morning sickness drugs -update

[lillymonster]

I am on zofran and the constipation bothers me, and Zofran isn't working all that well either either controlling my vomiting

I have tried every natural remedy and I am going to see a chiro/acupuncturist on Monday afternoon, but I wanted to ask my midwife about other drugs on Friday. Anyone have success with another drug? I can't do reglan though, I tried that last pregnancy and that messed me up mentally, made me severely depressed and almost zombie like.

I hate the fact I am on drugs, so this is not a decision I take lightly (so please no suggestion to try ginger or eat more protein! ), but I can't function anymore and I believe I threw up bile this morning (light yellowish and it burned like I have never had anything burn before)

EDIT: So I got a prescription for phenegren. With zofran, while I didn't throw up, I was still so completely nauseated that I was still unable to eat and drink very much and every after being on zofran for over a week, I had not gained ANY of the weight I lost. Considering I really do not have any weight to spare and really should be gaining even while not pregnant, she wanted me on something rather than being in the hospital. I have also been on magnesium supplements, 2 daily colace and probiotics and they aren't making a dent in my constipation, probably because I can't get water down without feeling sick to my stomach.

Midwife never mentioned unisom to me, I remember looking for it for the first pregnancy and never found the "correct" one - everything was max, strength which is a different medication and my OB kept saying no to the ones I brought her so maybe around here they only have the "extra strength" stuff? I am not happy about bumping up to a class C drug, but the pain I have in my stomach is, well terrible. The throwing up I don't mind that much (except when it's the bile) but the constant pain and nausea which makes me not eat, I can't deal with. Whatever it is is not allowing me to sleep more than 2 hours a night without waking up with stomach pain. I tried zantac to no help, so I don't think it's ulcer pain.

Anyway, this is stop gap for a few days while I try the chiro/acupuncture sessions work next week. I am hoping this is something I only need for a week, and then I'll be fine with acupuncture alone.

Edit again: I tried the unisom/b6 combo first. Did nothing, in fact I woke up out of sleep puking, and never did that before, so I am going to stick with zofran, and keep up on the constipation and alter my diet more. I am not comfortable with the phenegren side effects since I usually get side effects worse then other people.

[MaerynPearl]

Have you tried phenergan?

[JessieBird]

I won't suggest anything natural don't worry! I tried everything in the book with DS and felt horribly guilty about taking meds. I was absolutely miserable and it made me profoundly depressed and wishing for the pregnancy to end. This time, I thought I'd try avoiding the drugs again in hopes that it wouldn't be as bad...well I was in the hospital with uncontrollable vomiting by 8 weeks along, so much for that plan!

Anyway, what's worked for me is Diclectin. It's not available in the US by prescription as it is in Canada and Europe but the ingredients are exactly the same as the Unisom/B6 combo you hear about. It made me so drowsy that I couldn't function for about a week, which was awful, but the side effect went away and then I felt completely normal and I was able to enjoy pregnancy! If you want to try it, google it to find out the quantities of the ingredients and translate that in to Unisom and B6 which you can buy OTC. 4 Diclectin pills a day are what is usually recommended but I had to take about 8 for it to have any effect. It has been tested extensively to be 100% safe up to 40 a day.

[lillymonster]

Originally Posted by JessieBird

It's not available in the US by prescription as it is in Canada and Europe but the ingredients are exactly the same as the Unisom/B6 combo you hear about.

Sorry, forgot to mention I tried this, up to 200 mg of b-6 and it didn't make a difference. The midwife didn't want me to go up any higher on the b6.

[lillymonster]

Originally Posted by MaerynPearl

Have you tried phenergan?

I haven't - first ob went straight to zofran when I called right away. Then this midwife said since I had success on zofran, that I should do it again and told me she wasn't going to bother with phenergen. I was wondering if maybe it wasn't as effective? I don't know, no one ever started me on it, although I had someone tell me they thought it worked better than zofran.

Anyway last pregnancy the OB switched very late, when I was like 18--20 weeks, to reglan/phenergen combo, and when I had the reglan, I was so weirded out by how I felt, I went back on zofran ad told her I could not take reglan. She never told me to take the phenergen by itself

[CrazyCatLady]

I hate reglan and don't recommend that drug to anyone.

I take phenergan daily (when pregnant or not). It honestly doesn't work as well when I'm pregnant...but it certainly makes a huge difference. And instead of taking one pill every 4-6 hours, I often take a half of pill every 2-3 hours and that seems to work better for me. Since I take it all the time it doesn't make me drowsy anymore unlss I'm already really tired. Sometimes it gives me terribly bad dreams right as I'm dozing off. But all in all I like the drug. Probably worth giving a try.

Hope you feel better soon.

[MaerynPearl]

Ive also heard phenergan works better for some women. I suppose a big thing may be what the actual cause of our morning sickness is... I think its different for some of us than for others, which is why for some protein or ginger works... and for others (like myself) even prescriptions do not completely help.

Back when I was dealing with the HG though (luckily I did not go through it this time) I was only put on Reglan and TBH totally refused to take it after reading the warnings. To me, being unable to keep food down was a bit less drastic than having seizures.

Of course, then I nearly ended up in the hospital, the sickness finally went away within a week of my doctor suggesting to have me go to the hospital for it if it didnt get better soon.

I wish you luck though! and I sympathize. Even without the HG this time... I still have problems with getting sick at 25 weeks.

[lillymonster]

Originally Posted by MaerynPearl

Ive also heard phenergan works better for some women. I suppose a big thing may be what the actual cause of our morning sickness is... I think its different for some of us than for others, which is why for some protein or ginger works... and for others (like myself) even prescriptions do not completely help.

I am trying to figure out the cause and having no luck! I had peptic ulcers when I was 18 and have struggled with them for a while, but I changed my diet and "turned my life around" (quit drinking and smoking) and they didn't bother me anymore. So I thought, hey maybe zantac would work, it worked on my ulcer. Nope, didn't help, but it did help with the terrible stomach pain I get from the zofran that goes away when the medication wears off 8 hours later.

The chiro said something about my eyesight and tension and having difficulty focusing and also something about being a highly anxious person, he felt a lot of tension in my neck (maybe because it's hung over a toilet every morning?) but he did make sense with the eyesight thing (I have crappy vision and don't wear glasses all the time like I should), so I don't know. He also mentioned teeth grinding and all the stress is just making my body react badly. I am praying it works, but I can't hold out for 4 days until my first adjustment

[MaerynPearl]

yeah from what I have read our eyesight gets worse in pregnancy too!

[paintedfire]

Another big "NO," to Reglan from me and a loud "Yes!" to Phenergan.

Phenergan has been my best friend for a good ten years. I wouldn't be coherent without it.

Hope you feel better soon.

[mediumcrunch]

Reglan is the devil :P
Phenergan or zofran alone doesn't do the trick for me. I take both when things are bad. Also if you aren't hydrated, no anti-emetic works well. You may need some IV fluids and IV zofran/phenergan to get you over the hump.

[MaerynPearl]

Originally Posted by mediumcrunch

Reglan is the devil :P
Phenergan or zofran alone doesn't do the trick for me. I take both when things are bad. Also if you aren't hydrated, no anti-emetic works well. You may need some IV fluids and IV zofran/phenergan to get you over the hump.

The IV can definitely help... but then you have to stay on top of being hydrated or you will end up needing another IV! (saying this as a warning to stay hydrated, not as a warning against doing the IV fluids... they really do help sometimes!)

[~Adorkable~]

Anyone have a good link to what it is about the unisom in combo with b6 that does the trick for some ladies where b6 by itself fails? I'm curious to read more, but most pages I have found are really superficial on the medical front.

[MaerynPearl]

Originally Posted by •Adorkable•

Anyone have a good link to what it is about the unisom in combo with b6 that does the trick for some ladies where b6 by itself fails? I'm curious to read more, but most pages I have found are really superficial on the medical front.

I dont and I do not know for sure but if you look up phenergan it has a lot of the same effects as unisom... plus my doctor tried the b6 in insane dosages with me with DS (not with unisom) to no relief...

cant help but wonder if unisom itself might actually be enough to help.


ETA - just a bit of scary info I found... if you are taking temazepam for any reason, avoid anything with diphenhydramine in it, including unisom. If you take either separately it is okay but apparently there's a very bad reaction between the two I was unaware of (thank goodness I have no clue what temazepam is and have never taken it)

[JessieBird]

Originally Posted by lillymonster

Sorry, forgot to mention I tried this, up to 200 mg of b-6 and it didn't make a difference. The midwife didn't want me to go up any higher on the b6.

Did you take the Unisom? B6 on its own doesn't make a difference to me either.

[Funny Face]

Wont' touch Reglan.

Zofran and phenergan didn't work.

I ended up looking into marijuana. It was a better alternative than being hospitalized and pumped full of all kinds of chemicals and heavy metals.

[mclisa]

I would try meclizine. It's Dramamine in the brand name form. It's actually an anti motion sickness medicine that works.


I would avoid marijuana. It contains more than just THC...there's a lot of chemicals in it too.

[momtoafireteam]

I wont touch reglan OR phenergan. Phenergan is a class C drug in pregnancy, in case you didnt know that already. And any drug that can put me in a near coma like trance such as phenergan isnt going near my babe.

I do take unisom/ B6 every night when pregnant and notice a difference when I dont. However, I am on zofran 8-32 mg per day from 5 weeks pregnant to at least 3 days post delivery. During labor/ delivery I get zofran through IV. Zofran works by switching off your "vomit switch" in your brain- I find that it stops a lot of my triggers of HG as well which is something NOTHING else has ever been able to do. Color and sounds are huge triggers for me when I am pregnant- the one day I was off Zofran I could barely leave the house. On zofran all my triggers go away and its only smells that make me vomit. Since for severe HG the every day triggers can be the biggest issues, that alone makes me want to stick to zofran as well. (I dont mean to sound like a zofran commercial here, BTW!! )

With my mildest HG pregnancy I was on Tigan but there isnt much info on it.

I have avoided the Zofran constipation this time around by being militant with my hydration. Not many days pass that I drink less than 150ozs of water (mixed up with other fluids to keep my electrolytes etc up). And I haven't had one single constipation issue, AND my need for IV rehydration/ nutrition has been far less than in my other pregnancies.

Sorry you are in this place.

[Galatea]

I did Colace with the Zofran and it really helped a lot.

[JessieBird]

Originally Posted by mclisa

I would try meclizine. It's Dramamine in the brand name form. It's actually an anti motion sickness medicine that works.

I took this too and it worked very well. In Canada Dramamine is called Gravol (dimenhydrinate). It really knocked me out though and I'm not sure if you desensitize to that effect over time or not as I only took it once in a while and not ongoing. The handy thing about it is that it's available in rectal suppository form without a prescription so if you get into a cycle of vomitting so severe that you can't get any oral meds down or are at risk of dehydration, one or two of these up the bum will bring relief enough to get under control (along with a nice long sleep) and hopefully avoid a trip to the hospital.