Morning sickness at 14 weeks - is medication the best option ?

[Jess90b]

I imagine this has been discussed so many times but i am 14 weeks pregnant with my first pregnancy and every weekend since week 5 has been taken over with sickness. Especially in the heat, no tips and no particular foods are working. I am very greatful to still be able to work in the week but I know I am not drinking enough and not feeling as strong as I thought i would - i always imagined it would feel empowering - but it's actually incredibly hard.
I've heard of anti sickness medication like cyclizine - does anyone know if these are safe - I know they have have got it wrong before and they have caused deformities - is this drug the best option or is pushing through better for the baby?

Did anyone have sickness up to week 14 and then have it stop or is it likely I will continue to feel and be sick at least twice a day?

It would be worth having a chat with your gp. They will likely put you on cyclizine initially- it works for some people but can make you very drowsy. All medications prescribed now for morning sickness are safe. There are many other drug options.

It's likely that when you reach about 16 weeks the nausea and sickness will decrease as the placenta takes over.

The meds that the GPs prescribe are safe, usually cyclizine, prochloazepine, or ondanstron (usually the best) and shown to have very few/any effects. The placenta takes over at 10 weeks too so if you’re still struggling at 14 weeks then it may be worth seeing if you can get any medication. I have heard that ice lollies or tinned fruit juice (like drinking the syrup from the tinned peach cans) is the really good for keeping something down. I know how horrible sickness is though, I suffered with HG until 24 weeks.

I've been on Cyclizine since week 7. At first I was taking it as and when until about week 16 when I had to be signed off work when I couldn't keep fluids down - I was told by the GP I needed to take it 3 times a day and rest. I still have sickness now at 20 weeks but its much reduced. Cyclizine is a first line treatment and doesn't work for everyone, luckily for me it has, however I am struggling to get off it.

Def have a chat.. no matter how physically sick you are, you can still get very dehydrated if you aren’t taking in enough fluids. I have HG & started taking Ondansetron. It stopped a lot of the vomiting but I was still desperately struggling to drink much at all. I’ve been in hospital 3x now for dehydration.

I’m now taking a stronger dose on Ondansetron & Metaclopromide, together they are helping me feel more human.

That said, 14 weeks is your step into the second trimester & it’s the point I last time started to feel a bit better. I wasn’t great until 20 weeks but it eased off a fair bit between 14-20 weeks. Fingers crossed the same for you! I think the 12 week thing is a bit of myth for many woman, your hormones are still high at that point!

Hang on in there. It should (hopefully) get better very soon.

I've had 4 children and had hyperemesis with each one and never taken medication. 14 weeks was still really really bad for me. Even reading these paragraphs would have made me feel ill.

By 15 weeks I could see light at the end of the tunnel. Every day from then I felt just a tiny bit better. By 19-20 weeks there were still things were making me feel a bit queasy, but things were almost back to normal. I was even going out for family meals again.

I know 4-5 weeks feels like a lifetime away, but every day from now should get better 😘

Thank you for such supportive help ! It's so good to know your not doing something wrong and other people go through the same :)

I know 4-5 weeks feels like a lifetime away, but every day from now should get better

Not for everybody, sadly. I found my first one particularly tough because everyone kept saying “oh, it’ll get better from week 12/16/20...” and then I’d get there and feel as bad as ever.

Cyclizine is really safe, OP. Safer than dehydration if you can’t drink enough.

I had hyperemesis with both pregnancies and was on cyclizine from about 5/6 weeks up until I gave birth. Safe to use. I think if you aren't getting enough fluid it would be worth going to GP and asking about medication just so you don't dehydrate