Left hosp 3 hours ago.. should I go back?

[Cantcopewiththesickness]

I’m 8 weeks pregnant and considering termination due to hyperemesis gravidarum. I don’t want this anymore. I cannot cope.

I’ve been like it every day for the past 3 weeks and it’s already enough for me.

I throw up 1-2 times per hour from when I wake-2/3pm, then again (typically a couple of times) in the evening. I’ve thrown up during the night too. Essentially I get a 3-4 hour window where I actually feel hungry and keep food down. If I eat outside of that window, my body projectile vomits it back up within minutes. Eating brings on the most intense nausea and it’s like it doesn’t even fully go down - my body isntantly rejects it. Water/juice I can manage teeny tiny sips but it’s not enough to rehydrate me. I’m surviving on bites off of a banana, some ritz crackers and bits of baguette. That is it.

I also generally feel awful. Head feels awful. I’m so tired and worried about myself. I am so ill.

Went to a&e yesterday morning, they gave me fluids and tried the third lot of anti sickness meds. I’ve only taken 2 tablets so far and just like the other two, they have done absolutely nothing. There is a specific tablet I wanted to try but hospital cannot get hold of it, apparently.

They sent me home but I am just so ill. Realistically, what can they even do? I might have no choice but to end it. I cannot go on the way I am.

I just want to get some opinions on whether or not I should go back, or do I just have to try and plod along and hope I don’t collapse?

I had HG with both my children, the second was by far the worst. I had to take steroids and cyclizine suppositories to allow me to keep down other meds. Have you got a consultant that specialises in this area? You have to do what’s right for you but make sure it’s not a decision you will regret. Big hugs.

@Cantcopewiththesickness So sorry you are experiencing this. It’s truly awful. I would love a second- but scared in case I get HG again. I would say keep pushing the Drs if you still feel awful, speak to pregnancy sickness support and check out the MN pregnancy sickness support chat (this really helped me). I hope you start to feel better soon. They kept telling me as long as I was keeping something down and fluids it was ok- I lost over a stone in the first 3 months. I wish I had kept on at the professionals and got more help. It was tough.
Mine improved around 18 weeks- I hope yours will too. Take care.

OP work can wait. You can get signed off for longer and the fact you work in a small team is not
your fault. It’s just work and you are severely ill. I had this and also had a 3-4 hour gap around 5-8pm every evening.
Rest rest and rest. As in stay in bed. Do not do any work. Even in the hours you aren’t vomitting.
Otherwise agree go back to the hospital and explain you are thinking of terminating and need support.

i found sunshine and sea water helped me (I have no clue why)

If you end up back in hospital they can give you iv antisickness med which can tip the balance. and helps the meds work .

I also found some things taste the same out as in - lots of sweets and cloudy lemonade

Good luck x

The treatment for hyperemesis is still so patchy I'm this country and not massively focused on women's quality of life.

I was signed off most of the pregnancy and found the dizziness as bad as the nausea.
The pregnancy sickness website quoted above has the right escalation pathway.
I found gynae a and e would prescribe me all the drugs that primary care doctors and pharmacists wouldn't as they want to keep you off the ward.
There should be a special hell for anyone who suggests lifestyle changes like not eating greasy food or ginger biscuits even when hooked up to a drip.
Yoy have to advocate your arse off until you find the right doctor . And also you don't have to be showing ketosis to need treatment - by the time I was that dehydrated I couldn't leave the bed i was so dizzy to even get to the doctors which at some points wasa catch 22.

Mine peaked at 17 weeks , went mild and then increased to medium in third trimester but much more bearable.
You have my sympathies

@Cantcopewiththesickness i had that 3 times, its bloody awful ❤️

That sounds so rough!

I had HG too, five times in fact. It is horrendous. The last pregnancy I was in hospital 6 times for a stay of about 3 days each time. I could not eat and drinking was worse. Plain water never agreed with me and even TV food ads made me vomit.

When I felt I couldn't do it anymore and needed hydration, I did not eat on purpose for about a day. This ensured my ketones were severe enough to get admitted for IV fluids which was a game changer. I ended up on 4 different antiemetics. The best one that worked for me was Zofran. Although it caused awful constipation.

Have you had your ketones checked? Is there an early pregnancy clinic near you?

I wish you all the best. It is a very lonely journey but it isn't forever.

No useful advice but just wanted to send my love. Had it with my second for the first five months and it wasn't recognised by my midwives (to be fair to them, I think I inadvertantly put a brave face on) so had no medication and like you spent long periods considering if a termination might be the best thing as I was incapable of looking after my first child and felt very guilty about the stress I was putting on my husband and wider family. There was no window for me where I felt better, oddly I was only able to stomach french fries and lucozade (in very small amounts.

It did eventually pass and my daughter has been well worth it, however long it feels at this stage.

Ondansetron is the magic medicine that stopped my extreme vomiting, had to beg the doctors for it, I don’t know why they don’t prescribe it more, maybe it’s expensive or something 🤷‍♀️

So glad you've been given Xonvea. I was prescribed it in Canada (under the name Diclectin) for 3 pregnancies and honestly don't know what I would have done without it. As you say, it takes the edge off even if it doesn't miraculously make the nausea and vomiting go away entirely. At least it cuts down somewhat on the vomiting into plastic bags in public.

Xonvea does build up. Work up to the max dose and be consistent. Your hormones are still rising so you will continue to have some breakthrough sickness but it will be much better than no medication.

When the hormones start to drop you will feel much better. Your body adjusts and even though later there will be a point your hormone level is say comparable to now. Somehow your body will react less to it, and it keeps getting better.

I stayed on Xonvea until birth. Weaned down to 1 pill every other day.

You are strong. You can do this. Every day is one day less of sickness. And madly you will likely do this again one day for sibling 2 🤯 because you did it once and you know you can do it again.

Ah, HG is vile! I had it with only one of my pregnancies and like you suggested, I was ready to throw the towel in and have a termination.

After a couple of rubbish GP appointments, (that took my hours to get myself up and down the stairs before my DH drove me the 800 metres to the surgery), a brilliant midwife came to see me for a booking in appointment. She could see how poorly I was and made arrangements for me to be admitted.

Literally within two hours, they’d put in ivs of fluids and something called ondanestron. That night I had the best half a ham sandwich I’d ever tasted! Kept in for two days and then sent home with tablets of the same thing.

It took me probably another week to build up strength and starting to eat properly. And despite having another (minor) blip about two weeks later, I’m convinced and ondanestron is the best drug in the world!

Take it steady, op. Don’t push yourself else you will get more dehydrated (as you will know, feeling sick makes you not want to drink and you will feel more sick the more you do and the less you drink) and it will take you longer to get right.

Good luck.

Check out Emily Clareksons account on instagram/online. She's blogged about how completely debilitating and lonely it is to experience, and it might offer some advice/wisdom.

It sounds completely horrific OP x

@Cantcopewiththesickness if you are too ill to work, you are too ill! I had to be signed off for a month, my boss covered two big presentations for me during that time. What if you had been hit by a car and broken a leg? Your colleagues would simply have to cope while you recovered.

Look after yourself 💐

Workplaces have coped through all sorts and should not be your priority. If they care about you they will be sympathetic and if they don't, then do you really care about them?

Did your mother have HG? If not, that’s a totally irrelevant comment.