5 weeks are already quite nauseous

[Elam12]

I’m exactly 5 weeks today and for the last 3 nights, I’ve been waking up a number of times feeling sick. I’ve managed to slowly eat a ginger biscuit and go back to sleep but last night it didn’t seem to wear off the same, I was awake nearly all night. Then the last three days, I’ve felt a bit ropey when I’ve got up but it’s wore off during the day but not sure about today as I feel much more nauseous than other mornings. This is my first and I am constantly worrying about how much worse I will get over the next few weeks. Read so many stories about people struggling with constant nausea and vomiting. Any further tips for managing this? I wasn’t going to tell work until I was 6+ weeks but it’s looking like I am going to have to share the news with my manager today.

You sound like me I'm afraid. In my case, it turned out to be HG, and only medication could treat it. It went from a few days of nausea on week 5 to a night where I suddenly started throwing up constantly - more than 20 times in a day.

Doctors prescribed me cyclizine until week 12 then I could take ondansetron. Obviously I'm hoping here that you'll just have the nausea and not the awful vomiting! Take a look at Pregnancy Sickness Support, they're v helpful and can help you figure out what level you're at, and what you need to know before speaking to docs.

I told my boss at week 5 as I ended up having two months off, and I'm glad I did. Once they know you're pregnant, you are obviously more protected, and sickness isn't recorded in the same way.

Hopefully you feel better soon - I found nothing except meds and bed rest worked!!

Also this is my first pregnancy too, so I totally understand the having no idea what would come next!

I had sever HG in my first pregnancy but I think it's relatively unusual so don't worry. In the first trimester you're bound to feel sick a bit..often my friends were terrified they would end up like I had when they were sick but they were all fine after 12 weeks. I found the trick in my second pregnancy was to eat low GI food so you keep your sugar levels steady. Try not to get hungry as that made me sick. Poached eggs and beans on buttered wholegrain toast were good. I had oatcakes and full fat milk before bed. You'll be fine OP and hope everything goes well!

I'm currently pregnant with my second and had sickness/vomiting in both. My first was worse than second, I was being sick every day multiple times and feeling nauseous almost constantly. With my second I found that eating little and often helped a lot, going too long without eating made the nausea worse so I made sure to eat a little something every few hours even if I didn't feel like it. There are anti sickness meds you can get from your GP which I had with my first but managed without this time around. Remember it's only temporary and it will go away but I'd definitely ask for anti sickness meds if it gets too much :) x

@Bramblecrumb Sounds like you’ve had a rough ride! How are you feeling now? Did the medication help? I think I’m pre-empting a lot of it but what’s making me feel worse is all the information about symptoms starting around week 6/7, it’s making me think I’m going to be even worse in the next couple of weeks. The nausea has lingered today, just about managed to get through the work day. I’ve been forcing myself to eat small snacks every 3 hours as most people seem to say this can help with nausea.

@Nordione1 Thanks for the recommendations. I think I’m getting really anxious about being very sick with the nausea and potential vomiting starting so early as most articles I’ve read suggest it started around 6/7 weeks.

Don't get anxious. It's completely normal to feel sick and vomit at this stage. The nurses always told me it's a sign you've got a good lively baby! And if you do end up having a bit of a period of sickness at least it's for a finite time. You'll get through it and it's for a lovely reason. Just low GI food and steady blood sugars. I didnt bother with ginger or anything. Eating the right stuff helped me massively in my second pregnancy; I was terrified being pregnant again but just eating away cracked it and it was much better although I still felt a bit sick but it was manageable. Keep busy to keep your mind off feeling sick. Don't get overtired. And don't worry. You will probably be like most mothers and just have it at the start and it will fade. It's not nice but it's do-able!!

Also sometimes the weeks aren't accurate so you might be slightly more ahead than you thought. I don't think there's a set time when morning sickness starts.and probably a week here or there won't make any difference. Don't fret.

I started feeling nauseous at week 4, day after my positive test! People told me I couldn’t feel sick that early on but I definitely did.

It was manageable though and I actually didn’t throw up at all. A few episodes of dry heaving around 10-14 weeks but I didn’t vomit. There were a few days early on where the nausea was really bad but most of the time it was just annoying rather than horrific. So try not to worry because feeling sick at 5 weeks doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be an awful ride.

5 weeks is good! At 5 weeks I had already been to hospital once to be rehydrated on a drip. It may continue on in a standard morning sickness fashion or it may develop into HG. There are anti nausea medications that can help, see your GP.

I had awful nausea from about 4 to 20 + weeks but wasn't actually sick very much. Unfortunately I gained a lot of weight, particularly first pregnancy, as the as the only thing that relieved it was eating stodge. I found it much, much worse when tired so made sure to rest, harder with second baby. I managed to not take a single day off work but regret that now. I should have been kinder to myself.

@RosiePH That’s certainly reassuring to hear. It seems to have drilled into my head that feeling sick early will result in much worse symptoms as the weeks go on. I hate the constant nausea feeling and tonight I’ve got the added extra of heartburn.

@TwoLeggedGrooveMachine Thanks for your input. I think the tiredness isn’t helping as the last four nights have involved a few times waking feeling sick and then it’s been taking me over an hour to fall back asleep. Did you take anti-sickness tablets for the nausea during the 4 - 20 weeks?

@Elam12 It's easy to say but try not to stress - take it 1 day at a time. Everyone's different & you never know what your pregnancy will bring.

I was in a similar boat to you in that I started feeling really sick; all day, every day, at 5wks, but rarely actually threw up - it was odd.
I managed to function most days & kept working but it was definitely tough at times - I kept a stash of ginger biscuits, cream crackers & oranges in my desk drawer & in the car!
I lived on plain carbs like jacket potatoes, bread & butter and, bizarrely, bowl upon bowl of Rice Krispies with ice cold milk!!
It all eased off, finally, at around 16wks & then I more than made up for it!!

So, who knows? Stock up on ginger biscuits & take it day by day! Good luck!!

First and second pregnancy sickness started at 5-6 weeks. I was having time off work by 7 weeks. 3rd pregnancy sickness started at 4 weeks and now 7 weeks and on the edge of needing time off work but it's fatigue rather than being sick that's kicking me. I'm being sick once a day in the other pregnancies I couldn't any keep food down by now, so it starting early isn't necessarily a sign of things to come. I still don't feel out of the woods yet weeks 7 and 8 were when the sickness ramped up with the other pregnancies and I couldn't sit up.