From: ElisHyde@aol.com
I did my Yale master's thesis on acupressure for morning sickness and am quite familiar with the literature and suggestions. There is actually *no* relationship with age or hormone status. There is no magic bullet cure. There are numerous things you can try, but nothing is guaranteed to work for everyone. Sometimes there is nothing that helps, and we just make sure that the woman is not dehydrated or spilling large ketones. Here are some of the things I suggest to the women with whom I work.
Try to keep something in your stomach at all times....doesn't matter what. Eat whatever it is that appeals to you, even if you might consider it *junk food*. At the early stage of pregnancy it is most important for the fetus to get calories, and the good nutrition can come later on. When I was pregnant with my first, the only food that helped were Italian subs with all the onions, hot peppers etc. When I was pregnant with my second, the only thing that helped were A-W rootbeer floats.
ginger - in the form of ginger ale, ginger snaps, ginger root capsules. Make sure it is *real* ginger....not artificial. Some health food stores have a product called (I think) Ginger Works. It is a syrup of ginger and honey. Some women like ginger tea - slice up some raw ginger, steep in boiling water, sweeten to taste.
Peppermint and chamomile teas. Marshmallow root syrup is supposed to be helpful....but I have no direct experience with this. Have the recipe in my office if you like.
Emetrol - an over-the-counter preparation of three different types of sugars in a slightly fizzy base.
Apricot nectar or juice from canned blackberries. Learned this one in Oklahoma!
Acupressure wristbands - can purchase SeaBands although I am not particularly happy with their design. (Despite the fact that they used my copyrighted journal article as advertising, and suggested that I supported Seabands....which I don't!) I suggest making your own - use 3/4 inch elastic with velcro on the ends to fit snuggly. Sew a round (spherical or hemispherical) button in the center. The pressure spot is P6, NeiGuan. It is located 3 fingers-breadths from the wrist crease, between the two central flexor tendons of the wrist. (Make a tight fist and flex your wrist....you should be able to feel 2 tendons. The button goes between them.) In my thesis research 75% of women had some sort of relief of nausea. There was also less anxiety, depression, hostility and improvement in activities in daily living. Interestingly, one woman said that her nausea was not particularly improved, but that she felt quite happy.....probably the endorphin effect.
Vitamin B6 - can be done a number of ways. Try 50mg B-complex (needs to contain 50 mg of all the B vits) 2-3 times a day. Can also get 100 mg B6 (Hexabetalin) IV.
Make your own Bendectin - Bendectin was a compound which was shown to be effective for morning sickness. It was taken off the market in the late 70's or early 80's because the company feared lawsuits related to birth defects. Numerous, numerous studies failed to implicate Bendectin as the cause of any birth defects. You can duplicate the composition of bendectin by taking Unisom (OTC antihistamine used for sleep) plus 50mg B6.
Some women do a lot better after iv fluids. Sometimes we can just give a couple liters....other times we keep them on home ivs.
Hope at least one of these helps you!
Betsy Hyde CNM