This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for a while, but I had to get out of the trenches before I felt safe enough to document it and ask about it.
With all 3 pregnancies, I’ve never really got to the point of puking when I felt sick, save a couple times that I think were more likely attributed to mild food poisoning. Now, please know how VERY grateful I am that that came to pass. I hate puking more than just about anything in this world. I will fight it with every ounce of will power I have in me.
Hate. It.
But with each pregnancy, the worst part for me has been the food aversions, and they seem to increase in intensity and the length of time they stick around each time I get pregnant. I’m not talking about being averse to most foods, and having to live off of toast and water for a day or two. I’m talking not being able to stomach the sight, let alone the taste, of ANYTHING, not even water sometimes.
This was the worst for me around weeks 10 and 11, though I still fight with it off and on now. The week of Christmas, I think I could have fit all the food I managed to get into my stomach on one dinner plate. I had to choke down water in small sips.
There was a point when I thought, “Do I have to go to the hospital for this?”
People were misinterpreting my being so sick with my having hyperemesis gravidarum – a condition that results from severe vomiting, leading to dehydration (what Kate Middleton has/had). I felt awful when they would assume that. “Surely I must be overreacting to this if people think I have it that bad,” I thought. Because I never puked.
Though, I can’t say I wouldn’t have, had I given my body something to throw up?
I searched and searched online for warning signs of “extreme” food aversions, but all I found were the typical anecdotal tales of being repulsed by certain foods, and having to eat nothing but mac & cheese for a week. Nothing really talked about any dangers of the worst version of it.
The good news is obviously this came to an end (at least the extreme version of it), and the baby and I are fine. I’m certainly not implying that what I dealt with was on the same, dangerous level as hyperemesis gravidarum, but I do think it was a pretty intense, awful thing to deal with.
I guess I’m just wondering if any of you went through something similar? How sick did you get? What did you do to cope?
Let’s make this a place for a discussion about this, and hopefully others struggling with it will be more successful in a Google search for insight in the future than I was.
I, too, fight throwing up with every fiber of my being. I also thought that anti-nausea meds were supposed to only be used by people who were actively throwing up all over the place (because I, too, always felt like I was THIS.CLOSE to vomiting, but I never actually did. I sometimes thought if I COULD throw up, perhaps I might feel a bit better? But alas, I’ll never know!) At 8 weeks I started taking Unisom and B6, and somewhere between weeks 10 and 12 I think I started Zofran. Somewhere in the middle of my pregnancy I was able to stop the Unisom and B6 (which was nice, because my toddler was napping less, and that Unisom makes you SLEEPY!) but I was on the Zofran up until the day I delivered
The Zofran helped IMMENSELY, and while I was still very picky about which foods did and did not seem like they’d make me throw up, I was definitely able to eat more than popsicles. I honestly don’t know how women end up forgetting these awful pregnancy stories in order to have more kids! 
Not overall aversion, but specific foods yes. With my second pregnancy, first was ectopic, it was pb for the entire pregnancy and almost a year after after. Literally the smell would make me gag. My third pregnancy it was scrambled eggs, he is five months old and just thinking/typing about it is making my mouth water like I am going to vomit.
I spent all 40 weeks throwing up but not because of food. However, with my first I could not stand the smell of eggs, my husband and I worked different shifts and what’s the first thing he made himself every morning when he got home from work? Omelets. Gag but with my 2nd pregnancy I ate eggs all the time. My only real aversion both times was to meat and I’m not a big meat eater anyway so it wasn’t a big deal.
With me it was worse weeks 6-8 and I just wasn’t hungry at all. I could make a meal, serve it, but then the idea of eating it made me feel like I was going to puke.
I had severe food aversions as well. Mine was mostly meat and anything I thought about actually having to chew and swallow. My gag reflex was awful. I would sometimes get through a meal and then throw it up because I thought about the physical act of having to eat it. I never had an aversion to water, but it did give me heartburn, along with most other things.
YES.
With my first pregnancy, it was chicken. Any kind of chicken sent me almost passing out to the floor from the nausea. I still cannot stand the smell or sight of boiled chicken. FOUR YEARS LATER.
With Harrison, it was Mexican food. The thought of it had me swallowing chunks.
I’m like you – I was just nauseated the ENTIRE time. I can count on one hand how many times I actually puked but I think it was just sheer willpower because I loathe vomiting with every bone in my body. I would lay on the couch & breathe heavily & wish to die with tears rolling down my cheeks, but refusing to puke. (that being said, I’m like that with every illness. I’ve only had one vomiting illness my entire life & that was when I was 9. I’m just not a puker.)
In hindsight, I think I would have felt better if I’d just given in & vommed for 13 weeks instead of swallowing it back down.
With both of my pregnancies I had food aversions, but the second was worse in the beginning. I hate to puke and try to avoid it at all costs too, so that made it worse. If my husband made eggs, I would have to leave the house so I didn’t smell them. Don’t even get me started on chicken. I can still feel the gag reflex. I also had problems with too much iron from my prenatals, so I felt like my stomach was burning acid all day. I basically laid around willing myself not to puke and trying to sleep away the gross feeling while trying to sip water and chew on ginger tabs, gingersnaps or saltines for 6 weeks. At work and taking care of a 2-year-old. He watched a lot of movies then
Not fun. Then it magically diappeared when I hit about 11-12 weeks.
I did not have FOOD aversions while pregnant, but I did spend maybe 3-4 weeks with a severe aversion to water. I drank only fruit juice, sweet tea, and Sprite and was seriously worried that I would become dehydrated.
Glad that’s over for you! Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy!
I am 15 weeks myself. My first 11-12 weeks were simliar to yours, I only puked one time, but had some major boughts of the “sweaty upper lip- hyperventialting,-just keep breathing or you will puke any second” moments. I felt bad complainnig because I wasn’t puking and thought I should just be thankful for that. I did have some major food aversions too. I hated the smell of bread, and the thought of eating it was like someone offering to make me a cockroach sandwich: like oh gawd, no way was that getting close to me. I threw away a whole package of pita bread I had just bought because I felt like I could smell it from across the room. I had a moment before entering my son’s school for a parent teacher meeting where I had the “will power” moment in the parking lot after smelling their cafeteria breakfast. I was rocking in my car out front, praying that I didn’t puke in the parking lot or worse once in the meeting and fully smelling the cafeteria. I felt like you said..like I “willed” it.My doctor finally prescirbed an anti nausea Rx, even though I wasn’t puking, so maybe that would help others in need. Just because you aren’t puking, tell your doctor, and they can still give you something to make that horrible feeling go away. Mine prescribed Zofrain (sp?). I was able to be much more comfortable and eat more once I took it. I also changed my pre natal vitamin to a chewable.
Ugh. with my first pregnancy I simply could not stomach the thought of any food. I had morning sickness for 18 weeks, but extreme aversion for probably 3-4 weeks? I’d throw up after brushing my teeth but for the rest of the day I was in puke purgatory. The in between is a miserable, horrible place to be. There were foods that I’d manage to eat here and there and a day later the mere thought of those foods would make me want to lay on a cold tile floor. Of course my doctor was never concerned (nothing concerns him unless the baby is falling out), but I did get some anti nausea meds so I could enjoy a couple of special events, and boy did it work! So glad to have those days behind me. Hope you’re feeling better now!
Im 16 weeks and still battle mild food aversion. However 1st tri was rough. I could barely eat anything and wanted nothing. I did vomit at least once a week but that only lasted about 3 weeks and at that point i was eating a tad more. My worst battle even now is water. I hate it. The thought of it could make me gag and i have to force myself to drink it and usually use crystal light to manage to get more fluid down. Anyone else hate water?
Emilie, it helps me to have it REALLY SUPER cold with LOTS of ice. Even like a water slushy- water poured over crushed ice from Sonic. I seem to still be averse to hot or lukewarm drinks (one of the many reasons I can’t do coffee). I find I can get liquids down better if I keep them in my insulated thermos on ice.
Yes. All food all the time, and I am 17 weeks and losing weight. (!) I didn’t have this level of repulsion with my last pregnancy, either. My kicker is that if I don’t eat, I puke, but if I do eat, I can barely get it down (I can manage a few bites here and there). I don’t think it will end until I give birth, though. It’s kind of miserable! I really miss food and wanting food. (I did go through a phase of wanting tomatoes only, but that ended a few days after it started, and I can usually eat ice cream pretty reliably so something is going in…) good luck. I’m glad it’s over for you.
With both pregnancies I had morning sickness, more like all day nausea. Smells made me more sick than actual eating. Leftover pizza in the fridge hit me like a ton of bricks… All I wanted at that point was mac & cheese or buttered toast or string cheese – none of which helps the constipation, but I won’t even get into that… With my second, I immediately got a prescription for Zofran and it helped tons, but thinking about foods, even ones I normally loved, didn’t sound good. Then one day everything sounded so yummy!
With both my pregnancies I went through a phase where even the thought of Italian pasta sauce and meatballs was enough to make me vomit/feel like vomiting. I was a daily puker with my first pregnancy up to around 16 weeks. No vomit at all with my second. But both pregnancies had intense cravings of things it was safe to eat. Hot sauce on everything, for one. With my son I had unhealthy cravings: french fries, pasta with ketchup on it, brownies. With my daughter I could not get enough of steamed spinach, fresh pineapple, baked potatoes, and hard boiled eggs with Tabasco sauce on them. I hate the beginning of pregnancies. I can deal with all the rest of it: including the medicated labors. Just-not-the-beginning. ugh, makes me never want a third. I think, ‘well what season would I like to feel like total shit and not enjoy the beautiful outdoors?’
UN medicated labors. LOL
I’ve had six kids, and I’d say with 2 of them I had maybe 3 weeks of feeling seedy or kind of hung over. Honestly, I don’t know how women do it. If I was sick the way some of you describe…..I think I would have an only child.
And here I was wondering how you did it. LOL! Seriously though, I’m glad we agreed on only 3 because I am DONE after this. DONE.
I lucked out with my pregnancy and never got aversions so bad that I thought I was going to throw up (and I thanked my lucky stars every day for this.)
I couldn’t stand the smell of chicken cooking during month 3 though. Sometimes I’d have to leave the apartment when my hubby would make dinner.
Oh the nausea! From weeks 7 to 12 I was miserable with both pregnancies but waaaaay worse with my second. I lost 10 lbs (the one “benefit”, being skinnier than I’d been since high school) and pretty much the only thing I could tolerate was Ensure, which I consumed only so my baby was getting something from me!
With my first pregnancy, I was the girl who wanted to eat, but coudn’t keep anything down. I lost a lot of weight in my first trimester in my first pregnancy. I tried to go without meds, but when you end up laying on the bathroom floor at work because you literally can’t get up without puking, you give in to the meds. I remember taking them the first time and about a half hour later, sitting in my living room crying out of pure relief. It was the first time in weeks that I didn’t feel sick.
With this pregnancy (I’m about 5 days ahead of you) I haven’t been nearly as sick. However, the nausea has been bad, and there have been a few aversions. But the weird thing is that the aversions change day to day. One day I can’t stand the sight or smell of bacon, the next I’m fine to eat it. It’s weird. I wish there were better explinations of this stage…the ever changing aversions and nausea make it so hard sometimes! Here’s to feeling better in the 2nd trimester!
Looking back on it, I had the same thing Kate did, I just didn’t know there was a name for it. But I literally had it the whole nine months & lived on zofran & a couple IV’s thrown in. If I even thought of Mexican food I would have to run to the bathroom, which is really hard when your SO is Mexican lol. The smell of people re-heating seafood at work would make run to the bathroom as well, but I’m thinking it would do that normally lol. Glad you’re feeling better!
I am 9 weeks into my first pregnancy and the food aversions are so discouraging. I love to cook, and usually spend my entire weekend in the kitchen. Now, any type of meat makes me dry heave. Nothing sounds good–except grapefruit and pizza! If I have gained weight in this pregnancy it is due to carb consumption–not baby growth. Thank you for writing on this, it is so nice to know others have had this experience.
I had HG with all 3 pregnancies, the worst was with my 2 daughters, actually throwing up every. single. day. It was the worst, and I agree with the above poster, it’s all about how bad it will be on the way up. Melted cheese, not good, I thought I would choke. I did find that the more protein and fat I had the better it was, so my initial plan of crackers and juice was the worst, milk was much better.
As far as aversions, I couldn’t take the smell, look, or taste of poultry, pepper, some oils, and truffles. After pregnancy everything went away except that I still can’t stand pepper or truffle. Even now, then smell of truffle oil from across a restaurant makes me want to throw up.
I never felt like eating through my entire pregnancy. Nothing ever sounded good. Except turtles chocolates. Luckily, I didn’t actually get sick so I was able to make myself eat. It was not fun to never want to eat!
Sounds a lot like what I had with both my pregnancies. With my first, I lived on steak and milk and pretty much nothing else. I felt like throwing up constantly but only actually threw up about once a week. With my second, same thing, but I lived on pizza and peanut butter and honey sandwiches and only actually threw up once or twice. I couldn’t do anything with food and other random things would make me more sick (like heat, kissing my husband, washing dishes). I could barely function. It’s awful to the point that we don’t think we’re going to have any more kids because it’s just too hard on the family to have me pregnant.
I recently talked with a friend who gets hyperemeisis gravidum and with her 3rd pregnancy, they got it “under control” so that she wasn’t throwing up. She said it was just as miserable, though, because she felt sick all the time and could still barely eat food–she described it exactly like what I experienced with both my pregnancies. After that, I felt a bit justified with being as miserable as I was and having my fear of pregnancy now.
Oh man, I cannot imagine feeling averse to most foods. One was bad enough. My only food aversion in two pregnancies with the chicken aversion I had through most of my first. I couldn’t stand the sight, smell, or THOUGHT of chicken. Frozen, canned, cooked… didn’t matter. My husband tried to hide chicken in enchiladas once and after I finished gagging (I, too, will myself to not vomit because it is the worst thing ever) I told him no jury with mothers on it would convict me if I killed him for doing that.
I hope this doesn’t last your entire pregnancy!
I had HG with food aversions. It started at 5 weeks and continued until delivery. I averaged vomitting 10x to 15x per day/night. It is terrible and something that people do not understand unless they have felt it. I was hospitalized 4 times, and ended up taking Thorazine (oral) for nausea with a Zofran pump (a needle in my abdomen pumping constant medication). And, can I just say that if you have never felt this way… Please, please never ever tell a pregnant woman to eat a cracker! I came very close to clocking so many people, including ER docs!. I think I would have if I could have held my head up! Whether you throw up or not, the feeling is terrible. My advice… close your eyes and pray that it goes fast!
I’m at 24 weeks with #2 and THIS was my first trimester. I didn’t throw up either, but the thought of ANY food some days made me feel sick all day. I lived on french fries and tater tots for an entire week once bc it was the only thing that sounded tolerable. I gagged if I smelled coffee (and I LOVE coffee!) Anything hot sounded disgusting and even cold things sounded horrible sometimes. One day I was all about Italian ice, the next day, I wanted to throw them all away. I feel for you. I’ve declared “I am NEVER doing this again” re: pregnancy bc I still can’t shake the memory of how sick I felt. Glad you’re feeling better. You are not alone
I, too, fight throwing up until I practically aspirate it! And was nauseous every single day for two pregnancies so far (tell me again why I’m letting my husband slowly talk me in to another baby! Can I ask for a surrogate just cuz I don’t feel good?) I found that I could generally eat something if I just didn’t think about it – hard to do, I know. But I’d ask my husband to just make dinner – don’t talk to me about it – just get calories on our plates please. Then I would just force myself to mindlessly shovel stuff into my mouth – without looking at it – while playing a game or listening to my 3-year-old talk incessantly. Yes, usually it came up despite my best efforts. But once-in-awhile I’d get a few bites to stay down as long as I succeeded in never thinking about food. (My husband still thinks I’m nuts, but at least he supports my crazy!) And I never could get prenatal vitamins to stay down, but if I swallowed whole Flintstone’s vitamins, I could usually will those to stay down – better than nothing!
Oh, thank you for this post- it helps to know I’m not alone. I’m 8 1/2 weeks and broke down crying to my husband Monday because I just want to eat a well-rounded meal without feeling lousy. Nausea, food aversions, smell aversions, you name it. I’ve given up on packing lunches for work, because whatever sounds good at 8 a.m. sounds like torture by lunch. Instead, I’ve stocked my file cabinet with easy mac, crackers, cereal, applesauce, etc., and I eat whatever is least offensive to me at the given moment. Last night, I found “Preggie Pops” — organic losenges for nausea– at the store. I’ll let you know if they help!
I just saw this post, and can totally identify. I’m 14 weeks pregnant, and it doesn’t matter what the food is, it might as well be turd on a plate. There is NOTHING that EVER sounds appetizing. Just looking at food makes me want to crawl under a dark rock for several months. I thought my body was supposed to be so smart and crave what it needs. I am currently living off of Jolly Ranchers and La Croix soda water. I think the bubbles really help settle my stomach. I have gained 3 lbs total, and I have absolutely no idea how. This is my second pregnancy and I had some food aversion last time, but nothing like this. I’m pregnant, and I want to eat 2-3 slices of pizza and get to not feel bad about it damnit!
I’m 11 weeks and I have severe food aversion. I can’t eat anything…I cant drink anything…everything looks horrible. I haven’t eaten in about a week…and haven’t drank anything in that same amount of time. I am so frustrated…I’m so tired…I talked to my doctor today and they offered no relief. My partner is the same, he doesn’t understand. I’m just at my breaking point. And let’s not talk about the horrible taste in my mouth constantly. If I knew pregnancy was going to be this horrible, I would have chosen differently. I’m sorry, but I am so frustrated with all of this. I’m tired of hearing, “oh it will get better” or “just think about the end result”…whatever.