First Trimester Blues-- Need Help

[bkanasky]

the wifey has an upset stomach 24/7--- so therefore her desire for sex is zero. ladies--- any tricks to help control the pregnancy nausea? She tried a few medications, but the side effects were terrible. She recently tried ginger tea, which seems to be doing ok.

[LoveGoddess]

the wifey has an upset stomach 24/7--- so therefore her desire for sex is zero. ladies--- any tricks to help control the pregnancy nausea? She tried a few medications, but the side effects were terrible. She recently tried ginger tea, which seems to be doing ok.

Sorry to hear about her nausea Billy. If I remember correctly, she is just early on in her pregnancy. It is very common for some women to have no desire (for anything...not just sex) because of the high progesterone levels early in pregnancy that cause nausea.

To answer your question, there are several things that can help control the pregnancy nausea...Ginger being one of them. There are actually some clinical trials that show ginger to be more effective at helping nausea than some prescription drugs. Some vitamins also have been shown to help with curbing the nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. B6 has been shown to help w/ nausea and Vitamin B12 has helped to reduce vomiting in pregnancy. There are specific doses that are recommended in pregnancy, but she needs to talk w/ her Doctor or Midwife on whether this would be a good treatment for her, and how much they feel would be safe for her to take. Also, some women feel that accupressure is helpful in easing nausea. There are some pressure points on the inside part of her wrist, that when pressed, can ease symptoms. You can buy special wrist bands, called Sea-bands (becuase they also help w/ nausea associated with ocean or travel sickness) that have a little plastic stud in it that provides the pressure exactly on the Nei Kuan acupressure point on each wrist.

Aside from the high hormone levels being the cause of nausea in pregnancy, there is also good evidence leading to a belief that low blood sugar is also a factor. Hence, why women get nausea typically in the morning after they haven't eaten all night, and late afternoon (say 4-4:30pm) because they haven't eaten since lunch and its not dinner time yet. One of the other typical cure for nausea in pregnancy is to eat small frequent meals or snacks. Even if it is just a few bites at a time. Over stretching her stomach will also trigger nausea, so eating too much at one time can cause gastric distention and trigger more nausea. Sometimes eating and drinking (all those 8-10 glasses of water a day) at seperate times may help in preventing this overstretching of the stomach.

Some women also feel that nothing tastes good, or that they have an increase in spit (the fancy medical term for that is Ptylism) that leaves an aweful bitter taste in your mouth and every time you swallow makes your stomach feel worse. Think in terms of a really bad 'fuzzmouth' from a bad hangover. What can help women that have this sour taste and increase spit is to suck on tart things, lemon drops, sip lemonaide, eat granny smith apples, etc. Basically all the things we would typically avoid if you had nausea from a cold. There are even some products on the market that target this symptom: called "preggy pops".

Nausea is such a common symptom in pregnancy that women typically don't get a lot of sympathy. But it is very important to keep a few things in mind. If she is past 13 weeks pregnant and still having significant problems she should let her provider know. Also if she is vomiting more than 3 times a day, can't keep ANY food or fluids down, if she seems to be losing weight, and if any other symptoms start appearing: pain, fever, blood, etc. As these could be a sign of something MUCH more concerning.

Bottom line, there are some GREAT resources out there for pregnant women (including our 2cents here at Too Timid) but books, forum friends, and websites cannot replace the one-on-one support by her provider.

And as far as her interest in sex...hopefully that will return in a few weeks once she gets to the second trimester!

Good luck!

[horneyhousewife]

I have used pressure point wristbands which help me.

You can find them in the nausea section of the pharmacy, or ask the pharmacist where to find them. They are only about five bucks, if I remember correctly.

Good luck, the nausea thing sucks.

[mensaphiliac]

First trimester sucked for us, too, but the second trimester made up for it in spades. Good times!

[Amylynn920]

I found the lemonade and gingersnaps helped.

To give you something to look forward to... I was a nympho during second and third trimester. It will get better!

[Mike_d]

Citrus is a huge help in claming the senses. You should try some oranges, even the smell is usually enough to relieve some of the nausea. Best wishes

[hollybw]

Hate to tell you this, but I vomitted at least twice a day for about 7 months! Some may find that hard to believe because I was an exception. Most only do this for a couple of months. Eventually it got to the point for me that I got so used to it that I just got up in the morning and stood over the toilet as part of my daily routine!!

One thing that really helped me was sucking on lemon wedges. I kept cut up lemons in a baggie and carried them with me everywhere!

The good news is, as others have stated, I too was a nympho by 7-8 months. Especially towards the very end. My baby was so low by then that I could barely sit down! A nurse told me, "Have lots of sex if you want to get this baby out of you soon!" And if your wife is able to get over her awkward figure, it is a lot of fun trying to find new positions that are comfortable! Good luck!