Q&A: morning sickness

Unhappy reader Tammie writes:

"I'm 10 weeks pregnant and since Thursday I eat and then feel like I'm going to be sick (vomit) sometimes I do and then sometimes I don't, this goes on ALL day. I still now feel the same but I am being sick more often so I'm not eating much or drinking cause of the way I feel afterwards. Not eating or drinking means I have no food or liquid in my stomach. "What can I do?" If there is anything I can do, 'cause I don't think it would be too healthy for the baby or myself."

These are the things people will tell you to do to stop morning sickness:

Eat saltine crackers
Eat protein at least every three hours
Eat a bunch of small meal throughout the day
Wear SeaBands

I will tell you right now that if you have moderate to severe nausea these will not work.

If you have moderate nausea these things will probably help you:

Acupuncture
Reglan (a prescription anti-nausea medication)
Zofran (an unbelievably expensive anti-nausea medication that is rarely covered by insurance)

Supplementing any or several of these by eating ginger (or drinking strong ginger beer) and sucking on sour candy (the Altoid Sours line is excellent for this) can help some, too.

If you have severe nausea (or hyperemesis, which is when you throw up so often that you become dehydrated and the only treatment is hospitalization and an IV), not many things help. However, I checked in with Jessica at Kerplop (formerly Very Mom), who had hyperemesis with her first two pregnancies, but did not with her third. She'd mentioned some mysterious vitamins in her blog, so I emailed her to get the scoop. Here's what she said:

"The brand is Standard Process and Dr. Stockwell hawks them at www.jackstockwell.com but you can find them all over the internet.  They are not pyramid schemey at all though the company prefers that you get them after having some kind of work up/exam from a doctor before medicating yourself just so you get the right ones for your system.  I had a Bio Meridian scan at Dr. Stockwell's office (about $50.00 at the time) which gave me a total work up on what I was deficient in.  Without a scan I can't promise the same results, but I have had folks call his office and get the pre natal list for "morning sickness" and experience success without the scan.  Doctors (mostly chiropractors nation wide offer the Bio Meridian scan).

Here's what I took:

They started me off taking 1 Unisom each night with 4 Cataplex B tablets - I'd tried Unisom & B vitamins before without results, but with the Standard Process B vitamins, I had a significant decrease in vomiting. They thought it would take about four weeks to get it under control, but I felt better within a week and a half.  (From 18 pukes a day down to like, 5 or 6, it was amazing).

I "weaned" off the Unisom after two weeks.

I took 2 Diaplex tablets before I tried to eat anything.

6 Calcium Lactate tablets every day (this is the best kind of calcium that your body can actually use rather than just creating expensive pee)
3 Cataplex F tablets
6 Cataplex C tablets
(This is the 6-3-6 combo)
2 Folic Acid B12 tablets
2 Bio Dent
1 Ferrofood
1 Immuplex
1 Protofood
1 Nutrimere
2 Cataplex GTF
2 Trace Minerals

And I had an iron pill, I can't remember what it was.

They put me on Phosfood liquid drops to quell my irritating excess saliva and that was a miracle potion as far as I'm concerned, it worked wonders.

For anyone completely freaked out over the sheer volume of pills the most important for hyperemesis would be:

1 Unisom with 4 Cataplex B and 2 Folic Acid B12 tablets.  Take them either at night or first thing in the morning, or whenever you're feeling the least pukey.  If you throw them up, don't worry, just try to take them again.  You can grind 'em up and put them in a shake if that helps. 

You should start to feel better within 2 - 6 weeks.  When you do, wean yourself off the Unisom and start adding the "6-3-6" and take that every day.  The rest make up more of a typical "prenatal" pill that will help your immune system and strengthen baby's bones and help baby's growth.

I hope this helps!"

I hope this helps, too. If anyone tries this vitamin regimen, definitely let me know how it works.

Comments

[Cat, Galloping]

there are other treatments for hyperemesis. my sister had it throughout her whole first pregnancy but got it under control in the second through a steroid medication. obviously these things are a last resort but they exist and they make life bearable.

[Sarah]

I have terrible allergies. With my second pregnancy, which was a surprise, I had a previously scheduled family vacation with two dogs. So I took the antihistimines for that week and my nausea, which had been so yucky the 6 weeks before, disappeared. When I came home from the vacation, I Googled antihistimines and pregnancy to find out what had happened. Turns out antihistimes stop pregnancy nausea. They used to be recommended frequently. I think I read about a small study that suggested that antihistimes were dangerous, but the follow ups didn't show it. But even that hint of scandal slows down Dr OK. For example, I just got a pre-approval from my OB to use my Zyrtec even after we start trying to have a third, but my internist was horrified at the thought when she did the initial prescription.

And Unisom (mentined above) has an antihistimine in it (same as Benadryl, I think).

Good luck. Does the letter writer have an older child? I thought feeding an older child made the nausea so much worse...

[hedra]

I had astonishingly awful nausea with the twins pregnancy (only just awful with the previous two pregs). I spent days pretty much resting my forehead on the desk at work, trying not to puke on my keyboard. Mostly, I didn't puke, but boy, wanting to isn't fun either!

What helped for me:

1) Getting enough sleep, and by that I mean GOOD sleep, not the fitful/snoring sleep I was getting as my sinuses swelled up. Breathe Right strips every night actually helped a lot. It takes me 3 days to see an impact from them.

2) Maintaining blood sugar stability. The whole 'eat protien every three hours' is expected to help that, but I needed more than that. I had to change to a diabetes-friendly diet (low glycemic index, which reduces the degree of up/down in the blood sugar levels). It is a pain in the butt to figure out at first, but once you get the idea, it is pretty flexible to apply. Bonus, it is generally very healthy and nutritious. Think South Beach but eating more total quantities. Until I got the total volume of food up to where my body needed it to be, I used Preggie Pops to give me the short blood sugar boost to get me to where I could eat something 'real'. Without that, I was just cycling in the low blood sugar world constantly. The instant I felt better at all, I had to eat, and eat not junk but something that would help maintain my blood sugar for a longer span.

3) B vitamins. Talk to your doc about dosage and type.

4) Hypnotherapy. Helped some. Meditation, too. Anything that reduces stress, because stress worsens nausea. Easing stress (therapy, massage, yoga, prayer, etc.) won't necessarily stop the 'cause' side of nausea, but it does make the experience of it somewhat milder, IMHO (also according to some research studies).

5) Sniffing lemons. Chunks of whole lemon cut up into water (both peel and juice combined was important). Sniff before eating. I carried a lemon in a baggie around in my purse during my first two pregnancies. Unfortunately, by the twins, I had so strongly associated the lemon smell with nausea, that it had the opposite effect (still does!). But before that, it was the number one solution for me.

None of these alone was perfect, but when I got them all going at once (barrig the lemon the last time), I was much better - to the point that I could eat and keep down all the food I needed.

Oh, and an herbalist told me that the ginger (real ginger) routine only helps if you have nausea AND a slowed gut (constipation, etc.). My GI tract speeds up during pregnancy. The herbalist's info helped me understand why that was so, even if she didn't really have any other ideas for how to help in my case.

Good luck! My best friend had hyperemesis, and her advice if you have it: Get your teeth sealed (because you'll lose all your tooth enamel in the process), even if you have to be sedated to get it done. Oh, and try every bit of advice, because some weird thing might really help - for her it was canned peaches. That was pretty much all she ate for about 3 months (she puked pretty much every half-hour around the clock, and got on a first-name basis with the ER docs who did the rehydration program - worth noting that hyperemesis used to be one of the leading causes of maternal death, so it is NOT idiotic to take meds to help!).

[Aurora]

I second the idea about trying different smells... but I think Moxie is right about that probably only being useful for mild to moderate nausea... I had only mild symptoms but found that peppermint smells and candy was very helpful. I soaked some napkins or tissues to have on hand and carried those red and white candies with me.
It's weird, because other smells (pea soup) would make me sick!

[Fahmi]

Acupuncture is actually not recommended to relieve morning sickness. When I was pregnant, I went to my acupuncturist hoping for some relief, and she explained that acupuncture treatments can have some very nasty effects for the mother during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester. Instead of acupuncture, accupressure is recommended - usually on the same points. The Sea Bands use one of the points on the wrist, but I found the using the point on the knee and calves more helpful.

I also took advantage of mint leaves brewed in teas, chewed raw at this time, lots of ginger, and ironically, lots of eggs. I would force myself awake around 3am, eat a boiled egg, and go back to sleep. It helped somewhat when I got up, but not completely.

Also, if you end up losing weight, don't worry. I ended up losing weight and that freaked me out, but my doctor assured me that in the first trimester, while it's nice to gain the weight, I had plenty of time to gain the weight and to to stress about it.

[SusieJ]

I got through the first 17 weeks with lots of fresh fruit and veggies, some starch, and small amounts of ice cream. I felt queasy all the time, but threw up only twice. I ate all the time, just little bits. I lost weight, getting down to 180 pounds. Yeah, losing weight was SOO not a problem.

My husband had to do the dishes because the smell of the dishwashing liquid revolted me (and the dishwasher was dead, dead, dead). Also my shampoo, and the smell of any heavy smoker.

(A friend of ours was pregnant in East Germany, when it was East Germany, during winter time, and really, really wanted fresh veggies. She ate red cabbage one day, green the next, back to red, back to green ...)

[Moxie]

Fahmi, what side effects during pregnancy? My acupuncturist didn't say anything about it.

Hedra, even worse for me (both times) than the nausea was the inability to sleep. Even when I was sleeping it was fitful. If there's a cure for that (that's not a sleeping pill) it would be a miracle.

Interesting tips about the antihistamines.

[Menita]

I had awful nausea with my son and the only thing that helped was ginger. Giner snaps, ginger candy, ginger tea. Now I can't stand the stuff.

[Erin]

I had hyperemesis - constant puking, lost significant percentage of my body weight, dehydration, the works - and the only thing that really helped was a combination of reglan and, most importantly, zofran (they have a generic now in the US, so it should be getting cheaper and more insurance companies should be covering it). In the beginning, I also had to take 1/2 a unisom plus 25mg B6 as well... I was on zofran & reglan until 3 days after I delivered. I have to put in a plug for www.hyperemesis.org - they have great info for individuals as well as health care providers... You would be amazed at the number of providers who asked me if I had tried crackers or Seabands - I threw up in the office of the last person who asked me, and I never heard a peep again!

[hedra]

Moxie, I used hypnotherapy (1st trimester-specific) for getting better sleep for my second preg. The scripts (on tape) included sleeping-well suggestions, and worked very well for me. That company is now defunct, but others may have similar tapes/scripts (try hypbirth.com or hypnobabies.com?).

I didn't really have insomnia for the twins until later in the pregnancy, and at that point I was using the hypnotherapy more for pain management (my pelvis objected to the 14 lbs of babies thing, silly pelvis!). I pretty much ignored the insomnia at that stage, since I was napping during the day a lot. IMHO, it is worth a try - at the very least, using the tapes when I couldn't sleep meant I was listening to a pleasant voice and some relaxing background music instead of fretting about not sleeping!

[Phc]

I had hyperemesis (fairly self-diagnosed, but I puked for all 9 months and got dehydrated and IV's) and the only thing that saved me was a new drug- Anzemet. Very safe for pregnancy and while I didn't feel GOOD during my first trimester, at least I wasn't getting constantly dehydrated. During trimesters two & three, I felt good as long as I took the medicine. It is also very expensive, but is covered by insurance (at least mine). I tried EVERYTHING else, and this was a last resort. Thank goodness it worked with no side effects (knock wood).

[hedra]

(wanted to note that my best friend also used medication to control the hyperemesis, but still puked a LOT.)

[Beth]

I threw up 2 to 6 times per day from week 6 until week 18. The only thing that helped was 1/2 a Unisom tablet. Taken with or without B6 didn't matter in my case.

At first I took half upon waking and half after lunch (your body adjusts to the sleepiness caused by the pill), but after a few weeks I could get by on just half a pill in the morning.

I did all the other things, too (sniffing lemons, Sea Bands, crackers) but they didn't help until my morning sickness was almost gone, around week 16 or so.

[Clare]

Just to add: if you're only 10 weeks pregnant, you'll probably start feeling a bit better in the next few weeks. And at this point your baby's definitely getting all the nutrition it needs from you even if you're sick, so you don't need to worry about that too much. And, yeah, mint and ginger tea.

[Zinemama]

I swore by Ginger Chews from Trader Joe. Green bag, above the frozen section. They didn't make the nausea go away, but they took the edge off it, so I could go on. I had bags of the Chews stashed everywhere in the house.

I will never eat one again.

[Julia]

I threw up several times daily up until the very day I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

I never knew what was going to set it off, but I learned quickly that I had to stop taking the prenatal vitamin that I had started with. Instead, I switched to two Flintstone cheweables, twice a day. I also tried to get as much vitamin goodness from actual food, and that helped.

[Rebecca]

I have a related question - I have never been pregnant but we may start trying soon. My big worry is about coping with morning sickness at work - how do you do it?! I share an office with five others, I'm kinda shy and very private, and stories of puking in wastebaskets etc. give me the horrors!

[Vanessa]

I found that root beer helped the nausea.

[hedra]

Rebecca, it depends on how sick you are. First time, I was okay - I had enough warning before puking that I could make my way to the bathroom at a reasonable pace. Another preg, I didn't get that warning, and worse I was at a client site! I dealt, mainly by telling others that I was having trouble with the morning sickness (which meant telling 'early' but it was that or have people not ducking out of my way fast enough when I was running for the bathroom... never puked in a trash can, though!). With the twins preg, I was well known, and people didn't much bat an eyelash over the nausea - instead, they'd tell me to just go home if it got too bad.

Morning sickness is one of the early lessons in 'rolling with it and doing whatever it takes to carry on', IMHO. You'll figure something out, and you'll also likely get a little more comfortable doing whatever it takes, because you will have no choice. You aren't the boss anymore, your body (and the baby) is.

Or, you'll have no major nausea, like some lucky moms!

[Miss W]

No idea on the vitamin regimen and coming rather late to the party, but...

A woman I worked with swore by lemons. She said that if she sucked on a lemon slice or even just squeezed lemon into a glass of water it would make it go away for her. Never worked for me...but whatever.

[halloweenlover]

One thing that helped me dramatically, which has been mentioned above, was to switch prenatals to one called Premesis (specifically for morning sickness). It has a mixture of B6, B12 and folic acid, without a lot of the other stuff that causes nausea. Also, my doctor said that if you are having constipation, also super common with pregnancy, that makes nausea worse because it backs up your intestines.

[Rebecca]

I'm at week 33 currently with child #1, and finally not so sick. Tiny backstory - didn't think I could get pregnant, so I didn't figure out why I spent all summer being sick until I was 14 weeks in.

I had mild-moderate morning sickness from early on until probably 25 weeks, and then sporadically until a couple weeks ago.

I had so much medical stuff going on in the first trimester (without knowing I was pregnant) that I am now very hesitant to add much of anything in the way of drugs. And I didn't know about Premesis, etc at the time.

Having said all that, what did help was to take prenatal vitamins just after the largest meal of the day (which frequently meant whenever I could actually eat and keep it down). I think I spent at least 2 months eating nothing but cottage cheese and pineapple (not pre-mixed, fresh pineapple was great because of the acidity). Prilosec helped a little, but probably not for direct reasons. Also, the sour citrus candy that some maternity chains sell - Preggo Pops or the candies without the lollypop stick - saved my life. That little bit of citric acid would take the edge off in amazing ways. At least it got the barfing down to just in the morning.

Anecdotally, don't clear your throat or cough if you can avoid it when you're feeling nausea. It's a quick slide down that hill. :)

I'm sorry and empathetic for those dealing wiht this. After I read a story about a woman throwing up 60-70 times a day I didn't feel like I had it so bad with just a few times a day, but it's unpleasant at any level.

Now it's just awful heartburn. But, as my doc is fond of saying, there's a sure-fire solution for most of this, deliver the baby.

Best of luck.

[Erin MacPherson]

Thanks for the great tip about checking into specialize supplementation. I had hyperemesis for my entire first pregnancy and literally spent more than half of it in the hospital hooked up to an IV. Nothing worked (my insurance actually covered Zofran and it didn't even work) When I get pregnant again, tips like this might just keep me out of the hospital. Let's hope so!

[Tanya Garcia]

is it acceptable to take zyrtec for morning sickness?

[accomodate]

I haven't been up to much , but I guess it doesn't bother me. Pfft. I just don't have much to say lately, but maybe tomorrow. Basically nothing seems worth doing.

[press]

I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. I just don't have much to say right now, but so it goes. I've basically been doing nothing to speak of, but shrug. Today was a loss. I don't care. That's how it is.

[Jay Litwyn]

One of my searches led me here, and what put me off about using you was the number of references to drugs that say on the label that they're not recommended during pregnancy -- and you start of with quackery like an arm band. Maybe I'll use it anyway if I can find a sensible commentator.

[Jay Litwyn]

So, I see a lot of references to lemons, and smelling them first seems to help, so maybe I should put them in my recipe like that.
____________
One blender.
One tube strainer (denim pantleg will work).
One stock pot.
(A juicer will *not* work as _well_.)
Two lemons, including peel.
Two litres of grated red cabbage.
Fresh or frozen jinjer to taste, up to a handful.

End result, when fresh, is nearly tasteless to me, but it takes on the flavour of jinjer after about three hours. Peel lemons. Pyuuray peels with just enough water to let them turn in blender. Sniff. Add remaining fruit, about one litre of leaf and all root. Pour them into U-strainer over the pot and twist it like a twist-tie until you're happy with the amount of liquid in pot. Pyuuray remaining cabbage (hopefully, it's not nauseating, and even if it is, your husband can and should be doing this) and treat it like your previous batch of juice. Sip. Adjust jinjer according to rezults. Adjust lemon according to your taste for crackers. Let me know how it goes, because I'm single, but I can't believe anyone hasn't tried this or something like it before.

[Jay Litwyn]

I withdraw my panning of biobands or seabands. Accupressure can do a lot of things, and if that means an alternative to antihistamines, then I'm all for it.

[Erin]

The only thing to help me so far is Phosfood drops in water which I sip. Takes care of my nausea within the hour EVERY TIME!!!

[el]

There are a lot of things that can provide morning sickness relief. It's all just a matter of finding the right one that your body responds best. For me, ginger gives me the most effective morning sickness relief.

[christian louboutin]

Idle boast the strong pass is a wall of iron,
With firm strides we are crossing its summit.
We are crossing its summit,
The rolling hills sea-blue,

[Grace]

How about some vitamin b6? During my morning sickness weeks, I thought no home remedies would work for me. Thankfully there's one. And from what I've learned, it's just a matter of finding the right remedy since our body reacts differently to each remedies.

Check this one. You might find some remedies that would work for you.
www.morningsicknessfix.com/morning-sickness-week/