Bug Free

Spreading potentially lethal pathogens, influenza virus particles (brown) invade cilia (blue)
in the airways of the human lung. - Image by Karsten Schneider/Science Photo Library

I'm a little scared to jinx us it but we have been bug free for a few days now. Lily only vomitted that Friday Valentine's eve and was weak with no appetite on Saturday. Will woke up Saturday night complaining of a bad tummy ache but I gave him some Zofran and he was able to go back to sleep. After that we seemed to be in the clear.

Zofran is worth a side note. It seems to be this secret super drug. It is an anti-nausea medicine primarily used to stave of vomiting and nausea from the side effects of chemotherapy. It has been miracle drug for us, providing relief from vomitting and stomach cramps and kicks the pants off phenergan which is widely prescribed but has never worked for me personally. Phenergan has also recently come under scrutiny by the FDA who does not recommend the drug for children under two. In my experience within 15 minutes of taking Zofran the nausea stops and you can eat or drink without getting sick. Half a pill is the normal dosage for a toddler, a full pill for an adult. It provides relief for about 8 precious hours, enough to make it through the worst of a 24 hr bug. As with any drug there could be side effects but I find that a minimal amount can go a long way to relieve suffering.

But the catch is that is seems to be rarely prescribed. But now that I know the secret I request it right away and am firm about it. I even have a stash in my medicine cabinet for the inevitable midnight stomach bug because who wants to wait until the morning.

From what I can gather it is an expensive drug (over $20 a pill), so the insurance companies get hit with a big bill. If doctors prescribed to every patient the insurance companies would likely start giving them a hard time (pure speculation). But also think about how much they would save in ER bills, surely this would outweigh the cost. My doctor said that besides being expensive it could mask another serious issue like some obstruction in the bowel. You may feel more confident that is truely a stomach bug you are facing if you see one after another of your family fall prey to the bug. And then there is that clinical trial thing, Zofran has only been oficially proved effective for cancer patients. But it is no secret that it works and from my personal experience Zofran is worth it's weight in gold.