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Antihistamines for Morning Sickness

Topic Overview

Certain antihistamines such as doxylamine or dimenhydrinate, taken as your doctor advises, may relieve morning sickness.1 Doxylamine is a nonprescription medicine that is sold as Unisom Night-Time Sleep-Aid Tablets. If one of these antihistamines alone does not relieve your morning sickness, you can try taking it with vitamin B6.2

Vitamin B6 and doxylamine was prescribed as Bendectin in the U.S. until 1983, when it was taken off of the market. It has continued to be available in Canada as Diclectin. Bendectin was once thought to cause fetal problems, but this has not been proven.2

Talk to your doctor about the right doxylamine dosage for you.

Note: Do not confuse Unisom Tablets with Unisom SleepGels, which contain a different medicine.

References

Citations

  1. Festin M (2007). Nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy, search date May 2008. Online version of BMJ Clinical Evidence: http://www.clinicalevidence.com.
  2. Kelly TF, Savides TJ. (2009). Gastrointestinal disease in pregnancy. In RK Creasy et al., eds., Creasy and Resnik's Maternal-Fetal Medicine: Principles and Practice, 6th ed., pp. 1041–1057. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier.

Credits

By Healthwise Staff
Primary Medical Reviewer Sarah Marshall, MD - Family Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer Kirtly Jones, MD, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology
Last Revised November 10, 2010

Last Revised: November 10, 2010

Author: Healthwise Staff

Medical Review: Sarah Marshall, MD - Family Medicine & Kirtly Jones, MD, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology

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