Dealing With Nausea or Morning Sickness in Pregnancy
For those dealing with it, “morning sickness” is often inappropriately named—it can strike any time in the day, and sometimes lasts all day. It can range from just nausea or vomiting upon waking, to nausea all day, to severe vomiting that may even require hospitalization. Where ever you fall on the spectrum, here are some tips for dealing with it that I’ve come across over the years.
Using Food to Curb Nausea:
Eat small, frequent meals: Large meals may weigh down the stomach making it feel queasy. Also, a leading cause of nausea is blood sugar swings. Because of the increased energy demands of pregnancy, blood sugar can drop very rapidly. While non-pregnant adults should be encouraged to eat 5-6 times a day to moderate blood sugar (which increases ability to focus, moderates moods, and lowers injury rates), a pregnant mother may find herself eating 8-10 times a day, in extreme cases a pregnant mom may need to eat 1-2 bites of food every 15 minutes to be able to keep food down.
When eating this frequently moms should make sure to keep the snacks healthy and avoid high calorie/low nutrition foods that may cause excess weight gain (in a healthy pregnancy a mom will gain an average of 35 lbs—some more, some less). Protein will moderate blood sugar better than simple sugars/carbohydrates though those items may be helpful when a quick rise in blood sugar is needed. A good variety of fruits, veggies, and whole grains are needed in a pregnant mom’s diet. Some suggested snacks are cheese (hard cheese or pasteurized cream cheese) or peanut butter on whole wheat crackers, sliced apples or bananas spread with peanut butter, veggies with dip, popcorn, fruit with a small glass of milk, Nutragrain or Luna bars, a hard boiled egg, or a small dish of frozen yogurt or ice cream.
Bananas: Bananas can help to curb nausea since they encourage production of the mucous in the stomach that protects the lining of the stomach.
Eating and nighttime: Eat something right before bed—preferably protein to help keep blood sugar stable over night. Also eat a small snack when you wake up to urinate at night. Eat something before getting out of bed to get the blood sugar up from the overnight fast—a simple carbohydrate like saltines or toast with jelly often hits the spot.
Stay hydrated: Vomiting can cause dehydration, and dehydration can cause nausea (may also contribute to too low blood volume which may cause nausea)—a vicious cycle. Water with a splash of lemon juice may be more appealing than plain water. Cucumber slices also add an interesting flavor to water. Some moms also report that flat ginger ale or coke, herbal ginger tea, herbal peppermint tea, herbal chamomile tea, papaya juice (or papaya tablets, available in health food stores), or pineapple juice help to curb nausea. In addition to drinking water, walk in a pool if one is available to push fluids out of the tissues and into the blood stream.
Ginger: This root is known to lessen nausea, but women may need to experiment to find the form that works best. Some use ginger ale, others ginger snaps or ginger bread, others chew small pieces of fresh ginger. Finely shredded fresh ginger sold in stores that sell sushi (no raw fish in pregnancy!) may help, or a ginger supplement from a health food store.
Non-Food Cures:
Exercise: Yes, exercise can help with nausea by helping to moderate the blood sugar. Women who choose to exercise in the morning should eat a small, light snack first, drink lots of fluid while exercising, and eat a regular breakfast a short while after exercising.
Avoid strong smells: Gym socks, the pet’s food, scented laundry soap, scented candles, certain foods—all can be nausea triggers. Avoid any smells that seem to trigger nausea. Conversely, peppermint oil diffused as “aromatherapy” may curb nausea.
Brush teeth carefully: Limit the amount of toothpaste to limit foaming, you can even brush with no toothpaste at all. Colgate may foam less than other brands. Keep mouth as relaxed as possible with chin level or angled down, do not angle up, encouraging foam to the throat. Avoid brushing the back of the tongue, you may do better with a tongue-cleaning device. Don’t hold breath—breath deeply and spit often.
Vitamin B6 or B12 supplements: Many women report good results from this supplement.
Magnetic wrist bracelets: Marketed for motion sickness and available at most drug stores, they are often helpful.
Rest: The housework will wait, if your budget will afford it, get carry out food or prepackaged food from the grocery store for meals. Get help with caring for older kids. Rest, rest, rest.
Talk about stressful issues: Stress can cause nausea. So find a good friend and chat. Try to relieve some of the emotional/mental stress that can be triggering the nausea.
Relieve constipation: Since the digestive tract can only hold a limited volume, constipation can cause nausea. Keeping up Vitamin C, fiber and fluid intake alone may help to clear up constipation; if not, consider constipation remedies approved by your care provider.
Non-traditional medicine: Chiropractors, acupuncturists, and hypnotherapists[3] all have treatments for morning sickness. Be sure to see a reputable practitioner who is experienced with dealing with pregnancy.
Medications: Some chiropractors suggest gentle digestive enzymes will help better than Zantac. With the stomach sliding up into the lower esophagus, the digestion process slows. This may cause the food to start to rot and ferment causing nausea and heartburn, rather than the feeling of heartburn being caused by too much acid. The heartburn is caused by lack of enzymes, so taking digestive enzymes like Biozyme from Biospec or Zypan from Standard Process may help.
Medications range from over the counter (OTC) to prescription—always ask your care provider before taking any medication. Most anti-nausea medications will make the mom very drowsy—some even are sleep medications. Some that have been reported to work are Reglan, Compazine, Phenergan, Unisom (OTC sleep remedy), Tums, Zantac and Pepcid AC.
Do What Works: In the end, if you find a trick that works, use it! In my most recent pregnancy I would have waves of nausea that hit me out of no where, and if I didn’t do “something” within a matter of moments, I would be seeing my most recent meal again (and I prefered to do that in a clean waste can or the kitchen sink–uggh, who wants to put their face in a stinky toilet bowl?). The “something” I found that worked was to consume something crunchy & salty…like a small handful of potato chips. I tried several other more healthy options, and none worked. So potato chips it was…
[1] Some people may find hypnotherapy to be theologically objectionable. It is important that you feel comfortable with your decision on this issue before pursuing treatment.
Tags: Morning sickness, nausea, pregnancy complications