Anti sickness meds- how bad do you have to be to get them?

[MarzipanAnimal]

I only had fairly mild, manageable sickness with DC1 and up until 2 days ago was similar now I'm 11 weeks pg with DC2. But the last 2 days have been dreadful! Feel sick all the time, struggle to sleep, sick at least 5 times a day. I am keeping some food and drink down so not really dehydrated but I can't go on like this.
If I go to the doctor, what will they say? I don't even know what medication is available
Any help much appreciated

Sorry to hear ur feeling so poorly! I had hymperemesis with dd1 so had them instanley with her and now 15 weeks with dc2 and have had them since 10 weeks as I was being sick alot and alot of nausea. I think it depends on wat ur Docter is like as I've heard some don't like u to have them but my Docter and the docters at the hospital have always given me them if I've asked. They r perfectly safe to take in pregnancy my dd is absolutely fine so I would ask ur gp! They are magical things lol. Good luck xxxx

I started being sick wks 5 and was was being sick 8+ times a day at around 8 wks. Mentally I wasn't coping, wasn't able to look after ds, incapable of doing anything all day everyday.

My GP offered me anti sickness so I obviously took them. They don't stop you from feeling or being sick but they do calm it down abit.

I'm now 11wks and have been getting a bit if a rest from it all over last few days, today however I have only managed 3hrs out of bed and feel dreadful again and I'm still on the meds!

You could ask but they don't take the feeling away!

Thanks for the replies and sorry to hear you're suffering too. I'll try and get an appointment on Monday and see what they say

I have had hyperemisis twice (out of two pg) and different docs have different attitudes, even within the same practice/ hospital. My own GP was great, and prescribed anti-emetics early on in second pg due to my history, but after i came out of hospital, his partner refused to give me any more cyclizine, despite me having a letter from my consultant saying for cyclizine to continue.

Have a look www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk too.

im on my 2nd lot of HG (had it for 9m last time)

I went to my Dr as soon as my sickness started, and was not allowed them... (she knew my history)

her reasoning was, at that point i still only had MS....
the tablets, while being really quite safe, are still a risk.

She told me she would not prescribe them as the tables are to treat hyperemisis, not to treat MS, and if they were perfectly safe all pg people would get them, which of course they dont.

3 days later i had become hyperemisis and was allowed them.

the tablets they prescribe do not stop me being sick, and do not make me feel better.
The only aim (as told by 3 GPs, and the hospital Drs) are too reduce sickness to the point where you dont dangerously dehydrate... they allow you to keep in some fluids rather than none....

saying that, even on max dose of tablets many many people with HG still vomit so much they need IV rehydration in hospital.

They make HG slightly less severe than it otherwise would be (bear in mind, that with no medical intervention at all HG can kill).... but many many people who get them (including myself) are still sick enough to need to be admitted to hospital, often many times.

The certainly dont make me feel magically better.... i was bedridden for 2 months (with tablets) last time

I don't know if I had hg, but it was certainly fairly severe morning sickness, which was a shock after none with DS. I was being sick throughout the day, and when I wasn't sick, I was constantly nauseous. This lasted from week 3(!) to week 22 or so.

My gp practice was fantastic. I held off on going as long as I could, but by week 6 I was in bits, tried cyclizine for a few weeks which did reduce the vomiting, but not the nausea, and ended up on avomine, which was fantastic for me.

Thanks all. I really hope this doesn't get any worse, hyperemesis sounds absolutely shit.
It seems weird that this has only come on at 10/11 weeks after 4 weeks of mild sickness, but it really doesn't feel like a sick bug. I just don't know and want it to stop!

It does depend on the doctor. I was wrung out at 16 weeks thinking I hadn't been 'bad' enough to need meds but really struggling every day. Doctor asked if I'd tried ginger when I asked if she could give me something for the sickness (at 16 weeks?? Tried ginger??). I am so pleased I got cyclizine because it really reduced the sickness to manageable levels (being sick once a week or less now) and it really improved my mental health because I was getting more and more depressed at how long I had to go before the baby was born and how long I'd feel sick for. I was keeping maybe a couple of pieces of toast and two sandwiches down a day but drinking hardly any liquids as I just couldn't face them. If you feel you 'can't go on' then that's exactly when to ask for help. Good luck.

I rang the OOH GP in the night as I was feeling so awful I had to do something, and went to see them this morning. He prescribed me dioralyte and Metoclopramide for the sickness but I've just read the leaflet and it says it's not recommended for use in the early stages of pregnancy . Not sure what to do now. Think I'll start another thread to see if anyone else has been given it

I'm using metoclopramide with cyclizine at the moment for hG. Makes you feel like a zombie but it has cut down my vomiting. It's used by most hospitals so I doubt they would recommend something unsafe. As for diaralyte, i have no idea. I hope you feel better soon.

My doctor recommended dioralyte

however there is no way i could drink it without vomiting!

Yeah the dioralyte wasn't the easiest to get down but it's stayed down so far. I've searched a load of old threads and am reassured about taking metoclopramide, just gonna wait til after next time I'm sick, as I feel like it might be soon :(
Thanks for all your help - Mumsnet is so great for stuff like this

Did the dr check your urine for infection ( can cause bad morning sickness) and ketones ( indicator of level of dehydration). If he didn't I would go to A&E to be properly assessed. If you are dehydrated you probably need to go on a drip for a day or two before starting the meds. Dehydration in pregnancy can be serious even leading to organ failure. Metroclopramide was prescribed by dr when I was admitted to hospital, it commonly given. No medicine is safe or licensed for use in early pregnancy.. So only take it if it really helps. I decided cyclazine helped just as much and the dr at the hospital said it was considered the safest as its widely used in hospitals anyway and been around a while. Unfortunately even with the meds I continued to feel awful and be sick but it calmed things down enough to keep me out of hospital. Personally I think going to A & e is a good idea as the drs on the maternity/ gynae wards are used to assessing and treating hyperemesis, whereas GPs generally are not. Good luck and hope you feel better soon.

Thanks, he did check my urine, and the ketones indicicator was between 'none' and 'trace', so he said I was ok so far but gave me some more strips so I can keep testing. I'm keeping water down so not too dehydrated

Metoclopramide seems to work for me, I haven't been sick since monday! And feeling okish too :)

My midwife said that if you can't keep anything down then you can get meds and if you go 24 hours without weeing then you need iv rehydration.

My GP offered me meds with DS3 when I refused the GTT because of morning sickness. It was under control by then but if I'd tried to fast I would have been a mess.

I'm finding if I eat constantly I'm only sick once every 2 days and feel nauseous most of the time. If I stop then it all goes haywire and I'm sick 15-20 times a day.

I was really nauseous (but never sick, I'm just not a very 'sick-y' person, I can feel very sickly and feel like I'm going to throw up, but just never do), it was horrible though and I couldn't do anything other than just sit very still and do nothing all day. Even getting up to the loo was too much.

When I went to my GP they said there was nothing they could do if I wasn't actually vomiting. So I did a lot of research about different drugs they prescribe for sickness/vomiting (main ones are cyclizine and metoclopramide, my spelling may be a bit off but Googling should help. Have also heard of Avomine but that may be a brand name rather than the actual drug name) and went back to the GP armed with the knowledge. So I had to push, but did get the medication and it's made a big difference.

I was given cyclizine of which you can take 3 a day, but they make me verrry drowsy so I just take 1 a day before bed. Am nearly 14 weeks now and I tried to stop at 12 weeks but nausea came back with a vengeance after 2 days. Going to try and reduce again at 14 weeks, probably start with 1 every 2 days.

Hope you can get something prescribed and get some relief. I know the attitude is often that it's 'normal' because it's just pregnancy and not an illness, but still, no one deserves to be miserable when there is something that can be done about it.