Morning sickness is an early side effect of pregnancy that tends to resolve in the second trimester. It does not always occur in the morning, and is characterized by nausea and/or vomiting, to greater or lesser degree. Morning sickness symptoms may be brought on by exposure to smells or by eating foods that have become distasteful or they can occur without an obvious cause. The reason this condition is often associated with the morning is because some women seem most prone to morning sickness when stomachs are emptiest and blood sugar is lowest.
Some pregnant women experience virtually no morning sickness and others get sick often. It is partly the body’s response to the addition of pregnancy hormones, which is why the symptoms seem to cease as time passes. The body frequently gets used to the presence of these hormones. This doesn’t exactly explain why some women have such severe morning sickness symptoms, and others barely notice a moment of queasiness.
Though unpleasant, morning sickness is usually mild. A small percentage of women experience severe morning sickness symptoms regularly. If this begins to interfere with sufficient calorie intake or causes dehydration, it requires treatment. A number of anti-nausea or anti-emetic medications might be tried under doctor surveillance. For the majority of women, extreme vomiting doesn’t occur, though it’s not unusual for some women to be physically ill once a day, at least, for a couple of months.
When morning sickness happens most in the morning, there are suggested remedies for its treatment. The combination of rising out of bed and low blood sugar seems to take its toll. One recommendation is to keep a few soda crackers by the bed and eat them before getting up; more specifically, it’s suggested women do very little moving until they’ve had a chance to eat a cracker or two. If a partner is available to bring anything to the pregnant mom, something he could bring that also has a tummy soothing effect is ginger tea, which is considered to be one of the best and most medically effective morning sickness remedy at any time of day.
Morning sickness symptoms may be confused with other medical problems. They shouldn’t be accompanied by other stomach symptoms like chronic diarrhea. This might suggest a bacterial infection or intestinal complaint. Vomiting and a fever is also not morning sickness and could be an intestinal flu, bacterial infection, or parasitic infection. Additional symptoms beyond vomiting and nausea deserve physician consultation.
Most get over nearly all morning sickness symptoms by the second trimester. Many women still report that strong smells or aversive foods cause nausea. The best cure for this ongoing queasiness is to avoid offensive foods or smells, when possible. A few women find that having a mint candy when exposed to trigger smells or foods can help because of its strong taste and aroma, but some pregnant women find the smell of mint nauseating.
