well, you could try the brat diet - bananas, rice, applesauce and toast. The day after abdominal surgery I was put on a all liquid diet which slowly moved to a bland diet. Stay away from spicy stuff, alcohol, onions, things like that.

Here's some of my faves for this:

oatmeal
soft scrambled eggs (plain)
ginger tea
peppermint tea with honey
polenta
grits
baked chicken breast
vanilla ice cream

I might also stay away from any dairy if you tend to have diarrhea with these products.

I'm sorry you and your tummy are having a rough time. At our house, plain Lenders bagels (from the dairy case) seem to help. I don't drink very much regular soda, but when I'm really out of sorts physically and mentally, a glass of Dr. Pepper perks me up.

I'm trying 'Acid-Ease' (capsules) which is a natural formula with plant enzymes, from Whole Foods. Wanted to try something other than the pink stuff. It works really well! It says for digestive support and sensitive stomaches. The company name looks to be 'Enzymatic' (eyes not awake yet : )

For me, anything solid seems to aggravate a stressful situation. So, making smoothies is the only way to get through. I happen to like Spirutein with milk and some frozen fruit thrown in. I drank these for a week straight before my wedding! (Wedding was at the house and we were making all food/flowers/etc....it wasn't the impending nuptials that were stressing me out!)

I also find acupuncture to help me get through very stressful times. I don't always know if it the acupuncture itself, or just spending an hour on a table, deeply relaxed, that makes the difference. A massage might work, or just some quiet time. Good luck...I hope the storm clouds pass quickly.

Mashed potatoes. Cheerios (but milk isn't so great, so try vanilla soy milk).

For me, it's anything with a creamy texture. Nothing with fat or spicy.

I'm sorry you're having a rough time and I hope that settles down soon, and your tummy along with it. If you're talking heartburn, try taking Omiprazole (ask for it at Costco), and drinking slippery elm tea. Chamomile tea can help too.

Maybe this article would be helpful:

Here is a link that might be useful: Bland Food Diet from Health Central

Flat ginger ale and plain yogurt with honey work for me.

no chocolate, no cola, not too much sugar; peppermint tea actually gives me an upset stomach.
Make sure you eat well, even if it's 6 small meals a day.

Funny how everyone is different. Any kind of fruit would kill me, except maybe a banana - applesauce or smoothies wouldn't work.

Chocolate actually helps me
coffee as well, never tea.
eggs, English muffins, mashed/baked potato, tater tots, jello
I'm big on wheat Chex, special K or Product 19

pasta with chicken broth to flavor

Kombucha gingerade. It works like magic.

You have to buy it at a health food store or in the health food section of a very large supermarket. It's much more gingery than ginger ale and it kindof looks gross even after you shake it up. A girlfriend gave me a bottle when she realized that my kids had been exposed to a stomach virus that had her DS3, DD1, and DH sitting on the toilet with a bucket in their hands - not all at the same time, it went from one to the other to the other.

My kids didn't need it, and it sat in my frig for a couple of months. But boy was I glad it was there, because I used it the other day after spending all night/morning vomiting and I felt much better for it. The taste is zippy and it's very fizzy, but I could keep it down and I hadn't been able to keep even water down. My appetite came back after sipping away at the bottle for about an hour.

laxsupermom, does this stuff stop diarrhea?

My whole GI system tends to get very fussy when I'm under a lot of stress (and it's rather persnickety to begin with, it doesn't play nicely with a lot of foods I really like), so you have my sympathies.

Ginger and peppermint give me wicked heartburn - it's flat, room-temperature Coke for me. Pepsi is too sweet and doesn't cut it for me. If you need to get it flat in a hurry, just pour it in a glass and stir it until the bubbles are gone. In years past we used to be able to buy Coke syrup from the pharmacist, back in the days when there was a lunch counter in the drugstore, and Mom would dole out a big spoonful of it when you were queasy. It's kind of hard to find these days though.

Oddly enough, vanilla ice cream (not too rich - Breyers is about as rich as I go) or soft-serve ice cream work well for me when my stomach's being difficult. I tend not to have problems with dairy unless I overindulge, so cottage cheese, mild cheeses like Muenster and Jack or string cheese, and custard go down easy.

Plain old chicken noodle soup - no veggies, mostly broth with not too many noodles (and those just the slightest bit overcooked), and a tiny bit of well-cooked chicken is popular in my household. We always joke "ten million Jewish mothers can't be wrong..." LOL I also make a variant on the Spanish dish Sopa de Ajo (garlic soup) when stomachs are tired and grumpy and don't want to handle anything heavy. Thoroughly-cooked garlic is good for what ails ya and becomes very mild. Here's a recipe for 4 servings, but it halves well: 6 cloves minced or finely mashed garlic, 1-2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp. paprika, 6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth, salt and pepper to taste; 1 egg per diner, 1 thick slice white peasant-style bread per diner (diced into chunks and ideally allowed to dry out for a few hours). Cook garlic in oil over medium-low heat until soft and just golden. Stir in paprika. (If you like cumin, and I do, add a dash of it here. Cumin is also good for unhappy stomachs, especially bloating, queasiness, and abdominal cramps. A little dab'll do ya.) Stir in broth and bring to a bare simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste. Some people like a little squeeze of lemon juice here and also strain the broth, I don't do either. Break an egg onto a saucer and slide it into the soup, repeating with the other eggs. Try to keep them separated. Place cubed bread into soup cups or bowls. Poach eggs for about 4 minutes until yolks are set and yolk is still soft. Scoop one egg into each bowl on top of the bread, then ladle 1 1/2 cups broth on top. By the time it's cool enough to eat, the bread's softened up to a comfortable squishiness. :-) The seasoned broth (before eggs and bread) holds nicely in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. To reheat, drop an egg in a bowl, puncture the yolk a couple of times with a toothpick, add broth and microwave loosely covered (like with a paper towel) for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, then add the bread.

I find slippery elm tea by itself to be kind of nasty but Traditional Medicinals' "Throat Coat" has it as its major ingredient with a bunch of other stuff thrown in to make it taste better. I drink it when my stomach's being fussy as often as I do for a sore throat.

If you want rice but don't feel like cooking, the Uncle Ben's Ready Rice microwave packets are actually not bad at all! MUCH better tasting than Minute Rice, which to me tastes a lot like the box it came in, and there's no starchy pot to clean up afterward. If you have someone to make it for you, risotto (no cheese) is a lovely, lovely thing when you're under the weather.

The Uncle Ben's rice that JohnMari mentioned along with a Publix rotisserie chicken is my standby supper for evenings when dh & I are feeling stressed but still want a meal. He likes to have a small serving of cottage cheese w/ (canned) peaches, too. I prefer to slice a banana over some vanilla yogurt. Other times, a baked potato, or some pasta with just a little garlic & butter, is all we want.

During the day, I nibble on crackers and try to cut back on dietCoke/Coke. The only thing that really helps is taking Pepcid AC before breakfast & supper. Librax helps with IBS, too. It's easier for me to keep the hyperacidity under control than to treat it after it gets bad, so I try to take the Pepcid AC regularly (per family doctor's orders.) I also rely on Pepto-Bismol chewables, which are pretty effective but have an unfortunate side effect. The morning after taking them, I have a black tongue (that freaked me out the first time it happened, eons ago in college.)

Hope you get some relief!

Unfortunately now, most commercial ginger ale does not contain ginger. To get the effect of ginger, you can slice some ginger coins into 7-up or an equivalent.

I heartily second the risotto recommendation. Especially if you put lemon juice and lemon zest in the recipe. That is comfort food that nourishes the soul.

Another that fits the bill for me is garlic mashed potatoes, no milk or butter. Gently poach the garlic in olive oil and use the olive oil to mash the potatoes. Very soothing.

I do hope that the stress passes soon!

threedgard, I didn't have diarrhea, but my friends family did and she said she had used the gingerade with the last one who got sick and he got better right away. It was on a recommendation from her yoga instructor.

I remember getting a swig of that Coke syrup way back when!

And Sunday night I actually did have some of the microwave rice--the vegetable variety; tasted OK, but I thought the seasoning was a bit off. I had to work that night, so at least I could eat that.

I also bought some lemon ginger tea (the Yogi tea brand)--it tasted horrible! Even after I added a packet of sugar...

Ginger ale isn't really working for me; maybe it's the high-fructose corn syrup that's making me feel "full"--I've been really good about not drinking soda for several months, don't want to get addicted to it again! LOL!

And I got a bottle of Maalox, just in case!

I might look for the gingerade tomorrow.

And something really bad I've discovered this week: It's wrong when even a Dove chocolate bar doesn't look appetizing!

Thank you all for your advice!

FWIW, I hated the vegetable rice. We usually have Original (plain), Butter & Garlic (not really strongly buttery or garlicky, but reasonably pleasant nonetheless), and Pilaf in our pantry.