Please share your favorite morning sickness remedies with me

[lactationlady]

I had pretty severe nausea with both of my previous pg's (worse with my last one than the first). With my first I was miserable from weeks 7-12, with my second I was even more miserable from week 7 - 14. Even the rx meds didn't help. I am learning more about homeopathy and natural remedies and am hoping to find something that helps this time. I want to research it now, while I still feel normal. So, has anyone found anything that really works? I am hoping for a miracle. :D

[Knittin' in the Shade]

mega doses of vitamin b6. When I was pg with my first I went to an ancient farm doc in maine and he'd give me b6 injections once a week and they were the only thing that saved me from being hospitalized for severe dehydration (I had been given IV fluids several times, and was given hyperemesis as the diagnosis, with each of my pregnancies). When we moved here to PA, with my second I couldn't get anyone to do the injections. The capsules work okay, but not like the injections. I also used Sea Bands with moderate success, and chewed on crystalized ginger constantly and that helped. So far, this preg I haven't gotten sick yet, but I know it's coming.

[mimi!]

My ND has said the nausea has to do with your liver and its level of 'functioning.' The liver process hormones. She uses homeopathics (specifically UNDA #3; its a particular brand which some NDs use).

I second the B6 injections; this worked for me last time very well. This time, the homeopathic is working just fine.

You can also see a homeopath and get a specific remedy presribed to you. An ND can also be helpful depending on his/her treatment methods.

I read about using an herbal infusion of dandelion root to help the liver.

Good luck!

[momto3g3b]

B6/Ginger capsules (http://www.bayho.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=830039&OVRAW=Karuna%20Corp.%2C%20Ginger%20B6&OVKEY=ginger%20b6&OVMTC=advanced)

Also, eating protein in small doses throughout the day helps.

HTH you!

[lactationlady]

Thanks ladies! I hope the ms is not as bad this time around and I can manage it with some of your suggestions. Thank you!

[scubamom]

well my sister just recommended this to me, and oh my god its working, i still have a little m/s buts its nowhere to the degree it is without them

ACCUPRESSURE BANDS i brought them at local drugstore, they look like wrist sweatbands, and are used for nausea from travel sickness etc Also mine say recommended for PG. They have a little plastic knob that applies pressue to to a certain point, and i was skeptical as cost me over $15 but boy its worth it, im so happy i needed to spread the joy.



also ginger is a natural anti sickness so cook with lots of it

[Knittin' in the Shade]

ACCUPRESSURE BANDS i brought them at local drugstore, they look like wrist sweatbands, and are used for nausea from travel sickness etc Also mine say recommended for PG. They have a little plastic knob that applies pressue to to a certain point, and i was skeptical as cost me over $15 but boy its worth it, im so happy i needed to spread the joy

Those are the sea bands, they work grat! I got mine at Target though for less than $7, so defintiely shop around!

[JillChristina]

I've not tired it but the nurse I saw the other day said smelling and/or tasting lemon is supposed to help.

Jill (So thankful to be pregnant, so tired of feeling barfy)

[MerelyGod]

I third the Sea Bands. They are awesome!

What also helped me was taking a half a Unisom and 50 mg of B6 before bed each night. Sometimes I still felt nauseous the next day, but rarely threw up. Lemondrops also seemed to help (I still keep a bag in the car), especially when I got to the "watery mouth" stage. Nothing else ever worked consistently for me though, and I tried everything except prescription drugs.

[RedOakMomma]

Be _VERY_ careful of megadoses of vitamin B6. Especially if your current children have any evidence of epilepsy, a tendency toward febrile seizures, or if there is a family history of epilepsy on either side of the baby's family.

"Research has shown that infants of mothers who took high doses of vitamin B6 during pregnancy may be more likely to develop seizures." ...That's a quote from Dr. Sears' pregnancy book, and something I've heard from my doctor, too.

My kids have epilepsy, and it's something I wouldn't wish on anybody. I know morning sickness can be very, very serious, but a lifetime of seizures and anti-epileptic drugs is far more dire.

(Also note, high doses of vitamins A, D, and E have also been shown to increase the risk of birth defects including cleft palate and heart defects. High doses of vitamin C have been shown to cause vitamin dependency in infants.)


Enough with the scary stuff....I had awful morning sickness with the twins, and the acupressure bands (or Sea-bands) really did help. Another powerful help was pineapple juice. My mother used it to combat nausea when she was going through her chemotherapy, and for some strange reason it worked for me, too. You would think something so sweet and acidic would be nasty, but it's okay.

I always had a hard time getting enough fluids in the first trimester, and two things that helped were drinking water with large sqeezes of lemon and drinking iced peppermint tea:

put 1/2 to 3/4 cup of boiling water in a mug, and add a peppermint tea bag. Brew for 3-5 minutes. Fill mug with ice, wait for it to melt, and YAY! "instant" iced tea.

Food-wise, bland is the best. Plain graham crackers!! Anything with an aftertaste was too horrible. Watermelon, cantaloupe, Frozen "Whole Fruit" popsicles...all good ways to be gentle to your stomach. Drinking fruit "nectars" rather than fruit juices will help, too--it'll give you more fiber and more nutrients than juice, and the fiber certainly helps with constipation.

It sounds like you had a really rough time with your other pregnancies, so a lot of this is probably old hat to you. :Hug. Sorry it's so rough. I hope this time is easier.

[MamaChel]

i use ginger tea, peppermint tea and occasionally pineapple juice. eating every 2-3 hours during the day helps too. this time i'm having awful morning sickness, it was never this bad with the boys. my favorite so far is ginger tea

[Metasequoia]

What is considered a "megadose" of B6? I just started taking a Super B-Complex yesterday & it seems to be helping SOOOO much, but now I'm worried! Maybe I'll switch to just a B6 supplement, but how much is "safe?"



Be _VERY_ careful of megadoses of vitamin B6. Especially if your current children have any evidence of epilepsy, a tendency toward febrile seizures, or if there is a family history of epilepsy on either side of the baby's family.

"Research has shown that infants of mothers who took high doses of vitamin B6 during pregnancy may be more likely to develop seizures." ...That's a quote from Dr. Sears' pregnancy book, and something I've heard from my doctor, too.

My kids have epilepsy, and it's something I wouldn't wish on anybody. I know morning sickness can be very, very serious, but a lifetime of seizures and anti-epileptic drugs is far more dire.

(Also note, high doses of vitamins A, D, and E have also been shown to increase the risk of birth defects including cleft palate and heart defects. High doses of vitamin C have been shown to cause vitamin dependency in infants.)


Enough with the scary stuff....I had awful morning sickness with the twins, and the acupressure bands (or Sea-bands) really did help. Another powerful help was pineapple juice. My mother used it to combat nausea when she was going through her chemotherapy, and for some strange reason it worked for me, too. You would think something so sweet and acidic would be nasty, but it's okay.

I always had a hard time getting enough fluids in the first trimester, and two things that helped were drinking water with large sqeezes of lemon and drinking iced peppermint tea:

put 1/2 to 3/4 cup of boiling water in a mug, and add a peppermint tea bag. Brew for 3-5 minutes. Fill mug with ice, wait for it to melt, and YAY! "instant" iced tea.

Food-wise, bland is the best. Plain graham crackers!! Anything with an aftertaste was too horrible. Watermelon, cantaloupe, Frozen "Whole Fruit" popsicles...all good ways to be gentle to your stomach. Drinking fruit "nectars" rather than fruit juices will help, too--it'll give you more fiber and more nutrients than juice, and the fiber certainly helps with constipation.

It sounds like you had a really rough time with your other pregnancies, so a lot of this is probably old hat to you. :Hug. Sorry it's so rough. I hope this time is easier.

[RedOakMomma]

I don't know what exact amounts are considered unsafe, but from what I've been able to gather from the Dr. Sears book (and on-line), it seems anything over 100mg a day is in the danger zone. Dr. Sears says 25-50 mg of B6 a day can be safely used to address dry skin problems, so does that mean it's okay for the rest of pregnancy?

http://www.birth.com.au/class.asp?class=6510&page=7

This website at birth.com says that taking over 100mg a day (especially in the first trimester) is dangerous, but suggests 10-25 mg three times daily is okay. Personally, I'd take the lowest dose possible. Hopefully taking 10 or 15mg a few times a day will give you the help you need.

It seems like, as with all meds/supplements/additives, if you can get along without them, it's best to try. There's just not enough research to know what happens when you take a lot of a certain vitamin, or eat a lot of artificial sweeteners, or take some Advil for pain. Will it cause a problem? Probably not, but all babies are different and they're just so fragile and unable to process chemicals the way we are.

Then again, I'm just hyper-vigilant about this stuff. I'm so afraid of having another child with disabilities, and I sometimes question whether I could have been more careful last time. Nothing I could have done would have changed their genetic illness, but their illness is a spectrum illness. Did I make it worse somehow? This time I'm being _very_ careful.

:hug....sorry to be such a downer!

[zinemama]

Ginger Chews. Got 'em at Trader Joe. I kept those little green bags stashed all over the house. They didn't take the nausea away completely - nothing can, I think - but they took enough of an edge off so that I could function.

Good luck, but don't get your hopes up for a miracle, mama...