mysterious stomach bug

[gib65]

Hello,

I have a weird stomach bug that I'd like to understand better.

Every since about 5 or 6 years ago, I contracted a stomach bug (bacteria of some kind I think) that only comes alive when I'm around people with colds. I don't actually catch the cold. Instead I get sick in the stomach--with vomiting and diahrea. It didn't used to be this way: whenever there was a cold going around, I would just catch the cold. But now it seems to transform into some kind of stomach flu in my body.

I once went a whole week with the bug eating me up inside (or so it felt) and so I went to the doctor to get myself checked out. He thought it might be e-coli (but that was unofficial). He gave me some anti-biotics and almost immediately they started working.

But the bug never went away for good. In the last year, I've been getting the bug pretty consistently on Mondays. Not ever Monday, but every time I catch it, it's usually a Monday. I finally figured out why (or so I think): my wife and I are separated. I get the kids every second weekend. It's been pretty consistent, as far as I can remember, that when I get sick, it's on the Monday following my weekend with the kids.

They don't always have a cold, but you know what they say about children: little germ factories.

Do you think there's anything to this theory? What else could explain it? What else should I know?

[Daecon]

I wonder if it's possible that instead of developing these symptoms due to re-infection by a foreign pathogen, could they be triggered by your own immune response based on that first exposure you experienced several years ago - almost like an allergy?

 

Bear in mind that I'm not a medical professional, so my question is more directed to others that may read his thread and not something that may be relevant to your individual situation. An internet forum is a really bad place to get actual medical advice.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Daecon

[StringJunky]

Hello,

 

I have a weird stomach bug that I'd like to understand better.

 

Every since about 5 or 6 years ago, I contracted a stomach bug (bacteria of some kind I think) that only comes alive when I'm around people with colds. I don't actually catch the cold. Instead I get sick in the stomach--with vomiting and diahrea. It didn't used to be this way: whenever there was a cold going around, I would just catch the cold. But now it seems to transform into some kind of stomach flu in my body.

 

I once went a whole week with the bug eating me up inside (or so it felt) and so I went to the doctor to get myself checked out. He thought it might be e-coli (but that was unofficial). He gave me some anti-biotics and almost immediately they started working.

 

But the bug never went away for good. In the last year, I've been getting the bug pretty consistently on Mondays. Not ever Monday, but every time I catch it, it's usually a Monday. I finally figured out why (or so I think): my wife and I are separated. I get the kids every second weekend. It's been pretty consistent, as far as I can remember, that when I get sick, it's on the Monday following my weekend with the kids.

 

They don't always have a cold, but you know what they say about children: little germ factories.

 

Do you think there's anything to this theory? What else could explain it? What else should I know?

Could it be stress-related?

[gib65]

I wonder if it's possible that instead of developing these symptoms due to re-infection by a foreign pathogen, could they be triggered by your own immune response based on that first exposure you experienced several years ago - almost like an allergy?

That's exactly what I'm thinking. A cold goes around (or germs/viruses of any kind), my immune system has an initial reaction (not enough to catch a cold or feel the symptoms), and that wakes up the stomach bug. Meanwhile, whatever it is that my immune system is reacting to get taken care of before I even feel it. <-- That's my theory anyway.

 

 

 

Bear in mind that I'm not a medical professional, so my question is more directed to others that may read his thread and not something that may be relevant to your individual situation. An internet forum is a really bad place to get actual medical advice.

 

I know. I don't consider this looking for advice, more like bouncing thoughts off people with some knowledge/experience in these matters.

 

 

Could it be stress-related?

 

I doubt it. My kids aren't that much of a handful.

 

It probably doesn't help that I don't see them for two weeks. It's like the colonists bringing new diseases to the natives.

[Endy0816]

Do you eat anything different when you have them over?

[StringJunky]

That's exactly what I'm thinking. A cold goes around (or germs/viruses of any kind), my immune system has an initial reaction (not enough to catch a cold or feel the symptoms), and that wakes up the stomach bug. Meanwhile, whatever it is that my immune system is reacting to get taken care of before I even feel it. <-- That's my theory anyway.

 

 

 

 

I know. I don't consider this looking for advice, more like bouncing thoughts off people with some knowledge/experience in these matters.

 

 

 

Could it be stress-related?

 

I doubt it. My kids aren't that much of a handful.

 

It probably doesn't help that I don't see them for two weeks. It's like the colonists bringing new diseases to the natives.

Yeah, I was thinking of the actual separation perhaps giving you psychosomatic effects after every time you saw your kids.

[John Cuthber]

A mixture of stress, psychosomatic reaction and confirmation bias sounds like a likely culprit to me.

[gib65]

Yeah, I was thinking of the actual separation perhaps giving you psychosomatic effects after every time you saw your kids.

It's an interesting theory. Just keep in mind I've had this stomach bug before the separation. I don't know if it was consistently on Mondays or not at that time, but I do know that I only started worrying about my work thinking I was playing hooky (trying to get an extra day out of the weekend) only in the last year or so.

A mixture of stress, psychosomatic reaction and confirmation bias sounds like a likely culprit to me.

So nobody knows of any case on record of a stomach bug that lays dormant until awoken by an immune response to other viruses/bugs going around (like a cold)?

[CharonY]

I wouldn't know of any mechanisms that would sound anything like this. At least not in the way described. In addition to what already has been mentioned are allergies and/or food-related issues.

[John Cuthber]

 

So nobody knows of any case on record of a stomach bug that lays dormant until awoken by an immune response to other viruses/bugs going around (like a cold)?

Not to my knowledge.

Feel free to cite counter-examples.

However every schoolteacher knows of broadly the symptoms you describe...

[gib65]

However every schoolteacher knows of broadly the symptoms you describe...

Sounds like it might be a thing.

[jfoldbar]

have you looked into candida? might be worth reading about

Edited August 30, 2017 by jfoldbar