Morning sickness - what actually works?

[Anniemabel]

I’m only about 6 weeks and have all day and all night morning sickness (nausea but not vomiting) already. It’s my 4th pregnancy, 1st was horrendous, second was bad but not quite as bad, 3rd was really mild. I was kind of hoping it would get easier each time, but it’s not looking like it’s going that way!

The only thing that works is constant grazing but then I’ll get fat and that’s not ideal! Ginger and acupuncture bands are the other things I’ve tried in the past without success. If anyone has found anything that works please enlighten me.

Also, has anyone tried medication - are there risks and how bad does morning sickness have to be before you get medication?

Hi @Anniemabel I feel your pain! I am currently feeling constantly nauseous too. I have bought peppermint oil which I sniff a few drops of on a tissue. This helps. Also on the peppermint theme I bought some anti nausea peppermint drops with added vit b6 which also help (see pic). Other than that I munch on ginger nuts and drink ginger ale. All of these things help temporarily!
I hope your nausea eases soon!

I took medication for just nausea. No trouble getting it prescribed. It wasn't amazing (the dose was low) but took the edge off and made me feel more in control. I could find nothing to indicate the medicinations I took weren't safe and they had been in use for a long time.

I suffered from hyperemesis with all three of my pregnancies, third was worst I was on a combination of two different anti sickness meds. Sorry I can't remember the names but gp was very helpful. For me the benefits outweighed anyvrisks and I couldn't NOT take them as I had my two sons to care for and I was bed bound before taking the tablets. It eased off for three months on middle of pregnancy Theo for last two months I was being sick again. 🙈hope you find something that works xxxx

I’ve bought the peppermint sweets and tried them, they’re nice but not a solution unfortunately. I’ve been in bed most of the day. Really struggling, bumping this thread for any other recommendations - I feel like it’s too early to call the doctor and ask for medication, I kind of feel like they won’t take me seriously but based on my other pregnancies this is going to carry on for another 6-7 weeks...

@Anniemabel I'm currently 6 weeks 5 days and suffer with hyperemsis- I have been in hospital 3 times this week and am on 3 different types of medications. The sea bands seem to take the edge of mine.

Eat something the instant you wake up. It helped me.

Though for the level of morning sickness some seem to suffer here I suspect my packet of biscuits by the bed won’t help :(

The only thing I’ve found to help is grazing constantly. I’ve decided I can’t spend 9 months feeling so sick, and that if I have to snack so be it. I do try to snack on healthy(ish) foods but I can’t say I always succeed. Really salty crisps seem to be the best solution

Salty carbs snacks seem to help a lot but the relief only lasts for 5 mins after I’ve finished them. I can’t chain eat crisps for the next 7 weeks!!

Sorry you’re having such a terrible time @bex757 . That must be so tough, I hope you have some help at home.

I’m really struggling today and I only have my eldest at home and I’m not working so I’ve been able to spend the day in bed watching films with ds1! From tomorrow I have My younger two at home as well and I’m back to work from next week, I really need some relief before then. It’s so frustrating because if this was any normal illness you could just tell people and people would give you a break but with pregnancy you have to keep it a secret / can’t complain because of the general ‘pregnancy is not an illness’ attitude!

Oh OP I could have written this tonight.

I’m 7 weeks and bloody miserable. I had HG with my first and granted this is not ‘quite’ that bad... but having a teething 8 month old to look after too this time is killing me. I spend all day dreaming about bedtime, sleep is my escape.

Hey, I had almost constant nausea in the first trimester but weirdly wasn’t actually sick until 15 weeks pregnant where I spent two weeks throwing up every morning then it stopped!

These are some tips that friends passed on to me and they really helped!

1. Eat every two hours even if you don’t want to. I lived on buttered toast in the first trimester as I found the idea of food so horrendous. Ready salted crisps were also really good.
2. Take a carb snack to bed and eat it in the night if you wake up. I was waking up a lot in the night with heartburn and nausea (I’m nearly 20 weeks and I still do) so I would take a slice of toast to bed and cut it into squares. I would eat a square if I woke up feeling sick and it would often settle my stomach enough so that I could get some sleep.
3. Have a bottle of gaviscon for if you really need it. I’ve started taking a sip before bed time and it’s stopping a lot of my night time heartburn and nausea.

Hope something works for you and you get through the next few weeks! ❤️

Thanks for all your replies. Any recommendations for a carby snack that isn’t too high in calories? I nicked some of the kids Pom bears today which are under 100 calories per bag! I think eating regularly might be the only solution but I’m going to pack on the pounds if I do that.

The only thing that ever worked for me was delivering DD!!!

Had sickness, nausea, and acid indigestion for 9 months. Didn't matter if I ate in the morning or didn't.... I just felt awful all day everyday!

Really feel for you OP it's truly a horrible feeling to feel sick constantly. Try the medication it might work for you x

Ready salted Pom bears are my current favourite.
Crackers
Rice cakes
Toast
Bananas
Crumpets
Bagels
Bagel thins (lower calorie option)
Mini part baked baguettes (fresh from the oven)
Oat cakes
Special k
General cereal
Porridge

I’d look at the butter you are using as there is probably your best bet of cutting calories, can you swap to a low cal spread?

Honestly though, and I do say think from the position of a slim size 8/10, now is not the time to be worried about calories. Eat what you fancy and doesn’t make you sick.

I fancy nothing and everything makes me nauseas. I’d devour 3000 calories a day if I could!!

My GP prescribed me Ondansetron for my morning sickness. It didn’t totally remove the constant feeling of nausea but did actually prevent me from being sick. There are quite a few drugs you can try, so I would advise you to talk your GP about it.

Medication and grazing - I used to nibble on flapjacks.
For me is making sure something was in my tummy so the stomach acid didn’t trigger the nausea. It’s very difficult and hard (I have a six year age gap as I wasn’t brave enough to go through it again) I would have loved more children but the thought of being sick again :(

I had absolutely horrendous and non stop nausea from about 6 weeks to 13 weeks and I just didn't know how I was going to cope. It was relentless.

For me, I found eating a ginger biscuit when I woke up helped and snacking on them through the day settled my stomach for a while at least. Eating tiny and often helped too (even though I didn't feel hungry in the slightest)

It's such a horrible feeling, I hope you find something that works for you really soon lovely x