When my two-year-old son began vomiting and developed severe diarrhea, I thought I was to blame. It was because I gave him instant formula with a soy base because we found he was lactose intolerant. He needed to be cleaned up and his diapers needed to be changed about five times in the night. He looked so shriveled in the morning that I thought he was going to dehydrate to death. We rushed him to the emergency, and they put him on an intravenous system to hydrate him again, which was a terrifying sight.

Meanwhile, at home I did some research on my own and discovered some stories of babies being affected by fluoride present in the soy beans, and read some horror stories of babies developing chronic gastroenteritis or other complications, such as liver problems. I was horrified for my baby and did everything I could to keep him rested and hydrated when he was discharged with a diagnosis of gastroenteritis. He would vomit from time to time and I would give him rehydration fluids. It’s been a year now and apart from two bouts, he seems to have recovered, and I feel like we have returned from the jaws of death.

I had soy baby food for six months as an infant and developed multiple stomach infections so that I had to be hospitalized at four months. Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I suffered from stomach problems and diseases that attacked my weakened immunity, including mono. I have inexplicable scars around my celiac artery. Doctors diagnosed me with gastroenteritis but I may have several other problems which complicated the condition. My health is waning and I’m only 26.

I used to wake up in the middle of the night sometimes with terrible stomach pain and vomit continuously for minutes. I was sick of living with the problem. I wanted to be normal and be healthy and happy. One night while doing my own research, I came across a support forum for people like me and that has helped tremendously in the past year. I realized that there were other people like me, that I am not alone. Whenever I have a particularly bad bout, I log in and make a post, and someone always responds, because we all understand what each of us is going through. I realized how important it is to talk about the problem. I have now renewed my attempts to find a cure.

I had soy baby food for six months as an infant and developed multiple stomach infections so that I had to be hospitalized at four months. Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I suffered from stomach problems and diseases that attacked my weakened immunity, including mono. I have inexplicable scars around my celiac artery. Doctors diagnosed me with gastroenteritis but I may have several other problems which complicated the condition. My health is waning and I’m only 26.

I used to wake up in the middle of the night sometimes with terrible stomach pain and vomit continuously for minutes. I was sick of living with the problem. I wanted to be normal and be healthy and happy. One night while doing my own research, I came across a support forum for people like me and that has helped tremendously in the past year. I realized that there were other people like me, that I am not alone. Whenever I have a particularly bad bout, I log in and make a post, and someone always responds, because we all understand what each of us is going through. I realized how important it is to talk about the problem. I have now renewed my attempts to find a cure.

I had sharp pains in my left side for a week. The pain was specifically on the left side, below my ribs, above the hip bone, and it flared down to the hip. It’s been a week since the symptoms began. Symptoms included a constant ache and intense pain in the area when I tried to lie down or change positions, even when I laughed or coughed. I went to the doctor after 5 days of suffering. His diagnosis was viral gastroenteritis. He asked if I experienced any vomiting and diarrhea, which I didn’t. I am taking the prescribed Zofran pills regularly and the pain is going down but I had read some horror stories of gastroenteritis and am taking extra precautions against any worsening of my condition by staying away from tinned fish and any food that could spoil easily. I eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and I feel healthier than I ever have before. There may have been a slight improvement in the pains as well.

I caught gastroenteritis from eating some bad oysters a few years ago. I was sick for 10 days. I faced diarrhea and vomited bright green bile or just had painful dry heaves. I could eat nothing at all, but on my mother’s advice I forced myself to eat toast and applesauce. The doctor advised plenty of fluids, and I always had a liter-bottle of rehydration fluids by my bed. I woke up at night with excruciating stomach pain. I was told that the flu was creating ulcers in my intestines and there was nothing that antibiotics could do to the virus. 

In the meantime, my mother herself caught the flu from me. We had not been very careful. My mother had taken care of me and now I could hear her vomiting in the bathroom and spending twenty minutes at a time in the bathroom with her diarrhea. That is where my father helped us when the pain got too excruciating. He would replenish our bottles with re-hydrating fluid, tell us jokes to help us forget the pain and even clean the bathroom in order to make it safe to use for the rest of my family. My family has been a big support for my mother and I and it’s been a month since we’ve been ill and the symptoms have disappeared completely.

A month ago, my one-year-old baby’s chronic gastroenteritis flared again. I have dealt with it in the past, and I thought I knew what to do. The doctor had prescribed Phenergen for the nausea the last time that my baby had an episode there months ago. But, before there had been a need to feed him the Phenergen he had recovered. This time I gave the medicine to him and fed him plenty of fluids. But I hadn’t realized something. The medicine made him sleep for long hours and I had believed that was a good thing: it meant he would vomit less. But his condition did not improve in two weeks, and I took him to my other doctor. I was shocked to hear from him that because of the Phenergen, my son was sleeping so much that he didn’t take in enough fluids. He then took my baby off Phenergen (which I then found the FDA had banned for prescription to two year olds) and put him on Zofran. It’s been two weeks and my baby stays hydrated and I can see improvements.