PLEASE HELP - aversion to ALL food

[LittlePeaPod]

Hoping the experienced MNs can help me. First time mum to be and I am really struggling and it's really starting to get me down. I need to eat something but I seem to have developed an aversion to All Food . Cant even face the really unhealthy foods we would all love to eat normally. I am just about managing to take my vitamins and drink some fanta or water. The last real meal (if you can call cheese on toast with coleslaw that) I had was Friday night (now Monday morning).

I am 8 weeks tomorrow (1 previous mc) and I am really worried this could affect the baby. Has anyone suffered this in pregnancy and what did you do.. Really need some advice and help.

Hi hun, I had this throughout first trimester until 12 weeks, along with severe vomiting and it was awful.

It does - usually - improve, but some tips I found in the meantime were:

Bran flakes. Small bowls, with some sugar & milk. You can get these reinforced with folic acid so if you can't keep tablets down at least you're getting some. I found the clue was to allow myself to throw up first in the morning, then slowly get these down me ASAP...it did help.

Having ginger biscuits or breadsticks next to the bed for during the night & first thing in morning when I forced myself to nibble them. Allowing my tummy to get empty & acidic made the aversions & sickness far worse.

Frozen grapes. If I couldn't stand anything else, I could manage to suck frozen grapes as they didn't really taste of anything.

After every tiny meal I took Windeze. These are amazing for reducing discomfort & bloating which can really put you off food.

Don't try to eat anything you don't fancy but do keep pushing yourself to try. Avoid strong smells, preparing meals etc. my dr said not eating wont harm baby but not drinking will so focus on fluids

& remember it does pass eventually

Yes and I also remember really worrying when there is nothing you fancy. It is really important to keep having a little and often and learn what works for you. Bland cold food is best.

Feels like it will last forever but it won't I promise. Keep smiling

What happens if you eat something?

I felt nausea towards food but ate anyway. Once I started it wasn't too bad. I got dh to make it & I opened windows or sat outside to avoid cooking smells.

Just found a few things that weren't too bad to face actually felt (slightly) less nausea if i ate regularly.
I ate a lot of jacket potato with beans & cheese.

If you really can't eat think you better see the GP.

Not me, but a friend was like this the whole 9months. She could eat: chupachuos, full fat coke, corn-type crisps (eg doritos) that was it. MW kept telling her to drink water but she'd vomit, eat some bread = vomit. Poor girl just ate what she could and ignored the mw. Baby will be getting all it's nutrients from you - ie stealing what your body has stored
I wouldn't be unduly worried, although as a first pregnancy it's obviously worrying. You may find that you can eat other things once you are into the second trimester. My friend's baby was fine - she also had a dc2 same problems, but same healthy full-term baby.
Congratulations

i had this too, worst in the first tri. i found a cup of smash mash potato for breakfast was the only thing i could manage. a small amount, with added protein powder. ready brek is very neutral too.
then during the day i'd force some sort of chocolate to give me energy. your body knows what it's doing. it won't hurt the baby.

Chupa chups (silly phone!)

Other ideas - Greek yoghurt with fruit, salt & vinegar hula hoops, porridge

Thank you for your replies. I am going to try all your tips. I will try anything at the moment.

Pebble. My tummy clenches up and I start gagging before I have even taken a bite. If I force feed myself which I keep trying I end up been really sick anyway.

Oh I had that. total food aversion. Eventually I realised that I develop lactose intolerance in pregnancy (guaranteed puking), knowing that helped a lot (working out I could eat chocolate & crisps just not cheese or milk).

First pregnancy my best foods were crisps, canned peaches, chocolate & sodas.
2nd pregnancy my best foods were tuna & SV crisps.
Next pregnancy I was garlic averse.
Next pregnancy my best foods were humus & guacamole.

At least you are getting vitamins down.

Poor you. I had this in both pregnancies ( and both children are fine). If you do manage to eat, does it stay down? Staying hydrated is the most important thing. Can you manage water? I used to melt ice cubes in my mouth as anything else made me throw up. You can ask your GP for anti sickness meds, but i found that they didn't help that much, and didn't take away the actual nausea. I ended up in hospital on a drip to get rehydrated. Then, suddenly , at 15 weeks it dissapeared overnight. It was the grimmest time of my.life though, and the absolute worst I have ever felt. People told me to "keep my eyes on the prize" but I felt so rough I barely thought of the baby.

If your condition carries on, then please see your GP, especially if you are not hydrated. Also have a look at Pregnancy Sickness Support. I think you may have hyperemisis gravidarum. There's an ongoing support topic on here in the Pregnancy topic too.

Bless you OP as bikerunski said it does go mine went around 14 weeks, I basically lived off toast, plain jacket potatoes, plain crisps, rice and digestive biscuits until then. Try and eat when you can and drink lots if you can. I was really worried but was told the baby will get what she needs so try not to worry

If you're that sick that you can't keep any food down then you need to see your GP for some medication. The baby will be ok but you won't be, you need to eat.

During my pregnancy with DD I was reduced to sucking ice cubes as I couldn't keep water down. NHS direct told me off when I phoned them and said I must see my GP as I would end up seriously ill - funnily enough an ice cube an hour isn't enough to sustain a pregnant woman . FWIW I was given Avomine which IIRC is a travel sickness rememdy but mainly used for morning sickness these days. It made me sleep so I spent a few days out of it but also allowed me to keep food and water down.

Don't let it linger as you don't want to end up really ill. Please see you GP tomorrow, it's a wretched feeling but there are things they can give you for it.

I lived on chocolate milkshake for the first 3 months, I don't normally drink it but the sweetness helped and it seemed to line my stomach, I lost 6 kilo's during my first 5 months of pregnancy (twins) and was I'll until the end. You totally have my sympathy, pregnancy for me was wretched

The only thing I could stomach was cod from the chip shop (so I didn't have too feel sick with the cooking smells!) with the batter removed.
DH had to stop at chip shop on way home from work every day until I was about 20 weeks.
If you can't even drink water try ice pops
A bag of choc buttons & a bag of peanuts helped too , just one every now and then

Thank you so much... I will try and increase my water as I don't think it's anywhere near enough. I am having about 500ml at most and a couple cans of fanta. I have a MW appointment tomorrow so will tell her and book an appointment with my GP. It's so reassuring to hear others have had this and the babies were fine. Thank you so much..

BikeRun thank you for the link.

Love our baby but making babies definetly isn't easy... Well not for me anyway...

With dd I used to drink complan as I couldn't eat.

I survived on that and plain pasta for the first few months.

With ds2 I was even more ill and couldn't really eat at all. I lost weight in the first 5 months. I couldn't even be around dp eating the nausea was so bad.

Both times at 5/6 months the sickness died down and I developed a ravenous appetite.

It was fine in the end, they were both healthy and I survived! The worst part was the constant headaches from not eating as I couldn't take painkillers.

Remember, the baby will take what it needs, it's you that will suffer but baby will be just fine. Eat what you can for now and just get through these first few months.

You have my absolute sympathy. I've been like this with 4 pregnancies. Each one I found different things to eat and hate.

Keep hydrated with constant sips of cold iced water. If you happen to fancy anything at any time then get it and eat a small amount. Don't go mad. Go to your gp for anti sickness tablets if you can't keep the water down. They don't stop the nausea but once you get some food into your system you tend to feel more human. Stay well clear of cooking and smells. I would vomit the minute the fridge was opened from anywhere in the house it smelt so bad.

I nibbled on plain foods that had no smell. Rice crispies and dry cereals are good, dry bread, a green apple cut up into small pieces. Gradually over time the more I ate the more I could eat and the better I felt. Eat extremely small amounts or you will be sick.

I still have major food versions at 35 weeks but I know that once I give birth it's like a miracle has happened and I'm back to normal instantly. It's very odd and such a relief! For some it all just disappears some point in their 2nd trimester.

I've been there, it was horrid at the time. You'll come out the other side and at some point it will become a distant memory. I used to make smoothies, would take forever to drink but made me feel like I was putting some goodness in. Yogurt, honey, splash of milk and banana was a favourite but you can come up with what ever combination you find easiest to get down. Don't feel bad, baby will be fine and you'll make up for it in 2nd and 3rd trimester. Hope you feel like yourself soon.

It is awful isn't it! I had that for 6 weeks and now at 12 weeks I can pretty much eat normally again. Don't worry it will end! I could half manage a few things if I really tried: mash potato, mini milk ice lollies, salt and vinegar crisps, jacket potatoes. I even resorted to slimfast drinks a couple of times as a source of protein. Protein helps the sickness fade a little so try cold baked beans or peanuts if you can.

If you really can't face anything don't force it down, but do try to eat something every day.

I have been constantly hungry for weeks. Eatinganything and everything but yesterday everything I thought of to eat I just couldn't face it, it was like a switch! Hope you start feeling better soon peapod xx

I sucked on hard boiled sweets until I could face food again. Helped take that disgusting taste out of my mouth. Id not drink Fanta, as its full of sugar and will be filling you up with empty calories. Try some real fruit juice 50:50 with sugar free lemonade instead.

I found that all I could manage were spicy noodles and chicken from Sainsburys. Its all I ate for 3 months. Im sure all that MSG was not good for me, but at least it got me through the worst of it.

Little and often is the way to go - small small portions. YOu could also try crudites with dips, like tzatziki which is fresh tasting, or spicy salsa. I saw yesterday a number of new dips - butternut, beetroot etc...

Eat one or two celery sticks or carrot batons, and then put away for a while.

Drink small cups of water, rather than trying to force 500ml at one time. Just 200ml every 1/2 hour would be better.

You poor thing, I was so glad when this stage passed, no more crying in the supermarket because they have all the food and I wanted none of it. I think you have to find what you personally can stomach and stick with those things for a while. What works for one woman will be seriously vomit inducing in another, so trial and error is the way forward i think. And if you suddenly think about a food and it seems tolerable, quickley eat it before you change your mind!!

My safe foods were: chocolate milkshake (first thing in the morning), jelly, cheesestrings, green apples and toast. Oh and ice in all drinks made them so much more tolerable, anything lukewarm was a huge no no. Either really cold or really hot!

Thank you ladies.

It's awful. All I could eat was fruit and orange juice. Water made me retch. I was prescribed metoclopramide which helped. By 13 weeks I was able to eat again and am cuddling my 3 month daughter. Will never forget how bad the first trimester was though.

Thank you again ladies. Managed to get a last minute appointment with GP today and she thinks I have a form of Hyperemesis Gravidarum. They are going to keep a close eye on me.

Can't remember who mentioned the breadsticks and plain salted baby potatoes. Managed a little of those today which is the most I have had in a number of days. Slowly working through your suggestions and the tips on the link someone kindly sent me earlier in the thread.

Thank you so much.