Nausea - what to do?

Rabbitheart15

So, since nausea is already kicking in for some of us and will follow soon for lots of others (but some escape! lucky you!), I thought we should collect advice here. Maybe ask the good Bump people to make it sticky?

What tips have you heard? What worked for you, what didn't? Any questions on nausea? Share, share, share!

Rabbitheart15

I've got nothing Google couldn't tell you, but here I go.

* Start your day by eating before you get out of bed. Keep a water bottle and some crackers or other light snacks on your nightstand. Eat and wait five minutes before you get up. That should settle your stomach down.

* Keep snacking. Eat tiny portions of whatever it is that you can stomach (healthy = a bonus, but don't feel guilty if that doesn't work out right now). This may seem weird, but an empty stomach will make you feel just as bad and will make puking even worse.

* Ginger. Eat it, boil tea from it, sniff its scent, take supplements (discuss with your healtcare provider). I tried it, it didn't work for me, it might work for you.

* Use your wrist. According to some, you can use the pressure points on your wrists against nausea. This is how these Sea Bands work. A free alternative is just massaging your wrists the right way or make your own wrist band. More info here and here.

* Take care of yourself. Easier said than done, especially if you've got other kids to take care of. But getting enough sleep and resting well during the day may get you some relief.

* Look at your prenatals. Take them later in the day, preferably after dinner if you're able to keep your food down. Consider with your doctor if taking prenatals without iron is an option. Make sure your vitamins contain enough B6, which is supposed to help against nausea. Considering skipping the prenatals altogether? Consider a Vitamin B complex instead, containing B6 - B9 (folic acid) - B12 (also important during pregnancy). But please, discuss this with a professional.

* Brush your teeth. Seriously. Pregnancy is hard on your teeth, and puking will make things worse. Brush 'm.

Most importantly: don't feel guilty if you can't eat much, let alone healthy stuff. Your baby doens't need much nutrients right now. Your body will have stocked up the necessary ingredients for your baby. You will make up for this in 2nd and 3rd tri!

ACleanLife24

Homemade chicken stock with salt... lots of good nutrients, easy to get down (not to horrible looking coming up), and electrolytes to keep you hydrated

katekat8721

Everything Rabbit said. If that doesn't work, you can ask your OB for Zofran. The downside to that is that it can cause constipation (which you'll also get later in pregnancy, sucks).

I had m/s from 5 weeks to 20 weeks and threw up damn near every day. It was awful. Around 18 weeks a new OB I saw recommended taking Unisom/B6 and it was the ONLY thing that worked for me.

KMKaiser07

Saltines were a life saver with my first. I kept some everywhere around the house.

blueeyedrose86

Last time I drank morning wellness tea (ginger) and it helped. I've heard good things about nux vomica, but I don't have first hand experience with it. I'm going to try it this time.

Edit because typing is hard

skruhmin

My miracle cure for my second pregnancy was the Unisom/B6 pair.  The Unisom has to be the doxylamine succinate (25 mg/dose) - start with 1/2 a tab and work up to a full one if needed.  And B6 is 50-100mg.  Thankfully the nausea has been tolerable this go around but I'm about to pick up my just-in-case meds.  (And FYI if that stops working, there is no shame in using Zofran - just ask your OB/Midwife for a prescription).  Other things that have worked for me are salt and vinegar chips and jolly ranchers.  Good luck!

Smom901316

Ginger and Ritz Crackers were my go to for the first half of my day for the first 10 weeks last time ... and we are looking like I am going that way again.

Something that helped me when I felt the nausea come on ... smelling coffee beans. 

I would keep a baggie of medium roast coffee beans in my purse and the smell helped clear my head and settle my stomach ... I SWEAR BY IT 

jess9802

Ditto the coffee beans/grounds. 

Early in my last pregnancy I used sour candies and crackers before getting out of bed, but ultimately the morning sickness progressed to throwing up after nearly every meal and I felt terrible. Zofran was a lifesaver - but oh, the constipation. Awful.

skruhmin

jess9802 said:

Ditto the coffee beans/grounds. 

Early in my last pregnancy I used sour candies and crackers before getting out of bed, but ultimately the morning sickness progressed to throwing up after nearly every meal and I felt terrible. Zofran was a lifesaver - but oh, the constipation. Awful.

If you find yourself on Zofran, definitely use a stool softener.  Major life saver (the constipation resulted in more nausea).

KristieA

Lemon drops, mint tea, ginger tea and a lot of bland foods

Gk2688

My nausea is getting worse by the day (week6)

Gk2688

mholmes92

Ginger, ginger, ginger. I HATED the stuff but with my first I live off ginger ale, ginger gum, ginger candy. Anything with ginger was getting put to use. This time so far it just seems as though I constantly need SOMETHING in my stomach...difficult to do while working but I find those PB crackers are a great quick fix (and I like to think they are better than chips, since we sell both at work I go for crackers lol)

Shazzie116

Eat small amounts of food throughout the day, including protein. I used to do peanut butter crackers or PB on a toasted bagel. Drink lots of water. Rest. Peppermint suckers or ginger chews (Trader Joe's sells them) can help settle your tummy. 

Rabbitheart15

Can we make this one a sticky? Love it if you agree. I think we'll see many nausea threads from now on...

aeh8810

With my first I was never sick, but always nauseated. I lived on lemon everything. It was the only thing that helped.

Also, take your prenatal vitamins at night with food. The only time I threw up was when I took one in the morning and didn't eat fast enough.

skruhmin

Just got my bag of salt and vinegar chips

odh8808

I had the worst sick feeling yesterday ... All day. And it finally clicked that my prenatals were making me feel awful. Take them on a full stomach!!!

Bluebird713

I have this ginger and mint tea called Queeze Ease I found a while back. It tastes really good, to me at least but then I like ginger and mint. It works for me.

ACleanLife24

I have been downing the firey ginger beer.... its a Jamaican drink that is also big in the UK (large population)...

I have only been craving fruit and meat so I don't feel bad getting the full sugar made one and having a glass here and there.  There is no caffeine and I would rather have a little real sugar than synthetic substitutes. 

meganmarie1087

Preggy pops work for me! I tried everything in the book during my last pregnancy, even Zofran, but Preggy pops were all that worked. Morning sickness has already kicked in big time for me. Flu like feeling all.day.long.

scc1982

Has anyone been prescribed phenergan before? My doctor prescribed it for me, but it's class C so I'm kinda nervous...

ACleanLife24

So FYI... I was at IKEA "NOT" shopping for baby things (I resisted!) and I found these awesome pop makers.  Are a lot easier in my freezer then the typical popsicle forms that have to be right side up.  I plan on doing some fruit/yogurt  and electrolyte ones to get me through when its too hot to eat.

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40308352/

Hullabaloo2016

I've been doing acupuncture since even before I was pregnant and so far, just a little sour stomach every once in a while.  Nothing major.  I've read acupuncture can help with morning sickness.

ljlockwood

Has anyone found that lemon lime Gatorade helps? I have never bought that flavor my whole life, but in the last two days I have made a trip to the store just to buy this flavor. It's full of sugar, but it seems to help my stomach a bit.

Andie41

I did the B6 and Unisom that others had mentioned with my other pregnancies. That at least took the edge off. Other than that, just eat/drink what sounds good to you WHEN it sounds good to you. Hopefully we'll all be on the other side of this by 2nd tri.

Rabbitheart15

@BumpAdmin - can we make this sticky, please?

lawright

I took phenergan for a week in my last pg. It's in the same class of drugs as benedryl. I slept through week 5 of my first pg because of it (and then switched to Zofran.) It's been used for over 50 years and is extremely safe.

CalebsHabibi

I wanted to come here and recommend Preggie Pops. I've had severe nausea every day all day long since Thursday. Preggie Pops are working for me right now, but obviously I can't eat them all day long For one, they've got too much sugar, and for two, they're kinda expensive- you get 21 for ~$6 on Amazon. I'm wondering if Jolly Ranchers would work just as well? That's what they taste like.

There's still the sugar problem so I think I'm going to ask OB for Zofran. I haven't had my first visit with them yet so I don't know if they will prescribe it or make me wait for my appointment, which isn't for 2 more weeks. I'm miserable though.

skruhmin

I forget this every time but if I don't eat protein every 2-3 hours while I'm awake, I get so stinkin' nauseous. I was feeling awful this morning and went and grabbed an egg/cheese breakfast sandwich and within 10 minutes I felt better. I know it feels counter-intuitive to eat when you feel like barfing, but your body is trying to tell you something. Your baby needs you to be nourished.

bagel37

If it's really bad, you can get a pregnancy related nausea medication. I used diclectin and it worked great. But it's a proactive medication, so you continuously take it until your prescription runs out. It's not a proactive like gravol ... Which is not pregnancy friendly. If you can survive... Ginger everything! Lots of water and eating small meals more often. Also, trader joes has this ginger thin cracker/cookies that work wonders. Oh! And ginger mints, also from trader joes

korpisar

A good tip if your prenatal makes you feel sick, take it right before you go to bed. I do this with any vitamins I take as they all make me sick if I am awake 

megzee91

Saltines and "preggie pops" lollipops have helped me. I also picked up some morning wellness tea by Earth Mama Angel Baby since my cousin swears by it and this is her 5th pregnancy.

Edit for spelling

slbaugh65

ljlockwood said:

Has anyone found that lemon lime Gatorade helps? I have never bought that flavor my whole life, but in the last two days I have made a trip to the store just to buy this flavor. It's full of sugar, but it seems to help my stomach a bit.

Lemon-Lime Gatorade helps me too! I'm currently 6w2d and NOTHING sounds good and the thought of eating makes me sick. That has been the one thing which has helped me. I want to try ginger ale but that doesn't sound good at all right now either... I'm hoping this doesn't last too much longer!

lightrox

I keep ginger snaps and ginger ale next to my bed with two boys but with this one I take my prenatals which have ginger in them and a digestive aide and I haven't gotten sick yet. Unison and B6 are what my OB recommends.

Edit: because words are hard

aloucks626

I was just feeling sick during the night (taking my prenatals right before bed), but today the nausea never ended. I feel somewhat hungry but the thought of any specific food makes me gag. Ginger ale and ale 8 (any other ale 8 lovers out there??) have been the only relief for me today. I'm wondering if this is all from the prenatals, or if the ms has started.

OneRainDrop

The second I saw the word nausea, I had to come see all your advice!

With my first pregnancy I felt pretty gross most of the day, but nothing too major, and I wouldn't even say it was a nauseous feeling... more like a constant fog. This pregnancy, on the other hand, is kicking my butt. I am 7 weeks today and starting last Friday I have felt SO nauseous on and off all the time, and get hit with waves of dizziness as well. That, on top of the fatigue and chasing a 2 year old is horrendous. It sucks SO much!

Literally just made a list of all your suggestions. THANK YOU!

eec129

I take unisom at night, eat lots of small meals (mostly carbs) through out the day, and suck on lemonheads and preggy pops. I noticed I get a little sicker during the day while I'm in front of my computer, so I try to get up and take short walks when I can.

roo1oo

Taking unisom tabs at night has really done the trick for me. I was nauseous all day about a week and a half ago and only have some slight breakthrough nausea in the evenings now. I'm still taking B6 but didn't notice it helping at all. FYI diclectin is available in Canada and is basically a Unisom Tab/B6 combo that you can take throughout the day. In the US it JUST came back on the market under a different name. But you can get the same active ingredients OTC by getting Unisom Tabs (NOT the gel caps or anything else, it has to be Unisom Tabs, they all have different active ingredients), splitting them in half, and taking with 25mg of B6. Diclectin is actually 10 mg of each B6 and Unisom. 

Legal note - Of course, talk to your doctor before doing this. 

skruhmin

Unisom/B6 isn't working this time for me so I called the midwife and she's hooking me up with Zofran for the bad days.