Nausea/morning sickness.

[VintageCherry26]

I'm sure this has been asked again and again, but I can't find a thread anywhere! I know they suggest eating little and often, but I'm feeling so nauseous 24/7 that I can barely eat,let alone keep anything down! I'm 6 weeks at the moment and its getting worse day by day. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated :)

As someone who is still suffering at 28 weeks I've tried Everything!

I'd say:
Most important, don't let yourself get hungry, always keep crackers/cereal bars in your handbag
Don't drink anything too quickly, or it'll come straight back up
I was told by about 50 million people to eat ginger biscuits/ginger type foods, (they all thought they were the first with that nugget of info!) in my experience it didn't make an ounce of difference.
Get lots of rest I found tiredness made it worse
Now this is a bit controversial but I found if I was feeling really nauseas it was better just to make myself sick, I instantly felt better rather than feeling like crap for hours and then throwing up in an awkward place!

Hope you feel better soon, pregnancy sickness ( I refuse to call it morning sickness because for me it's all flippin day) is rubbish. :(

I found that seasickness wristbands worked for me. I picked some up from the pharmacy and wore them all day, and it kept my nausea at bay. Worth a go.

Sour sweets worked best for me. Sherbet lemons. I even bought some of these in desperation. They're ridiculously expensive but they did help a bit.

Thank you all for the suggestions! I really do appreciate them all and will definitely try them all out! I just want to be eating healthily for my baby but this nausea is really preventing it :(

Don't worry about eating healthily. Eat what you can. That's what my GP told me. If you take an antenatal supplement, you will get everything you need in terms of vitamins and things. You will catch up once you feel better after a few months.

Thank you for the reassurance foxy! I'm taking pregnacare plus, and I also make sure I start the day with a smoothie so that baby and I at least get some nutrients!

I went nuts for salt and vinegar chipsticks; they really helped!

I'd second being sick rather than sitting feeling nauseous for ages though, it's unpleasant but it does make you feel better.

Also, I've found that a lot of my nausea seems to stem from heartburn. Since I started taking Gaviscon tablets I've felt better.

I also ate a lot of salt and vinegar chipsticks/crisps. Sour Starburst sweets were good too, it was weird as I normally have a sweet tooth but when I had HG I wanted sour stuff.
The travel sickness bands helped me, I don't know if they actually did anything but in my mind just putting them on and knowing I was doing something helped.
Don''t worry about your diet, your baby will be just fine - do what you have to to get through the day. I hope it eases for you soon

Actually if you are taking a vit supplement which has iron in it, it might be worth switching to one that doesn't, as the iron can make the sickness worse for some women. Really don't worry at all about your nutrition, at this stage the baby will just drain you of whatever it needs. I can tell you from experience that you can be in a state of clinical starvation in hospital for weeks and weeks on end, kept alive with an IV drip, and the baby will STILL be hale and hearty. With this pregnancy I was in hospital continuously until 14 weeks because the vomiting was so uncontrollable, and I am still throwing up despite medication now at 26 weeks, and the baby is as far as they can tell absolutely fine and in fact hyperactive if anything.

Actually throwing up is v. tempting and can help provided you are only doing so say once a day, twice at the outside. If you are being sick more than that the actual vomiting tends to trigger more vomiting - your body gets in the habit of it basically - and although the nausea is psychologically the absolutely worst part, from a medical point of view it is vomiting that is dangerous (re: dehydration in the short term, starvation in the longer term if you really get it bad). With very bad sickness (hyperemesis) actually vomiting typically only makes you feel better for a few minutes anyway, so really isn't worth it if you can possibly avoid it; with more normal MS you might find you can throw up before work, for instance, and 'get it over with' and feel better for most of the rest of the day.

I don't want to worry you because very bad sickness is unusual, but feeling very ill early on can be a sign of a more severe condition (because the early pregnancy hormones don't reach their peak until 8-10 weeks). Do visit the HG support thread on here, and do see your GP if you are struggling to cope. There are lots and lots of safe medicine options, and it is better for you and the baby to treat early and avoid serious illness rather than end up in hospital (where they'll put you on the drugs anyway). With severe sickness, the 'vomiting cycle' is hard to break once it starts so it's better to avoid it getting a hold.

You say you're taking pregnacare plus vitamins? I stopped taking vitamins as someone suggested they might be making my sickness worse and it did help actually. I know you want the vitamins for your baby but it might help your sickness if you stop, weigh up the pros and cons for yourself before you try it though.

Ah crossed posts. Listen to kalidasa, good advice!

Forgot to say that taking B vitamins helped me, but speak to your doctor/midwife first before taking anything.

Thank you for all the advice everyone :) I'm finding plenty of ginger beer and ginger biscuits is helping a little. And those 'Fisherman's friend' eucalyptus and menthol lozenges are working wonders! The strong minty flavour really helps to keep the nausea away. Although they're only recommended in moderation during pregnancy.

Good woman vintagecherry, basically all you can do is find the stuff that makes you feel a bit better and stick with it. I'm coming up on 9 weeks and living on cans of Fanta, bowls of Kelloggs fruit and fibre and M&S mint assortment. You could always switch to them if you find you are overdosing on Fisherman's Friend . Someone on another thread has mentioned Lucozade Isotonic drinks so I have just sent my husband out for some of those. Like you, I really wanted to eat healthily for my baby but instead it's all about survival now. We can catch up next trimester!

Oh, fruit salads especially melon also go down quite well. Your smoothie idea is a good one too, must give that a go.

Chinaclogs, thank you! I'll definitely stock up on some lucozade :) I really would recommend the smoothies, most count as 2 of your 5 a day so they do really help!

Drugs. I'm near the end of my second pregnancy now and feel bitter that no-one prescribed me anything for my first :( constant nausea is just dire.

I am considering going to the doctor about it soon. Luckily I'm not working at the moment otherwise I couldn't cope. Although I'm getting married in a few weeks and then we're off on honeymoon. I really don't want this sickness to ruin that for me and DP!

Hope you're feeling better today . Just a quick report back on the Lucozade - it definitely works! I've hardly had the energy to even get up for the last week but this morning after half a bottle I managed to wash my hair and do a few basic jobs around the house. Weirdly has helped with the nausea too.
With your wedding and honeymoon approaching, happyvegemites is right that it might be worth trying drugs. I read the NICE guidelines on them yesterday (the guidelines that GPs use to prescribe) and there seem to be lots of totally safe options. You could always make the appointment and get them, then decide later if you want to start them or not. Good luck either way!

Thanks chinaclogs! I'm off out in a bit to stock up on lucozade!! I am a little better today thank you. I felt worse than ever this morning but it's gotten so much better!! I have my midwife appointment next Monday so I'll ask her advice on the medication, I have a doctors appointment a few days after so I can then see if I can get a prescription then. It'd be good to have a trial run to make sure they work before the wedding!! I'm glad you're feeling better today :)