. I mean, what is even IN that hot pink stuff? Why is it hot pink?!

But then again, how long can I really be spending in the bathroom with two small children? And how long until I dehydrate at this point?

Long story short, the Pepto seemed to work at first but then…didn’t. Either that, or I ate “real” food (shrimp) too soon and made myself sick all over again. I progressed to Immodium AD. Reached the maximum dosage for that and still saw no improvement.

I was in communication all afternoon with my mom and my herbalist/crunchy friend. My mom (a Registered Nurse) suggested going to a doctor, who would definitely give me some kind of medicine with a long medicine-y name that contains who-knows-what but would probably fix my stomach. However, since I don’t really have a primary care doctor it would be Urgent Care, which our insurance pretty much consistently refuses to pay for.

My crunchy friend recommended seeing the chiropractor I just took my son to when he had tummy issues. It’s true that she seems to have “fixed” him. We will see next week. I have never been to a chiropractor myself, although I take my kids, because it is way more expensive for adults. Unfortunately, the chiropractor is kind of hard to get in to see on short notice, is a 40 minute drive away, and her office doesn’t even open until 2pm on Mondays. Oh, and I have no childcare for my kids whether I go to a conventional doctor or a chiropractor. Let me remind you how amazingly fun it is to bring two toddlers into a waiting room and a patient care room for hours on end when you’re already incapacitated. Not so much.

Politics aside, what is the point of having “the best health care in the world” in this country if I can’t figure out a way to get convenient and affordable treatment in a timely manner? The “green” side of the question is why I can’t get more natural health care treatment at all. Why do I have to ingest mysterious chemicals? If I want to see a chiropractor, why do I pay cash because my insurance doesn’t even apply?

I’d like to hear from both the crunchy and the un-crunchy folks here. What is your approach – conventional or alternative? And is it even feasible for a SAHM to go to the doctor at all?

3 thoughts on “Illness and what to do about it

  1. Danijo says:

    probiotics probiotics probiotics. I always keep a bottle of top quality probiotics in my fridge. Take them for any tummy upsets, when you are feeling a little off, or even when you are coming down with a cold. Opening up a capsule and gargling them onto a sore throat will do wonders. We should probably all be taking one every day if we aren’t consuming fermented foods, however whether or not you want to take one daily or not, having them in your fridge for cold and flu season is so helpful. They are good for Moms and kids too. AND even Daddies…if you can convince them to take a pill ;)Oh and as for SAHM going to the doctor, I always brought lots of arts and crafts for my girls to keep them busy. They got used to going everywhere with me. Of course they are girls, and they love sitting quietly to color or play…if you have boys…I’m not sure it would be the same deal. Good luck, hope you feel better.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Sometimes you just have to be sick. I know you have young kids and it’s hard but find someone to look after them and let yourself rest and take care of yourself. Healing takes time, there are no miracle cures.

    And if you are drinking liquids it would take a very long time for you to become dehydrated. I usually let an illness like that go for 24-48 hours. You don’t really want to stop the body from ridding itself of the virus or bacteria or you’ll just be ill longer. If it goes on much longer than that then you’ll not be getting proper nutrition and will be getting run down. Either see a Dr. or try something like Immodium again.

  3. Anonymous says:

    my husband is a doctor (surgeon) and my FIL is an ER dr. When I have stomach bug they say give it 24-48 hrs as mentioned above. After that you should go to the medical doctor. chiropractors go to expensive graduate school but for all intents and purposes do not “cure” disease. i have been to a chiropractor and i think they are quacks. sorry if that offends. you asked. medicine is a very scientific thing. “natural” stuff has its place in society but honestly when someone is REALLY sick there is a time and a place for REAL medicine. just because something is hard to pronounce or one may not understand the science behind the formation of it does not mean it’s not valuable. i hope you find time to feel better. i always find a friend or babysitter to watch my kids so i can go to the doctor when i’m THAT sick. of course i have health insurance which sounds like yours is minimal. ours was very expensive when we were going through the training years…which is why i make no apologies for my husband’s salary bc we are paying off 15 years worth of accumulated debt on top of sending kids to school, saving for retirement and trying to enjoy our limited free time. i agree this country needs universal healthcare but that also means we have to practice preventative care and that gets the conservative folks all hot and bothered about sex education in public schools, forcing people to vaccinate and requiring folks to be held accountable for their crummy eating habits. society cant have it both ways. yes i’m getting political. at the end of the day, you are a mom and you need to take care of yourself first or else your kids will run circles around you and it will take way too long for you to recover. stay away from shrimp btw…that stuff is full of chemicals and cholesterol. hope you feel better soon.

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