Tuesday, February 16, 2016

things that help with nausea...

Nausea.

The dictionary describes the word "nausea" as a distress in ones stomach which inhibits their urge for food as well as a urge to vomit. Generally speaking, nausea isn't something that people deal with on a daily basis or at least I didn't before my gastroparesis. Growing up, I was actually afraid of being nauseous and yes, I realize that it makes me sound like a big baby but I did not cope well with it. I remember on several occasions when I had a stomach virus, I would rock back and forth refusing to get sick. It however never worked for me. I always got sick. 

Nausea is a common, sometimes daily feeling that gastroparesis patients deal with. Over the years and countless times of dealing with nausea, I have learned how my body deals best with the nausea that I experience, what works and what doesn't work. Every person is different, what works for me may not work for you. Years ago, I remember my husband, boyfriend at the time, trying to convince me that drinking regular Coca-Cola would help better when I was nauseous than Sprite. I thought it was a crazy idea. Why would I want to drink something that I wasn't fond of when I felt so bad. Wasn't the nausea bad enough? However after being stubborn, I finally gave it a try and you know what, it helped! I thought I would share a few of my "tricks" or "rituals" that I do whenever I am nauseous.

1. Salty potato chips
  
    I realize that plain not baked, salty potato chips are greasy but I have actually had a lot of success       with them. During the first trimester of my pregnancy, I lived on salt and vinegar potato chips. I ate     them for breakfast some days.

2. Dill pickles

    As crazy as it sounds, I have found that eating dill pickles often help me with nausea. They aren't       the easiest thing to digest but the vinegar seems to help my stomach.

3. Big Red Gum

    When I was working, I was often nauseated. I wasn't able to take a Phenergan and work.                     Phenagren always makes me so sleepy. I discovered that if I'd chew several pieces of Big Red             gum, it would help curb my nausea.

4. Preggie Pop Drops

     One day while I was in Motherhood Maternity store looking for some maternity clothes, I                    stumbled upon these. For the most part, they taste pretty good. I always preferred the hard candy        drops instead of the chews.

5. Coca-Cola

    I am not sure what it is about this drink but it has always seemed to help with my nausea.

I realize that the things that I use to help with my nausea are not all GP diet or FODMAP approved but when I am nauseous, I really don't care about the sugar content or the how easy it will be to digest. I am always careful to chew up my food really well. As with any disease or sickness, you learn what works best for you.