Nausea Help

Have her take her prenatals before bed.

Small frequent meals, they should all include a protein.

Hope she is feeling better soon!
M.

Nausea sucks. I have two suggestions. The first, you already alluded to: eat small meals frequently throughout the day. If she can keep her blood sugar level even, that will help greatly with the nausea. Think 6 small meals rather than 3 large ones.

The second suggestion is ginger. It will help the nausea in most forms -- gingerale, ginger tea, ginger candy, chewing fresh ginger root, etc. I used to keep a container of that pink pickled ginger (like you get with sushi) in the fridge. When I got nauseous I would grab a pinch and eat it -- and it kicked the nausea every time.

I tried all the suggestions already given, including the meds. Nothing worked for me. But she should try them anyways, just in case one or a combo of them works for her.

Best advice:

Flinstones Chewable vitamins before bed (that was the only vitamin I could hold down)
Lots of fluids
Stay away from dairy or anything oily
Try fruit smoothies, I was sometimes able to keep that down
Plain noodles with salt and pepper stayed down for me.

My friend used seabands. People use them when their going out on boats...to help with see sickness It didn't stop the nausea, but it helped. J.

Preggie pops, anything with ginger, sucking lifesavers (the fruit flavored ones), sucking lemon drops, seasickness bands.

Hi E.,
Have her take her prenatal vitamin at night before bedtime. My cousin suggested this for me and it really helped the nausea from the vitamin. The only thing that really helped me was eating bread and drinking coke - regular not diet. She also might want to try the sea sickness bracelets - they sometimes help.

Good luck!

I really understand what she is going through. I suffered with nausea throughout my whole pregnacy. Unfortunately, she will have to find her own remedy, because everyones system is different. She can try pretzels throughout the day and try drinking gingerale right before she eats a meal. I also suggest lemons throughout the day. One thing that helped me also was to prepare a glass of water with fresh lemon before I went to bed. I would put the glass of water and lemon on my night stand and drink it as soon as I woke up in the morning. I hope the nausea ends soon for your friend.

I was very sick during my pregnancy and was told to drink 8 oz. of plain Himalayan Goji Berry juice mixed with 40 oz. of water throughout the day. Once I started doing that, the nausea went away. I found the juice at Whole Foods but I'm sure it's available at most grocery stores. Best of luck!

Hi E.,
that poor woman! I sucked on (ate) sunflower seeds. I think the salt helped me or just eating sucking on something.
Good luck to her!

There were three things that helped my nausea: Stash Peppermint Tea, all the time, the ginger that comes with sushi (if you have cucumber rolls, you can eat the sushi too), and beef (specifically McD's Happy Meal hamburger). The last one makes no sense, but it helped, lol.

Start with the tea. You can bring some into the office and she can drink it all the time.

Good luck!

A vitamin B shot was the only thing that worked for me. Didn't have it for the first one and made a world of difference for the second one ; )

I am sorry to hear about your co-workers struggles with nausea. It's awful. I had it really bad with my first pregnancy and tried everything and nothing worked but doxylamine and vitamin b6 combo and that just stopped the vomiting but I was still nauseated but at least wasn't comatose between the bed and the bathroom like I had been for weeks. This second pregnancy I got on it a lot sooner and it has worked very well. You can find out more info here. It's perfectly safe and is the only ingredients approved in Canada for the treatment of NVP (Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy). It has been used and studied for more than 40 years. Tell her to ask her doctor about it b/4 she does it but it's perfectly safe. My first OB hadn't heard of it but the specialist I was seeing had and said it was great and my OB during my current pregnancy told me to do it and that it's perfectly safe. I'm over 7 months and still on a small dose of it and with my first pregnancy I had to take it to the very end. Only giving birth cured me of the nausea. I just got too dehydrated, so water or fluid of any kind is also VERY important but it's hard to keep down if you are really nauseated.

http://www.motherisk.org/women/morningSickness.jsp

Mother Risk also has a hotline that is open to Canadian and US pregnant women. It's free and they are very knowledgeable and helpful.

Good luck to her! What a nice concerned colleague you are!

I ended up in the hospital twice, dehydrated and very weak. Not good for me or baby. I couldn't keep anything down.....Long story, short....I took medication! It saved me and my beautiful darling girl. You're not getting any nutrition, and neither is your baby. Talk to your doctor about meds.

watermelon and if not that then Zofran. lifesavers!

If she's seriously struggling and uncomfortable, she should share this with her ob/gyn and discuss going on temporary disability until she settles down in the 2nd trimester. I took 6 weeks disability with my second child as I really wasn't very helpful to my co-workers when I was running to the bathroom to vomit every half hour and miserable. Plus, the stress is very unhealthy for both her and the baby.

Hi E.,

My girlfriend was the same way! She sipped ginger ale and nibbled on crackers and pretzels. Another thing that helped us both was a candy called "Preggo Pops" (either in lollipop or hard candy form) that we could suck on to settle our stomachs. We found those in our maternity store. Plain mashed potatoes are usually easy to keep down too.

Good luck and I hope she feels better!

Plain saltine crackers! Works every time!

Those prenatal vitamins can be tough on her stomach...can she take it a)...at night? that helps others, or b) can she use a pill splitter and take it in pieces throughout the day? the trick is to keep food in her stomach....like bread or crackers or toast or oatmeal before you put any pills to test. :) Good luck....

Has she tried the wrist bands that are used to prevent motion sickness? It is not a medicine, so it's worth a try!

I had BAD morning sickness AND migraines, 24/7, with BOTH my pregnancies. With my 1st pregnancy, I had had the morning sickness for 4 months, before I had acupuncture. With my 2nd pregnancy, I got treated earlier. :)

The ONLY thing that helped me was acupuncture. Recommended by my OB/GYN.
Just 1 half-hour session and it was all gone, completely!

Of course, see an Acupuncturist that handles pregnant women.

All the best,
Susan

I suffered with Hyperemesis Gravidarum which sounds like what your friend has based on your description. The things that helped me were Zofran, fluids, benadryl, and meclazine.

Go to www.helpher.org to learn more about HG and what can be done to treat it. The biggest concern at this point for your friend is probably dehydration. It's amazing how much better I felt when I got fluids at the hospital.

Hi E.,
I feel for your friend. When I was pregnant I had nausea 24-7 since the 3rd week until about the 13th or 14th week. I didn't throw up that much - only twice a day, ha, ha - but I did feel nauseous all the time. I am also lactose intolerant so eating proteins was a bit of an issue. I had a hard time taking my prenatal vitamins as well, specially Omega 3. At the end I decided that it was more important being able to eat something than taking the vitamins. Tell her to try different brands. The one that worked better for me was Citranatal, although it is expensive. Also, drinking water was an issue for me. I tried very hard to drink at least a couple of glasses a day, but it made me really sick. So I started drinking ginger ale or Seven Up. It help a little although I have to diluted it with water because sodas are too sweet for me. Eating salty crackers also helped me. I could tolerate peanut butter, so I ate toast with peanut butter and jelly. At least peanut butter has proteins. I was also able to keep down chicken soup and split pea soup, and in a good day I could even eat roasted chicken and rice. Tell her to be patient that sooner than later the nausea will be gone and she will be able to enjoy her pregnancy - although she might not be able to drink ginger ale again, yikes.

I think what helps nausea is very individual. I had it very bad and the only thing that helped at first was medication. Then I found that pineapple worked amazingly for me. I also used a thing called preggy pop drops. You can find the pops or the drops at just about any Motherhood Maternity. I have also heard that watermelon and popsicles worked for others. Not so for me, though. I hope she is able to find what works for her, and congrats on her pregnancy. As you know motherhood is the most amazing gift.

Hi E.,
When I was pregnant with my daughter it really helped me to sip gingerale - Vernors was best... cold.. and graham crackers instead of saltines.

My sympathies to your friend! I had hyperemesis with my second son and I know how horrible that nausea can be. I agree that she'll just have to try a bunch of things and see what works. For me what worked best was chewing on peppermint chewing gum.

It ended up that the high levels of progesterone caused me to get severe acid reflux, and once that was figured out I took anti-acid meds like Zantac, and the nausea subsided substantially. So if regular remedies don't work, she might ask her doctor about the possibility of acid reflux. It's more common in pregnancy than people realize. By the way, my second son was born totally normal despite taking the meds. In my first pregnancy I refused all meds, even tylenol, and that son was born with developmental delays. So I think the anti-acid meds are safe.

I hope she finds something that works!
B.

I had a similar issue starting when I was about 6 weeks pregnant. With my doctor's blessing, I took pills called Morning Sickness Magic (the main ingredient is ginger). You can buy them at stores like Henry's or online at: http://www.morningsicknesshelp.com/morning-sickness-magic...

I took them about 2-3 times a day and they worked for me (and my girlfiend who took them this year during her first trimester). Good luck to your co-worker!

I'm 15 weeks and still suffer from nausea. About 2 weeks ago, after trying EVERYTHING - including every anti-nausea med - I was about to get the Zofran pump "installed" on my leg. As a last ditch effort I tried acupuncture, at the suggestion of someone on this wonderful site. It works! It helps for a few days at a time and I'm finally getting out of the house, eating and drinking water without throwing it up! I do still get sick occasionally...but every few days as opposed to after every sip or bite. I found that along with the acupuncture sucking on ginger chews and some of the other methods actually help.
I also found out my insurance covers a portion of acupuncture for hyperemesis so have her check with her insurance.

very small meals as often as her body will tolerate..large meals will make her nausea worse. Vitamin B6, Ginger and anything sour can help too.

Ask her doctor to put her on Zofran and see how that works. It's a prescription medication used frequently by pregnant women for extreme nausea. I went through the same problem with my pregnancy from week 6 all the way through BIRTH and Zofran was used once or twice a day through my entire pregnancy safely. My baby turned out perfectly. The vomiting was greatly reduced to approximately 3 times per month as opposed to 12 times per DAY which ended me up in the hospital (the ER doc is the one who first prescribed it at 6 wks, and my OBGYN continued with my prescription through month 10.). Good luck.

The normal prescription nausea meds and home remedies never worked for me. I was sick all day long, nothing helped. My ob/gyn ended up prescribing a Unisom/B6 cocktail, which actually worked! I'm not sure what the science is behind it, but I am very sensitive to any extra estrogen hormone (which made the nausea stick around for about 6 months) and a half of a Unisom and 25 mg dose of B6 worked for me. Of course, have her talk to her doc first to get the okay.

i suffered from severe morning sickness like hers and my dr started me on promethezine and that didnt work then he gave me zofran. unfortuantly neither worked on me but they may help your friend. i was in and out of the er for dehydration. also i dropped 20lbs in the first 4 months of pregnancy and only gained 15lbs back when i delivered an 8lb 15oz baby girl!. have her ask her dr about these meds. she needs to tell him that she cant keep anything down. what i had to result to is eating whatwasnt horrible comming back up- ie- peanut butter lol. pop cicles are great too. also lemon water (real lemon), and mint helps (life saver kind). hope this helps her.

Ginger, ginger, and more ginger. At maternity stores or baby stores they sell ginger lolly pops, or make ginger tea or get it from the sushi dept at the store.

Good luck.

Everyone is different - this is what helped me:
candied ginger under my tongue (Trader Joe's has it)
hot cinnamon candy really helped me
seasickness wrist bands with the pressure points
eating a saltine BEFORE I even sat up in bed - ate it as soon as I woke up
Prenatal vitamins will make you feel sick even on a good day. Maybe try taking it at night?
Also - do not drink any liquids with your food - have them at a separate time
Wish her luck and health
K.

Ok this helped me I drank tea with ginger in it. I would chop up the ginger then boil the ginger in water. Also tell her to stop taking the prenatles for just a couple of weeks the nausea stops at about 13 weeks. Goodluck

I was having hard time during my early weeks due to all the time nausea and sickness and managed it with the help of an organic tea no to morning sickness tea.

Hi E.,

I had horrible "morning" sickness for 4 mos (I had it 'round the clock!). with my first child and 7 mos with my second. I found that eating frequent, small protein-rich snacks (not even meals) helped a lot in terms of keeping down "real" food. I also nibbled on chrystallized ginger and sucked on fresh lemons throughout the day to quell the nausea. The most important thing I found, though, was to not wear anything snug around my waist and to get plenty of rest throughout the day. I resorted to eating at my desk at work and using my lunch and break times for taking naps.

Good luck to your friend! Her obstetrician should be keeping track of this and offering recomendations, too.

Hey E.,
Some things that my doctor suggested to me were to have a little piece of fruit (such as a few grapes) and some crackers before I got out of bed. Additionally, if she could have a little protein before going to bed, that will help as well. Perhaps a small spoonful of nut butter. The worst part of morning sickness is often a result of low blood sugar.
Some additional things that I found that helped were Sea Bands which can be purchased at any pharmacy. They are basically wrist bands that press on an acupressure point that helps control nausea. Finally, ginger tea and crystallized ginger really helped to settle my stomach.