Need Diet Suggestions for Severe Morning Sickness - What Worked for You?

she should NEVER leave her stomach empty for too long, but ALWAYS keep it stable with something starchy and light. Crackers by all means, the kind she likes best, plain bread, a bagle etc.. also drink little amounts of fluids at the time not big glasses. As soon as she feels weird she should bite into something and wait till the sickness has gone. For extreme cases, a bag of frozen peas (or whatever) on her stomach will prevent her from vomiting.

I had severe morning sickness.This was over 30 years ago. My dr. suggested raspberry leaf tea. Boil it, then smell it, then sip it slowly. Also the smell of peppermint helped. I kept a cottonball with peppermint extract on it by my bed so I could smell it before getting out of bed. I kept another one in the pocket of whatever I was wearing so I could sniff it when I needed to.

Also, as others have said, one soda cracker can make all the difference. Just keeping the stomach from being empty lessened my morning (all day) sickness.

I had terrible morning sickness with both pregnancies. Once I finally caught on that it's the salivation (and over-salivation) and mucous production (and over-production) that causes the nausea and vomiting, I attacked that problem head-on. Sour patch kids work wonder for the mucous (anything with citric acid works). First thing in the morning before getting up, eat something starchy and whole-grain (cheerios are perfect). Take an allergy medicine to curb the mucous, like zyrtec.

what helped me was eating crackers and sipping soda BEFORE getting out of bed in the AM

Has she tried acupuncture?.. I have a friend and this is the only thing that helped her.. She also had to be on the pump and hated it..
She lost so much weight and was practically bedridden from feeling so ill..

The acupuncture changed her whole pregnancy..

hiding under a blanket for 3 month........I did but not for 3 month, I hated the smell of humans.
Crackers and tomato soup.

I second the accupuncture recommendation, and since you are in Houston, it shouldn't be too hard to find a practitioner. Nothing else seems to be working for your friend. Since she's got nothing to loose, she only stands to gain.

A friend of mine was so sick she lost nearly 10 pounds in her first 3 months and she didn't really have it to lose. She was able to eat almonds and keep those down, and then she moved on to avocado - which is super good for humans and has good fat in it. She ate lots of avocado and almonds once she knew she could keep them down.
Also can she see a naturopath or accupuncturist. My friend saw both who did things that helped.

i felt so sick all the time then some one told me to eat even though i felt sick. so i ended up eating all the time. things like crackers munching on those. if she likes milk shakes or smoothies those can add calories to the little bit. there are some candy that is made especialy for morning sickness. i saw them at our heb plus in the baby section. a few different brands to choose from. although having something in my stomach at all times really helped. the best thing she can do is relax. put it into perspective for her. its just a bit of food and even if she gains onehundred lbs...which she wont weight can always come off for her. just sit back relax and enjoy some healthy snacks and if she feels like having a few m&ms go for it. not an entire bag though. see if there are ways of keeping her relaxed and have fun with her. angel food cake with whipped cream and strawberries are suppose to be low in claories. i LOVE yogart. i eat plain non fat with some frozen blueberries. or pickles, celery, cucumbers are all great to munch on. they dont add much nutrition or chubb. good luck.

I didn't have morning sickness as badly as you describe your friend's, but I did have it for 5 long months. I was given zofran and it did not work at all. My morning sickness was more of the motion sickness variety, so the scopalamine patch worked way better. You put a patch behind your ear for 3 days and it dispenses the medicine that way. It is normally prescribed to chemo patients or people with severe motion sickness. My husband takes it for traveling. The only downside was I had a difficult time telling if the morning sickness was subsiding on its own or if it was medicine still in my body after removing the patch on the third day. By the time I figured out the answer, I usually lost a half day because it would take at least 4 hours for a new patch to kick in, so I would be laid up in bed feeling sick. I also developed a mild allergic reaction to the patch (became super itchy behind my ear!) for wearing it for so many months, but it is a worth a try for your friend. It allowed me to function normally for most of my pregnancy. Foods that helped me were those cheesy peanutbutter crackers, applesauce or apple juice, string cheese, peanutbutter toast, crackers and weak tea. I hope she feels better. I know how awful morning sickness is.
A.

I finally asked the doctor for something to help w/the ALL DAY LONG sickness. I only took a few because they knocked me out and I didn't like that.
I only ate crackers , bagels, selective fruit, nothing acidic etc to get me through that phase when I thought I couldn't hanle anything else. It passed after 3 months then came back w/a vengeance (sp?) my last trimester.

Oh gosh! Poor thing. I was very sick with two of my pregnancies and anyone who hasn't experienced this simply can't understand that it is absolutely debilitating. Honestly, the only thing that helped me keep food down was Zofran. I can't imagine having Hyper Gravidarum and not being on Zofran. I'm not sure anything else will work. Is the nausea/vomiting not worse during her 1st trimester? It was for me. Maybe she should be on Zofran, even though she doesn't want to. Anything she puts in her body should be high in calories, fat and nutritious (although, I'm sure she's very aware of this). The only thing I could even tolerate in the mornings was a slim fast shake. However, I rarely kept them down. I'm sure I got some in me. All of the tricks don't really work; I tried it all (ginger pops, teas, peppermints, crackers, pressure wrist bands, promethazine, etc.). Worthless, I'm afraid. I'm really not giving you much info here other than saying that Zofran might be the only way. If she has the energy to do it, she should make herself protein shakes in the morning filled with fresh fruits, protein powder, kale and other veggies. I often ate plain old mashed potatoes or white bread for dinner. Not so nutritious. I remember tolerating homemade tortilla soup pretty well (plain, however. Chicken, broth, tortilla strips, onion and carrots). By the way, my daughter is a Zofran baby. She is very healthy and developing normally (she's 4 now). I didn't like the idea of exposing her to this drug but I felt I had not choice. Even with the Zofran, there wasn't much weight gain in the beginning and I was a worthless human being, on the couch most of the time. I was able to get off of it about half way through the pregnancy and keep foods down (just felt sick when I ate but stopped throwing up). Doesn't sound like she's quite as lucky. Lastly, I knew a lady with H.G. who had twins. They were Zofran babies too and were completely fine. I really think she's going to need to Zofran to properly nourish the baby. :(

Has she talked to her doctor about IV supplimentaton. I had hyperemesis and that was the only thing that kept me going. Once every few days I had an IV I wold get sick anytime I drank anything.

My SIL had hyperemesis (severe morning sickness) and what helped her the most was 1/2 a unisom and extra vitamin B-6.

I didn't have morning sickness as severe but acupressure helped me. (Chiropractor/acupuncurist should be able to teach pressure points).

For a while I was mixing the infamous soda crackers (saltines) with a high protein boost drink (the meal replacement drinks). I used the crackers to ease my stomach with some really light food and then slowly sipped the boost so that it wasnt to heavy. Not sure if she will be able to handle that but that saved me
I also tried the sea bands with no luck but its definitely worth a try. Some women swear by them and even if they dont work its not like she attempted to eat something and then threw it up
Good Luck to you and your friend

vitamin b6, ginger, sparkling water and anything lemon has been known to help with that. If her prenatals are possibly the cause she can try to switch them or only take folate until the nausea subsides.

...the brat diet for people who have the flu...bananas, rice, applesauce,toast

also anything cold (hot food gives off more scent that contributes to nausea) and bland.

SEA BANDS, they saved my life. I was nauseous 24/7 for 9 months. They are elastic bands that look like sweat bands with a little button on the inside to apply accupressure to just the right spot. It worked so well for me, that when I took them off to shower I practically couldn't get them back on fast enough! They are sold in pharmacies in the section where motion sickness pills are. For me....it wasn't worth the risk to take a med...they are always finding new things that people are having trouble with now because their mother's took something in the 60s & 70s. Also...plain saltine crackers, I took them everywhere with me, and sip ginger ale or water. Start the day with the crackers before you even get up, and then sit up slowly....have another cracker if you need to and take your time. Some times in the late afternoon, I would make a grilled cheese on a tortilla for a little snack to ward off nausea waves while waiting for dinner time. I hope this helps your friend! I have gifted sea bands to other friends who were pregnant, and one undergoing chemotherapy.....helped them with their nausea too!