Dealing with morning sickness and nausea

[MissStepcut]

Not even at week 7 yet and it has ramped up. I'm sick after I eat after dinner consistently, and right now I am just immobilized by nausea. Ginger candies help, but only while I am currently sucking on one. Dramamine helps too, but puts me to sleep. Any suggestions?

 

[missy]

Oh, I'm so sorry MSC that you are dealing with morning sickness. Nausea is the worst!
Ginger in any form seems to help (me at least). Have you tried ginger ale? Also, coca cola helps nausea too for some reason. I know soda is not the best thing for you though...

What about those bracelets that are supposed to trigger anti nausea points? I haven't tried it but some people swear by them.

Good luck!

 

[monarch64]

I didn't have any morning sickness BUT plenty of ladies here did. You can try eating small bland meals, and vitamin B6 in conjunction with Unisom. I assume you haven't been to your first appt. yet? If your MS gets really unmanageable your doctor may prescribe Zofran. Good luck, sorry you're dealing with this!

 

[amc80]

I tried all of the natural stuff and nothing worked. Well, sucking on root beer barrels helped, but for 5 minutes or so. The only thing that really worked
was Zofran. Little miracle drug.

 

[dani13]

I've been suffering since week 7 too (now I'm 12 wks) and it still hasnt let up. I've tried Zofran, but it made me severely constipated, so I gave up on that. I think I am going to try the Unisom and B6 combo today- take 50 mg of Vitamin B6 and 1/2 Unisom tablet (tablets, not gelcaps). I think you can take it 3 times per day, but I will start with just once or twice and see what happens.

Good luck, its miserable!! I hope you feel better soon!

 

[Laila619]

Oh I'm so sorry.

What has helped me is eating carbs. Crackers, pancakes, bread, etc. Not very nutritious, but when I get nausea, it's the only thing that works. Also, like Missy said, regular Coca Cola (in moderation b/c of the caffeine) really can help!

 

[FrekeChild]

Don't let your blood sugar drop. I ate lots of high protein foods and if I went too long without eating, I could feel the nausea coming on.

I know I wasn't the only one that got hooked on greasy breakfast foods--specifically McDonald's Sausage Egg McMuffin! In moderation of course!

 

[Lottie]

Poor you, morning sickness is horrible and seems to last for such a long time when you are going through it! I was carb crazed in my early pregnancies and small, very regular snacks seemed to help me to some extent but to be honest, its something you just have to grit your teeth and wait out - really horrible part of early pregnancy though. I do remember at one stage my morning routine was get up, throw up, brush teeth, throw up, breakfast.

If it gets a lot worse and you are unable to keep food down it might be wise you see your doctor incase its Hyperemesis.

 

[MissStepcut]

My mom actually also told me to do small, regular snacks instead of big meals. I think crashes and highs are killing me here. Thanks guys! I also bought a 12 pack of ginger ale last night and will be leaning more on that. Ugh.

I will talk to my MD about Zofran.

 

[SweetAsscher]

I had Hyperemesis Gravidarum, which is basically extreme morning sickness. I was nauseated 24 hours a day could not even get out of bed, dry heaving and couldn't even drink water. Throughout my pregnancy I lost ten pounds instead of gaining weight.
My main life saver was Zofran, but I was also prescribed promethazine to take in conjunction.
Try drinking carbonated water, lemon or lime flavor.
Unisom with vitamin B6
Sea-sickness wrist bands,
Lavender aromatherapy
Candied ginger
It's really important to not get dehydrated so Gatorade helps too or ice pops. If you get dehydrated then you have to go get fluids via IV. The good thing is if you can't keep the meds down they can give zofran IV too.
Good luck! I looove babies but I hate being prego! That's why I only have two!

 

[Jennifer W]

I had several trips to hospital to be re-hydrated after severe sickness bouts, and I tried everything. One of the things that helped was a set of travel sickness wrist bands that a very kind police officer bought for me at Edinburgh airport (I was sick on him in the check in queue).
His wife was a midwife apparently, and he also got me a fresh juice concoction from the juice bar, which really did make me feel better, believe it or not:

Start with 2 or 3 oranges, add the pulp of an inch or so of fresh root ginger and a generous slice of fresh pineapple. Blend and strain.

Also, when I was pregnant my husband was living in Helsinki - Finnish women swear by lemon for morning sickness. Carry a cut lemon in a plastic bag, and sniff it when you feel queasy. It is actually quite effective when it isn't too bad but obviously won't stop serious sickness.

Hope you're past it soon, it really is miserable.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Oh lordy, the only trimsester of pregnancy I don't miss is the first. I was so sick. The typical ginger, saltines, etc. tricks did not help me at all.

Protein helped me more than carbs. Like Freke, I had many a McD's breakfast sandwich. I craved nothing, in fact I didn't feel hunger for weeks, just varying degrees of nausea. I ate every hour not to puke.

Something about the tartness of pickles helped keep the nausea at bay for me. And preggie pops helped as a short-term solution as well. They could get me through a meeting without puking.

My motto was to try ANYTHING to help. And hope I stumbled onto something.

 

[Laila619]

McDonald's fountain Coke really helps me. Also, eating some sour candy.

Not the most nutritious, but hey, ya gotta do what you can to feel better. Just keep trying to eat small little snacks throughout the day. When your blood sugar gets low, that's when the nausea really hits.

 

[sba771]

I had HG for 23 weeks and I found that the zofran paired with acupuncture was the only thing that helped me. The acupuncture was amazing!

 

[Pandora II]

I also had HG - was throwing up 20+ times a day by 6 weeks... told work I was PG when I was 7 weeks - after 3 days of spending most of the day in the bathroom they had all guessed anyway!

I took Phenergan which is also known as promethazine. It's very safe and pretty effective. It didn't stop the nausea particularly but it stopped me actually being sick.

My m/s finally went at around 28 weeks. It was miserable - mine was also all day rather than just morning. I ate nothing but Granny Smith apples for about 7 weeks, couldn't cook, open the fridge or go into a supermarket. I found after that that I could eat a meal as long as it was placed in front of me without my having seen it being cooked.

It's dangerous being sick a lot - you can dehydrate very badly - so I recommend getting something for it. Also if you start developing HG the earlier you start taking treament the less severe it is - or so my OB said.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

As has been mentioned, I would suggest Zofran and promethazine. I took Zofran both pregnancies and have a script for promethazine for vertigo. You may also want to try meclizine (aka antivert) as it helps prevent nausea and vomiting. I also take meclizine for vertigo and it works great but can make you sleepy.

I found eating smaller meals several times a day helped as well. An empty belly ensured that I would be dry heaving in no time. I would also try to balance meals with a carb and protein but when you feel really bad (and it sounds you do) just eat anything you can keep down. At 7 weeks the baby's nutritional needs are very small so really any food is better than none.

I hope you're feeling better soon! It's all worth it in the end!

 

[stephbolt]

Unisom/B6 was my lifesaver - I also relied on the preggie pop drops early on before I started the Unisom/B6. Eating a few crackers before I got up in the morning also helped, I kept a sleeve of saltines in the bedside table.

Good luck, the MS is so hard to deal with!

 

[missrachelk]

I have so much sympathy even though mine has been a relatively easy case.

For the seasickness bands - my accupuncturist also showed me that you can just press that pressure point with the opposite hand - on your arm about 2 fingers' width down from the lines on your wrist, press into the hollow place in the middle of the underside of your arm. Sometimes it really helps for me.

Crackers and other bland carbs, not having anything with any smells in the fridge and frequent eating helped me a ton. Also couldn't cook and survived on take out and whole foods hot foods for a few weeks. Whenever something sounds palatable, go for it. The nutrition part can come later once the nausea passes. Also try to eat a little something when/if you wake up in the night, that will help your blood sugar from being so low when you wake up which is definitely a part of the nausea.

good luck!

 

[amc80]

I just remembered that ritz and sprite helped as well, only for a short time though. Zofran was the only long term solution. As someone else mentioned, the constipation it caused was horrible...and that can also cause nausea. So you definitely have to weigh the pros and cons.

 

[mayachel]

So sorry you are feeling sick. Hopefully it will be much improved soon for you.
Count me in the HG/Zofran camp. My biased view point is that if the constipation is worse for a person than the nausea, (and it is wicked cruel) maybe their nausea/vomiting isn't as extreme and can be effectively treated with less hard core methods.

I agree with everything the other HG ladies have advised. I drank lemonade by the gallons and anything sour. Greek yogurt, sharp cheese, sour cream and baked potatos and apples! Also, there is something called Calm Magnesium that is a powdered magnesium drink, tastes like lemonade-and cures the constipation, but if your midwife or doctor may want to check your electrolyte levels and such first before starting it. (It's found in health food type stores, non-prescription.) My midwife also recommended a high protein diet once I was eating again. 80mg/day, which day to day was difficult to get to, but I utilized protein powders and such too.

I lost 15 lbs, and only gained 25lbs by the end of my pregnancy BUT gave birth to a perfectly healthy, full term 8lb 2oz little girl. So should you find your pregnancy taking a turn for the toilet more often than you could have imagined, take heart, and keep doing all that you know you need to take good care of yourself, but know that their goal of growing is pretty remarkable.

 

[Pandora II]

Promethazine doesn't seem to have the constipating effects, but it can knock you out a bit. I was prescribed 25mg but found taking 10mg gave me the same reduction in sickness without making me zonked all the time.

I lost lots of weight in the first and second trimesters, but put on 75lbs by the end of the 3rd and an 8lb 3oz baby. No-one was the least bit worried about the weight gain (they don't even weigh you in the UK) and I lost the lot and then some by 3 months PP.

 

[MissStepcut]

Oh man, I'm glad I asked, because I think I'm finally starting to get a grip on it. Thanks everyone!

Got Zofran, along with a stomachache, headache, drowsiness and continued nausea (though no vomiting). I don't think I'll try that again.

I've been trying to keep my blood sugar up and that seems to help, it's just hard to keep up with. I bought a bunch of tangerines and that seems to help. I think smelling the peels in the trash under my desk, along with the sugar, has been helpful. Sour candies were helpful too. I've also been laying off the spicy foods, which kills me, I love spicy things! But if it helps, I will wait it out

 

[diamondseeker2006]

My daughter had HG and was very sick all the time for 6 months. Zofran was a lifesaver. She lost weight at first and didn't gain much overall, but she had an 8 lb 8oz baby girl! She had wanted at least three children but now she says she wishes she could just adopt the rest! I am just hoping the next pregnancy will be easier, or I am pretty sure it will be her last!

 

[Skippy123]

Don't let your blood sugar drop. I ate lots of high protein foods and if I went too long without eating, I could feel the nausea coming on.

I know I wasn't the only one that got hooked on greasy breakfast foods--specifically McDonald's Sausage Egg McMuffin! In moderation of course!

ditto! eat smaller meals more often! My doc use to always tell me to carry snacks with me; I never knew when hunger would hit! eat what you can.

my nausea went away at 14 weeks!

 

[MissStepcut]

Before I got pregnant I was a natural at Atkins: I naturally crave tons of protein and low carb vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower and zucchini. Now though, the idea of high protein foods, either from meat or eggs or lean dairy is a real struggle. Bread and fruit are the easiest thing to keep down. Sigh.

 

[FrekeChild]

Eat whatever you feel like eating MSC. If just thinking about something makes you feel nauseated, don't even think about actually eating it! Throughout the rest of my pregnancy, my husband would NOT eat at Wendy's, as I had to have Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich as much as possible - it was the only thing I craved and would not make me nauseous. If I tried to force something down that I didn't crave....well, it didn't stay down for long. Listen to your body!

(My vegan, later vegetarian, SIL ate meat during all three of her pregnancies. She couldn't stop craving it!)

I forgot to mention something that helped me a lot- lemonade! I could not seem to drink enough of the stuff during that first trimester.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Yes, eat whatever you can. FWIW, with both my boys, my morning sickness lasted about two months and the only foods I could were carbs, then after I was able to eat meat again and my diet balanced out, so you may be okay . Foods you can always try would be wild rice or brown rice as they have more nutrients than white rice or bread.

 

[packrat]

Sour stuff worked for me. Lemon yogurt, lemonade..tart apples and grapes. Also tums and maalox. I never ate regular meals, just grazed throughout the day so I always had something in my stomach.

 

[Buttons]

Me too packrat! Sour or salty always helped me a bit.

I just put a list of some stuff that helped me into the Preggo thread, thought I would add it here. Hope you feel better soon missstepcut

My morning sickness remedies:

ginger tea or even better, ginger biscuits;
still water with lemon juice added;
glucose barley sweets and wine gums (I know, so bad);
Jacob's cream crackers (dry, or with Philadelphia);
salt and vinegar crisps;
toast with butter;
Weetabix.

 

[enbcfsobe]

at around 6.5 weeks and having general queasiness, dizziness and some nausea, esp. before noon. trying all the suggested food/drink solutions. sour stuff seems to help (pickles, sour patch kids, salt & vinegar chips), as does grazing. trying to get some protein in the grazing with some plain almonds.

more interestingly, just bought the psi bands at rite aid. they put pressure on an acupressure point (same place one of my needles was for acupuncture) and supposedly help for nausea due to motion sickness, seasickness, morning sickness, chemo sickness, etc. got these instead of the sea bands brand because they are adjustable both in size and pressure. they were about $15. i'll let you know if they work for me. online reviews varied for these types of devices, but pretty clear that it won't cause any harm.