Awful Morning Sickness

[Rachel37]

Hi, I'm 8 weeks pregnant and struggling with awful morning sickness. I have tried acupuncture, sickness travel bands, anti sickness tablets from the Dr and ginger.... I'm finding some days I'm constantly sick and have no energy and finding it really hard to function. Was in bed Friday and Saturday feeling so awful. Is this reaction normal? I'm finding it hard to function at the moment... any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

My husband and I have a wedding abroad in a few weeks to attend and I'm actually thinking I won't be able to go because I feel so awful. They say up to 12 weeks before the morning sickness settles. I have another 4 weeks of this and I'm really getting down and upset about it all. Do other people feel like this?

Hey Rachel37, I'm probably not the best person to reply to this post as I don't want to scare you!

I'm 22+6 weeks and have lost just under 2 stone form being sick and had a drip 8 times, I'm still being sick now, but only 2/3 times a day. Some people just get bad sickness (Hyperemesis) but it's really rare, something like 0.3-2% of women get it depending on which report you read.

I'm only telling you this as I never knew this could happen and was really disappointed when my sickness didn't go at 12 or 16 weeks. I feel like if I had known it might happen it would have helped me cope better and be less worried that something was wrong!

My baby is measuring a bit big for his dates despite the fact I've not eaten any fruit of veg for the last 5.5 months.

Have you tried the usual stuff:
*Eat a biscuit before you get out of bed.
*Eat small regular (I found 2 hourly best) snacks rather than big meals.
*Avoid doing too much, just take it really easy. My sickness is worse if I'm tired.
*I found Carbs really helped. If you find one food that you can keep down just keep eating it and don't worry about it not being healthy/balanced.
*Try changing your pregnancy supplements as some can make you ill. The only ones I can keep down are pregnecare plus omega 3.
*Don't drink too much when you eat,
*If you aren't keeping any food down just give up eating for the day and focus on drinking water as you don't want to get dehydrated.
*I found an app called Nevasic worked some of the time.
*I found going shopping / getting in the car was a massive trigger. See if you can figure out something that might be starting it off.

Good luck, fingers crossed it goes soon :)

I felt absolutely dreadful from about week 6 until last week - week 11. I am so very lucky that I only work two days a week (wednesdays I've been spending in bed) as I have no idea how I would cope working full time. Plus I have a very sympathetic husband. Not being able to tell anyone and suffering in silence certainly makes it all worse.

ShouldIbecross - sorry but I disagree and the thought that it could extend for the whole pregnancy made me feel worse. People would say to me "oh, but you'll feel better soon" and I'd just think "but no, I've heard on mumsnet...".

Rachael, odds are that you WILL probably start to feel better soon. I found that sleep helped - my nausea is definitely worse when tired. And you will just have to sod the healthy eating thing. That for me was horrible - I was so sure that I'd not put on too much weight, continue to eat healthily and exercise - but the only thing I could eat was pretzels and crumpets and so I've put on about 8 pounds so far :(

I didn't gradually start feeling better - one day all of a sudden I started feeling only sick in the mornings, and although I'm still tired I am feeling much more human.

You have my mega sympathies though. It's horrible feeling so dreadful all the time - I'm still not loving the pregnancy thing and the fact that the baby made me feel so very sick is not endearing it to me one little bit.

As Vegemite says, the odds are you'll start feeling better soon. I'm on my 3rd lot of MS and it has been by far the worst. However, with all of my dc, weeks 6-8 were the absolute worst. There were small changes every week after that which either made the ms more copeable with or, indeed, less horrible. It too me a long time to feel absolutely normal this time, but I am pleased to say that despite finding myself wanting to die or wishing for miscarriage for the first time in my life at 6-8 weeks, that is all a happily distant memory which my clever brain is rubbing out.
Biscuits in bed did nothing for me, nor ginger, nor anything else normally useful. Eating a cooked meal at lunchtime was my godsend - my absolute best time to get calories in me - provided a) I hadn't thought about what I was having beforehand and b) I hadn't cooked it and c) I wasn't at home. And I rediscovered orange juice in the mornings after having gone off it for years. The odd things pg does to you...
My ms was always worst when I was at home all day, especially at weekends.

Morning everyone, thank you so much for your replies, I actually felt that I was going mad this weekend stuck in bed for 2 days. My DH has been absolutely amazing so understanding and supportive.

Thanks for your response shouldbecross and I'm so sorry to hear that you have had such a rough time with your pregnancy. Thank you for your tips I have just downloaded Nevasic App so will see if that helps hopefully when travelling to and from work daily on a bus and tube for 1 hour each way.

Vegemitesandwich thank you for your response it has given me hope that hopefully I have only 4 more weeks of this pure misery... I can't believe how low, upset, ill I feel and makes me feel better to know it's not just me that ends up staying in bed for days on end with the sickness. I think the worst is when you can't keep anything done and do anything about it!

I read somewhere on the Internet that Gaviscon/Rennies helps with morning sickness have you used this?

The healthy eating has totally gone out the window, crumpets, toast, cheese, lots of carbohydrates. Eating every two hours even when not hungry sometimes helps but sometimes doesn't. I've had to tell my boss early due to looking so ill when I come into work and feeling so weak.

I'm really missing the gym and exercising 4 days a week but that isn't an option at the moment. I'm hoping after the sickness stops I can start yoga, pilates and running again....

It's a very strange feeling at the moment, I just can't seem to focus on the exciting news but focusing on light at the end of the tunnel after the 12 weeks when hopefully then I can start to bloom, smile a lot and be a lot more excited and start planning. At the moment I'm just counting down the days until I start feeling normal again and not so sick!

I'm really worrying about our friends wedding in Barcelona, on the basis of what you know now do you think trying to do a 4 day break abroad four nights out and a wedding is pushing it at 10 weeks pregnant? I'm thinking I may have to cancel and let DH go by himself. I have visions of me being stuck in the hotel constantly being sick and tired....just not sure what to do?

Vegemitesandwich how far in your pregnancy are you now? Are you feeling a lot better?

Blooblies thank you for your message and hope you're right that from week 9 my symptoms get a bit easier.

I've recently started acupuncture which is meant to help with morning sickness also have you tried this?

I really appreciate your comments and sorry for all the moaning, as you say it's so hard when hardly anyone knows to keep this to myself when I feel so awful. My friends are starting to suspect that somethings not right with me as I've totally gone off the radar. I may need to tell them a little earlier than planned!

Thank you ladies, hope you're enjoying the sunshine and have a nice day.

Hi Rachel have you been to your GP?

I'm almost at 22 weeks & the sickness has just totally disappeared in the last week or so BUT I have had hyperemesis in the pregnancy.

If you've had AS pills from the GP & they're not working, there are others & combinations you can try.
You need to watch you're not becoming dehydrated, so it's important if you're not keeping much down, you speak to someone about it.

I can honestly say week 8 was my breaking point, I had been vomiting since week 3 in this pregnancy & by week 8 I was a mess. That's when I got some help & I'm so glad I did. It didn't take the sickness away totally but did allow me to function which I wasn't doing.

Also check out the Hyperemesis support thread in Pregnancy, the ladies there will have some great advice & support for you.

Hope you turn the corner soon & congrats on your pregnancy.

I'm 11 and a half weeks along at the moment. I'm also missing the exercise - all the carb eating means that I am stacking on the pounds.

My first scan is on Thursday and I'm looking forward to being able to tell people rather than having to battle through like nothing is wrong. Also my friends will then hopefully stop thinking that I'm podgy once they realise that my big tummy is a baby-to-be!

My one sure fire cure has been horse riding - I think that the gentle exercise and fresh air does wonders! It's a shame that I'm not really meant to (well, depends on who you talk to!).

Rachel, when I was 14 weeks pregnant I went to Dubai for 2 weeks, to tell my dad the good news.

I had to get the train to the airport so was a bit poorly on the way there & managed ok. When I go there though I had 4 clear days of not being sick at all! It was like the time difference did something, maybe? Also 2 days after coming home I wasn't sick either!

If the dr says it's ok I would plan to go and maybe just get some insurance in case you cancel at the last min? @ 10 weeks you might feel slightly better too?

But never worry about spending the day in bed, there have been times I thought I'd get bed sores! Just do what you need to if it helps.

Heartbeep: Thanks for your message, yes I went to the GP again yesterday, have tried two different types of sickness tablets. The GP has referred me for an Early Pregnancy Assessment Scan today to get my blood tests done and to hopefully have a scan. She wanted me to do this just to check that all was ok. So I'm planning to pop down today to get checked. Thanks I will check the H thread. Yesterday I managed to keep food down and I'm making sure that if I'm sick that I eat something quite soon after to ensure that I don't have an empty stomach.

Vegimitesandwich good luck with your scan hope all goes well on Thursday it would be great to hear how you got on. Are you planning to find out the sex of your baby or are you going to keep it a surprise?

A friend of my DH swore by horse riding she loved it and continued to do it right up to the pregnancy...

Shouldibecrossaboutthis: Yes I'm hoping at 10 weeks I will be feeling better we do have travel insurance but think I will just see how I feel end of this week and make a decision. Such ashame if I don't go but not worth making me more tired and feeling more run down especially before the 12 week safety period.

What us women have to go through eh?

I had terrible MS until 19 weeks so I can sympathise :(

During my first trimester, we went abroad to see DH Grandma. I thought I would be terrible but she lives by the sea and it turned out the fresh sea air really helped my MS :)

Rachel Had 'one of my feelings' too look here - I'm from the Hyperemesis Support Thread, sorry, that's like being a skeleton at a feast mentioning that, but this sounds nasty enough for me to want to echo Heartbeeps. Do watch out your're not getting dehydrated if you can't keep down a normal amount of liquids, you can get kesosticks from a chemists to check, and dehydration can happen quickly and is dodgy, and you are welcome to join us, though obviously for your sake I hope you don't need to!

Milk: thanks for your response, I'm still unsure what to do, I think I will make a decision after the weekend. I'm probably thinking no at this point... the thought of flying at the moment turns my stomach!

LucindaE: Thanks for your message, I have now joined the Hyperemesis Support Thread. I went to the Dr's a few days ago and they did a urine sample which was ok, apparently even though I'm being sick my body is not eating/breaking down the body fats which is good news. Wednesday was a bad day I couldn't hold anything down at all but managed to eat an evening meal and that stayed down. Yesterday I managed to eat and was only sick once. So it seems to come and go... thank you for your message, I will definitely be keeping an eye on this. I'm struggling to drink much fluids just becauseI'm feeling so full all the time but managing may be 2 glasses of small water and a rehydration drink so hopefully that's not too bad. Thanks for the tip about the Kesosticks I will buy some.

Roll on the 12 weeks mark!

Hi Rachel, well the scan today went well. It was pretty quick, but the baby has a brain and a heart so I guess all is good! I've signed up for a pregnancy outcomes study and so still have 3 more scans this year!

I think we should be able to find out the sex at 20 weeks, and at this stage we reckon we'd like to know what it is.

I'm riding a friend's horse at the moment, so will have to check that he is happy with me continuing with riding - I hope so! But as they are his horses he does get a say in the matter.

Waves to all. Rachel Mother hen, though not medically qualfied, thinks that isn't quite enough liquid, so do keep an eye on it (goes clucking off to Hyperemeiss Thread).