Is morning sickness inevitable? Emetephobe!

[maudesid]

If you saw my last post you will know I got my BFP yesterday, and although it was very much planned I'm in total shock!
For a bit of context I have ptsd which caused an anxiety disorder so my anxiety is pretty high right now, I suffer badly with emetephobia (fear of vomiting) and I am already scared I will get HG or bad morning sickness. Firstly I'm not sure how my mental health would cope and secondly I own a business and work 10 hours a day in a physical face to face job so worried about that.
I just wondered if it's inevitable and how you coped or if some of you had no sickness?

Congratulations! Exciting news for you. I had nausea fairly constantly for approx 14weeks but never vomited or really felt that I would. The nausea was unpleasant though and the only thing that really helped was eating constantly (Which sounds weird - pregnancy nausea can be quite different to normal nausea) so I gained a fair bit of weight! Was easy to lose though.

I know women who’ve had no sickness or nausea so it’s definitely possible. Most women experience anxiety in the early stages of pregnancy and sounds like you have additional reasons to. My advice would be to try to take it all one step at a time, as it’s such a brand new experience that you can’t predict; it’s best to expect the unexpected if that’s possible.

I didn’t have nausea or vomiting at all in any pregnancy.

I'm same, terrified of vomiting. Three pregnancies, never nauseous or sick. It's not inevitable! Good luck with everything

Congratulations on your bfp!

I had constant nausea during the first 17 weeks or so of my pregnancy, but wasn’t sick once. It felt like a hangover that varied in intensity.

Firstly, no not every woman gets pregnancy related nausea and vomiting. Around 70% will get nausea and/or vomiting, which means 30% get neither. A huge number get nausea but never any vomiting or only one vomit ever. So definitely not inevitable!

My mum had none in one pregnancy and only occasional nausea in the other. Personally, I'm 9 weeks and have had only v v little faint occasional nausea. Do you know what your mums pregnancies were like?

If you were to get high levels of nausea or vomiting, there are drugs that can safely reduce these symptoms. There are also ways of eating that will reduce nausea.

All pregnancy symptoms also come and go, so it is important not to think "oh god I'll have this every day now" or "my symptoms have gone, something is wrong".

Lastly, if you do get nausea it typically lasts week 6-12. For some women week 6-16.

It might be helpful for you to work out what actions you would take if it were to happen. Eg "if I start to feel nausea, I will eat in this way". "If I were to start to be physically sick I will talk to my GP".

Hope this helps @maudesid

You won't really know til it happens. My first pregnancy I had lots of nausea but was only sick twice. Second pregnancy I was sick multiple times daily for weeks. When that happens you do stop being afraid... it just becomes normal (and annoying)

Congratulations on your pregnancy. I'm 12+1 today and haven't felt or been sick at all. Hope everything goes well for you x

@Merename thank you for sharing, I'm trying to reason with myself that a lot of women probably feel really anxious and it's not just my anxiety as then I worry my mental health will deteriorate. I just imagined I'd look at the stick and cry and feel joy but it was just total panic!

@3dogdnorth @Twickerhun thank you both that is reassuring

I was sick once during my pregnancy - not sure if it was even pregnancy related actually. I occasionally felt slightly nauseous but it was really pretty mild - to the point I constantly worried there was something wrong as I wasn’t feeling pregnant enough! (There were plenty of other symptoms but generally I was really lucky).

I have a friend who swears that if it wasn’t for the lack of periods and growing bump she’d never have known she was pregnant - no sickness, heartburn, tiredness or any of the other symptoms.

It’s not a given, but it’s impossible to predict how it will affect you. Maybe speak to your midwife at your booking in appointment and see if you can get referred to perinatal mental health so they can support you better x

I am also an emetephobe - wasn’t ever sick. But as someone else said, actually another emetephobe I connected with online said that she did have MS but just got used to it and it cured her emetephobia so please try not to worry too much.
My pregnancy wasn’t planned (although I was married and old!) but it’s all been fine (DC now 9 and 11). Try to relax. Hypnotherapy is not a bad thing to do if you’ve never tried it - it might help.

@TheDaydreamBelievers that is really helpful thank you, I definitely find plans help with my panic attacks so it's useful to know there are some things to try.
Congratulations @DiabeticFirstBaby! when are you due? Fingers crossed I'll be in the same situation regarding nausea!
@YukoandHiro I have read about emetephobes feeling less scared after pregnancy it's also how I would work in that situation but I'll have to just see

First pregnancy: hypermesis from week 5 to the end. Hospital admissions, medicated throughout etc etc. Very happy pregnancy though - I suffer from anxiety but felt happy and relaxed through the pregnancy and beyond.

Last pregnancy: some nausea and some vomiting weeks 8 to 18. Before and after that, nothing - it was amazing. So it can happen. Physically I felt better and stronger than ever in my life. Emotionally - I was a mess, anxious and angry - that stopped as soon as i had my beautiful baby in my arms.

Congratulations and I hope you enjoy your pregnancy

Thank you all for your replies they are so reassuring and helpful, it's a cruel twist of fate that the biggest thing ever happens to you and you can't talk to people in real life straight away!

I was a bit nauseous for the first 14 weeks, but never sick. Congratulations on your pregnancy.

Congratulations op

I never felt ill once op. I felt better than normal! Like pp, I kept eating though and always had cream crackers by the bed to eat at 4 am.

Tiredness can play a part though. So if you are working 10 hrs a day in a physical face to face job it might be worth starting to put some support in place which you will need anyway once the baby is here.

I never threw up. Just felt a bit queezy sometimes, and went off some foods. Nothing major at all.

I was very nauseous from around 6 -12 weeks but never sick. Mainly if I hadn't eaten - eg first thing in the morning, approaching lunch time. Also went right off a lot of foods.
There is a lot of evidence that the most effective way to tackle phobias is by facing the fear / exposure so as a previous poster mentioned even if you are unfortunate to actually be sick it may help reduce your fear .

I felt sick with DD from about 5-12 weeks then I was fine, I was never actually sick though so it was ok. Now 11 weeks with DC2 and I’m the same so far.

However like a pp said I think you should look at getting your emetephobia treated. Babies and kids throw up a LOT and you don’t want to pass on your anxieties around this to your DC. Also I’m not sure about everyone else but although I wasn’t sick during pregnancy per se, I was sick a lot in labour as the gas and air made me feel horrendous but they couldn’t get me any other pain relief immediately. Also regardless of pregnancy the fear of being sick can’t be nice to have hanging over you your whole life. Wishing you luck xx

I’m an emetophobe too and have had 2 children. I was nauseous from week 6-12 but never vomited . I found crackers very helpful to ward off any hunger pangs which contributed to the nausea. I was able to rest a lot so that was also helpful . I would strongly advise some cbt or other type of therapy for your emetophobia as having young children you will need to face your fear . I am having therapy currently but did find the book ‘Thrive , curing your Emetophobia’ helpful . Congratulations on your pregnancy

Thank you @maudesid, really hope you are like me too! Must be so awful having a condition like you have. Will keep fingers crossed for you.
Due 7th May but as diabetic, they won't let me go past 38 weeks so end of April so time! x

I had none at all. For a little more context I'm quite a sicky person, I always throw up when I'm even a tiny bit hungover and have historically been sensitive to smells and food. So I thought I was a sure bet for sickness.
Best of luck :)

I'm an emetophobe. I did have very unpleasant 24/7 morning sickness with my pregnancies BUT despite that I didn't actually vomit. Not once. So, even if you do have morning sickness actually being sick isn't a certainty.

Us emetophobes are very skilled in not throwing up and I promise you, whatever happens, you'll cope and get through it

Hi OP, I never actually vomited in pregnancy. I did feel queasy but never in a way that I actually thought that I would be sick. Your gag reflex might change a bit so try not to go too far back with your toothbrush if you clean your tongue. Congratulations and wishing you all the best.

I've had loads of nausea for the last month or so (currently 10w), but only actually been sick a couple of times, it's mostly just retching. I find I'm a bit better if I keep active, so you may find your job actually helps. Unfortunately you never know whether you'll be affected or not - my mum says she didn't have any ms at all. Hope you get lucky!