XP: Food hard to eat

[byjove]

** Preface by saying I'm just a couple days shy of 22 weeks and am slowly gaining weight. I'm still taking diclegis at night and zofran in the morning and am a mostly happy and functioning adult again for the last couple of months. Yay! I posted this on my BMB, but maybe it would be better here.


The last few weeks I've been having a lot of difficult food days. Not that I am feeling particularly nauseous (though sometimes I am and have to pop another zofran), but mostly no desire to eat and all food sounds terrible (except occasionally this peanut butter stracciatella gelato I just found at the store, which at the moment sounds puke inducing, but later tonight I'm sure will go down well...). I make myself eat, but it is all just gross. Anyone else going through this? What are you finding goes down well? Does it sound like morning sickness? Should I up my frequency of zofran?

[rainbowsockmonkey]

Just turned 18 weeks, and I'm in the same boat. I've been feeling no desire to eat since the begining of June. If you figure something out, let me know.

[byjove]

Jul 29, 2015 14:04:36 GMT -5 rainbowsockmonkey said:

Just turned 18 weeks, and I'm in the same boat. I've been feeling no desire to eat since the begining of June. If you figure something out, let me know.

I put in a note to my MW- I'll let you know what feedback I get.

[NariaDreaming]

Dirty lurker- can you manage to stomach smoothies or yogurt? I know there have been quite a few HG moms over the years that have loaded up smoothies and spiked their yogurt with chia seeds for extra calories and protein

[byjove]

Jul 29, 2015 14:57:56 GMT -5 NariaDreaming said:

Dirty lurker- can you manage to stomach smoothies or yogurt? I know there have been quite a few HG moms over the years that have loaded up smoothies and spiked their yogurt with chia seeds for extra calories and protein

Smoothies could be a good idea. Sounds like work though  

[Sparkly]

I will preface this by saying I have never been diagnosed with HG and haven't intro'd or posted here, because I think there are people far worse off than me. I have had severe "morning" sickness -- intense nausea and vomiting daily when not controlled by meds -- with both my pregnancies. I haven't lost weight in either case, as it is mostly controlled by meds (with DD1, 4mg Zofran twice/day was enough but with this pregnancy I still threw up almost every day on 4mg, so I'm now on 8mg Zofran 3x/day or Zofran 2x and Reglan at night), so again I don't consider myself to have HG, but I am sicker than the average pregnant woman -- from what I can tell anecdotally anyway.

So for me on bad days or at bad times of day, the blander the food the better. In the first trimester I ate a buttered English muffin (for some reason the butter helps) every single morning (had to force it down sometimes), and once I got that in my stomach, I would do better. I got super sick of them, so now I skip them most days (side anecdote: my morning food with DD1 was dry Life cereal...and I haven't eaten since I was pregnant with her!), but I am still doing okay with bagels & cream cheese...specifically from Dunkin Donuts... I don't know why. I just crave their bagels. Again, sometimes I have to force it down, but I usually feel better and enter my "good" period of the day after I get something in me. (I also take Zofran first thing when I wake up.

The foods I do when I'm not feeling well at night (which happens a lot) are plain cheerios (with or without milk), white rice (with butter, sometimes salt), plain egg noodles (with butter), or toast. I also drank fruit smoothies some during first trimester -- the key for me was avoiding banana in them (major aversion with both pregnancies) and not mixing dairy (i.e. yogurt) with fruit or veggies. I sub mango and/or pineapple for anything that has banana as a base, it sits much better for me. I will get the chia seeds sometimes for added protein/fiber if I am not eating much else that day.

In between meals, I will have things to try to keep something in my stomach -- PB crackers, half a Kind bar, a Babybel cheese, a small Coke (Coke specifically helps to settle my stomach), and I do suck on the preggie pop drops and other hard candies sometimes ... it works for a few minutes, maybe, if I just need to get myself to a point I can get a snack or lunch or whatever. It's easier now in 2nd tri to have these snacks and keep on top of it, because I mostly feel okay during the middle part of the day. It is in the morning and in the evening that I don't do as well.

I think I didn't lose weight with either pregnancy because I basically go on this all carb diet (not the norm for me) and got on meds fairly early in both cases (~11 weeks with DD1 and 6 weeks with DD2). I have bad nausea days, but if I am not throwing up I am fairly happy. I hate throwing up! Sickness cleared around 21 weeks with DD1, so I am hoping I am in the home stretch here with this one... 16w5d right now.


Sorry for the lengthy response, but I was also wondering what your dosage is on the Zofran? Like I said, 4mg was fine for me with DD1, but it didn't cut it, like at all, with this pregnancy. I threw up almost every morning (even taking it every 8 hours on the dot), and then sometimes at night too. I was eating, but not well, and it was so unpleasant. Nothing sounded good and I knew it was progressively getting worse, so that is when they first switched me to Reglan (made me incredibly tired/drowsy to take all the time), and then upped me to the max dosage of Zofran which is 8mg every 8 hours. The reason I still alternate is that my insurance is a PITA about paying for Zofran, so it stretches the prescription a little further.

[rainbowsockmonkey]

I take 10mg rocket is every night. I have 2 scripts for zofran, a 4mg and 8mg. Depending on how I feel when I wake up and give DD her breakfast I will either take a 4 or an 8. I will also take a 4 in the afternoon if I feel like I need it. I lost 30 lbs by 14 weeks with DD, and so far have lost 40lbs with this one.

[byjove]

Sparkly, thanks for your input! I take 4 mg of zofran in the morning (a fast melt) and maybe once or twice a week another in the afternoon or evening. I could definitely add in a mid day one.

rainbowsockmonkey, that is a lot of weight! Hugs to you dear. I hope that number doesn't get any larger.

[Sparkly]

Jul 30, 2015 11:50:04 GMT -5 byjove said:

Sparkly, thanks for your input! I take 4 mg of zofran in the morning (a fast melt) and maybe once or twice a week another in the afternoon or evening. I could definitely add in a mid day one.

rainbowsockmonkey, that is a lot of weight! Hugs to you dear. I hope that number doesn't get any larger.

If you don't mind my asking, is it your doctor or your personal preference not to take more meds? As I mentioned in my post, I'm on 8mg every 8 hours (still threw up almost every day on 4mg this time). Being on Zofran consistently is the ONLY thing that has gotten me through either pregnancy. If I miss a dose on any given day, I usually can't eat that night and/or throw up the next morning. I know every doctor is different (mine doesn't prescribe diclegis, for example, which I see a lot of people taking now) but my OB is of the opinion it's better for me to be on the meds and not be sick (and be able to eat most of the time) than try to battle it out myself and be miserable.

[byjove]

Jul 30, 2015 13:37:07 GMT -5 Sparkly said:

Jul 30, 2015 11:50:04 GMT -5 byjove said:

Sparkly, thanks for your input! I take 4 mg of zofran in the morning (a fast melt) and maybe once or twice a week another in the afternoon or evening. I could definitely add in a mid day one.

rainbowsockmonkey, that is a lot of weight! Hugs to you dear. I hope that number doesn't get any larger.

If you don't mind my asking, is it your doctor or your personal preference not to take more meds? As I mentioned in my post, I'm on 8mg every 8 hours (still threw up almost every day on 4mg this time). Being on Zofran consistently is the ONLY thing that has gotten me through either pregnancy. If I miss a dose on any given day, I usually can't eat that night and/or throw up the next morning. I know every doctor is different (mine doesn't prescribe diclegis, for example, which I see a lot of people taking now) but my OB is of the opinion it's better for me to be on the meds and not be sick (and be able to eat most of the time) than try to battle it out myself and be miserable.

My MWs are supportive of me taking what I need. I was taking more zofran during the day and night at my worst and was able to cut back as I got better after the first trimester. I am not throwing up anymore or losing weight, and for the most part my nausea is in check. At this point I am not sure if taking more zofran is actually the answer. If the MW says this is MS coming back, then I'll probably take it more frequently.

[Sparkly]

Jul 30, 2015 14:16:43 GMT -5 byjove said:

Jul 30, 2015 13:37:07 GMT -5 Sparkly said:

If you don't mind my asking, is it your doctor or your personal preference not to take more meds? As I mentioned in my post, I'm on 8mg every 8 hours (still threw up almost every day on 4mg this time). Being on Zofran consistently is the ONLY thing that has gotten me through either pregnancy. If I miss a dose on any given day, I usually can't eat that night and/or throw up the next morning. I know every doctor is different (mine doesn't prescribe diclegis, for example, which I see a lot of people taking now) but my OB is of the opinion it's better for me to be on the meds and not be sick (and be able to eat most of the time) than try to battle it out myself and be miserable.

My MWs are supportive of me taking what I need. I was taking more zofran during the day and night at my worst and was able to cut back as I got better after the first trimester. I am not throwing up anymore or losing weight, and for the most part my nausea is in check. At this point I am not sure if taking more zofran is actually the answer. If the MW says this is MS coming back, then I'll probably take it more frequently.

Gotcha. That is good you are not throwing up! My nausea and throwing up pretty much stopped abruptly around 20-21 weeks when I was pregnant with DD1, so I am really hopeful that will happen again. Right now if I get more than an hour past when I should have taken meds I can tell. I just start feeling so sick and the heat right now does not help that situation (I have A/C at work, but not at home).

I hope you can find some foods that are enjoyable or at least bearable to eat. My rule is if I want it and it sounds good, I eat it! I do best during the middle period of the day, so I always try to have a good lunch... and I pretty much get whatever I want. I cook dinner most nights and base my meal plan right now around what sounds at least mildly appetizing, whether it's what DH wants or not! I always try to eat some of what I make, but it is hard.

[byjove]

My MW got back to me this morning and she said it sounds more like indigestion or heartburn than MS returning. So this is probably just mid-pregnancy gloriousness, lovely

[Sparkly]

Jul 31, 2015 10:07:57 GMT -5 byjove said:

My MW got back to me this morning and she said it sounds more like indigestion or heartburn than MS returning. So this is probably just mid-pregnancy gloriousness, lovely

Oh yes, after my MS cleared with DD, I started getting heartburn (which I had never had before in my life) like whoa. The only thing that worked for me when it was bad was drinking milk of magnesia right out of the bottle. The rest of the time I chewed on Tums.