Dear Dr.,
I became pregnant very recently and discovered that I just lost my appetite. On a good day, I may decide not to eat a single bite. A friend told me to get malt drink and use it with carrots. I am confused. What must I be eating in my diet? I don’t want to harm my baby.
Please help me
– Salome Gidado, Yola, Adamawa.
Dear Salome,
You and your friend are both right. You will harm yourself and baby by refusing to eat. But because malt drinks contain a lot of the B Complex vitamins, which stimulate appetite, using them will help you want to eat; so it’s a good advice your friend gave you. But let’s tackle the problem medically and nutritionally.
You see, once you become pregnant, your needs have gone up three-fold. On the day of delivery, you will and must lose blood. That is the first challenge you have. As the baby grows, he will need to make his own blood and since he is still in your womb, it is what you eat that will supply the ingredients he’ll use to make his own blood. So, you have to eat and eat well enough to provide for his needs. Remember, you called him to come; he did not decide to come on his own. Lastly, you yourself have your own needs to make enough blood for yourself to use to carry the pregnancy.
The background to this is the fact that most women do not eat well enough even before they get pregnant. We all have encountered the ‘sisi – lady’ type who hardly eats because she wants to be slim. Then she gets married and she cooks now but it is for the husband; not herself. She still hardly eats well. As she progresses in life and the kids come, she cooks for everyone—hubby, kids, relatives, visitors, but hardly eats anything because, she claims, she has no appetite. That is the picture of the typical woman for you.
Now she gets pregnant and she again cannot eat and needs to do something about it, else we will have a case of the very common but easily preventable anemia in pregnancy on our hands, which would be a pity. To get enough ingredients to make plenty blood to take care of pregnancy, baby, delivery and mother, you must understand that blood is built up of three main blocks – iron, folic acid and Vitamin B12. These five foods will give you plenty iron – lean meat, liver, kidney, spleen (Yoruba- amo eran ) and stomach (Yoruba-
shaki). Make fresh peppersoup and make sure it is chock-full of these ingredients.
Leafy green vegetables will give you plenty of folic acid and the king of leafy green vegetables in these climes is ugwu-leaf. Prepare it raw and drink off the juice. It is a veritable hematinic extraordinaire. Eggs will vouchsafe enough Vitamin B12 for your needs and because of the fact that it is a good source of protein, eggs are good for you. Carrots are a very good source of Vitamin A, which you need in adequate quantities for vision, to prevent cancer and cataracts, fight infection, for healthier skin, against aging and to prevent heart disease, stroke, as well as lower cholesterol.
Malt drinks, like we said, are very rich in the B Complex vitamins and because of this if you took them you are likely to improve your appetite. In summary, eat well during pregnancy. It is warranted and indicated.
Menstrual pains cured by
Dangerous Sex; Help!!
Hi doctor,
I love reading your column each time I have the opportunity of coming across Daily Sun. I actually like the way you answer other people problems.
I have this problem bothering my mind. I know almost everything concerning reproductive health because I went for a course on it sometime ago.
know when I’m ovulating. I also know which of the ovaries is bringing out the egg because I used to have a sharp pain on the side from which the egg is coming out. The pain then wasn’t painful as it is now. My problem is this: Right now, it comes as if I’m having menstrual cramps but if I make love with my boyfriend two days before my ovulation, there won’t be any pains and I will still know when I’m ovulating. I know making love at this time is dangerous, but it helps me prevent and reduce the pain.
What can I do to reduce this pain apart from making love? If I don’t make love with my boyfriend two days before my menses, I always have serious cramps. But if I do make love, though there will be cramps, they’ll be not too painful. I also take the contraceptive called Postinor 2. The last time I took it was on the 8th day of my menstrual cycle, sometime last year; but instead of ovulating on the 14th day (I have a 28 day cycle), I started bleeding and it came for five days, like my normal menses does and I still menstruate on the 28th day, which is my normal way.
Could there have been a problem then?
– Rachel Obeigher, Gboko, Benue.
Dear Rachel,
I must commend the fact that you are into contraceptives to stop unwanted pregnancy. You see, Nigerian women are champion contraception avoiders even though they are knowledgeable about it. Many surveys have shown this worrisome fact. Your post-sex contraceptive is the cause of the bleeding. There is nothing wrong. This drug may act this way in some people. Not to worry.
Yes, sex at the point in question is too dangerous. You are in great danger of getting pregnant. Remember, pre-sex contraception is better than contraception after (or post) sex. So for prevention, use either plain old condoms or spermicide tablets. Insert in place just before sex or take the three monthly injections. Go to a doctor or to the Planned Parenthood office to ask for these shots.
For pain, Hyoscine tablets will do very wonderfully and it’s important you get this point well because it is the pains you have that are the cause of your having compulsory sex around ovulation – very risky and the best recipe for unwanted babies. If you come to see us we’ll help you further. Of course it will cost you something but nothing compared to an unwanted pregnancy. Try this and let us know how you fare.
Finally, try and get married soonest and if you have problems with this and you’d like some help, send me an e mail on the subject. For more help in this area ,look up our blog — www.mediamedix.blogspot.com.
What’s up?
Dear Doctor,
I read a Daily Sun newspaper and saw so many problems put up to you, which you gave a solution of how to solve; that was why I intended to present my case to you. This has been bothering me for long, and has been a very big problem to me, which nobody will observe.
Looking at me I’m healthy, but inside I know the kind of problem I have. I’ve been to so many hospitals and have taken a lot of antibiotics. The lab always prescribe that I have typhoid and malaria parasite, and also stomach problem. The doctor said I had excess gas syndrome. It has been two years and some months since this sickness started. I have never been myself again, and never believe that typhoid would ever last this way.
Please tell me what to do. I stopped taking drugs because I am tried. I found out that whenever I take antibiotics it weakens my body.
– Keriani Gaskiya; Taraba.
Dear Keriani,
If your stomach is acting up with excess gas and the doctor called it a syndrome then maybe we are dealing with something that is difficult to delineate. A syndrome is always so-called because it is difficult to characterise or understand. However, it is a recognised group of symptoms or challenges to health or well-being.
Typhoid certainly can be the culprit. Also, chronic indigestion can do the same thing – just as the poorly understood Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). IBS means your bowel doesn’t work the right way; it can cause cramping, bloating, gas, diarrhea and constipation, but doesn’t damage the bowel or lead to other health problems. The doctor, who will diagnose IBS based on your symptoms, may need to have medical tests done to rule out other health problems. Stress doesn’t cause IBS, but it can make your symptoms worse. Fatty foods, milk products, chocolate, alcohol, and caffeinated and carbonated drinks can trigger symptoms.
Eating foods with fiber, like vegetables and fruits like pawpaw, pineapple, apple, cabbage, carrots, bananas, and eating small meals (up to 5 or 6) throughout the day may reduce symptoms. Drinking lots of water helps too. There is no medical cure for IBS but treatment for IBS may include medicine, stress relief and changes in eating habits. You’ll certainly need to see a good doctor face to face and have him investigate the IBS. Just seeing malaria parasite in the blood of anyone living in Nigeria’s holoendemic area is nothing to write home about. It’s of no consequence, especially if there are no accompanying symptoms of malaria.