Posted by barba on March 07, 2004 at 12:20:57:
hello. i suffered morning sickness from the time i woke up to the time i went to bed, from about week 6 to week 15. even after that, my gag reflex was on a hair trigger almost throughout my pregnancy although the nausea went away at week 15. i hated those weeks and was depressed and retreated to my bed whenever i could. amazingly, i didnt miss one day of work but that was only because i work at a computer all day and i could sort of 'hide' during the really queasy bits. i want to say i never actually threw up - it was worse than that - perhaps if i had i wouldnt have suffered all day - but i was absolutely nauseaous round the clock and there was very little i could do about it although i tried everthing.
anyway, here's what i found to help.
1. ginger ale - took the edge off, but only about 5%
2. dramamine - i know this is an official 'no no' but during my most desperate moments i broke down and had half a tablet of original formula. i had researched this online and found no serious warnings. i have a healthy 5 month old boy now. the dramamine brought my nausea from about a 9 to a 5 - managable. but please make sure you talk to your doctor before you take it as i am not entirely sure its risk free.
as far as foods. horrible. i could only eat a few things, all high in carbs. bread, plain rice, plain pasta, avocado, bread again, etc. just about everything else made me gag. lemon did not help me either, like some women swear by. nor did ginger tablets or ginger biscuits. and sea bands were a joke. they did nothing at all. oh, one thing helped a bit in the way of scent - i found this ginger room spray at body shop and kept spraying the bedroom with it. also, if you are working in an office there are smells that make you gag (like your co workers and the crap they eat, as well as the stench of cigarette smoke!), and i used to apply that vaporub stuff under my nose as it takes their odor away and sort of neutralises things.
funny, i had forgotten how everyone and everything smelled badly during that first trimester. sometimes i was so nauseous that certain people on tv would make me gag, like if i didnt like their face. it was that bad!
anyway, you get thru it. it seems you will never, but you do, and fast when you look back.
the second trimester is a breeze by comparison.
good luck all. if you have any questions feel free to drop me an e mail
