Medications for Morning Sickness

Posted on Jan 14, 2013 | Treating Morning Sickness Category | | Print This Article

 

It’s natural for us to want a quick, easy solution when we feel sick. Since we’ve been little, most of us have been given some kind of medication or other for every bump, bruise, pain, or illness we’ve ever felt. Of course, when we’re pregnant, we need to be a lot more careful about the kinds of medication we take, both for our own safety and for that of the baby.

So, what do we do for morning sickness? Whenever possible, we should seek remedies which don’t involve medication. Some of the more common non-medicinal remedies for morning sickness include:

• Sipping ginger ale
• Aromatherapy
• Sucking peppermint candies
• Nibbling saltines or soda crackers
• Acupressure

Most of the time, morning sickness can be managed with these natural remedies. If, however, your morning sickness is particularly severe and doesn’t respond to non-medicinal remedies, there are a few medicines which your health care professional may suggest.

The most common medicines suggested for morning sickness relief include:

• Emetrol. Emetrol is not technically approved for the treatment of morning sickness, but it is effective against nausea and is also believed to be safe during pregnancy. It is also available over the counter. Even still, you should always check with your health care provider before taking any medication while you are expecting.
• Zantac. Zantac is a reflux medication. It can be effective if your morning sickness is triggered by the types of food you have eaten. Zantac is available over the counter.
• Pepcid. Like Zantac, Pepcid helps ease morning sickness which is caused by gastrointestinal problems.
• Dicletin. Dicletin (also called Bendectin) combines B6 vitamins and an antihistamine. It was pulled from the shelves in the United States over concerns of its safety for pregnant women, but is still available by prescription in Canada. Dicletin causes drowsiness, so even if your health care provider suggests using it, be careful about driving or working with machinery (including kitchen machinery) while using it.
• Prescription medications. Common medicines prescribed for morning sickness include Compazine, Phenergan, and Tigan. If you take these medications, it is important that you don’t take Compazine and Phenergan together.
• Zofran. Zofran was originally designed for chemotherapy patients, but has been found to be effective and safe when used to treat morning sickness. Most insurance carriers won’t cover Zofran for morning sickness because it is expensive.

If you are suffering from severe morning sickness or morning sickness which persists despite using non medicinal remedies, speak with your doctor or health care professional.  While you want to avoid taking unnecessary medication, it doesn’t help you or your baby for you to leave severe morning sickness untreated.

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