# Restarting The Pill -- how to deal with the nausea? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 4, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restarting-the-pill-how-to-deal-with-the-nausea/192992 "2003-08-04T22:48:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restarting-the-pill-how-to-deal-with-the-nausea/192992/1 "2003-08-04T22:48:00Z")
I’ve just started taking The Pill (with capitalization like that, don’t you expect dramatic music or something?) after a few years off it. The last brand I used, Ovcon, I was never able to get used to, and ended up getting sick every single month. So this time my doctor gave me a brand by the name of Zovia. It’s the second day on The Pill, and already I feel like I’m going to hurl. I know this is normal for the first month or two, but I’m really busy and don’t want to spend my evenings staring into the toilet bowl waiting to puke. I have some Phenergan (anti-nausea medication) left over from a bout of food poisoning, but it makes me sleepy and the one I took half an hour ago has yet to do any good. What can I do to tone down this side effect until I get used to being artificially regulated again? Is there anything over-the-counter that would help? Or am I pretty much screwed for the rest of the summer? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restarting-the-pill-how-to-deal-with-the-nausea/192992/2 "2003-08-04T23:48:50Z")
Some traditional remedies for nausea: peppermint tea or ginger tea. Couldn’t hurt, I guess. At least they’re less hardcore than prescription nausea drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restarting-the-pill-how-to-deal-with-the-nausea/192992/3 "2003-08-05T00:41:52Z")
My wife found that eating some plain bread before bedtime helped the pill nausea quite a bit. Still, she had to go through many different brands until she found one that didn’t make her hurl every night. ---
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restarting-the-pill-how-to-deal-with-the-nausea/192992/4 "2003-08-05T01:16:14Z")
Is it really normal to be sick for a month or two from the Pill? When Ortho TriCyclene made me sick, I promptly reported this to my OB/GYN, who took me off it. Yasmin doesn’t make me sick – have you tried that one? ---
**Author:** ![elephant\_shoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@elephant\_shoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elephant_shoes)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restarting-the-pill-how-to-deal-with-the-nausea/192992/5 "2003-08-05T02:14:40Z")
I got the same nausea at the beginning of every month for the entire 8 years I was on the pill. I always found that I felt the worst a few hours after taking it, so I started taking it at 8pm, before tucking in to bed around 11. I ended up sleeping through most of the nausea. Maybe give that a try? Obviously, wait until your next batch of pills, as you should always try to take it at the same time, every day. Don’t go changin’ now. Good luck. Feel better! ---
**Author:** ![Fairy\_Princess\_Kitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Fairy\_Princess\_Kitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fairy_Princess_Kitty)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restarting-the-pill-how-to-deal-with-the-nausea/192992/6 "2003-08-05T07:40:08Z")
I was getting really sick taking Ortho but found that taking it with food rather made it feel better. If I ate it halfway through a meal it was like my body seemed to not notice it was there. Talk to your doctor though, he may want to switch you to a different brand/dosage. Good luck! Kitty ---
**Author:** ![tramp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tramp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tramp)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restarting-the-pill-how-to-deal-with-the-nausea/192992/7 "2003-08-05T13:22:55Z")
My doctor told me that if the nausea was too much for me, I could take my pill by inserting it in my vagina and letting it absorb that way. Could be bogus, I never did it and it is very possible she is a quack. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_Venom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Lady\_Venom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_Venom)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restarting-the-pill-how-to-deal-with-the-nausea/192992/8 "2003-08-05T16:59:20Z")
Dragonblink I second the before bedtime method. When I first started the pill the Dr. suggested I take it about an hour before bed so I’d sleep through any side effects. It worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restarting-the-pill-how-to-deal-with-the-nausea/192992/9 "2003-08-05T21:01:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tramp \* > \*\*My doctor told me that if the nausea was too much for me, I could take my pill by inserting it in my vagina and letting it absorb that way. > > Could be bogus, I never did it and it is very possible she is a quack. \*\* I’ve heard this is supposed to be an acceptable way to take the pill, but I don’t think it’ll do anything about the nausea (the chemicals are the same regardless, right?) I think it’s so that if you actually do get nauseous enough to throw up, you won’t throw up the pill itself. I’m also experiencing no nausea with Yasmin, but it is listed as one of the possible side effects. It’s a different hormone than most pills and a much lower dose as I understand, so you might want to ask your gyno about it. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restarting-the-pill-how-to-deal-with-the-nausea/192992/10 "2003-08-05T21:56:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tramp \* > \*\*My doctor told me that if the nausea was too much for me, I could take my pill by inserting it in my vagina and letting it absorb that way. > > Could be bogus, I never did it and it is very possible she is a quack. \*\* Wasn’t there once a joke about this? I honestly can’t imagine this is true. ---
**Author:** ![Spacegirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Spacegirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spacegirl)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restarting-the-pill-how-to-deal-with-the-nausea/192992/11 "2003-08-06T02:43:05Z")
Another question, I think I read somewhere that if you took the pill and threw up, if the pill was in your body for 4 or more hours then you were okay. I can’t seem to remember where I read that, does anyone know?