Re doctor and pregnancy sickness

[Gennz]

Went to the doctor today because we are planning to try for another baby this year. DS1 is 2.5, I had a straightforward pregnancy with him but was sick for most of it. Wouldn't call it HG, but vomited every day for 9 months. Could only eat potatoes and crumpets for first trimester. Ended up ginormous and in agony with PGP from about 30 weeks which I partly attribute to the weight gain through all the potatoes. Anyway I digress.

Have been quite disciplined with diet & exercise over the last few months and feel ready i.e. finally lost the "post baby" weight after 2 years to try for #2.

So thought I'd have a pre check up with a doctor at a "holistic" medical centre (they are legit doctors but are meant to have a more holistic view, i.e. supplements etc) to see if I could do anything to minimise getting so sick again.

"oh there's nothing you can do to prevent it, it's due to pregnancy hormones" Dr says airily.

(Is that true, I didn't think that was fact? She was adamant that it was.)

"...But once you're sick there are lots of things we can give you to help manage it."

Great, like what?

Ginger. Probiotic yoghurt. Peppermint tea. Homeopathic remedies.



AIBU be so fucked off. Can't tell if I am so annoyed because I am looking down the barrel of feeling like I have a stonking hangover for 9 months or because she seemed to think this would be news? what preg woman feeling sick hasn't tried ginger FFS. And homeopathy Yep I'll have some snake oil while you're at it.

Then she asked if I got pregnant quickly and I said yes 3 months, and she basically said well what are you complaining about. (I should say I know we were very lucky & I know no guarantees, and being sick is a small price to pay for a healthy baby ... still not relishing being pregnant again.)

[LouBlue1507]

YABU... What did you expect the doctor to say/do? Lie?

Pregnancy sickness is hormonal and there's nothing doctors can do to prevent it or reduce the chances of being sick. There's no miracle cure otherwise it would be flying off the shelves.

She overstepped the mark with the comment about how lucky you are though she didn't actually say it.

[fourteenlittleducks]

Go to a real doctor instead of a homeopath. They can prescribe anti sickness meds (cyclizine, promazine, prochlorperazine, metoclopramide, ondastranon).

[Gennz]

She was a real doctor!

I accept I unreasonable to be so pissed off. Just got a bit excited when she said there's lots we can do to manage it and then reeled off all the usual bullshit.

Fourteen ducks do those drugs work? Last time my ob said there was nothing they could do.

[Crumbs1]

She was spot on. I'm impressed a holistic, alternative type was so pragmatic. If you read some of the terribly sad stories of women who can't conceive, who repeatedly loose their babies, whose babies die in the perinatal period then you'll maybe see the raised hormones as an indication of a healthy pregnancy and accept vomiting as an unpleasant but rarely concerning side effect.

[summerfling]

Oh yeah scare people into being grateful

[Gennz]

Hashtag blessed

[honeysucklejasmine]

Gennz i was the same with DD. Cyclizine was a god send. I am now 14 weeks with dc2 and have only been sick twice. I feel fine. Don't worry, no two pregnancies are the same.

[kmc1111]

You chose to go to a holistic medical centre and you're pissed that the doctor suggested holistic remedies?

There's nothing you can do to prevent getting morning sickness. If there was no one would ever have it. There are medications you can take that can help a great deal once you actually have morning sickness, but they're a long way off 'holistic supplements', and obviously of no use to you now when you aren't even pregnant yet.

If you purposefully seek out a holistic doctor they're going to assume you've come to them because you don't want the standard medications and are looking for more 'natural' solutions. As it is there's no magic supplement that stops the sickness, just teas and herbs and other things that might settle your stomach a touch.

It wouldn't of hurt her to mention the medications available, but again, given you've already had one pregnancy with morning sickness and sought out a holistic doctor this time, she wasnt at all out of line to think you came to her because you wanted something other than those options.

[fourteenlittleducks]

Ondastranon was the only one that worked for me, but I know others who had relief from the first-line meds (they start with cyclizine and work up). Cyclizine taken before the sickness begins can help prevent it.

The HG support thread (on pregnancy forum) has lots of great advice, including links to HG-friendly doctors.

Vomiting daily for 9 months isn't something you should 'accept' IMO. You risk dehydration, altered electrolytes, antenatal depression, reduced nutrition getting to baby. HG is traumatic. Getting the proper support in place before you get pregnant really helps.

I had regular scans, blood tests and IV rehydration throughout my HG pregnancy but it took months to find a doctor with knowledge of HG.

[wonkylegs]

It's crap when you are planning to conceive and you know you are going to have an awful time being pregnant. It's different than that first time when you are blissfully unaware until it happen and that makes it tough.
But on the positive side forewarned is forearmed, you know what worked didn't work last time so you aren't starting from scratch with treatments / remedies.
I found anti-sickness drugs helped a lot, as did starting the day with marmite on toast (sounds counter intuitive as it's such a strong taste but it really helped me)
PGP was unlikely to just be weight gain it's a lot to do with those pesky hormones, try a support belt early on and hydrotherapy is fab , you can get it in some areas on the NHS but otherwise it's worth paying for.
I have RA and knew I needed to come off my meds 6mths before TTC on top of pregnancy so I knew in advance I was going to be in a lot of pain for well over a year, it made me delay getting pregnant again so there is a very big gap between my boys whilst I psyched myself up for it but with my second ones 1st birthday approaching I can honestly say although it wasn't fun it was worth it. It also was easier in someways knowing what I was in for.

[HerBluebiro]

What were you hoping she'd say to you?

You went there with some expectations, what were they? That there would be some quackery to prevent morning sickness? You chose a 'holistic' doctor and then get angry about homeopathy? Of course they peddle such shit, those who flout their holistic credentials do. That's what it means. Holistic is a code for 'no evidence but people like it so I sell it'.

[Gennz]

I wasn't annoyed about her suggesting methods other than drugs. Just thought when she she said there was lots they could do they might have some suggestions that worked.

E.g. I take magnesium for sleep issues - it's a holistic remedy but not a woo one - was hoping there was a pregnant sickness equivalent! Fingers crossed it's not as bad next time

[Gennz]

Thank you wonky and fourteen much appreciated!!

There's a difference between supplements for health benefits and homeopathy surely?!! Unfortunately there is some overlap though

[Scarydinosaurs]

Yes anti sickness drugs are bloody marvellous.

[AlcoholAndIrony]

Travel sickness wrist bands?

Is there not a hyperemisis support group on mumsnet somewhere? Maybe that would help? And you may get more sympathetic replies?

[UndersecretaryofWhimsy]

YABU.

She is perfectly right that there is nothing that can be done to 'prevent' morning sickness, just treat. YA also BU to be surprised and annoyed that a holistic Doctor suggests holistic remedies!

Dietary supplements may have actual ingredients but they are still basically woo, generally taken on the basis of theoretical benefits or ill-understood changes in lab-bench tests rather than actual clinical trials. Proper trials usually find no benefit.

Doctors do seem more reluctant than they should be to prescribe antisickness meds in the case of hyperemesis but that's a whole other kettle of fish.

Oh and the 'be happy you have a healthy baby' crew should shut it. Feeling miserable for 9 months is feeling miserable for 9 months, even if you're happy your pregnancy is progressing, and telling you to be grateful is like telling someone who has a chronic illness or pain just to shut up and accept it because they're not dead.

[ReginaGeorgeinSheepsClothing]

HG support on here is amazing- I was regularly hospitalised for iv fluids and the "yellow bag of shame" parbinex and the support from that group was the one thing that helped me through. I lost 2 stone and looked horrendous.

[Gennz]

Ok I accept IABU!! I think I was just projecting my rage at a 9 month hangover at the doctor.

I'm very pro normal medical treatment btw - only went to the holistic doc as I didn't think drugs were available for the level of sickness I get, I thought you had to be basically hospitalised on a drip before you could be medicated! So thanks to all who have made suggestions, will def investigate when/if I get pregnant.

[CosyCoupe88]

Stocking up on magnesium before pregnancy is supposed to help apparently. May be untrue but some stuff about it on the Internet. You're already taking that so thays good.

I am 13 weeks into my 2nd pregnancy and shared your concerns. I was sixk most days with the last one and this time in truly is full blown hyperemesis. I wanted to curl.up and die yesterday.. its awful. If you have a first I recommwas putting things in place like saving for additional childcare if you need it and making sure you are in a position to be signed off work if you need it. I was a bit too optimistic thinking it can't be as bad this time.. I never truly accepted it could be worse :(

[MaverickSnoopy]

No two pregnancies are the same. I had 1 hour of morning sickness in my first pregnancy. In my second I wasn't sick at all but I spent the first twelve weeks extremely nauseous and unable to eat much to the point that I lost half a stone. You just don't know how this next pregnancy will go.

I think that modern medicine will help more than any holistic approach. I did want to share my experience of homeopathy. I had horrific periods as a teen (think fainting and very heavy periods) and after prescriptions didn't really help much my mum took me to a homeopath. They gave me a medicine (no clue what) and it worked wonders. I had no preconceptions about homeopaths and just assumed it was another Dr. I was 14 and just thought it was normal medicine from a regular Dr. It worked so well that as an adult I would absolutely be open to trying homeopathic remedies if it worked. I'm massively skeptical about the whole thing but for me the evidence spoke for itself. My point is, if you try the medicine prescribed from the Dr and it doesn't work then you have nothing to lose by trying it.

I don't think you're unreasonable to want something to fix it in case it happens again but you're unreasonable for expecting a holistic Dr to offer anything other than natural remedies.

[Gennz]

Arrgghh fuck cosy poor you!!! 13 weeks was the pits for me last time, hopefully you've hit rock bottom and things improve soon.

I swore blind last time I was never doing it again

By 38 weeks I was enormous, vomiting and couldn't walk due to pgp ...I keep telling myself it can't be that bad again hashtag delusional

[fourteenlittleducks]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/2899497-Hyperemesis-Support

Here's Lucinda's fabulous support thread (for HG and pregnancy sickness). When I was on it there were lots of ladies without HG diagnosis, some with severe nausea but no vomiting etc so it's not just for HG. They are very friendly and knowledgeable.

[CosyCoupe88]

If you had hyperemesis (sounds like you had more than just morning sickness) there is a strong link to It happening again next time. But things may be ok.. the good things with this one is it didn't start until 7 weeks wheras first one was from 5 weeks!

Thanks OP. I really hope so ! Last time it eased at 17 ish weeks so fingers crossed haha.

I also swore blind that it woukd never be happening again haha. I am writing myself a strongly worded letter to make sure there is not a 3rd! Will be worth it in the end and hopefully I will forget how bad this is too!

Found a very funny description of I the other day.. will find link..

[CosyCoupe88]

www.the-pool.com/life/parenting-honestly/2017/13/up-with-the-kids-robyn-wilder-on-morning-sickness-with-toddler

[Amira90]

The HG thread is marvellous. It really helped me.
I also took Ondansetron having tried the others fourteen mentioned.
I lost so much weight and could barely stand for the first 14 weeks, just crawled between my bed and the toilet. It's bloody awful. The thought of doing it all again whilst looking after another child terrifies me!