Did You Take Unisom (The Sleep-aid Pill) as an Anti-nausia Medication?

I took it for all 3 of my pregnancies. My children are 7,5, and 2 now and the didn't suffer any side effects. They are all perfectly healthy and have been that way since birth. I also changed doctors between my first and second pregnancies and both of the doctors recommended taking 1/2 - 1 whole unisom. I think it's perfectly safe. I am in a MOM'S club in my area and I know several other women who have also taken it without any negative consequences.

Hope that helps and hope you feel better! Congrats on baby #2!

Hi S.... I took a Unisom (half a pill)/B6 (25 mg) cocktail twice a day for about 3 or 4 months. I too had severe nausea all day long and no prescription or home remedy helped me. The only thing I noticed was the baby would sleep, or wasn't active, when I took the meds. I guess that's pretty normal. He was macrosomic at birth, weighed almost 11 pounds, but big babies run in my family.

I don't know if I could have gotten through my pregnancy without the Unisom, especially since I worked full time.

I found out the reason why I had such severe nausea is my body doesn't like any elevated level of estrogen. I also got nausea with any time of birth control that was estrogen based, and ended up using an IUD that used a progesterone only locally.

Hope it helps you!

With my 3rd child I took Unisom for about 4 months. I would skip a night every once in a while to see if I would be ok without it. I finally stopped needing it at about 5 months. Whith my 4th child I took it for the entire 9 months. Literally right up until the night before I delivered, because any time I didn't I was sick as a dog. I had no side effects and no problems stopping it after she was born. She was perfectly healthy as well. I swear by that stuff! (Oh and if you want to save a little money the generic store brand works just as well... just make sure and compare active ingredients to be certain you are taking the same medications!)

I did due to the exact same problem. I only took it for the first trimester but actually didn't help me that much. I'm 22 wks now & never felt the urge to take them once the sickness went away, I don't think this paticular sleep aid is addictive. As far as long terms affects, I was told it is 100% safe.
Hope your feeling better soon! My morning sickness went away at about 15 weeks : )

I don't trust that any drug is safe, since later they often find that ooopps, we were wrong....like thalidamide in the '60s.

I found THE best calcium which knocked me out at night, AND it's only $15. It helped me get better sleep. I also bought Linum B6 from Standard Process and took 3 of thos at night, since I couldn't take them in the am - both are ALL natural - just a calcium/magnesium and the other is a flax based B-6, so it doesn't get peed out right away. I felt better within a day and the nausea was gone within a few days.

www.worldlifesupplements.com

http://www.nationaldiscountvitamins.com/details.cfm?Group...

Good luck.

You may want to try acupuncture. There are no negative side effcts at all.

Congratulations on your pregnancy! I had the same problem when I was pregnant -- had to go to the ER for severe dehydration as well. My doctor put me on Zofran, which I used sparingly, just to get over the worst of the nausea. Then I switched to a combination of Unisom and vitamin B-6. If I'm remembering right, I took half a Unisom and 50 mg of B-6, and I did this on a fairly regular basis for maybe 6 weeks. It definitely helped, meaning I was able to keep food down, though I was still nauseated but not as badly. I had no negative side effects, and my 17-month-old son is completely healthy. Good luck!

Hun, you don't just have nausea and vomiting. From the sounds of it, you have Hyperemesis Gravidarum. And yes, a lot of times zofran 2x/day doesn't quite cut it. HG can be life-threatening to both mother and baby so it's critical that you get the medical support that you need.

Please do some reading on www.helpher.org. There is also a forum there of women who are going through the same thing and women who have been through what you are going through. It's a valuable source for support and information. They are part of the reason that I can say that I am an HG survivor.

I've been there. Please get the help that you need. If the zofran pills aren't working, look into getting the zofran pump. That delivers a steady stream of the medicine so you don't go through the ups and downs as it wears off periodically throughout the day. It sounds like that might be a problem right now for you.

For me, my protocol looked like this: Zofran pump with 24 hr subcutaneous drip, benadryl, meclazine, occaisional fluids.

You are not alone. You can make it through this. You just need support of your doctors and other women who have BTDT.

(((hugs)))

Edit to add: Yes, the Unisom in combination with B6 has been helpful to many women as a part of their protocol. I will be using that in my "next time" protocol.

I second the other mom's suggestion of using acupuncture. It will help your body regulate ITSELF to combat the nausea, rather than adding some chemical with unknown long-term side effects from the outside. Classical homeopathy is also effective.

I took bendectin which is unison and b12 combined. My doctor prescribed it and I took it my entire pregnancy. I felt much better during the day. I didn't have any problems sleeping after the baby was born....too tired not to sleep :). My baby is healthy. Good luck!

I tried it with my first pregnancy. It didn't work and I was miserable. The second time around I had a prescription for a VERY strong anti-nausea medication(taken at night to help me sleep). It was the only way I could get thru it. Eventually I was able to stop all medications without a dependence on them.
GL!

Hi and congrats!
Yes, I took 1/2 a Unisom pill at bedtime and it totally took the nausea away. I didn't use it after my first trimester since my nausea went away. I was a high risk pregnancy with being 37 and a type 1 diabetic so I had a really great doctor. Even so, I have to admit that the idea of taking a sleeping pill, something I would never normally take even when I wasn't pregnant, scared me at first! Once I took it I couldn't believe how great I felt not being nauseous all the time.
At the end of my pregnancy I did end up with preclampsia and got induced early, but I'm sure that didn't have anything to do with the Unisom....just my other issues. My daughter is perfectly healthy and at 6lbs 11 ozs. was a great weight for being a few weeks early.
I personally have told many people about taking Unisom and if your doctor recommends it then I say go for it.
Good luck whatever you do!
~T.

Have you tried the wristbands that they sell for motion sickness?

I tried everything that was non-medication and it didn't work. The only thing that worked is the unisom and vitamin b6 combo. I didn't try reglan or any of the other drugs b/c the doxylamine and vitamin b6 have been studied in pregnancy for over 40 years and in fact it's the only combo approved for NVP (nausea and vomiting in pregnancy) in Canada. It is safe. There have been lots of studies and no increase in the risk of birth defects or other side effects in the baby. I did this with both my pregnancies. First one starting at 11 weeks and the second one starting at 7 weeks and had to take it through the entire pregnancy since I was lucky to have NVP the entire time. The unisom stopped the vomiting but didn't cut the nausea completely. That was good enough for me. Being dehydrated is dangerous. Take a look at Motherisk.org. Zofran is often prescribed too but it's only been on the market for 5 years and there have been no studies in pregnant women. I know people who have taken it and their babies are fine and I'm sure it's fine but I felt more comfortable with the unisom an vitamin b6 combo since it's been used for 40 years and studied more than any other anti-nausea medication in pregnancy.

I was very irritated when people would tell me to do sea bands or acupuncture as that didn't work. Everyone is different and every pregnancy is different. If you call Motherrisk they can also talk to you about dietary things you can do - like don't drink liquid with food as it sometimes can upset an already upset stomach. Every little bit helps.

Good luck!

Just to be clear I am talking about the unisom TABS not the gels (that is a different medication). The tabs are doxylamine.

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes and Yes. Half a Unisom and a 50 mg B6 at bedtime. Miracle mixture!

Rather than taking medication, you might consider one of those bracelets that puts pressure on your wrists to stop the nausea -- this is one of the websites I found -- might be worth a try: http://www.dailygrommet.com/products/156-Psi-Bands-Acupre...

Otherwise, you could plug in "anti-nausea bracelets (correct spelling) or you can probably buy one in your local pharmacy -- ask the pharmacist.

For me it would be worth a try.