Seeking Advice - Lake Elsinore, CA

Hi K.,
I too had problems with sickness. I couldn't find anything that helped me. I did not try that medication and I don't remember it being suggested to me. However, my doc did recommend that I stop taking the Prenatal Vitamins. That helped some. I feel for you!
Love,
J.

I bought some wristbands for my little girl to stop her motion sickness and I noticed that the adult version also can be used for pregnancy sickness. They should be found where you get motion sickness medication. Good luck and congratulations!

I took it around the same time (14-15 weeks) and it worked amazingly. I believe it's also called phenergen. My daughter was and is extremely healthy. Hang in there!

Hi K. - There is a book called "Medications and Mother's Milk" by Thomas Hale that I was told about while looking into options for treating an intestinal parasite while nursing. Both my doctor and pharmacist advised me against nursing while on this medication but I referred to this book (call a pediatrician) and found that studies actually showed that my dosage was ok.

This book may or may not be relevant during your pregnancy but maybe worth a try...

I am so sorry you are sick - it WILL be worth it!

My friends and I have all used Linum B6 (not just B6) and added phosphorus to our diets. It helped nearly overnight.

Also, someone mentioned Zofran and it is coated with aspartame, so be careful with that....which can cause headaches, etc.

You are right to worry about the drug, so just make sure the benefits outweigh the risks:

Long-term animal studies have not been performed to assess the carcinogenic (cancer-causing) potential of promethazine, nor are there other animal or human data concerning carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, or impairment of fertility with this drug.

Pregnancy Category C
Teratogenic effects have not been demonstrated in rat-feeding studies. Daily doses have been found to produce fetal mortality in rats.

Specific studies to test the action of the drug on parturition, lactation, and development of the animal neonate were not done. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies of Phenergan® Tablets and Suppositories in pregnant women.

Phenergan Tablets administered to a pregnant woman within two weeks of delivery may inhibit platelet aggregation in the newborn.

My girlfriend who has just found out she is prego is having the same problem. I use it all the time so we looked it up to see if she could use it. There are conflicted opinions but it seems to do the most damage to the fetus in the first trimester. My doc also told me it was fine and I completly trust my doc but with something that important if there was any risk to my unborn or born baby I just couldn't do it. I used Ematrol (i have no idea how to spell it!) You can buy it at walgreens and it is also safe for your breast fed baby. I used ginger cookies. I kept them everywhere, by the bed,in the car, in my purse, in my desk at work...you get the picture! Good luck

try Santa Monica Homeopathic store and go natural they are on Broadway and 7th

Clearly you've gotten a lot of advice. Mine may be a repeat.

K., there is such a huge range of normal and healthy when it comes to being pregnant. There is also a huge range of what is tolerable. If what you are experiencing is intolerable, unhealthy and threatening you and your child you have to do what is necessary.

There are a lot of tips for avoiding mild nausea. Don't let your stomach become too empty. Dry salty snacks are great when you haven't eaten for a while. Hard candy works in a pinch. When you can't manage cold drinks switch to hot. When you can't stand hot or cold try luke warm. Try different flavors than you usually like if they sound good. What worked best for my mild nausea was keeping hydrated. Teas and water flavored with mint, lemon or cucumber did the job for me. When snacks and hydration weren't enough ginger worked. Candied ginger was my friend.

It seems that you and your doctor have already decided that you're experiencing something more serious. It is much more important to keep you and thus your baby safe and out of the hospital. You won't be taking great care of your baby if you can't keep any food down and if you are severely dehydrated.

Do what you need to do to take care of yourself. Sometimes you have to accept a small risk to avoid a much greater risk. I wish you luck and patience.

K.,
I am a nurse and I have worked with high-risk pregnancies in a hospital. Phenergan is the preferred anti-emetic to treat nausea and vomiting (aka hyperemesis) in pregnancy. The half pill is only a 12.5mg dose which is typical to start with to treat your condition. It is a class C medication and has NOT been shown to cause problems to the unborn fetus. The label on your prescription probably says to take it every 4 to 6 hours as needed for nausea. You may take it only as often as you have nausea/vomitting.--Not to exceed the minimal hour suggestion ie not more often than every 4 hours. But the flip side is that if you only need to take it every 12 hours you can.
I also had a LOT of nausea/vomitting the first 4 months of my pregnancy (My son came in May, too.)and then heartburn the last 4 months. Nothing helped mine--ginger, preggie pops and equivalent items, peppermint. Nothing!!!
I wish you the best and want you to know that the medication is safe for your little one.
T.

Hi K. - I don't know about that drug and my advice if you can avoid it is to avoid drugs if at all possible. But obviously you need some relief so just proceed with caution and research the med for yourself to assess any risk to you and the baby. What I do suggest to help support a healthy pregnancy is to focus on a very healthy diet. Up your fruit and vegetable intake (if you can get them down - sounds like that may be an issue now) and if you can't eat 9-13 fruits and veggies a day, than add Juice Plus capsules to your diet. It will ensure that your body gets the natural combo of nutrition from 17 fresh fruits, veggies and whole grains daily. This will have a powerful effect on the health of your unborn child. Don't take my word for it though, please listen to the data on the Juice Plus University of Mississippi pregnancy study at 800-942-1260 (press 2 and 2). The results are below. Feel free to call me if you have any questions at ###-###-####. I hope you feel better soon! www.wethriveonjuiceplus.com

Prenatals / Prenatals+JuicePlus
Preterm (< or = 32 wks.) 35 (20%) / 0
Preeclampsia 38 (21%) / 0
Spontaneous Labor 16 (9%) / 0
PROM 6 (3%) / 0
NICU Admission 17 (10%) / 0
Respiratory Distress 13 (8%) / 0
Ave. Birth Weight 3280 grams / 3507 grams (+227)
Gestational age 38.2 weeks / 39.3 (+1.1 week)

You can talk to your doctor (or a different one) about taking Benadryl or ginger.

Hi K.,
During my pregnancy I had exactly the same problem and also went to my doctor who prescribed promethazine, after reading about the drug I still decided to try it out. I only took it once and once only. It made me feel very much out of sorts and not all there. After that I decided to just ride it out naturally. If it made me feel that way, I wonder how my poor baby felt!

Your doctor wouldn't prescribe something that wasn't safe for you and the baby. Feel better soon!

K.,
You might want to look at your prenatal vitamins to see how much iron is in them. A lot of prenatal vitamins have additional iron in them, which can increase nausea and vomiting. I was taking a prenatal vitamin that made me so sick all I could eat was saltines without wanting to throw up. I talked to my dad about it (who is a doctor) and he told me that the additional iron in prenatal vitamins causes a lot of women to become nauseated. I switched back to a multi-vitamin with an additional calcium and folic acid supplement and have been feeling much better. Switching your prenatal vitamin probably won't make the morning sickness go away completely but it may take the edge off so that you don't feel the need to take any medication.

Hi K.,
I'm so sorry that you're suffering from such severe sickness. I suffered for about 5 months with it too, but not to the extent as you. My ob prescribed Zofron, which is what they give chemo patients. I too didn't want to take any medication, but after ginger, saltines, eating smaller meals, fresh air, etc did not work, I was willing to try anything. What I found with the Zofron, is that taking 1 pill usually lasted about 2 days, that way you can pace out taking pills.
I did not try acupuncture, but would try that before taking the pills.
Hope this helps

ive never heard of promethazine but i took promethazone for my severe nausea and vomiting it didnt help me so my dr gave me zofran that helped for a few days. i had to suffer through my sick period of 4 months. if your ob gives it too you then its probably ok. all meds will carry some risk to a unborn baby. try it out for a few days if you still feel uneasy about taking it then stop. its good that you are researching it. i found that mint helps too! good luck also i agree with the 1st post try alternative medicine.

Have you been checked for acid reflux?! With my second son I lost 14 lbs. the first trimester because I couldn't keep anything down. It was finally a nutropathic doctor that figured out that my body was too acidic. I took acid reducers and it fixed the problem.

The extra progesterone in your body relaxes the muscles, including the muscle that closes the esophagus/stomach junction. This causes a lot of acid to move up the esophagus, and nausea and vomiting are symptoms of this.

As your OB if you could take Zantac (which is over the counter) to see if it helps. It was the miracle for me!

Good luck. Keep focusing on the end result. I know it's hard, but you can do it!!
B.

Do NOT take it if you are pregnant and your research said this.

For me, I had awful morning sickness AND migraines almost everyday with both my pregnancies...the ONLY thing that helped me, was acupuncture. (and no, it does not hurt at all).

This was recommended by my OB/GYN as well.
After only 1 half hour session, ALL suffering went away, and did not return for the duration of my pregnancy.

It is perfectly safe, and it works. Just go to someone that handles pregnant women. Even hospitals or friends, or doctors could probably give you references.

I REALLY loved this solution. My OB/GYN recommends this for all his patients having extreme morning sickness problems.

Take care,
Susan

Hi K.~

I'm sorry you're not feeling well. I have 2 kids. With both I was sick almost until the end of my pregnancies. It was miserable... 24/7. All I could do was lay on the couch and wait for it to pass. my OB/GYN WOULD NOT allow me to take any meds. There are Preggy Pops, but I've never tried them. Also, you can try to nibble on pieces of ginger that you can buy in Trader Joe's or the health food stores; maybe some ginger ale? Vernor's is good. You can find that at Ralph's and it's in the bottled soda aisle. Crunch on crushed ice... I know this is hard and can be scary. I remember counting 51 times in a row I just kept throwing up in one event. It scared me. I thought I was going to turn inside-out! But through it all, remember that you are making a beautiful baby and that this misery you are going through actually means something VERY positive for the baby!! I wouldn't suggest introducing any meds into a normal "healthy", but miserable experience. The degree of morning sickness is different for everyone. I'm assuming eating is pretty much out of the question right now. Typically, morning sickness disappears by or into month 3. Just hang in there and try to sleep it out instead.

All my best,
J.

you may want to try small snacks on a very regular basis (every hour or so)--saltines, graham crackers, something relatively plain--sometimes that helps. i found that dried apricots and a tiny bit of granola or nuts (just a few bites even) helped to take the edge off between meals. best of luck & hopefully this stage will pass quickly!

go to www.askapatient.com

I took promethazine while pregnant and had no problems.. my baby is now almost 5 years old and perfectly normal! It did make me horribly drowsy though. Supposedly it is safer after the first trimester and should not be used during labor. I was also on Reglan for about 6 months as well during that pregnancy.

I have an almost 5 month old now and took zofran during my pregnancy with her. Zofran worked a lot better and did not cause drowsiness, but it gave me awful headaches. Zofran is a wonderdrug, but pretty expensive!

Acupuncture is a good method of dealing with morning sickness. Here's a link to some easy home remedies.
http://www.health911.com/remedies/rem_motion.html

Here's a link to a short article on the efficacy of acupuncture for severe morning sickness.
http://parenting.ivillage.com/pregnancy/pfirsttri/0,,7mdn...

Here's one more link to a short article with a few other suggestions using vitamins, herbs, homeopathic remedies.
http://www.alive.com/2866a9a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=216

Hang in there!

Hi K.. I have 2 beautiful girls and for both pregnancies. For my first pregnancy, I had a horrible time in my first trimester, throwing up all the time. My ob gyn switched me from the regular prescribed pre-natal pills (which are harsh and causes nausea and vomiting)to a more natural based prenatal vitamin. I got mine from Whole Foods, the Rainbow brand. It did the trick. I also made sure I sucked on ginger candies and crackers also helped. I would advise against taking this drug especially if you found articles that says it's harmful to the baby. You don't want to take a chance. Trust your instinct, which is obviously making you question it. If in doubt, do not take it at all. I hope this helps. Good luck and Congratulations on your upcoming second angel.

Try SeaBands. You can get them at the drug store or walmart. Its by the Deamamine. They are for Nausea mostly involving motion sickness but when I was reasearching them (i was pregnant and going to my bro-in-law's wedding on a boat.) Most of the comments were from pregnant ladies using them for "morning sickness." I was fine on the boat and I used them later on when I felt sick. They worked great. It is basically a sweat band that had a little bead on it that puts pressure on a pressure point on your wrist. No drugs!!! Good luck, hang in there.

I also had terrible debilitating nausea 24/7 for the ENTIRE pregnancy. I tried everything b/c I didn't want to take any medication. Nothing worked. I lost 10% of my body weight and I was very dehydrated so I decided to take vitamin b6 with doxylamine (sp?) (the active ingredient in the Unisom sleep tabs - not the gels that's different stuff). This is perfectly safe and a category A. I suggest you talk to your doctor. I can't remember the exact dosage I took but you can ask your doctor. You can check the safety of most drugs by going to safefetus.com and they will tell you that b6 and doxylamine are both category A. This combo worked for me in that it stopped the vomiting although I was still nauseated but it took the edge off. I eventually felt better and better and attempted to go off but each time I tried I would get sick again so I stayed on until giving birth. It's a category A so it's not a problem but I just wanted to be off if I didn't need to be taking it anymore. Giving birth cured the nausea! I have a healthy baby boy who is now 20 months old. I hope you are feeling better soon. Try to never have your stomach empty and eat a little something even before you rise out of bed. Keep yourself hydrated too. Bring a lemon around with you wherever you go so you can smell it if you encounter a smell that makes you throw up. Good luck!

My doctor had me take over the counter Unisom tablets at bedtime. He said I could take up to 2 at a time, but I would only take about 1/3 of a tablet at it worked fine. It also helped me sleep better at night. Unisom is safe during pregnancy. Hope you feel better soon.

Hi K.-I am 22 weeks pregnant with my 2nd baby and have horrible pregnancies! I have to take pills to not vomit. The way I understand it is Promethazine(Phenegran), is a class C drug which means they haven't proven either way that it is harmful to the baby. I took it my 1st pregnancy and my baby is fine. This time, my Dr. prescribed me Zofran which is a med they give to cancer patients going through Chemo. It is awesome. The only time I have thrown up this pregnancy is when I have taken a half a Zofran in the morning. My insurance only covers 15 pills for 30 days, so I half them and it totally helps. I hope this helps some-I feel your pain! Good luck!!

When I was preg the 1st time I took the same thing, but an easy pregnancy. The second time I got more computer savy so I googled morning sickness cures and got B6 or B12 I forgot, also soda crackers with the salt on them. And make sure you take your vitamins, usually any kind is fine they are all the same. I did my best to keep my nerves calm so I wouldn't get sick. Definately google morning sickness cures, big help.

Hi K., There are several options you could try before going to medication. A lot of women benefit from the vitamin B6 shot. I was informed recently that eating smaller meals more often and making them more protein than carbs will help also. I am pregnant with my third, and even though the nausea isn't as bad as yours seems, I have had some, but it was in the late afternoon/evening. I am following the suggestions of my midwife who has been delivering babies for over 25 years and that is what she suggested (what I said above) and it seems to be helping. I have not needed the shot and I hope I don't, but I would try those first and perhaps even get some ginger candy, if you can tolerate the taste (I find it too strong) to help, too.

I hope this helps you! Congrats on your new little one!

I suggest trying Zofran - I used it with both my pregancies. Chemo patients use this as well. I liked this drug the best after trying some others ones to help with morning sickness. Hope you feel better soon!

Promethazine is a very strog drug, and has many usages for it, cough cold stop vomiting, you have to be really careful not to over dose on it, stick to the doctors advice. we have used it for years as a medicine, but I am very careful to use it only when its needed and to measure the liquid carfully. I can not say if it would hurt your baby, I would not take the chance if the manufactor shays it has not been tested and could risk your unborn health. Call your doctor back and let him know where you found that information at, and if there is something else. The throw ups should stop at about 5 months.. I know it sucks, eating very small meals helps every two hrs, soda crakers and ginger ale helps. The is an old remedy called coke syrup, its pure cola syrup, you pour some on crushed ice and take tiny sips of it, you can add a tad of water to the syrup because its think. This stopped me from throwing up. You have to search for it, its not a common item sold in stores any more. Peppermint settles your tummy also, and ice packs on the throat helps its where your gag reflex is and calms the nerve there. ice chips instead of drinking alot helps also. Poor thing,

Blessings

My doctor prescribed zofran for my morning sickness. I too like you was hesitant to take any medication for fear that there may be that slight chance that it may harm my baby. However, I ended up in the ER b/c of dehydration and while there I was given a big dose of the liquid form of zofran. So after two ER visits for dehydration, I realized that it would be to my and my baby's benefit to take the zofran to help keep the food/liquids down to nourish my unborn baby.
I only needed the medication to help me through the first trimester and half of the second.
Good luck....

I would try acupuncture first before taking any kinds of medication. It works wonders!