Hyperemesis Gravidaram

[weasel1]

Hi there, I am new to mumsnet and have been diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gravidaram. I am luckily not always being sick but constantly feel nauseous and have no appetite at all. Preparing food for my ds and dp makes me feel rough and even cleaning up the kitchen makes me feel awful. I have been prescribed cyclizine today but it says it makes you feel drowsy and with my partner doing shift work i still have to look after my son. Has anyone had experience with this condition and had cyclizine and know how it makes you feel?

Cheers

[Jacksmybaby]

Feel for you.
I was on cyclizine last pg from 15 wks til birth. It makes you feel really wiped out, but for me it did stop the vomitting and made the nausea much better.
This time am on phenergan (don't know why but GP said this is what they recommend now as first drug to offer) and it also makes you feel like a zombie. For me it's not as effective though as cyclizine so hoping to see GP again and ask to switch.
I've had to be signed off work as can't cope with that as well as DS. Just about coping with DS now but mainly thanks to endless DVDs .
Not much advice to offer except: if the cyclizine isn't working for you (i.e. reducing the N&V) ask to switch to a different drug, different ones seem to suit different people; look after yourself and take time off work if you need to; and obviously as I'm sure you've been told keep taking tiny sips of water to try to stay hydrated.
There are lots and lots of people on MN with experience of this - have a search through some of the threads. You're not alone.
Good luck!

[BikeRunSki]

Many many sympathies. I was hospitalised 4 times in 5 weeks and put on a drip to rehydrate with HG when I was pg, for anything from 2 days to 2 and half weeks. Fortunately was first DC so I had no other demands on me but be ill for 6 weeks. After I was finally discharged i found that if I could stay hydrated by nibbling ice lollies or ice cubes I was just about OK. I also tried to nibble toast and could keepdown red Cuppa Soups. But as long as you are hydrated, then the food doesn;t matter that much.

Cyclizine didn't do much for me, or stemitil, but I found that metroclopromide did.

If it makes you feel any better, I suddenly felt better overnight at 15 weeks.

[merlin8878]

I was 'officially' diagnosed last week, although it started at 5 weeks.

I'm 19+1 with DC3.

I can cope with the being sick, its the constant nausea

I was prescribed cyclizine 4 weeks ago but have been reluctant to take it, partly because I took it while pg with DD2 and it really wiped me out and as I've got 2 DDs to look after I can't just take to my bed when I feel like it. And partly because this time around I have been given really mixed messages about taking it. My GP was saying yes I'll give it to you because you've had it before, but I don't actually want you to take it because we don't know if its safe for the baby .

I saw another GP a few days ago who said it is safe and to ignore what I'd been told and to take it when I need it.

For me, I can (just) cope in the mornings, its when it gets to lunchtime everything goes downhill. I can't even walk into my kitchen without heaving, and if I've got to open the fridge or freezer........not good.

I know hope it will go away, but as I had morning sickness until 30 weeks with DD2 (which looking back was probably hyperemesis, but I'd never heard of it until this pg), I don't think it'll happen any time soon

All I can say is, do what you can when you can, and I hope you've got support from your partner and family/friends.

Hope you start to feel better soon

[minimuffy]

i know the feeling! ended up in hospital for few days cause of dehydration and got a couple of cyclizine injections and am now on the tabs. they made me feel bit drowsy when i started them, but once i was able to keep a bit of food down it wasnt as bad. i was off work for two weeks and went back for three days, but cause i wasnt taking them regruarly i was being sick again and was off for a couple days till i got used to taking them again.

My mum and aunts all had HG so i was kinda expecting it, but had no idea how awful it was till i experienced it myself! Got whole new respect for my mum for going through it 3 times and 2 of those times she had to deal with her children! don't think i could manage it

[Hevster]

i have HG too and have cylizine, i was reluctant to take it so eventually agreed to take it when i most needed it. It does wipe me out and it makes me feel a bit pissed as well which means i can't take it any day that i wish to drive or that i have DD on my own. on the plus side, when i do take it it works - i still don't fancy eating anything but it stops both the vomiting and nausea.

hope yours stops soon

[weasel1]

Hey guys,
Thanks for the quick responses. Have been off work for 3 weeks and just been signed off again for another 2. Have just taken my first Cyclizine as DS is at the childminder today. So fingers crossed. It's amazing to hear that HG appears to be so common but yet no one warns you about it.
I used to have Phenergan as a child for travel sickness. Had Metaclopramide with my first pregnancy but only needed it for a few weeks and only while i was at work as i was being exposed to other people's vomit and other excretions (to put it politely) and couldn't cope with that. The other thing is i can't eat straight away in the morning which would help me as i have to take thyroid tablets and can't eat for half an hour after taking them. Thanks again for the responses, it's good to talk to fellow sufferers and mums x x x

[suiledonne]

I had HG in both pregnancies. I was hospitalized on dd1 a few times. I was prescribed Stemetil but it didn't help at all and I struggled through the entire pregnancy and was sick every day until I gave birth.

On dd2 I started to be very ill at 6 weeks and went to my GP. I met a locum who was very understanding.

He gave me shots of cyclizine and prescribed it for me to take.

I found it really knocked me out and I couldn't take care of dd1. I had to spend a couple of weeks at my mother's during the worst of it.

I only took the cyclizine when I had someone to help with dd but it seemed to be enough to stop me going down that awful route of dehydration etc and I woke up one morning at 13 weeks totally fine.

It was amazing the sickness just disappeared over night so there is hope for any of you suffering at the moment

weasel I think the not eating first thing definitely has an effect on the sickness. The only thing that caused my nausea to return on dd2 was going too long without food, especially in the morning. Have you asked the doctor is there anything you could about this even for a few weeks to get you over the worst?

Hope you all feel better soon - it really is wful.

[Jacksmybaby]

weasel do you take thyroxine? Can you take it in the evenings before bed? I do.

[DefNotYummyMummy]

I was given buccastem (you put it under the tongue). Didn't stop the nausea, but stopped the vomitting. I was puking in the car on the way to work. At work a few times. At home, early at 3 am. Nothing helped. My DH tried to understand, but they can't really know. Plus I have 2DC under 4 to look after. Vile, horrible, miserable time.

This must be such a desperately miserable time for you, I know. Unfortunately with this preg I am still not feeling great at 26 weeks - but it is def a whole lot better as I can eat curry again now !

You don't want to wish your life away, but I am hoping this time speeds up for you as it is absolutely unbearable.

Big hugs. xx

[APassionateWoman]

Huge sympathies

I had hyperemesis with my last pregnancy. The worst was over by about 20 weeks, and it eased almost completely by about 24 weeks. Was a very harrowing time, though. No experience with medication, as I refused all anti-emetics (God knows why, stupid woman!). Nothing really eased the nausea, t be honest, and I spent most of the first five months of my pregnancy indoors, crying . I really, really hope it passes soon for you. Very few people understand this condition and how miserable it is. You have my absolute sympathies.

[tiredfeet]

you have my enormous sympathies too, I had this from 7-13 weeks and was really struggling and lost a lot of weight. I didn't have cyclizine but did have buccastem but it didn't seem to make much difference to me. It is a truly awful thing to go through, and this is my first child so I cannot imagine how tough it must be with a little one to look after already.

None of the normal morning sickness remedies help at all and I got pretty fed up of people telling me to 'try ginger' (it burns on the way back up!)

The only thing which did actually help I think was trying very hard to stay hydrated. Sometimes this was tiny sips of water, sometimes ice lollies (I got through hundreds), ice lollies seem to be a pretty good solution as you can get a bit of energy in and some liquid and they sort of numb the stomach so I tended to keep at least 1 in 2 down. By sipping minute amounts of water pretty much continuously I think things improved a little (was still grim though) I think. But like the others said, it is a truly brutal time and quite mentally as well as physically tough. Try and get as much support as possible from DH and others if you can. I am wishing you all the best and really hoping this doesn't last too long. Really feeling for you.

[weasel1]

Hiya, Jacksmybaby, i take Levothyroxine and have been told i have to take it on an empty stomach half hour before food. Cylizine is helping but not getting rid of all symptoms. Still feel rotten when i have to get a meal ready and the thought of eating a full meal. well, that's a no no too. I don't think i have it as severely as some but i feel so sympathetic of those who do have it severely.

[Jacksmybaby]

The most important thing with thyroxine (same thing as levothyroxine) is to take it on an empty stomach to maximise absorption. Hence the very best time to take it is first thing in the morning but failing that the next best thing is last thing at night (assuming you can have dinner early enough to have an empty stomach by bedtime).

There is some research [[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19584184?ordinalpos=15&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubme dResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.PubmedRVDocSum here].

This might help you if you are so sick first thing that you can't keep the thyroxine down then and/or want to be able to eat as soon as you wake up to keep the sickness at bay.

[Jacksmybaby]

Sorry here's the link again here

[karney]

Oh it's truly horrible. I,ve suffered from sickeness and constant nausea all the way through my pg. I was at the docs last week because my iron was low and he just shrugged his shoulders and said "oh morning sickness all the way through eh!" . None of the docs I.ve seen have diagnosed me with Hg but there hasn't been a day gone by I haven't been sick. I,ve been prescibed pheneregen,cyclizine and buccastem. I ended up taking the cyclizine on and off cos it make me so drowsy I found it hard to look after my Ds.I am now 40wks and due on Sunday..I cannot wait not to feel sick anymore...bring on the labour..