The Cause and Cure of Morning Sickness

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.

I have heard of the link between Helicobacter and HG previously and have read differing articles about it. I have also heard of many girls who have been checked (many claim to test negative to it) after having suffered HG.

I'm intrigued how in this particular article how they are testing the effectiveness of their meds to eradicate the helicobacter? There is no mention of whether she is working with a midwife/GP for bloods etc, so perhaps just the side effects of the colloidal silver and that her next pregnancy wasn't as bad....

As sceptical as I am, can't say I wont be trying it! Although this worries me a bit (could be crap). Anyone got an opinion on that?.....

Taken from WebMD:

Colloidal silver is LIKELY UNSAFE when taken by mouth, applied to the skin, or injected intravenously (by IV). The silver in colloidal silver products gets deposited in vital organs such as the skin, liver, spleen, kidney, muscle, and brain. This can lead to an irreversible bluish skin discoloration that first appears in the gums. It can also stimulate melanin production in skin, and areas exposed to the sun will become increasingly discolored.

That bit from WebMD was taken from the safety data sheet for colloidal sliver that is a saturated solution (70%+ of silver). The amounts in the colloidal silver that people eat is about less than 0.5% silver and in a water base rather than a solvent.

I can't comment on the effectiveness or safety of eating it. I would suggest that if you were to try it that you only buy darkened bottles as it is photosensitive and will break down in the presence of light.

I do know a man who can no longer go in the sun due to silver poisoning from many years of dying his hair with a silver nitrate based hair dye.

Silver is a heavy metal. Heavy metals are poisons and will kill most bacteria indiscriminately. But I wouldn't recommend heavy metal as a thrice daily medicine! It will kill all bacteria and eventually you, as well as poisoning the baby.

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Silver is a heavy metal. Heavy metals are poisons and will kill most bacteria indiscriminately. But I wouldn't recommend heavy metal as a thrice daily medicine! It will kill all bacteria and eventually you, as well as poisoning the baby.

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Yes! Please do more research before deciding to take colloidal silver. The part about people turning blue is absolutely true. Just because it's natural doesn't mean it is safe.

I've been there 3 times and I understand how awful the sickness is. There are other things you can try (if you haven't already) that have been studied for safety much more thoroughly. Have you looked into restavit?

Big hugs for all you sick mamas!

I'm sure this long suffering woman truly believes she has found the cure, but I'm sorry it takes more than 1 single pregnancy to prove a 'cure' is effective. Colloidal silver has been known to have ill effects at 1 dose a day, 3 a day is a pretty serious thing to do to your body!
Either way for me personally I've got 6 weeks to go in my last pregnancy so I'm going to stick to throwing up occasionally until this one comes out ;)

Thanks for the responses and advice ladies. I'll look more into the silver safety. I was already wary of taking it when pregnant or breastfeeding.

As for the fermented veggies tho, I'm happy to eat those if it takes the edge off the nausea!

I would personally give the fermented veggies a try over supplements. I was a metals chemist back in the day and it is not something I would chose to eat. I always have an internal shudder when I hear of people taking high dose chromium supplements too. However, each to their own and their is insufficient evidence of low level consumption doing harm. Conversely there is very little decent literature showing it does any good either. To me it wouldn't be worth the risk of trying it out during pregnancy with no studies detailing the effect on the developing child.

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Either way for me personally I've got 6 weeks to go in my last pregnancy so I'm going to stick to throwing up occasionally until this one comes out ;)

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Awww Sagres. I didn't know you were pregnant! Congratulations!!! I'm sorry HG found you again though. I know how hard it is especially with others to care for. 6 weeks and counting for you :hug:

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Awww Sagres. I didn't know you were pregnant! Congratulations!!! I'm sorry HG found you again though. I know how hard it is especially with others to care for. 6 weeks and counting for you :hug:

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Thanks! I was kind of hoping it wouldn't be as bad this time but honestly it has been the worst! Women in DHs family have had similar issues (so I kind of wonder if there is something in his genetics that my body is reacting against?) and it seems to have got less severe with each baby for them, so I though it could be OKish but no :(
Yes doing it with 2 little kids has been really really hard, and now with one at school I'm not sure which is worse, having her home during the day and me not being able to do stuff with her or having to fit throwing up into the before school schedule LOL! I was late picking her up on her second day because I was throwing up, I felt so bad.
Need to just keep swimming for a bit longer and then I'm NEVER EVER going to be pregnant again. I think that might be part of my birth announcement, "Sagres and DH have welcomed an X into their family, we are so in love with them already and Sagres never never never has to be pregnant again!" You like it?

I wish I only had 6 weeks to go!
Love the BA Sagres, mine will be very very similar!!!! I might even add a few ever, evers in there too

Oh 13 weeks, that is a tough time {hugs}.
Every week around then I said to my self, week 13, it was horrible but I never have to have week 13 again, just to try and keep my sanity.

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Thanks! I was kind of hoping it wouldn't be as bad this time but honestly it has been the worst! Women in DHs family have had similar issues (so I kind of wonder if there is something in his genetics that my body is reacting against?) and it seems to have got less severe with each baby for them, so I though it could be OKish but no :(
Yes doing it with 2 little kids has been really really hard, and now with one at school I'm not sure which is worse, having her home during the day and me not being able to do stuff with her or having to fit throwing up into the before school schedule LOL! I was late picking her up on her second day because I was throwing up, I felt so bad.
Need to just keep swimming for a bit longer and then I'm NEVER EVER going to be pregnant again. I think that might be part of my birth announcement, "Sagres and DH have welcomed an X into their family, we are so in love with them already and Sagres never never never has to be pregnant again!" You like it?

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Isn't that just a kick in the guts when you hope beyond hope all will be ok and bammo, you think you're going to die :wall:

Don't beat yourself up about being late. Better that than throw up on the teacher ;)

LOVE the announcement. You know the most twisted thing about pregnancy? Is as much as it terrifies me and makes me feel like I'm dying, that damn biological clock just keeps on ticking!

Hugs to you Joeve! 13 weeks IS awful. I remember being sure it would stop (both times) but knowing in my heart I didn't have a hope in hell.

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Isn't that just a kick in the guts when you hope beyond hope all will be ok and bammo, you think you're going to die :wall:

Don't beat yourself up about being late. Better that than throw up on the teacher ;)

LOVE the announcement. You know the most twisted thing about pregnancy? Is as much as it terrifies me and makes me feel like I'm dying, that damn biological clock just keeps on ticking!

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Oh yeah I've struggled waaaaay more emotionally this time that any other, I think because it kicked in a couple weeks later than it had before and I had got my hopes up too high about it being better. Then crash!
I think it is a testament to how amazing these little possums are that we would voluntarily do this more that once to be able to have more of them in our lives. And a testament to how amazingly strong women are....I am women, hear me technicolour yawn!