Night shifts and morning sickness

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I'm looking for advice/ experience on how any of you coped with night shifts and morning sickness.
I've just finished a run of 3 nights and have never felt so awful. I work a mixture of days and nights, am a nurse so they are busy shifts but I do generally get a chance to sit and eat.

I am vomiting every day at the moment but seem to keep majority of food and fluid down. Since this last run of nights I have been unbelievably nauseous and dry heaving 30-40 times a day at least. I feel so miserable and guilty. My sleeping is so out of sync and I don't know what to do to make it better. I'm back on days tomorrow and then nights again at the end of the week.

Extremely unlikely that work would take me off nights, we're very short as it is. Does anyone have any advice?

I'd suggest discussing with your GP - although I don't do night shifts I did have to take time off work as although I was being sick either once or twice a day, eating food and the dry retching was really restricting how much I could eat and I lost weight. If it is having a similar affect on you there is no harm in asking to try anti sickness medication as it is not harmful to take in pregnancy. I tried 2 different medications and the second one I was given was designed much more to counteract the retching as well as reduce nausea and it did start to work pretty quickly and I've been back in work without a single day off sick ever since the second medication started to work.

Other than that I have little suggestions other than try to eat something at least every 1 to 2 hours, break up meals if need be. I found retching was much worse if my stomach was empty. I tried to snack on carbs such as flapjacks, crisps, bread/toast as they tended to keep me going a bit longer than something sugary but I did turn to sugary food like ginger biscuits and mints when I really needed a sugar boost. Hope you start to feel better soon.

Thank you, I'm debating whether to see my gp or not, I feel like I'd be wasting their time at the minute though as I'm still able to keep most food down.

I'm not sure if this is useful or possible, but in my trust you can be 'signed off' night shift when pregnant if it makes you unwell. Just have to go through occ health. Pregnant night shifts were the worst, you have my sympathies!

Im a nurse too, speak with your ward manager and ask her can you do nights when things have settled as you are just not coping with the nausea.
If there funny with you explain that you may end up on the sick if not. Go above them and see your matron.They should give you some lee way surely

Nights are bad enough especially that 4 am hour, i could easily be sick then, never mind being pregnant.

As above suggested to , see advise from GP to maybe start you antiemetics .

You have my sympathy

No amazing advice but a lot of sympathy. I'm 10 weeks pregnant with my second and a junior doctor who does a lot of night shifts. My absolute worst pits of morning sickness have been during nights - being awake at 5am seems to trigger the vomiting centre in my brain and then I'm just stuck in puking hell all day. The only thing that helps me seems to be getting as much sleep as humanly possible between shifts. Please go and see your GP though, you aren't wasting their time. Mine prescribed cyclizine which seems to take the edge off; he was initially reluctant until I referred him to the NICE guidelines so I'd read those before you go!

Nurse here too, I feel your pain having just gone back to work at 15 weeks. Basically having tried to man up and stay at work as I really am not one to be off sick, borking and all , I totally exhausted myself never mind normal early pregnancy exhaustion, faintness etc which just compounded all the other symptoms. I ended up going home one day as I literally couldnt smell people without borking and was struggling to eat, was faint etc.

Reluctantly went to see the GP a week later as needed a sick note and she was like 'why have you made yourself suffer for so long! Take it easy, your growing another human and work will have to cope....heres a months sick note and some cyclizine, you dont need to feel like you do ring me if you need anything'. Honestly I cannot tell you what a relief physically and mentally that rest and medication brought me. When I went to see occy health she said to me 'right, is there anything you dont want to or cant do at the moment because ill put it in my recommendations and conditions of coming back'. I couldnt have been treated better. Also it doesnt count in your normal sickness ie triggering sickness reviews if your off a few times.

Basically I guess im saying look after yourself, the ward will run without you. Speak to your manager and occy health, it might be that they put you on days only for a short period of time until your better. If they dont know its an issue they cant try and help you get through it - and they will want to do anything to keep you at work im sure. Good luck and hope for feeling better soon! X

I was super nauseous and was unable to keep down my meals. Here I entered in the kitchen and nausea and vomiting started vigorously. But, finally I found a remedy that worked wonder and my sickness vanished. No to morning sickness tea was a life saver to me.