Aversions & Nausea

[Sasha's Mama]

Ugh... what do you do when EVERYTHING sounds disgusting? I am having the worst food aversions this pregnancy and I keep getting trapped in the avoid food - get nauseous - avoid food some more cycle. Sometimes w/throwing up and getting dehydrated thrown in the mix. I know it's likely just 5-7 more weeks of this (I'm 7w3d), but it's rough!

[crazykittymomma]

I'm in the same boat, only the only things I can stomach are always things we don't have. My husband is SO not the kind to jump up and fetch my cravings. :/ Citrus slices in my water help a lot. I've been able to drink a lot more today and I ate two eggs at lunch and I'm feeling a lot better than I have been.

[octanebeetle27]

Same here. Food is a horror right now. BUT...I've been forcing myself to eat every 2 hours and I must say that it is helping with the "getting sick" part. Still feel awful, but calories are coming in and staying in. Eating a carb and a protein combo seem to help too. Peanut butter and saltines are ok for today. I keep frozen meals on hand (Lean Cuisine, Marie Calendars, etc), soup that can be microwaved and eaten from the can, the largest box of saltines on earth, and for a while Lunchables did it for me (not anymore...gag). Every time my dh leaves the house, I have him bring me back something, whatever I happen to be in the mood for. With all of my other pregnancies I lost about 10 pounds in the first half and it was because I was starving b/c of my aversions to food. I can't even open our fridge b/c the smell (nonexistant to the non-pregnant nose--it's always one of my first signs that I am expecting) always gets me sick. I have a kid get what I need out of the fridge :)  I am trying my hardest to stay on top of eating every few hours--really arranging my life around it this time. As you know, once you get into the nausea-food aversion-starving pattern, it is really tough to get out of it and it makes you feel exponentially worse each day it goes on. Oh and our food budget has gone out the window!

So hang on! Try, try, try to force yourself to eat something every few hours. Try not to think about the food too much, just eat it. Watch tv or read while you eat and it might take your mind off of unpleasant things. Try to get some protein and carbs. Stock your house with a lot of food--forget going for healthy, this is about survival!  I have 4 healthy children and I just about lived on crap food for the first half of my pregnanices. I went for healthy when the thought of a salad or yogurt or a chicken breast didn't gag me.

Crazykittymomma--I've been drinking water with a bit of lemon in it and it really does help to settle my stomach! Amazing!
 

[TalkToMeNow]

I've been absolutely miserable. :( Last week, I could barely eat at all. I started on Zofran this weekend, and now I can eat and drink more. I haven't been to work in a week and don't know when I'll be able to go back. I found a very small list of foods that I can tolerate, mostly through trial and error. Tomato soup, crackers, cheese sandwiches, baked potatoes, mac and cheese, and spinach salad with tons of onions, sunflower seeds, and ranch dressing (which is very random). All I can drink is orange gatorade, unless I have a *really* good day... then, by evening I can handle a glass of water with lemon. 

Just like you, Wendy, I've got a ton of soup and frozen meals. Crackers are everywhere. Sometimes the best I can do is throw soup in the microwave. I have to lie down while it cooks. 

I'm so frustrated and tired all the time, I don't know what to do. I'm very stressed about work. I'm a total type a personality, go-go-go all the time. Now all I do is lie on the couch. I feel so guilty. I think I've lost 5 lbs so far. I'm going to see my midwives tomorrow... hopefully they will make me feel better somehow... maybe just a pep talk! 

Good luck to everyone else going through this. It's horrible.

[willsmomm]

Originally Posted by Sasha's Mama 

I keep getting trapped in the avoid food - get nauseous - avoid food some more cycle.

Me too! I nearly passed out in the grocery store today because of this and I have lost almost 10 pounds! I just don't want to eat. What is helping me get through without dying is I carry a bag of raw almonds with me everywhere I go. So when I start to feel sick or realize I haven't eaten and am going to be sic soon I just pop a handful of them in my mouth and I'm fine. That or almonds and raisins. It does double duty since high protein foods are good for morning sickness and so are alkaline foods. Super almonds to the rescue!

[LiLStar]

ugh.. smoothies and soup. Right about the time the bad nausea seemed to be wearing off a little, my digestive system shut down. Last night I had some ravioli at like 4:30. A good sized portion, but its not like I stuffed myself. Holy crap. That stuff just stayed in my stomach FOREVER! It made me feel sooo sick and it felt like it was trying to walk back up my esophagus. It took until nearly 11 that night before I started feeling at all better. So now its this crazy awkward balance! I still have to make sure to not let my stomach get too empty for too long and eat regularly to avoid nausea, but now I have to be scared of eating too much if I'm feeling good, and having it not leave my stomach. I got some papaya enzyme to help, but now I'm literally terrified to eat more than a little snack! dinner was 2 eggs, scrambled. Now I'm sipping a smoothie because of course 2 eggs wasn't enough and a few hours later, the hunger pains kicked in followed by nausea. so i can only tolerate little sips. this SUCKS! 

One thing thats better now is that every morning I wake up to a fresh start. So if I go to bed feeling terrible, it doesn't mess up the next morning like it did before.