One of the most common symptoms of early pregnancy is morning sickness, which can include vomiting or merely a sense of nausea. Because morning sickness is quite unpleasant, you may want to find a way to treat your symptoms without pharmaceuticals. There is a vitamin-based option for treating pregnancy-related nausea.
Morning Sickness
Affecting more than half of all pregnant women, morning sickness can actually occur at any time of day or night -- and sometimes even lasts around the clock. It's most common in early pregnancy, because of changing hormone levels. In their book "What To Expect When You're Expecting," Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel explain that morning sickness generally starts to disappear by the end of the first trimester, but is uncomfortable until then.
Pharmaceuticals
While there are anti-nausea pharmaceuticals, your doctor will likely advise you to stay away from prescription and over-the-counter drugs as much as possible during pregnancy, because of the risk of harming your developing baby. As a result, non-pharmaceutical treatments for morning sickness are popular, though some are much more effective than others. A popular anti-nausea drug that was taken off the market in the 1980s, called Bendectin, actually contained vitamin B-6.
Vitamin B-6
It's not known why vitamin B-6 may help relieve your nausea, but in high doses, it does seem to be effective for many women. In their book "You: Having A Baby," Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz note that even though Bendectin was taken off the market, there was never any proof that it caused harm and it's still used in many countries. You can take vitamin B-6 in Bendectin-like doses, note the doctors; you'd need 10 to 25 mg per day to have an effect.
Other Considerations
Though one vitamin can help with your nausea, others may make it worse. Prenatal vitamins, generally prescribed for women starting very early in pregnancy, are quite well known for their stomach-turning side effects. This is likely primarily due to the large quantities of iron in the vitamin pills. Still, if you're feeling nauseated, you may not have morning sickness at all; you might just be reacting to your prenatal vitamin. Talk to your doctor about gentler vitamin options if this is the case.
References
- "What to Expect When You're Expecting"; Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel; 2008
- "You: Having A Baby"; Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.; 2009
