pregnant & nausea is freaking me out!

[alleycat]

Hi everyone. I had my fingers crossed that I wouldn't get morning
sickness and for the first 2 weeks after I found out I was pregnant I
felt OK. In the past week I've started to have bouts of nausea,
sometimes severe, at various times of the day. I really can't figure
out if it's pregnany nausea or just anxiety nausea.



I don't know if you other emets are like me, but in stressful
situations I often get nauseated. For a long time a few years ago, I
had to stop going to restaurants because I would feel like v***ing as
soon as I sat down at the table. My doc put my on antodepressants for
anxiety, which really helped the nausea, but they had other side
effects and I ended up going off them. Since I went off (nearly 2 years
ago) the nausea has been a lot better, but I'm just as emetophobic as
before. As soon as I start to feel sick my whole body goes into panic
mode. If I'm not at home it's even worse and I need to isolate myself
near a bathroom, which is not always possible.



So basically that I can't tell if this nausea is real or psychosomatic,
and it's driving me nuts. If it's real, I'm really scared because
apparently it gets worse as I get farther along. If it's not
real, then I really need to find a way to control it. In either case,
it makes me unable to work—luckily I'm freelance and work mostly at
home, but I have to take a 2 week business trip next week and I'm
really scared my nausea will put me in awkard or embarrassing
situations (like not being able to eat meals with colleagues, etc.)
Since I'm not telling anyone I'm pregnant until the 3 month mark, I
have to find excuses if I don't feel well.



Sorry to unload all this but I need to talk and there's no one I can
tell. My husband knows I'm afraid to v*** and can't stand to see other
people do it, but he doesn't know how serious my phobia is because I've
kept it mostly hidden from him. It's just to embarrassing to talk
about.



Does anyone else have some advice for me? Please?

[jesskali]

I'm sorry to hear that you are not feeling well. Your nausea may be pregnancy related--I don't know why they came up with the term "morning sickness" because I know many women who get nausea at any time of the day during their pregnancy. How far along are you now? The good part is that the nausea usually disappears after the first trimester. I know that doesn't help you right now, though. Have you seen your OB/GYN yet? They could probably prescribe something for the nausea that wouldn't harm the baby. I know around here, they usually give Phenergan in low doses. Maybe even if you haven't seen them, you could call and talk to them. Most of the time they are pretty good about calling stuff like that in for you early in your pregnancy.

Anyway, I hope you feel better soon!

Jess

[princessmel]

I've never been pregnant, but I know what real nausea is like. You would totally be able to tell if it was real. Don't quote me on this though. I'm guessing it's anxiety nausea related b/c I'm also guessing that you are afraid of getting morning sickness, right? You might be working yourself into a frenzy when you don't even have morning sickness. Try to relax and enjoy this time.

[swiftette]

Well what used to help me was to have little snacks threw out the day.Light stuff like carrots and dip, a kudo bar, an oatmeal cookie, a plain baked potatoe. The key for me was to eat a little something BEFORE I got hungry otherwise it changed from hunger to nausea.Here are some other tips,wake up slowly and have some crackers by your bed,have at least 2 before your toes even touch the floor.Things that never bugged you before might now like brushing your teeth, the smell of your drinking glass, Don't drink and eat at the same time. It was so weird, I can remember the smell of rottiseree chicken would send me running, but yet I craved a hot dog when I NEVER eat those. Take one day at a time, I hope you feel bettersoon.

[SimplyMe]

I agree , maybe the doctor will call soemthing in or even an over the counter deal, I know some are OK when pregnant, jsut nto which ones sorry lol. Even tho you arent' telling people youa re pregnant yet you coudl tell people you are trying and not feeling well and that you dont' know or just a plain old I dont' feel good is ok too. People soemtimes feel yuck when away from home, food from strange places etc so it wont' be odd. I also agree than anxxiety may be to blame. If you are anything like me you start feeling it when you're "supposed" to. If I rememebr right you are probably around 6 wks? And that's when everyone says it starts. Anyhow I hope you feel better soon and can enjoy your pregnancy! Edited by: SimplyMe

[alleycat]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I do have two different kinds of
prescription anti-emetic medications that are supposedly "safe" for
pregnancy, but they don't work very well, and I try not to take them
until I really need them because taking anything in large doses might
harm the fetus.

Swiftette, it's interesting what you said about eating before you get
hungry—my experience today (the first day I've been nauseated ALL day
long) was that I didn't eat much and then the nausea got worse. It's
dinnertime (no dinner for me, no way) and all I've eaten all day is a
handful of crackers and some cheese. I find that just random thoughts
can make me feel sick, like thinking about the fact that I'm pregnant
(gag) or smells, like the smell of my husband—he smells completely
normal but it's grossing me out right now so much that I can't even let
him get close to me. This is a nightmare, and I'm only 6 weeks along. I
won't make it through 2 more months like this, so I hope I can find a
solution.

If only I could be *sure* it's all in my head, then I wouldn't be so
scared of it getting worse or lasting so long. But I can't tell, I
really can't. I mean, I've *never* had all day psychosomatic nausea
before, so that seems to be a clue that maybe this is for real.

[swiftette]

Oh honey, I feel for ya, I've been there.But I just tried to think of the joy of it!You're having a baby! How amazing is that! Your gonna have up days when your feeling great and getting all these cravings and then you'll have icky days where you'll be tired and feeling a bit yucky, but try to not question why you're feeling these things-just keep telling yourself over and over in your mind"I'm pregnant and what I'm feeling is completly normal-soonI'll be feeling better".That was kind of like my mantra-instead of asking myself all the questions in my head, I'd just keep saying that over and over.And you will get threw the next couple of months. Mabey pickup a pregnancy calender. It will help you to check of each day-it's like a countdown till baby, and they also show you how big the fetus is each month and all kinds of helpful tips and facts.And for right now-stick to bland-plain baked potatoes,plain crackers, ect.Ialso had this weird thing about water. With my first, I thought it tasted like lemon and with my second it was pepper-water and anything plain tasted peppery.Oh all these memories are coming back-it makes me want another baby!Almost.

[sarahx]

Congrats!


I know this might sound silly, but you could possibly be feeling nauseous because you KNOW you are pregnant. Im 30wks now, i was absolutely fine til i found out i was pregnant and i was 8wks gone, so if i was going to get morning sickness it wouldve started already. But about a week later i started feeling sick, and then panicking about it. It was awful, luckily i had safe anti-emetics. But i realised it wasnt pregnancy related. I found myself thinking about being pregnant and expecting to feel sick after a while! Touch wood, i havent been sick at all. BUT i do still get anxiety nausea but i can tell the difference now. Even tho i still believe i will be sick even tho its just anxiety!!


If you have been given meds for nausea that they say are safe in pregnancy, take them, dont make yourself suffer. The baby will be unaffected, but you panicking and being scared and stressed is def not good for the baby. When i was last pregnant, i felt very sick the whole time, but ginger ale and plain biscuits are life savers! If it gets very bad, please make sure you go to your doctor. I came off my anti-depressants when i found out i was pregnant and im suffering for it now. I dont know if you have read my thread? ANyway, my depression and especially my anxiety/panic is out of control now. I am waiting to see my psychiatrist to go back onto some meds. I waited and waited cos i didnt want to hurt the baby, only to be told that they have a range of meds to use during pregnancy that have no effects on the baby. And you can still breastfeed while taking them. SO i have been suffering for nothing really. I would hate that to happen to anyone else!


Sorry, i cant stop talking once i start! If you ever need to talk, you can email me on [email protected] or my msn is [email protected]


Good Luck! xxxx

[alleycat]

Thanks Sarah and Swiftette. I hope I can think positive enough to see the beauty of being pregnant despite feeling so yucky.

Sarah, I'm sorry you're going through such a rough time. I can totally
relate. And I think you're right that it's probably anxiety nausea,
which is actually a good thing because it means I may be able to
control it.

"I think I can, I think I can......"