Morning Sickness: Pills, Pills, Pills

When you've tried all the easy fixes, it might be time to start popping some pills. These fall into 3 catagoris: Vitamins, OTC Meds, and prescriptions.

Whatever catagory you try next, the same principal applies: Use the smallest dose you can to elicit the desired response. Start with a quarter of the recommended dose - if that works, try an eigth the next day. If it doesn't work, try half the recommended dose. Each day, if it works, try half the amount the next day; if it doesn't work, try double the amount the next day, until you reach the recommended dose. Do not, of course, exceed the recommended dose without consulting your healthcare provider.

Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine): Recommended dose is 10-25mg, 3 times per day.
Vitamin 12: Injections from an N.D. or M.D., once weekly.
Vitamin K and Vitamin C: There is a "study done my midwives in the UK" that I've heard a lot about, but I have searched and searched and never found the actual study. If anyone can send me a link to it, please do! The study is famed to be based on 5 mg per day of Vitamin K and 25 mg per day of Vitamin C. However, that is an extraordinary amount of Vitamin K to be taking daily, and a wimpy amount of Vitamin C. My friend Karli found results with 100mcg of Vit K per day - which is equal to only 0.1 mg! If you want to try this, I would recommend starting with 100 mcg/day of Vitamin K and 500 mg per day of Vitamin C.

Unisom TABLETS (doxylamine): Recommended dosage is 25 mg per day, but I have seen as little as a quarter tablet work. Best results are when used in conjunction with Vitamin B6. This is available at any drugstore.

Presciption medications: If you've tried everything else, it may be time to move to the hard stuff. The most common presciption drug is called Phenergan (promethazine), which is an anti-histamine that also works well for nausea. I have seen one baby who had seizures (that were annoying and frightening but not dangerous), and the mother thinks it was from the Phenergan she took in early pregnancy, but we don't know. No major infant problems have been attributed to it's use; but mothers often find themselves so drowsy from it that all they can do is sleep. For a complete list of available presciption drugs, their side effects, etc., click here. For an article that remembers the thalidomide babies, click here. In the end, no one really knows the risks of most medications in pregnancy. You must balance for yourself the potential risks versus the reality of a mother who can't keep food down. To be a mother is to make the best choices you can with the information you have, and without the benefit of knowing what the future will hold.