The Cause and Cure of Morning Sickness

[turtledove]

Hello ladies,

I came across this blog, and the info was too good not to share. Hope for us hyperemesis gravidarum sufferers!

I have condensed the article... Click the link for lots more advice, and pictures/diagrams. Hope this helps!

ARE THEY ALL YOURS?!??: The Cause and Cure of Morning Sickness and Hyperemesis Gravidarum

The root cause of morning sickness (any severity): Heliobacter pylori

H. pylori is a bacteria that lives in the stomachs of as many as half of the world's population. Interestingly enough, one study found that 100% of women with HG that were biopsied tested positive for it. In recent years, there have been multiple studies making the connection between H. pylori colonization, and morning sickness.

H. pylori does not always obviously affect those who carry it adversely. Much like many bacteria in our body (i.e. candida), as long as they are kept in check, they may never pose a problem. However, there are certain triggers that send it into "high gear," one of those triggers being hormonal swings (such as those experienced during early pregnancy). Certain foods, like simple carbs and for some people, red meats, can also cause it to flare up. When it does, nausea and vomiting are the end result, though individuals are affected differently based on their overall health, diet, sensitivity, etc.

In a vicious cycle, when H. pylori has been triggered, it exacerbates hormonal swings due to its effects on the hypothalamus - explaining why HG feels like slipping into a hole that seems virtually impossible to climb out of.

The cure for morning sickness

There are two options:

- Eradicating the h. pylori: This is a lot easier said than done. H. pylori lives mostly in the lower part of the stomach, in spite of the acidic environment, where it actually thrives.

The conventional approach is to take a course of extremely powerful antibiotics. From what I have read, these cannot be taken while pregnant or breastfeeding, and of course come with the typical downsides and side-effects of antibiotics. They are also not guaranteed to work - they may or may not be successful at ridding you of the h. pylori. If they do, you may become colonized again in the future. However, HG moms who have successfully followed through with the antibiotics, typically report a complete absence of nausea with the next pregnancy. So if this is a route you are thinking about, it's definitely worth looking into and discussing with your care provider.

Personally, I wanted to explore natural ways of trying to eradicate, or at least reduce, h. pylori before resorting to antibiotics. While I didn't find anything relating to morning sickness specifically, many who suffer from negative effects due to h. pylori colonization have reported great success with colloidal silver.

To eradicate h. pylori, the recommended dose is 1 teaspoon, three times daily, on an empty stomach. This is safe even during pregnancy. In my personal experience, I had to up the dose to 1 tablespoon multiple times per day during the peak of my hormonal swings, but then again, my stomach was only empty first thing in the morning, as being pregnant and having an empty stomach don't go together well. Having food in the stomach takes away much of the effectiveness of the colloidal silver.

For those not currently pregnant, an even more powerful approach is to couple taking the colloidal silver with a capsule of turmeric, so 1 teaspoon colloidal silver plus one turmeric capsule, three times per day, on an empty stomach. This is to be continued for about 10 days. (Turmeric can irritate the uterus, and is not advised during pregnancy except in small amounts for cooking.) The colloidal silver and turmeric coupled create a very hostile environment for the h. pylori. It is further advised to reduce any trigger foods during this time (i.e. simple carbs like sugar and flour) to give the h. pylori nothing to feast on. I did not do this prior to this pregnancy, but plan on giving this a try after the baby is born.

- Getting and keeping the h. pylori in check: This is actually very doable. In addition to the colloidal silver, which will successfully combat h. pylori, even if it cannot completely eradicate it, the main key to keeping h. pylori in check is: fermented foods and beverages.

Before modern methods of refrigerating foods, fermentation was universally used to prevent foods from spoiling. In fact, in many parts of the world, that is still the case. This would explain why hyperemesis is a bane that seems to affect mostly first-world nations in the last century or so. Before that, HG was incredibly rare - those suffering from it may have been people with an extreme dislike for fermented food, or rare underlying intestinal issues.

What is it that pregnant women are rumored to crave? Pickles! Wow, there might actually be some truth in that, dating back to when pickles were, well, pickled! How about "pickles and ice cream?" Maybe that stems from the fact that sweets like ice cream will flare up the h. pylori, creating a craving for pickles to offset the negative effects.

- If you are not currently pregnant, and typically suffer from HG, make an aggressive effort to kill off or at least greatly reduce the h. pylori in your body by taking colloidal silver 3 x day on an empty stomach, coupled with turmeric and/or ginger capsules, for 10 days while cutting out all simple carbs, and incorporating as many fermented foods and beverages as you can handle. Try to start this regimen on a weekend or when your spouse will be around to help, in case you get severe die-off symptoms. If/when you do get pregnant, follow the point below.

- If you currently are pregnant: Congratulations! You can still make this work! Like me, you will just have to stay on top of it all the time, and learn exactly what helps you the most, what your nausea triggers are and how to avoid them, what your early warning signs of impending nausea are, which ferments work best for you, etc. Also take care to build up your nutritional status by taking fermented cod liver / butter oil, a high-quality magnesium supplement (and/or topical magnesium sprays and/or epsom salt baths). When you are no longer pregnant or exclusively breastfeeding, follow the point above.