Q. My daughter is in the seventh week of her second pregnancy. She is experiencing excessive morning sickness, vomiting four or five times a day. The doctor at a pregnancy clinic told her to take prenatal vitamins plus Unisom along with 50 milligrams of vitamin B-6 twice daily.

Well, now she is sleeping throughout the day. She really doesn't want to spend the next several months in bed. Can you suggest some alternative approach? Her 2-year-old son misses his mommy.

A. The combination of vitamin B-6 and Unisom (doxylamine) is an attempt to re-create Bendectin, an old morning-sickness medicine that is no longer on the market. But the amounts she is taking of B-6 and the sedating antihistamine doxylamine are much higher. Please have your daughter ask her obstetrician if this treatment is appropriate.

Ginger syrup is a traditional remedy for morning sickness in early pregnancy. It has recently been subjected to scientific scrutiny in a double-blind study. Most of the women who took 1 tablespoon of ginger syrup in water four times a day felt significantly less nauseated. The syrup was supplied by a company called New Chapter Inc.; 800-543-7279.

In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019, or e-mail them from their Web site, www.peoplespharmacy.org.