Most stomach bugs run their course in one to three days without any special treatment. The main thing you need to do is stay hydrated, rest, and wait it out. But the details of how you hydrate, what you eat, and when to worry matter more than you might think. Here’s a practical guide to getting through it.
Hydration Is the Priority
Vomiting and diarrhea drain your body of water and essential minerals fast. Dehydration, not the virus itself, is the real danger of a stomach bug. Your first job is replacing what you’re losing.
Plain water helps, but it doesn’t replace the sodium and potassium your body is shedding. A simple oral rehydration solution works better: mix 4 cups of water with half a teaspoon of table salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar. The sugar isn’t just for taste. It activates a transport system in your gut that pulls sodium and water into your bloodstream more efficiently than water alone. Sports drinks are an option but contain more sugar and less sodium than ideal.
If you’re vomiting, take small sips every few minutes rather than gulping down a full glass. Even a tablespoon at a time adds up. Popsicles, ice chips, and clear broths all count toward your fluid intake. The goal is to keep your urine a pale yellow. If you’re barely urinating or not urinating at all, you’re falling behind.
What to Eat (and When)
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It sounds sensible, but current medical guidance doesn’t recommend it. Research shows that following a restricted diet doesn’t help treat viral gastroenteritis. When your appetite comes back, you can return to your normal diet, even if diarrhea is still hanging around.
That said, you’ll likely feel better if you start with bland, easy foods and work your way up. Crackers, plain pasta, boiled potatoes, and chicken soup are gentle on an irritated stomach. Greasy, spicy, and heavily seasoned foods may make nausea worse. Dairy bothers some people during recovery because the gut lining can temporarily lose some of its ability to digest lactose. If milk makes things worse, skip it for a few days.
For children, the same principle applies. Give them what they normally eat as soon as they’re interested in food again. Don’t force them to eat, but don’t restrict their choices either.
Over-the-Counter Medications
Anti-diarrheal medications can reduce the number of trips to the bathroom, and anti-nausea options may help you keep fluids down. But there are situations where you should skip them entirely. If you have a fever or see blood in your stool, don’t take anti-diarrheal medication. Those symptoms suggest a bacterial or parasitic infection rather than a virus, and slowing your gut down can make things worse. See a doctor instead.
For general aches and fever, a standard pain reliever can help you feel more comfortable. Avoid anything too harsh on the stomach if you’re already nauseous.
Probiotics get a lot of attention for gut issues, but the evidence for stomach bugs is underwhelming. A large meta-analysis found that probiotics might shorten diarrhea by roughly half a day in children, but the certainty of that evidence was low, and no specific strain, dose, or duration has been established as effective. They’re unlikely to hurt, but don’t expect a dramatic difference.
How Long It Lasts
The timeline depends on which virus you picked up. Norovirus, the most common cause in adults, typically lasts 12 to 60 hours. You’ll often feel terrible for a day or two and then improve quickly. Rotavirus, which is more common in young children, brings about 3 days of vomiting followed by 3 to 8 days of watery diarrhea. Other viruses in the same family can cause symptoms lasting around 4 days on average.
One way to tell if you’re dealing with a stomach virus or food poisoning: timing. A stomach bug has a 24 to 48 hour incubation period, so you won’t feel sick until a day or two after exposure. Food poisoning hits much faster, usually within 2 to 6 hours of eating the contaminated food. If your symptoms came on suddenly after a specific meal, food poisoning is more likely.
When It’s More Serious
Most people recover at home without any medical help. But dehydration can become dangerous, especially in young children, older adults, and anyone with a weakened immune system. Watch for these signs that things have progressed beyond a routine stomach bug:
- Very little or no urination (in infants, no wet diapers for 3 hours or more)
- Skin that stays tented when you pinch it on the back of your hand, rather than flattening right back
- Diarrhea lasting more than 24 hours
- Fever of 102°F or higher
- Bloody or black stool
- Confusion, unusual sleepiness, or irritability (especially in children)
- Inability to keep any fluids down
Any of these warrants a call to your doctor or a visit to urgent care. The main intervention for severe dehydration is IV fluids, which work quickly and can make you feel dramatically better within hours.
Protecting Everyone Else
Stomach bugs spread easily, and you’re contagious for longer than you’d expect. With norovirus, you can still spread the virus for two weeks or more after you feel completely better. The CDC recommends staying home for at least 48 hours after your last symptoms resolve.
While you’re sick and in the days after, a few precautions go a long way:
- Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are not very effective against norovirus.
- Don’t prepare food for others until at least two days after symptoms stop.
- Disinfect contaminated surfaces with a bleach solution: 5 to 25 tablespoons of regular household bleach per gallon of water. Standard household cleaners won’t reliably kill norovirus. You can also use an EPA-registered disinfectant specifically labeled as effective against norovirus.
- Wash soiled laundry on the hottest appropriate setting and dry thoroughly. Handle contaminated clothing or bedding carefully to avoid spreading the virus into the air.
- Use a separate bathroom if possible, and clean it frequently.
Norovirus particles are incredibly hardy. They survive on surfaces for days and it takes only a tiny number to infect someone. In households with multiple people, it’s common for the bug to pass from person to person over the course of a week or two. Diligent hand washing and surface disinfection are the most reliable ways to break that chain.