PDA

View Full Version : morning sickness remedies that are ok for BF'ing?



♥ms.pacman♥
08-27-2010, 06:09 AM
ok so i'm about 7weeks along with DC #2 and the morning sickness has really been kicking my a$$ lately. :( just wondering if there any m/s remedies that are safe for breastfeeding? it seems that unisom/B6 combo is great for m/s, but then somewhere i read that B6 can negatively affect milk supply..is that true? if so, what are other options?

i guess what's really hardf this time around is the lack of sleep...i have a really really hard time falling asleep at night bc all i want to do is relax but i cant' because i feel sick, and so i eat so my tummy's not empty, which helps a bit..but then i have to pee every 10 mins, then i feel sick again, etc etc. and of course the lack of sleep just makes me more tired and makes the nausea worse. :( this whole week i've been getting ~4 hrs of sleep a night. last pregnancy i mostly just toughed it out but honestly this isn't an option anymore, especially for weeks like this when i have to take care of my son all day all on my own (DH has been gone all week).

anyway, just wondering if any of you guys have any advice/tips on this. i guess my situation is a bit unique since i'm still nursing my 7 month old, so a lot of anti-nausea meds are out. for example i was thinking of taking phenergan last night (i have some left over from last pg) since i know it makes me really sleepy, but then the bottle says not to take while breastfeeding, so that's out. i do have Zofran that my OB prescribed, but i only like taking a small dose (1/2 pill) once a day at the most, due to the side effects (constipation). if any one has other suggestions i'd appreciate it!

luckytwenty
08-27-2010, 08:47 AM
Lemons and eating simple carbs every few hours really helped me, and obviously wouldn't interfere with breastfeeding. But I did notice that the less sleep I got, the worse it was, regardless of how I ate.

Sorry to hear about the morning sickness. Hope it passes soon.

TwoBees
08-27-2010, 09:23 AM
Sour candies, like Lifesavers or Jolly Ranchers.

Not exactly healthy, but I can't see how they would be harmful while BFing, unless you are avoiding HFCS and artificial coloring.

lizzywednesday
08-27-2010, 09:25 AM
B6 wasn't worth a dang to me even NOT nursing!

Seltzer worked for my morning sickness.

Buy it by the case and drink it room temp. The bubbles will help settle your stomach and keeping it room temperature won't shock your system. Add lemon if you need it; I did sometimes. (Nowadays I avoid lemon like the plague.)

You can also try real ginger - ginger tea (Yogi Tea makes one that's mostly ginger), Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer is ginger-based (not the Wellness kind, the regular one; the Wellness one adds B6) , though it's sweetened with licorice root.

Also, fenugreek is supposed to settle your stomach. As a side effect, it can help boost milk supply in some women, so it wouldn't negatively impact your supply for DS.

Saltines got old for me after a week, so I got pretzels instead. (Now I can't stand either one.)

I also found that eating Greek-style yogurt in the morning as part of my breakfast helped. Greek-style yogurt is higher in protein than regular yogurt.

Keeping small snacks on-hand helps a TON. I did pretzels, cheese sticks, pb&j sandwiches, seltzer, tart-flavored Dum-Dums and lemon Italian ice.

Good luck! (Oh, and congrats on DC#2!)

alirebco
08-27-2010, 09:39 AM
you can try unisom by itself. i second the lemon thing. i drink lemon water and it helps tons with the nausea. also, if you don't like ginger tea, you can try peppermint tea. yogi makes a nice mother to be tea with peppermint in it.

i hate being nauseous but i don't think i'm at the point of needing meds yet...i'm not dehydrated and throwing up 20 times a day. i feel your pain though :(

wendibird22
08-27-2010, 09:45 AM
Hmm...I haven't heard of B6 being an issue, but a great question to ask your OB. I did unison/B6 and it worked very well. I found that you do have to take it regularly/consistently to keep MS away and it takes a few doses to start working.

Here, found this on Kellymom:

Water soluble vitamin supplements (e.g., B vitamins, vitamin C) taken by the mother usually increase breastmilk levels. Breastmilk levels of some water soluble vitamins, such as vitamin C, only increase up to a certain point, then remain steady – even if mom increases her dose.

Tanya
08-27-2010, 10:11 AM
Nothing seemed to help when I was pregnant with DD1, but this time around, I discovered that protein helped. So, you feel like crap and automatically think you need to stick with bland foods, but if I added some peanutbutter to those saltines, it actually did help this time.

I still find that I get light headed if I don't have something with protein every so often. I don't recall having that with my previous two pregnancies (first one had m/s, second one had NONE), but I'm older and this one is twins, so who knows?

♥ms.pacman♥
08-27-2010, 10:23 AM
thanks everyone for the suggestions! :thanks: i have been eating yogurts in the morning and i do think that it helps (tho it has to be the kind that's organic or "natural", yoplait/dannon ones are waay too sweet for me). saltines worked for a few weeks in my last preg b4 i got sick of them, and now since it hasn't been that long i'm already sick of them. hehe. i i'll try the fenugreek and ginger teas. ginger tea didn't do a thing for me last preg but it's worth a shot again, because i actually like ginger. i will try the seltzer thing and lemon as well.

the weird thing is, for some time i felt like the m/s wasn't as bad this time, partially bc i think i got used to having to eat all the time (with bf'ing)and i already sorta new what worked and what didn't. but then my dh (who helps out a ton with DS) went out of town for the week and after a couple days i got so exhausted with everything that it made me nauseous. i notice i feel really sick after having to carry him around or having to feed him (veggie smells make me sick, plus ds can really have fits at mealtimes). also my DS is extremely active and when he is awake (all but 2-3 hrs of the day) he requires my full attention... when he sees me eating he will literally stand up and try to grab the food i have, so trying to eat at frequent intervals is almost impossible. this week i've been relying on the Baby Einstein videos multiple times a day :bag just so i can have a chance to sit down and rest or eat something.

eta: oh and unfortunately the sour candy doesn't help me (i wish it did!) i just got a bag of jolly ranchers and lifesavers and every flavor makes me want to gag. :( it's weird bc everyone swears by candy but when i get nauseous, anything sweet sets me off. the only sweet thing i can take is juices, like apple juice or something (which actually helps sometimes). i will try preggie pops again..i had those last preg and they worked for the first couple weeks.

rkold
08-27-2010, 10:25 AM
I had awful morning sickness/vomiting but I guess it wasn't severe enough for the doctor to give me any meds, but it lasted until well into Trimester 2, and I still need to watch myself.

Things I found worked for me (which should all be BF-safe)

watered down Lemonade
Ginger tea
real ginger ale (It's more $$$$ but I prefer the G.U.S brand, it's only lightly sweet and has no HFCS)
Switching from fluoride tooth paste to a non-Fluoride variety (this helped me a lot, I was throwing up as soon as I started to try to brush my teeth before)
pickles (not w/ice cream just in general)
Preggy Pops sucking candy. I don't know why but specifically that brand only. They do not contain HFCS.
Lemon/Lime ice pops.

Keeping myself from overheating. Getting too warm is still something that generally will set me off.

Personally, I couldn't eat a lot of protein, it was one of the things that tended to set me off. About the only protein source I consistently did well with was cheese.

My sister had a friend who used acupuncture to successfully treat morning sickness and if the full day nausea hadn't vanished when it did I was in the process of finding someone to see if that would work for me.

I tried those pregnancy wrist bands as well, they helped somewhat with my pregnancy induced motion sickness, but not so much with the actual morning sickness. I also still have a faint mark on my wrist from the one I used in late April. ~.~

WolfpackMom
08-27-2010, 10:26 AM
Sour candy, peppermint tea, ginger snaps, lemon water, gingerale...Im sure its tough not feeling well and taking care of your littlke one, I hope you feel better soon!

nfowife
08-27-2010, 11:17 AM
Coca Cola Icees helped. The sugar and the thickness was much easier to get down for me.
PB&J sandwhiches were my lifesaver for a long, long time.
Rice with butter and salt, or noodles with butter and salt.

The unisom/b6 didn't help me and the unisom knocked me out....I took it at 8 pm and could not function the next day. It was horrible, and I also had 2 kids to take care of so that was out. I stuck it out for a long time (made it to 11.5 weeks) and finally asked for zofran and it was a LIFESAVER. Seriously, I was able to feel normal again!! I took it for about 6 weeks. Now I still feel a wave of nausea if i don't eat breakfast right away, but as long as I do that I have been fine without meds. I took 1-2 Colace with each zofran pill and I had no problems with constipation. I got the reco from the ladies on this board and that helped big time. Don't suffer!! If you can't get things under control don't be afraid to take the zofran.

♥ms.pacman♥
08-27-2010, 11:27 AM
^thanx, i took a zofran this morning since i felt so sick and it REALLY helped. i didn't like taking it last pg but now with a baby to take care of i don't really have a choice. and yeah, taking it with 100mg of colace really helps. i find that zofran lets me have my appetite back so i can eat stuff, therefore i don't feel as weak/nauseous later.

Roni
08-27-2010, 12:03 PM
I like lemon drops for morning sickness. Also have you tried wearing Sea Bands?

AnnieW625
08-27-2010, 12:06 PM
I never had much morning sickness with DD1 and DD2 (pregnancy we lost, yes and I really don't remember what worked) and I remember reading something with DD1 to have a peanut butter spoon and saltines before going to bed and that helped with both pregnancies.

MommyAllison
08-27-2010, 03:34 PM
I agree with the PP who said protein - it really, really helped me in my second pregnancy (DD still nursing). A handful of almonds was easy enough to eat - no prep needed! When I let my stomach get empty, then nothing looked good and I didn't want to eat, but the longer my stomach was empty, the sicker I got. Good luck!

daisymommy
08-27-2010, 03:38 PM
I haven't read very far into your post, I just wanted to jump in and say :yay: congrats on your new little bun in the oven!!!

twowhat?
08-27-2010, 10:40 PM
I wonder what it is about sour candies? That helped me too. Particularly the hard sour candies that you can suck on for a long time, like lemon drops or sour jolly ranchers. That, and eating small amounts of food very frequently.

hopeful_mama
08-28-2010, 01:48 AM
Re: the unisom, my ped didn't want me taking it while nursing as it can have a sedating effect in babies and there were concerns it could affect breathing. Now we were talking about a newborn then not an older baby, but I'm still not comfortable taking it - you might want to run it by your own ped before trying it.

♥ms.pacman♥
08-28-2010, 08:51 AM
thanks everyone. good point abt the unisom, didn't think of that.

i WISH sour candies helped. that would be so easy. but they make it worse. :( only ones that were kind of okay were Preggie Pops, and only certain flavors like the lavender one (i guess bc they are all natural?). i will try them again.

and eating frequently helps , but its hard to stay on top of that when you have a baby who literally stands up and grabs whatever you are eating (he LOVES food ad when he sees it tries to grab it). now that my DH is here it's somewhat easier, bc he can entertain/watch DS while i have a chance to eat. and yeah, meals have to be high in protein, which usually take longer to prepare. plus, i have to eat a TON, since i'm nursing a 20lb baby. a think part of it is that i am literally sick of eating and it's hard to find foods that don't set me off or that i haven't gotten sick of already.

eta: tried sea-bands with last pg...don't think they did much except leave marks on my wrists. i still got sick a ton even wearing them constantly.

Uno-Mom
08-29-2010, 10:45 PM
Preggy Pops saved my life. And I totally didn't think they would work. I thought they were gimicky so I tried all other kinds of hard candies. But the darn things worked! (Except the ginger ones, which was odd.)