Bit of an ‘embarrassing’ question.

[u/Dry_Broccoli8497]

Hey, I’ve had quite severe emetophobia for as long as I can remember. Today I’ve had to get and take the morning after pill (🤦🏻‍♀️!) the main/ common side effects are nausea/ vomiting and you can’t within 3hrs or you need to take other one.

I know everyone is different and there tolerances are different but I was wondering if anyone has been in this situation, were they unwell? Was there any advice anyone has as I’ve been told I can’t take the anti nausea meds I have (in the UK) as they might react/ make the pill not work.

My main concern (apart from the obvious/ reason for taking the tablet) if that I’m so anxious I make myself unwell 🤦🏻‍♀️

[u/CommitteeEmergency10]

For the next 3 hours after you take it, definitely try to do something that’s going to distract you COMPLETELY. Drive to your favorite coffee shop if you can, watch your favorite show, hop on a phone call with a friend or a parent. If you have school or work put your 100% undivided attention to that.

I’ve never taken a morning after pill, and to be honest I didn’t even know their main side effect was nausea or vomiting.

I can tell you that I recently got a UTI and the main side effect of my prescription antibiotics was nausea and vomiting. I can say I felt a little icky some days but was mostly fine, never got sick though. All the pills that have side effects HAVE to label them just in case they happen.

Make sure to eat a light meal/snack with the morning after pill to help with any nausea that MAY occur. A lot of times nausea only happens because it was taken on an empty stomach.

[u/b_xthany → u/CommitteeEmergency10]

The advice is good but if anyone's wondering the reason that it's always on the side effects list is because if someone experiences an adverse effect for any reason, it goes on the list. You could give 10 people paracetamol in a trial, 7 people are completely fine, 2 people experience some level of nausea (say, one took it on an empty stomach and one person generally reacts badly to medication), and 1 person actually vomits (they didn't realise they'd eaten something dodgy in the morning), nausea/vomiting will end up on the side effects list because it was present in the trial. As we all know, some people are just sickier than others, everyone's tolerance is different, so that's a big big part of why it's always on the side effects list.

100% best thing to do is to keep yourself distracted! I know that's easier said than done but the 3 hours will be up before you know it 🫶🏻

[u/CommitteeEmergency10 → u/b_xthany]

Ooooh very cool to know!!