Hyperemesis Support

[LucindaE]

I hope everyone suffering from the Horrors of Hyperemesis will find this thread useful as a source of support and information.

There's no TMI on here - can't be by definition - and nobody should feel ashamed of moaning as much as they feel the need to.

I used to include extracts from MOH's wonderful website
sites.google.com/site/pregnancysicknesssos/
but I think that makes this link less visible so am merely putting the link. The information on this site is invaluable for sufferers, with information about medications, coping strategies, hospital admissions, useful links, advice for family members, and much more.

I would like to thank MOH and Everyone who has given such invaluable support and advice on this and on previous threads.

Remember when you are at your worst, 'This Too Shall Pass'. It really will.
So many women on this thread have thought they couldn't get through this, but they did.

Iworry get yourself to the Royal Maternity and present yourself. It doesn't matter if you have been booked in yet - don't go to A&E, go to the Royal. I know it is a bit of a trek from where you are but you will get much more specialised care and they will look at drug combinations (metaclopramide or other things) to get the vomiting under control.

If you have high ketones they might see you sooner, but they will take the vomiting seriously. If you need anything while you are there, I am just around the corner and can pop over.

As for me, I had a crappy night. The acid/sickness combo is in full force and woke me up a good half dozen times. I feel tired and kinda grumpy and my house is messy. Meh. Plus the baby is doing something with shrugging shoulders and wiggling his bum that involves digging right into my ribs and is sore......

I have a special pillow
www.mothercare.com/Dreamgenii-Pregnancy-And-Feeding-Support-Pillow/933928,default,pd.html
that really helps support the bump and back and knees. I know it seems expensive but it is so worth it at this stage. Apparently it will be useful for feeding as well when the baby is born.

Tevin
You mentioned you were given steroids in a previous pregnancy. Just wondered how long you were on them for and doseage (if you can remember :-)
I'm on a couple of forums and most of the other people I've found on steroids are in the US and they seem to have a blast and rapid taper regimen (then relapse, surprise surprise)
I'd just be interested to know someone's experience in the UK.....

IWorry
Hope you are doing okay, I'm worried about you, I hope someone has managed to help. Let us know how you are doing x

just checking in. am nine weeks and really struggling but posted an AIBU and everyone was so lovely and supportive. hi all!

Hiya whatareyou nice to see you :) Have you decided what you will do, ask for more / other meds? Do give that number a ring too

Others of the Nightmare of Nausea will be along soon to say hello Im sure :)

Hi all

Well, I'm feeling rotten :-(

Contemplating if I should ring the mau but I really don't want to have to go in if I don't have to.
Feel so short of breath now, more than the usual. It's really making me feel anxious which won't help matters.
Tried the stretching out, lying on left side etc and nothing helps. Got awful headache and what I think is mega lightening crotch!
Also I'm incredibly hungry and feel like I need to eat loads but then it makes me sick. Just can't win.
I really hope baby comes before induction, I really don't think I can wait till the 27th :-(

Hi punk, I was on steroids as well as a multitude of other meds. I started on them at about 8w as I'd had previous HG history with the same consultant, 30mg a day. I reduced by 5mg a week if all seemed fine, but for the first few weeks stayed up at 30, then hovered at 20mg for about a month. I managed to come off them at about 18 weeks after I seemed sickness free for a few weeks.
I know MOG was also taking them, but not sure if she is off them yet.

I am still slightly nauseous this week but it's copable and I'm 26w now. I only take a tablet if it gets much worse and that's a rarity now.

Good luck Sally. I really hope you don't have to struggle all the way through to the 27th, you've had quite enough time being ill. Xxxxxx

Tallyra
Thanks for that, it's nice to hear you got off them eventually, I hope I'll have done so soon but I'm fearful that I'll be stuck on them. I suppose that's because I find it hard to imagine ever being free of HG. I'm still at 20mg at the mo at 19 weeks but the Prof reckoned that would be my maintenance dose and he was right! Do you have to have a glucose tolerance test and then a DEXA scan at the end?

Do you have to have any extra scans or anything? I only ask because the HG is managed by an endocrinologist and I'm seeing obs separately (next time after 20w scan) but they have no input with the HG now, I wondered if anthing extra occurred re monitoring baby or if it's all good?

Did you manage to work at all while on steroids? They help with my level of functioning but I'm only just starting to be able to leave the house and I'm usually okay for a couple of hours now but then need to go to bed.....I'm just hopeful to do a bit of PT work in Feb or worst case March.

I didn't have any extra tests like that you mention. The consultant signed me off as normal when I said I had finally got off them and I've been treated as everyone else with midwife appointments ever since. I couldn't get to work until the last couple of weeks though.

are you ready for a saliva memory........ in wk 9 when I was dozing in hospital slurping up 5 bags of fluids like a dried up prune...

after about 3 bags I went to sleep, and my mouth was FLOODED with saliva. it was pouring out onto my pillow, soaking my whole face. So After a couple of hours of this I decided to use the hospital green paper towels to keep my mouth dry. As my mouth continued to flood...the paper towels got further and further into my mouth to attempt to soak it up... madness. The only way I could sleep and stop the flood was to pack the side of my mouth with paper towel. YEURCH. I hate you, HG.

Chaffinch
Boooorrrrrk!
Bloody saliva, weird how despite being dehydrated our salivary glands spew out this gunk.
I've even had to spit it out in the street a few times

Hello... I'm having a good day. I'm terrified - I've had recurrent miscarriages since DS - I cannot win.

I messed up my prochlorperizne this morning - I swallowed it instead of letting it dissolve (buccal tabs). I was violently sick twice and since then... Nada. I even (get this) ate tea. A substantial dinner and although I do feel sick, it's level 3 / 4 rather than my recent level 9 if you know what I mean?

And as I said I'm now panicking slightly. Not aided at all by thinking how dark my thoughts have been recently - I've been so sad over the last yer and a half about the miscarriages and I haven't forgotten that, just found this so hard to cope with that in moments I forget.

Actually there's a great post on a blog called Spewing mummy which talks of this kind of thing. Like, you want to be grateful for being pregnant yet it's not the kind if pregnancy that you can objectively enjoy. If anyone wants I could try to link?

I have no idea what to do. I've eaten a huge amount and drunk loads and not been sick

I'm considering wadding my mouth for saliva a la Chaffinch...

I was only on the steroids for the week before my termination whilst in hospital punkstar and tbh I've no idea what dosage I was on as I had so many tablets and iv meds and was so upset about terminating I didn't question anything.

I don't think I could have had a very high dose as I was still vomiting every hour even with everything I was taking (a massive improvement from the every 15 mins from waking at 6am to being admitted at 5pm!).

Fingers crossed you can come off them soon.

Hg is absolute hell but I'm thinking it must be better if it's planned with meds before symptoms start rather than taking (useless) cyclizine when you start vomiting several times a day! The consultant I saw after my termination was very positive I could try again later with help but just reading what you are all going through is making me think I should cut my losses and accept it's a stupid idea.

How are you doing now whatareyoueventalkingabout?

tevin, how about speaking to a specialist if you can find one? and planning the preg from start to finish?

If HG hits, it's 80% likely to return. But ... if it's any help, my first HG preg was horrible, but the second has been better. Still about 8 weeks of hell, and I don't feel well even now, but compared to the first it's a great deal better. Please don't shoot me cause well, you can hope for the best but you do have to plan for the worst ..

ah tevin give it a while, and see how you feel, it is weird as I knew what horrors HG would bring, yet I was kind of squared to it as I really wanted one last go at a baby. You kind of go through an acceptance decision thingie

Iworry have a and and try and enjoy the abatement of ze vomminck

Tevin
I'm really sorry about what you went through, it sounds horrendous. I must say there were days when I thought I couldn't do this any longer, the only thing that stopped me was knowing I can never ever face getting pregnant again regardless of outcome. I am done with this. Your case was ridiculously severe :-(
I think in your situation considering the extreme nature of your HG perhaps advice should be sought from a specialist ASAP so you get the best support.
I came across someones entry on another forum some time ago who had been given prednisolone to start as soon as ANY vomiting started in her next pregnancy due to previous HG needing steroids.

I started on oral pred but the study I read by Prof Taylor ( he's my consultant and he emailed me the paper) said a few needed to start on IV methylprednisolne in the beginning due to inability to maintain tablets but in all cases vomiting subsided.

m.obm.sagepub.com/content/2/1/34.abstract

Sorry if the title is upsetting but he told me a proportion of women referred to his medical obstetric clinic were referred because they were requesting termination due to their HG.

I honestly think the right clinician can help you, I've not been great on steroids but comparatively I am brilliant. After going up to 45mg I could eat reasonably, gained all my lost weight. I still had to rest a lot and could tell I still had HG just without vomiting. Nausea more tolerable in that I could actually eat and drink, I've struggled since dropping below 30mg (dose drops frequently lead to recurrence of vomiting which eventually settles again) but no admissions required. Just dealing with the drudgery of a milder HG than what I had.

Really hope this works out for you x

Sorry is just the abstract on that link but can access the full info if anyone interested....and was hydrocortisone not methylpred...

Thank you for the kind words ladies (and sorry for muscling in when I'm not even pregnant).

This termination was my 3rd pregnancy meerka, few people said they found second or third time better but I seem to get worse. First time I was sick from 7-26 weeks and just took cyclizine, second time was 6-40 weeks and I took cyclizine, stemetil and ondansetron and was rehydrated 3 times, the last time the sickness started at 5 weeks (nausea at 4 which was what made me test) and by the time I had the termination at 7 weeks i'd had 2 trips to hospital (8 days in total) and lost almost 2 stone (apparently mostly water ).

I feel like I'm ok about being ill if I do it again chaffinch I think if this had happened this year rather than last I might have found it easier - I definately need dc2 to be sleeping through the night and able to dress independently etc. I know dh finds it harder to cope with toddlers than 4yrs+ so wold have really struggled and we've literally just finished renovating so can't afford for me to be off work atm.

I'll have a look at that study punkstar I think if I could have the support and knowledge that I could manage another pregnancy then that would be enough for now. Finding out the support I'd need would make it easier to let this go and give me a bit of hope. Xx

Full article....

www.yumpu.com/en/mobile/view/11587143

Hope that worked :-)

I am still on steroids, started on 30mg and have slowly reduced to 20mg, only going down 1mg at a time. Seem to be stuck at 20mg though, if I reduce even by 1mg the nausea comes roaring back. Beginning to suspect I'm on them up until the birth, though I know the doctors would rather get me off them entirely.

MoG
How many weeks are you?
I'm trying to reduce by 5mg every 10 days so trying 15mg again next week. Don't know if I'll be successful. I was able to function better at this point last time with no steroids so god knows what it would have been like this time without them.
HG is a FARCE!!!

I'm 29 weeks tomorrow. Definitely doing better this time, and last time I was in hospital pretty much permanently from around 30 weeks up until giving birth. So suspect the hormones are about to dial up again.

Meerka I am ok thank you. I went out for lunch with my friend today and then spent the remainder of the day on the sofa. Have eaten little and often and have managed to keep everything down with only some mild retching every hour or so. How are you? x

iworry I am sure it's OK. I am on such a cocktail of drugs but the baby is growing like a weed. Hooray for being symptom free!

I forgot to pick up my prescription of sicky tablets on Friday gaaaah so have been rationing them out. Yesterday was a long day had such horrible nausea but slept much better last night so it's balancing out a bit. I have a tablet for today as well phew.