Mild argh.

[rivka]

I have a stomach virus. I've had it since Friday.

I went to the doctor this morning and was told that I was the fourth stomach virus already that day. Apparently it's been going around. There's no treatment, of course; it's a virus. I just have to let it run its course.

The good news: As long as I can continue not to let myself get dehydrated, there's no risk to the pregnancy.

The bad news: No symptom-relieving medications are considered safe for pregnancy. Also, the recommended as-close-to-nothing-as-possible diet dramatically worsens my morning sickness. Simple carbohydrates, quickly digested = empty stomach at the mercy of hormones.

It had better clear up before Worldcon, is all I have to say.

Comments

[mittelbar.livejournal.com]

Oh, argh! Argh argh argh.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Dear Stomach Virus Currently Plaguing Dr. Rivka,

PLEASE GO AWAY. Now. Before Worldcon. Dr. Rivka should not have to deal with a stomach virus during a major con.

Insistently,

A Dr. Rivka fan

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Promethazine is not safe for pregnancy? Bummer. Pregnancy sickness can be a bitch.

[tammylc.livejournal.com]

Blech, blech, blech. Wishing you better for Worldcon.

How about ginger tea? Do you have any morning sickness wristbands? I actually found them to be somewhat effective, but I only had a tiny bit of morning sickness.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Thanks to pixel, I have some excellent quality peppermint tea which does in fact work wonders. Also St. Claire's Organic Ginger Snaps.

But honestly, as long as I sleep more than I think is necessary and stay away from the BRAT diet in favor of a protein-rich diet, the morning sickness is the least of my problems.

[wiredferret.livejournal.com]

See, this all works into my evil plan, and Dr. Rivka writes an incisive and brilliant essay about medication in pregnancy.

The answer is always "it depends".

My high-risk OB and midwife both approved meclizine for use with nausea. I think it mostly works because you don't throw up when you're asleep. I also had good results with sea-bands (no, really). If you have hyperemisis, there are even more things they are willing to let you try.

However, my regular doc/pediatrician is of the 'no drugs in early pregnancy' persuasion.

And you can't assume that innocuous things actually are. For example, Pepto-Bismol is aspirin-containing, which is frowned on, especially late in pregnancy. With Baz, I was actually prescribed baby aspirin early in pregnancy.

Er, yeah. Done ranting now.

Sorry, Rivka. It sucks a lot.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

My high-risk OB and midwife both approved meclizine for use with nausea.

The stomach virus symptoms are, um, antipodal in relation to the nausea. And the nausea is manageable as long as I ignore the BRAT diet and eat protein-rich foods along with my simple carbs.

Honestly, as long as I know that it's not going to hurt the baby, I'm willing to put up with a fair amount of abdominal distress philosophically.

[wiredferret.livejournal.com]

Ah. Well, as long as you're managing, then. I certainly extend my sympathy.

I had a wicked case of Norwalk at about 8 months, and the memory is green in horror.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

i can vouch for this, because i had norwalk the week after she did and called her up, horrified, and made her swear to me that norwalk was *nothing* like morning sickness, or else i was going to go get my tubes tied the instant i stopped vomiting.

(dear everyone: if she was lying to me, please leave me deluded.)

Pepto also contains Bismuth

[samtosha.livejournal.com]

A huge pregnancy no-no. Just FYI

[wcg.livejournal.com]

*cuddle* Poor love. I hope you're better soon.

[edschweppe.livejournal.com]

The bad news: No symptom-relieving medications are considered safe for pregnancy.
*wince*

I do hope your natural anti-virus defenses hurry up and do their job. Especially with artificial support being contraindicated.

Meanwhile, stay hydrated and know that GoodThoughts are on the way!

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Keep drinking lots.

Hot water (or peppermint and/or ginger tea) with honey in is very settling.

I've just put four boxes of Elderflower tea in my increasing pile of Stuff To Take To Worldcon. You'll be OK.

If you're trying to avoid white sugar, would you like some maple sugar? I could pick some up tomorrow in the market, I'm going to be there anyway.

There's a book called Your Body, Your Baby, Your Life which I had out of the library for nine months solid in 1990, and which I'd highly recommend for good sense.

Just into my second trimester, I had a migraine. My doctor couldn't see me for two days. I could have seen another doctor in the practice, but I was sick, OK, I wanted my doctor. I still want him when I'm sick, and it's a pity he's so far away now. One of my pregnancy books said "No aspirin!" and another said "No paracetamol!" (=tylenol) and YBYBYL said small amounts of either were OK but don't overdo it. By the time I got to the doctor, two and a half days of solid migraine without any medication I was crying out with pain when I moved my head. My doctor said small amounts of either were OK as long as I didn't overdo it, but in fact codeine was safer, and here was some codeine, take it with caffeine, yes, I know caffeine isn't good in pregnancy, but you're allowed some right now. So I went and sat in the Sun Street Coffee Shop and took the codeine with Earl Grey tea and my vision started to clear up and the pain went away in concentric circles.

Two years later, I was in the Sun Street Coffee Shop with Zorinth and two female friends, and I happened to be sitting in the same chair facing in the same direction and drinking Earl Grey tea, and I remembered all that really clearly, so I told Zorinth and the friends. (Zorinth was eating a sausage with his hands. It's a charming traditional C.18 cafe, but they were very good about that sort of thing.) Anyway, one of my friends couldn't believe that I had endured the migraine without anything for all that time without taking anything, even if I was pregnant. She swore she would never do that. The other one couldn't believe that I had taken caffeine in pregnancy, even under doctor's orders. She swore she'd never do that. Zorinth just kept on eating his sausage, looking from one to the other like someone observing a tennis match.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I'm not avoiding white sugar, although of course plenty of authorities have told me that I should. Right now I'm actually eating anything that sounds good to me, because I'm losing weight and having appetite problems. If that means chocolate pudding, well, then it means chocolate pudding.

I have a basic pharmacoepia loaded on my Palm Pilot. Among other things, it gives each drug's classification for pregnancy and lactation. It's very handy to be able to discover, on a moment's notice, that Tylenol is Class B, "fetal harm possible but unlikely." Aspirin is Class D, "positive evidence of fetal risk; maternal benefit may outweigh fetal risk in serious or life-threatening situations." Sadly, I discover that all anti-diarrheal agents are in fact Class C, "weigh possible fetal risk vs. maternal benefit," so my family practice doctor was not being overly cautious.

But in general, I think the dangers of taking medication during pregnancy are over-hyped. I just called the midwife to let her know that my stomach virus is continuing, and she told me to be sure to take Tylenol if I start running even a low fever, because "your baby can't regulate its own temperature." But I'm sure there are tons of pregnant women who would be afraid to take Tylenol for a fever, even though they know they shouldn't sit in a hot tub. Same with anti-depressants: women don't want to take them when they're pregnant or lactating, even though the developmental risks of having a severely depressed mother are much, much more serious than any slight risk posed by the medication.