Hyperemesis Support

[LucindaE]

A new thread needed here already! Lovely Grumblin who started the second one, may be actually having that baby at this minute!

I hope this will be a source of support for present sufferers and ex sufferers alike and also worried family members.

I want particularly to mention my favourite feline FluffyWhiteKittens, who has been so invaluable a source of support on the old threads, and MOH, who has slaved to produce articles full of useful information and links to useful websites, LaTrucha, lovely CaramelloKoalaLover, Grumblin, NitNat, La, Lottie, Grandmagain, MaryLou, Cocoanuts and so many that I cannot name everyone for fear that the current sufferer may became annoyed at the long list...

Never worry about tmi or moaning. When suffering one has to discuss things that would make most people go weak at the knees and to have a good moan can help enormously with an illness where there is still a lot of ignorance and sometimes insensitive treatment.

It might help to remember - when you are at your worst - the words in that Eastern story.
'This Too Shall Pass.'

LucindaE
xx

Hb - Glad you are doing so much better now, you sound like you are having the time of your life!
Glad new babies are doing well, that new meds are working, and that people seem to be having more and more good days. It helps to hear that it does get better!
Didn't see the Horizons report but sounds like it scared a lot of you. My grandma had very severe HG throughout all 5 of her pregnancies, she could hardly eat at all. All of her children turned out healthy with the only complaint being that my Uncle developed a growth problem - he is now 7 ft tall! So try not to worry too much about the little beans.
Still on Cyclizine here, was working really well - no vomiting for three days last week but since Sunday have vomited a few times every day. Dr thinks I could have a virus which is making it worse though so has kept me on the Cyclizine. Been getting very very dizzy too which GP thinks could be down to anaemia. It would make sense considering I haven't been able to take vitamins or eat much. Had a blood test this morning so we shall see. Off to take a little nap now!

Gemma/Coconuts, I think it worked after all...
www.thefword.org.uk/reviews/2011/06/briseis_in_troy
Love
Lucinda/Jessica
xx

Everyone, [red face] ignore that link, first successful link I ever did and nothing about Hyperemesis, it is about an article I had published , and ha, ha, [red face} I thought I was still in an email to Cocounuts who's helping me with links, and goodness knows I need it! So, if your fascinated by articles about epic films and rape titilation, don't trouble with it.
Louby Never worry about tmi, there's no such thing here, foam, bile, cheese on its way up all need discussing. I still heave when I smell Ice Gems. I can't endure them! I smelt some and it set me off when I was suffering myself, and my body seems to remember...
Sorry about manager business still not sorted out.
Back in second...
LucindaE
xx

Louby sorry you are still having those dreaded bile runs - it is just so horrible to wake up to that, and they hurt, too. I do hope they go soon.
Mummymc That is encouraging about your Gran and Uncle seven foot, wow! I do think that that programme seems to have been a bit alarmist, though I admit I missed it myself. There is a stomch bug going about, DD had awful loose bowels these last few days. Wish you better soon, keep plugging away at those sips of liquid. For sure, most people get alot better between 12-20 weeks, it seems age away when you are in the throes of it, but time does pass.
about that link. I wasn't advertising myself on purpose, honestly....
LucindaE
xx

Thanks Lucinda!

Hehe, don't worry about the article posting, I'm actually reading it now and really enjoying it.

Sorry to moan/rant but did anybody see this article about Michelle Heaton today? www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2029977/Michelle-Heaton-admits-struggled-pregnancy-weight-gain.html

I know that she has really struggled with eating disorders for years, but this article actually really upset me. I would love to be able to eat whatever I wanted and give my baby the nutrients that he/she needs. To see somebody reluctant to do that (though I know it wasn't a conscious thing for her) just breaks my heart. I do feel for her because I know how difficult it is when you have spent so much time trying to be thin to watch your body grow (An ex boyfriend used to 'control' my weight as a teenager. When we split up I really struggled at first with seeing my body get larger) and I know I'm being completely unreasonable, but as I said, from a selfish point of view it just breaks my heart that I can't give my baby that nourishment.

anyway, hope you don't all think I'm a complete b*h now!

Hope that we are all feeling a bit better today and that new babies are doing well xxx

Lucinda
Mummymccar I know exactly how you feel, there was a tv series a while back about young girls and pregnancies, who were smoking, drinking or eating badly and I felt so at the girl who was eating practically nothing out of choice to try and stay size 6 or 8. She had twins and was tiny.
Hope everyone else is ok, the only glad to hear you're enjoying new motherhood, saw your facebook profile pic on the HG page and you look like you're loving it :)

Thanks Fluffy, I'm glad I'm not the only one who has felt like this! Haven't vomited so far today so managed to eat some cereal & some choccie biscuits so feeling a bit better about it all today. I think that because I've had such a bad week that article just really got to me.

Mummymccar Lol some good came out of my muddle headedness, then, if that article distracts you from the miseries of Hyperemesis...I can give people a laugh, if nothing else, with my hopelessness at IT! That sounds lovely about TheOnly on the Hyperemesis page on Facebook, with my skills I must join (I don't think!).
I so know what you and Fluffy mean about wanting to eat healthily, and not being able to. It is so unfair when people actually think your normal diet is Lucozade and crisps... One woman I was in touch with on another thread who had Hyperemesis was actually accused of starving herself out of vanity and ignoring the needs of the baby (she'd lost three stone, having been quite plump before).
LucindaE
xx

just watched the Horizon programme on iplayer and it made me so angry that doctors send women away with no treatment saying the baby'll be fine if you don't eat for months on end when there's now evidence that it may be harmful. Can they really now say that the supposed risk (if there even is one) to the baby of taking an antiemetic is greater than the risk of letting the mother starve?

I agree that we shouldn't overreact, but on the other hand, maybe we should be that bit more careful about our children having a healthy diet and lifestyle. I think that was partly the point, you may have a predisposition to something but not get it if you're careful, whereas if you eat junk and don't exercise you're asking for trouble. Having said that, I have osteoporosis and no doctor can tell me why. One of my sisters is borderline diabetic (following gestational diabetes), and she has no other contributing reasons. I'm convinced now that my mum's HG was to blame. No sorry, not my mum's HG, the doctors who didn't give her effective treatment for it and put her in a bleeping psychiatric unit instead of giving her antiemetics. When I'm in hospital in a few decades time with a hip fracture, I'll know who to blame.

Argh, sorry, have only popped on to moan. Just unpacking ocado shopping when I caught sight of a bottle of olive oil - cue instant vom in kitchen sink Couldn't make it to the loo in time. Don't know why it set me off but it did. So sick of being sick, feel really irritable about it, and frankly bored of myself! I don't feel sick enough to go to the doctor or try for more meds, but it's just the slow and steady nausea and 2 voms a day habit that is really getting me down.

Hello all,

Have been lurking on this thread since March, when I found out I was pregnant for the second time and started vomiting copiously as I did during my first pregnancy.

This time around I've been very sick up till about Week 20, but luckily had a sympathetic GP who prescribed Cyclizine. It's helped enormously.

Long story short, I've had several weeks during this pregnancy where I haven't needed to take the Cyclizine and have been eating heartily. Suddenly, a couple of weeks ago, at 29 weeks pregnant, the vomiting has returned, and I feel just as awful as I did when I was about 10 weeks pregnant.

To cap it all, I got a lecture from a horrible locum GP about how I shouldn't take tablets while pregnant as it's "just a bit of vomiting". She did reluctantly give me a scrip for 60 cyclizines.

Has anyone else had/know of someone who has had the sickness return so late in the pregnancy? The horrid GP looked at me as if I had two heads when I told her I was puking at 31 weeks

Feel very sorry for myself. Need a hug.

welcome hefty glad you have posted - no need to lurk on here if you need support. So sorry the HG has returned. Is the cyclizine helping again? I was on anti emetics/cyclizine & omeprazole from 5 weeks until delivery in all 3 of my pregnancies so that locum is talking out of her bottom.

When I was admitted to labour ward at 36 weeks (due to car crash brought on by hg) and they saw me vomming away into the cardboard hat things the midwives were that I still had morning sickness. The locum you saw seems to be standard in the nhs and onviously doesn't know about HG.

moh & lucinda have alot to say on the ineptitude & under education of health professionals when it comes to HG. Hope your regular GP is more supportive?

Oh and here is a unmumsnetty cyber hug (((()))) from me

Hello hefty. With my first pregnancy I remember I had 3-4 weeks of feeling human sometime late in the second trimester. Then I started throwing up again, and was in hospital on IV at about 7 or 8 months. So you're not the only one. I don't think it lasted until the end, as I managed to get back to work for a couple of weeks after that. Memory is a bit of a blur, as I hated pregnancy so much that I think I've blotted a lot of it out.

I'm now nearly 18 weeks and I've finally got ondansetron. GP wont prescribe it so I have to trek to the hospital to get it. I've been on it for a week now and had a couple of really good days where I felt like myself. Nausea still in the background but fairly easy to ignore. Trouble is, I ended up doing too much (taking toddler swimming, shopping, visiting friends, going to park etc - all the normal mummy things that my daughter has been missing out on). I suffered for it yesterday - back to vomiting and lying pathetically in bed.

Not looking forward to going back to school next week (I'm a science teacher). Not sure how sympathetic they will be if I can't cope despite the ondansetron. I can't really leave a class with Bunsen burners lit to have a quick vom or lie down because I'm feeling faint. But I'll feel awful if I have to go off sick as colleagues will have to cover (my school doesn't employ supply).

Can anyone recommend a simple fact sheet on HG that I can give my senior management team, so that they can see that I'm not making the condition up. Something endorsed by the NHS would be great as they would be more likely to take it seriously. I'm sure there are things they can do to help me stay at work as long as possible, but I'm worried they will make me start my maternity leave early.

Sorry for massive long post!

Thanks Grumblin and Seapie for reassuring me that it's not unheard of to puke in the third trimester. Thanks also for the hug - it's nice to know there are others out there who know what it's like. MotherOfPearl, I FEEL your pain! I too am so bored of this sickness. It helps to focus on the fact that there is light at the end of the tunnel. It can't last forever!

The Cyclizine helps to reduce the vomiting but doesn't take away that constantly-draining "I'm about to puke" feeling. When I first found out I was pregnant a second time, my previously-snooty and unsympathetic GP prescribed Cyclizine right away. Snooty GP was 28 weeks pregnant herself and had felt sick herself, so had some sympathy this time round.

Seapie, you could try pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk for fact sheet. Not sure if it's NHS endorsed but is useful and well-presented. Then there's MOH100's site, but I don't know the link.

Thanks again for all support. You are all so lovely on this thread. Xx

hefty one of my sisters said hers got bad again in 8th or 9th month, she thought because baby putting pressure on stomach. She said the 7th month was ok, but the rest were rubbish.

seapie i don't know of any factsheets but there is this information on the NHS choices website www.nhs.uk/conditions/morning-sickness/pages/complications.aspx.

HeftyMutha Welcome, here's a hug from me, too, but not squeezing too tight...One for Pearltoo, for The Horror of the Olive Oil. I think anything mildly offensive in the way of smells/tastes can set one off...No wonder you are completely fed up with feeling sick/being sick, you have suffered for a long time.
Mother Hen Lucinda is happy to see you, Grumblin, survivor of three pregancies with Hyperemesis throughout. Have a hug from me, to replenish your supply. Take a special place in the Pink Castle and admire the view, putting baby in the nursery...
Seapie Would MOH's information on her site do the trick? Did anyone mention it? It's on the beginning of this thread, too... I know NitNat tried to force herself back, and it just can't be done as a teacher. I find it odd they don't have supply teachers - what happens if people are ill for a while, as does happen? Surely your union can sort something out for you?
Moh That is a balanced attitude re programme, very sensible.
Back shortly. Mother hen clucks at all...
LucindaE
xx

seapie I used to be a science teacher - though not when I had HG - and I would second what Lucinda says, there's no way you'll be able to do your job till later in the pregnancy when/if the HG calms down. i was doing a sit in front of the computer type job when I had HG and was taking ondansetron and I couldn't even manage full time time hours till after 18 weeks. Teaching's just too physically and emotionally draining a thing to be doing with full on HG. Ondansetron's good, but it's not a magic wand, you'll still feel ill if you don't rest. I think the best you can offer to do is part time hours. If the school doesn't employ supply teachers, I'm afraid it's their problem, not yours or your baby's. You sign a contract to work to the best of your ability, you don't sign away your health. Are you in a union? I'd get them involved asap.

I hope everyone is at least surviving on this Bank Holiday Monday. Nothing so horrible as being ill in bed - or in such a state that you ought to be in bed, but staggering round caring for a little one.
LucindaE
xx

Urrrrgggghhh I feel the worst I have felt so far today, resulting in me crying to DH that I don't want to feel sick anymore and then feeling really selfish because of our little baby growing. I stopped being sick for about a week and it's full on back with a vengeance now. I was so sick yesterday I ended up with really bad aches in my stomach and think I possibly moved all my muscles around so much the baby thought it better anchor itself in and that ended up with me having a terrible upset stomach too! Sorry to moan...

On a positive note I hope I've taken one for the team this bank holiday and the rest of you are enjoying yourselves

Welcome back HG... Oh how I've sodding well not missed you. FFs.

I am having a nightmarish time lately. Mum been in hospital with suspected heart attack (was ruled out and now home thank god), I have to have extra scans due to polyhydramnios and I have had the runs for two days and now today I have vommed four times, cannot possibly face having a drink. Have forced down a cyclizine in the hopes I can drink something soon but now I feel like I'm falling asleep on my feet.

I thought I'd seen the last of this at 35 weeks.

Louby and Coconuts Your poor things, this is dismal...You don't think it could possibly looks about hopefully be that stomach bug? But you know better than I...Oh, dear, cyber hugs to both, if bearable...Coconuts sorry about your mother, what a worry, I expect the tension must have set it off badly again? Louby what a time for this to hit you again, do you think a change of meds might help?
LucindaE
xx

I have been thinking the same lucinda that maybe it's just a bit of a bug but I don't know. I've got that feel about me if you know what I mean. The zero tolerance of water kind of confirms it's more HG than bug as with a bug I usually can't get water in me quick enough.

Although, aren't diarrhea and sickness signs of impending labour?!

[proud]

Poor louby and coconuts, on BH Monday as well. At least you're not missing any glorious weather whilst you're in the loo.......but i know that's small consolation for the awfulness that is HG.

Seapie has your HT not heard of the "rarely cover" policy that came in last year? Colleagues are no longer supposed to cover for non emergency absences and your illness is already known about in advance so they need to get a supply. In any case don't worry about it. Concentrate on resting and planning a list of "foods I will eat the second I give birth"....

Waves to *Grumblin"