To ask for anti sickness tablets now?

[HeyMrWhite]

7wks pregnant with 3rd baby. With the other 2 I had severe hyperemesis and was hospitalised for weeks. The nausea has been going on for a while now but it was bearable. Then on Tuesday I was sick once in the evening, same as yesterday. I’ve woken up at 4am today feeling like I’m going to be sick. I’m concerned that very quickly the sickness is going to get bad and it’ll turn into hyperemesis again. I want to try and nip it in the bud if I can. I asked my GP on Friday last week if I can have a prescription for anti sickness tablets just in case I needed them, and she looked at me totally horrified and said that they will only prescribe them for extreme cases. I really don’t want to suffer with hyperemesis again if I can help it. The GP knew about all of this and she still sat there and told me it was all in my head 😓 I’m considering calling up today and asking for another doctor

Yes I think you should ask to see a different doctor, I’m sure the advice is that the medication is much more effective if you start taking it earlier on, before the sickness gets too bad. I’m surprised at her reaction, given that you’ve had it twice before so it’s much more likely you will again. I’ve had it twice too, it’s god awful so you have my sympathy! But congratulations and I hope all goes well

I think you probably know more about this than the GP. I’ve also had hg in my pregnancies, the advice is to start meds early if it’s a risk. Weeks 7-9 were the around the worst for me as well.
Yes I’d try and see another GP and pull something off the internet to show them if possible, can’t remember exactly but was given some advice by the hyperemesis support thread on pregnancy here. There’s a helpline called pregnancy sickness I think? With a dr who can give advice what to say to GPs?
Might be worth asking on this thread what the details are- it helped me when I was pregnant
Best of luck

Good luck. Ranatidine has been recalled so they wont be able to offer you much, if anything.

Also you've only thrown up twice, OP that is way less than most people by 7wks.

OP you are still early days in your pregnancy and I’m sure you remember from your two previous pregnancies that the morning sickness can be worst in the first trimester.

Have you tried any natural remedies yet ?

How about sucking on crystallised ginger ? I’ve heard that’s quite effective 💕

I just feel like you always have to be weary when taking some medication’s while pregnant.

Good luck and let us know

Natural remedies do not work for hyperemesis.

Go back and see someone else. I had this with all 4 of my children and was hospitalised many times.

With my 4th I was given medication at 7 weeks and it made such a difference to me personally and our family.

Good luck.

You should definitely ask for them now and see a different doctor.

‘Natural Remedies’ are not going to work for HG, it is utterly debilitating.

Good luck op

HG is not ‘morning sickness’ it’s a potentially life threatening condition. Natural remedies do nothing. Go and see another doctor and be your own advocate.
I didn’t vomit at all with my first until 8 weeks, by 10 weeks I’d lost 2 stone and by 12 my kidneys were failing. With my second I was medicated earlier and needed much less time in hospital (only 2 weeks instead of 6)

Agree with pp, research indicates that for people with a history of hg, the best treatment is to start anti-sickness medication before symptoms appear.
I would definitely see a different GP.

Good luck. Ranatidine has been recalled so they wont be able to offer you much, if anything.

There's plenty they can offer. Cyclizine is the first drug given for pregnancy sickness, then ondansetron can be tried (and a couple of others I can't remember the name of).

Oh gosh I am so sorry it might be starting again. It is hideous and as you have had it twice you know what is coming, and that you can vomit twice one day but the next day you vomit 15times.

I am so sorry the GP said it was all in your head. Definitely go see another one. And definitely ask for antiemetics. I got them much earlier the third time (GP actually said, what would you like 😂😂 rather than starting at the bottom with prochlorperazine). I still needed admitting but definitely think it helped delay my first admission.

Just to warn you, ondansetron has been withdrawn for use in early pregnancy by the European Medicine Agency due to a tiny increased risk of cleft palate. Have a look at the spewing mummy website as she has done a blog about it. It is very recent so you might still be able to get from GP (assuming you are acknowledging this risk) but might also want to try something else or ask for early referral to EPU.

Good luck. It is so hideous. But as a third timer you know it is worth it!!

See another GP. Refer to the NICE guidelines here

www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/green-top-guidelines/gtg69-hyperemesis.pdf

Seek additional support from

www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk/

If you still aren’t getting anywhere.

You will make it through, you’ve done it twice, you know it’s worth it xx

You're supposed to catch hyperemesis before it catches you! As soon as I found out on my second I got a prescription to have in and take as soon as I needed. Doctor agreed.
With my first obviously at the start I wasn't diagnosed with hyperemesis and my GP (a different one) wouldn't give me anything. She was horrible. I won't go into it. At 7 weeks I happened to have an unrelated consultant appointment and she said you've hyperemesis and gave me the script. I would go straight down today and get what it is that works for you. Incidentally mine was cariban. It could be called a different name in the UK

I was put on it before I got really sick with no3 after being on HG meds before. Worked much better starting it sooner, as I never got as exhausted and dehydrated and didn't need multiple rounds of antibiotics or iron pills because my system wasn't so stripped. They tried to fight me on it. I just told them, I have older kids and cannot be that sick again. The GP had me on then before I even booked in properly with the midwife. I came off them at the end of the second trimester, whereas before had to take them until I went into labour. So I think it worked much better than starting them only after I was borderline being hospitalised

Natural remedies do bugger all for HG. I tried everything and only antisickness and anti reflux helped. See another GP OP. They sound useless to dismiss you like this, especially given your history and that HG us often worse in subsequent pregnancies.

There are plenty of anti nausea medications that are perfectly safe right throughout pregnancy. Change GPs. Yours has no idea what they are talking about.

Absolutely yanbu. Ignore posters who don't understand HG.
I am now 14 weeks and I got my anti sickness prescription at 6 weeks. I explained to my doctor how bad it was with the others and that I wanted to start early and keep it under control. He read through my notes and agreed. Unfortunately it took 3 different meds but I found one that worked and have managed to get it fully under control now by 14 weeks rather than the 28 weeks it took with my other pregnancy. HG is not just morning sickness and actually it doesn't matter if you've only been sick once. The nausea wipes you out anyway.

I'm sorry you're doctor hasn't been supportive. I've been on anti-sickness tablets since week 8/10 and am now on week 26.

I have had no UTIs, haven't fainted once, and my iron levels are normal ( all things that went a bit wrong in my last pg with no tablets - different area)

Ignore people who don’t understand HG. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever been through. Second time round I went on meds almost as soon as I got pregnant and although it was still horrible it wasn’t AS horrific as the first time round with being hospitalised.

Ignore the people who don’t know a thing about hg. Go get meds now as early as possible .

@Andysbestadventure they don’t use ranitidine to treat HG unless you’re in hospital. There are lots of options for anti sickness tablets that a GP can prescribe and if the OP starts taking them earlier (as recommended in HG) she may well avoid a stay in hospital.

You can buy Promethazine over the counter. I had a prescription for it for pregnancy sickness before anyone jumps on me but I just bought it myself because I could get 56 for the same price as a prescription for 28 and I didn't have my maternity exemption certificate yet.

It helped me a lot although I just had bad all day sickness rather than HG but it's better than nothing if your doctor won't help

Ignore her and pp. I went the other day to my GP and he told me new best practice from clinical guidelines is to treat and treat early. He prescribed me Cyclizine and it really helps. Ask to see someone else.

I didn't even have HG but I did have bad sickness. My GP prescribed me cyclizine over the phone at my midwife's suggestion (at my booking in appointment at seven weeks) because HG runs in my family. Yours sounds useless.

If you get no luck with your GP, call the EPU as they can prescribe it. My GP wouldn't prescribe anything for me in my last pregnancy, kept telling me that sickness is a normal part of pregnancy and ignoring the fact that it was my fourth DC/sixth pregnancy so I already had a fair idea of what my normal was or wasn't. I ended up at hospital a few days afterwards and when the nurse said the doctor was starting me on anti-emetics I burst into tears of relief. GP wouldn't repeat the prescription when it ran out at 12wks as she didn't believe the sickness was still happening (happened the whole nine fucking months) so I got in touch with EPU and the hospital provided the prescriptions from that point on.

Have you tried any natural remedies yet ?

How about sucking on crystallised ginger ? I’ve heard that’s quite effective

I just feel like you always have to be weary when taking some medication’s while pregnant

Natural remedies are of no use against hyperemesis, it's not morning sickness. Mine was triggered by the usual triggers of morning sickness - tiredness, smells, strong flavours - but also by totally unexpected things like movement, noise, being touched. I had to lie very still, curled up on the sofa, with the room in near silence, and no one near to me. If I moved, I was sick. If the DC spoke too loudly, I was sick. If DH tried to hug me or tub my back, I was sick. The medication made it so that I 'only' felt sick which was a big improvement on life without the medication as I could push through only feeling sick and still function.

The medications prescribed for hyperemesis are very safe and their use is closely monitored, hence the current scrutiny into ondansetron.