Morning Sickness: Is it better to give in or resist?

[m0xxie]

I'm starting my 6th week of pregnancy (!!!), and I've been feeling various levels of sea-sickness/punched in the stomach-ness for a week now, pretty much constantly, although the intensity varies somewhat from time to time. In general, I am particularly talented at keeping my stomach contents and rarely yuke unless I allow myself to. So far, I have resisted that urge, but sometimes I wonder if it might make me feel a lot better, even just temporarily, if I gave in. I kinda hate to lose whatever little bit of food and fluid I'm managed to get down, along with my prenatals. I also know repeated vomiting can be very rough on one's throat and teeth/gums. Anyone have any insight or opinions about this?

[Headmeister]

I'm a person who rarely can vomit without sticking my finger down my throat, even when violently ill with flu or food poisoning! BUT... when I had m/s both times (this time was 100x worse than the first), there were times I'd force myself and OMG, I felt SOOOOOOO much better afterwards!!!! I'm not advocating that you start doing this every time, but if you had 24/7 m/s for 5-6 months like I had (even on zofran I was still bad), then there are just those times when you need some relief!

[lillymonster]

i feel better when I throw up. I can't resist the urge though, it comes, it comes up in like 2 seconds, so I can't hold it back unless I take meds for it.

[Qbear'smama]

I am a person who would rather have my nails pulled out than throw up, so I resist and I didn't throw up with DD or this pregnancy (so far, 12 weeks on Thursday) so even though people tell me I might feel better, I can't do it willingly. Even in transition in labour, the MW was like "you'll probably throw up" and I said "I betcha I won't" and I didn't, just a little heaving . But if you don't hate throwing up, maybe it would make you feel better. Eating fruit makes me feel better.

[MammaB21]

I can usually hold it back, and also only throw up when I give in and allow it. I did throw up a couple of times early in this pregnancy but to be honest I don't remember it making much of a difference in how I felt. I know I did feel better immediately afterward but it didn't last long. A half hour later I was feeling nauseated again. The way I see it is that the nausea is caused by hormonal changes and that's not going to go away from throwing up. If you had a stomach bug, getting it out is sure to help, but in pregnancy there is nothing to get out, therefore no real need to expel. The thing I've found to help is to make sure never to get hungry and never to get full. So small healthy snacking all day seems to keep it at a somewhat tolerable level. Also drinking lots of water. You can try ginger (in capsuls or in a cookie form), that helps with nausea. I've heard sea bands work for morning sickness. Only take your prenatals at meal time or at night because they can cause nausea. Mint teas seem to help too. Good luck. I hope it passes soon.

[lilmiss'mama]

I posted this on another m/s thread but Mommy's Bliss Morning Sickness Magic really has been magic for me. Mostly ginger & B6 in the capsules but very easy to take since they don't smell like a vitamin.
Also I just have to eat something with protein at least every 2 hours. Tricky when nauseated and not much sounds good!

[Ellen Griswold]

I'm very impressed that you can resist, because at the height of m/s there were times when I barely made it to the bathroom. I think this is a personal type of decision, who know what your body will do? For me, if I threw up in the morning (when my stomach was empty) I felt much better. In the afternoon or evening when I was actually throwing up food, I felt worse.

[Mosaic]

Personally, I felt better when I gave in, most of the time anyway. I had m/s until 30 weeks, and I spent so much of the first month trying not to get sick and trying to keep thing in. It was emotionally and physically exhausting, and I felt so much better when I just accepted it as a part of my day and got it over with rather than trying to delay/avoid it.

I'm sorry you feel so yucky... it stinks.

[scrappin-mama]

I hold it back as much as possible b/c throwing up for me is the worst of the worst. And once I start, I keep going.

[Carolinamom4]

i find it hard to throw up (never in labor either), and have never done so for m/s. I hope you feel better soon!! I don't know that it helps either way!

[jessica_s]

I felt better for long enough to get something in my stomach and keep it down long enough to digest it.
So my routine in the morning would be to drink as much water as I could (way better to throw up than straight stomach acid) and then the first solid food that hit my mouth would make me puke. After that I could eat my oatmeal or whatever bland thing I was having that day. I wouldn't say that it made me feel great, just I was able to eat and keep it down afterwards.

[m0xxie]

Wow, what a wonderful diversity of opinion! At the very least, I don't feel so alone in my nausea! Thank you for all your thoughtful responses, I absolutely love this wise and compassionate community!! Big hugs to you all!

[sarabei]

I am about where you are (6 weeks) and have been queasy almost constantly for the past week. The only time I'm not is when I'm actually eating. I've never held anything back, but have never actually had to throw up, just the queasy feeling. Sometimes when I'm just sick (in non-pregnant life), I think, oh if I throw up, I'll feel better, but then I never actually feel better, so I haven't done it now. I still wonder if I should though, because I hate this.