Anti-nausea medication - how long does it take to work?

[stroan]

I’m about 9 weeks and have had awful nausea for 3 weeks. I’m struggling to function because every movement and every smell makes me heave. All I can eat is bread which in turns makes me bloated and achy. I’m dehydrated because most drinks so far have also made me retch and gag.

The doctor is happy to let me try different medication- I had Avomine for 10 days and it made no difference at all. I’m now trying Stemetil but after 3 days there’s still been no change.

I’ve to call the doctor to get something else but not sure how long I should be trying the medication for? If anyone has had any success, how quickly did you feel better?

I’m also on the lowest dose but not sure if it’s sensible to try more without the doctors agreement - the recommended dose is 3 a day and I’m on 1 a day.

If you’re only heaving and gagging but managing to keep food and drink down (whatever they may be) then your GP is unlikely to want to give you a lot of medication.

That said, there are a selection of medications available. Stemetil is the first line, followed by metronydozol and then ondansetron. You can be on all three simultaneously, which managed to control the vomiting in my case, but there are some pretty grim side effects.

If you can’t cope then I would speak to your GP about increasing your dose, but steadily, to balance the side effects.

I was given prochlorperazine 3mg dissolving in your gum for nausea/vomiting. Didn’t help too much. They upped the dose to 5mg and prescribed me cyclizine which has been great! Can take them both 3 times a day. Hopefully you feel better soon! X

If you are struggling to drink and risking dehydration like you say - I had no trouble getting medication.

On 1 a day no wonder they aren't doing much though - first thing to try would be upping the dose. What does it say about the dose on the prescription label - if it says up to 3 a day then you're ok to take that much without going back to the GP. If it only says one on the label, then 3 would be taking more than you've been prescribed and you should go back.

I'm on a combination now - but I've always seen an improvement within a day or two of a new drug although it can keep getting better for more days than that.

What you're experiencing is normal... and awful. I actually never vomitted, bar one time, with DC1. But with all 3 kids, my nausea, gagging, and heaving was just non-stop. It's brutal, isn't it? The worst form me was evening and night-time (trying to cook for a family with 'morning sickness' in the evening... ugh).

You will likely get a rest between week 10-11 (it's common for the nausea to totally stop for a week or two). Then it comes back until weeks 12-14 (mine always stopped around weeks 14/15, then plain sailing).

No advice on meds. My GP was reluctant to offer me anything, but then again, my pregnancies are not recent, so things have probably moved on.
No advice. Just a hand-hold and a 'it's normal' sympathy hug. Congratulations! At least the nice thing about the nausea is knowing that it's because you've got a healthy baby growing! It's a bit of comfort knowing this.

Hiya,

I'd recommend trying to get Cyclizine or Ondansetron. Ondansetron being preferred as it works within 30 minutes and lasts about six hours (although the pharm label will say eight hours).

Both strong and not to be used long-term, but neither is contraindicated with pregnancy. Ondansetron is actually recommended.

Don't take metoclopromide, the side effects can be a bit nasty.

@teddyreddy the label says 3 a day so I can try that. The doctor just said he didn’t have much experience of prescribing it at a higher dose so wanted me to start on 1.

@thevanguardsix brutal is right! I can’t actually set foot in the kitchen just now, thankfully DH is being wonderful. But poor DD - I was so desperate that this pregnancy wouldn’t impact her too much and now she has a Mum who can barely move.

I had nausea until 16 weeks with DD, but not as bad as this. Avomine helped last time and isn’t even taking the edge off. I’m counting down the days and trying not to sob every time someone says “morning sickness”. If only!

I was prescribed cyclizine which worked within an hour or so of me taking the first tablet. It did make me sleep a lot for the first couple of days taking it, however that could have just been me catching up on sleep due to being sick twice an hour as a minimum even through the night.