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.

MOH's wonderful website is full of useful information on this illness:
sites.google.com/site/pregnancysicknesssos/
Another invaluable website is:
www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk/
If you need help in obtaining medication, this phone number is
brilliant:
024 7638 2020

I would like to thank 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.

er - sorry, it's early morning - Diclectin is actually vitamin B6 (perfectly harmless) and Doxylamine, an anti-histamine which happens to be pretty good at reducing nausea. It's a combination med since they work well together. Benedictin is the old name for it.

as I say, lots more info if you would like it, but please do hold to your guns and your doctor's guns here. They don't prescribe it without reason and your doctor sounds one of the more knowledgeable HG doctors.

Hi pinkandwhite female relatives ime have the most to say about hg and the least experience. Ignore and if necessary send her the links to the Web pages on this thread and tell her to mind her own business! (I have a very short temper when pg!). Brilliant advice from meerka.

Most of us are on medication right through pregnancy. There is no set limit when you should stop taking it or some magical week where it clears up :) if you need to take it, take it.

punk if I suggested living in Amsterdam there would be divorce dh is from Rotterdam and for some inexplicable reason, which I suspect is football related, the two hate each other. So anytime I get to go it is a treat!

starry can you get your gp on the case with your referral? We need to be careful with anxiety in pregnancy as the added stress isn't beneficial. Although I am sure all is fine and babies survive much worse, it would reassure you. I've found that having access to the perinatal team reduced my anxiety greatly and improved the sickness. The baby so far seems fine, it's me in bits!

worry sorry you are struggling so much. Are you on bed rest still?

Scan fear again for today. Why I don't know. I'm convinced this baby is going to be a gymnast.

PunkStar I am slightly better in the mornings so I cook one dish a day and DH does all the tasting! Yesterday I made lentil and tomatoe soup, today it's veggie mousaka, tomorrow is the birthday cake and Sunday morning it's lamb and the wheat free dessert.

pinkandwhite I don't think anyone can understand what this feels like without having gone through it (and I have a mild version of it, I can't even imagine what the worst versions are like). Your MIL is silly to comment but then again everyone feels free to stick in their opinion on every aspect of pregnancy, birth and child rearing!

The other thing with taking meds is that they help your body -not- get too depleted in the long term. I'm guessing this is your first preg? Because believe us 2nd and 3rd timers when we say that if your body is drained by HG, life when the baby arrives is a lot lot harder.

It's a good idea to keep your body in as good a shape as possible for the days, then weeks and months after the birth when you've got a demanding little mite. Keeping in condition is bloody difficult with HG; starvatoin (and if you've lost 10lb in 5 weeks you are on the edge of starvation) weakens you. As does dehydration, even more, it disturbs the chemical balances in the body. Only rehydration / eating can help. That's why beign rehydrated on a drip in hospital often helps, it restores the electrolytes in your body.

boo that is hardcore

watery foods - fruits and veg among the best
melon
grapes
Satsuma
peach / chopped banana
pear/apples / the berries are full of great stuff - blueberries

mix with greek/natural yogurt, honey or maple syrup...sprinkle with raisins/sultanas/cinnamon/brown sugar and handful muesli or sultana bran or granola
lettuce / spinach /cucumber / tomato /broccoli
celery - with peanut butter in if you can manage, dotted with raisins too if you can ''ants on a log''
pineapple
tinned fruit - the fruit salad stuff is fun - drink all of the liquid

add dips/spreads onto things for higher calories
eg - cottage cheese/ peanut butter
chocolate spread
jam marmalade
wholemeal bread toast ryvita cheese biscuits - the nibble-a-bles

frozen - make icecubes of whatever you like - lemonade, pieces of lemon orange juice, blackcurrant juice

energy foods -
eat jelly cubes, cereal bars, dialoryte lucozade chocolate, Kendal mint cake

fizzies - sparkling or flat, try room temp or icy cold, with a straw, tonic water is my secret hero so crisp and zappy, bottle fizzy water - mix with posh squashand a slice of orange - you deserve a mocktail!!
peruse the non alcoholic posh drinks - eg grape juice fizzy water with fruit flavours..whatever floats your boat
remember dandelion and burdock?

nibble cookies... get posh nice ham for sandwiches with lovely ''artisan'' poncey name bread..alather on full fat coleslaw, eat with potato salad

smoothies/milkshakes - whizz up your favourite fruit with massive chunk posh icecream, slurp milk, drink with straw in little sips

Pinkandwhite
Please don't feel bad :-(
These medications are safe in pregnancy, having HG and losing weight is not. I think most if us on here have used many medications and been on them for some time (myself since four weeks and I'm still on medication now at nearly 27 weeks)
I have one female relative (in law) who although trying to be supportive has made me feel bad with bloody cracker eating and 'just try to help yourself' and 'is that safe?'
Gah, feel cross just thinking about it, was too poorly at the time to defend myself but would kick ass now!
Ignore the MIL. She knows nothing.

No one really understands it unless they've been through it.

Boo
Nice! I am so impressed!!
Can't wait until I can cook (and eat!) again :-)

living
Not been to Rotterdam. Amsterdam is gorgeous though, except I hate how lots of eateries put massive, unflattering photos up of their food (generally curry or kebab houses.) Bleugh!

medicine = good
MIL = bad

oops I mean HG = bad

Hehehe

Just dashing on to welcome Pinkandwhite. Really sorry you are suffering, hopefully, you will feel quite a bit better quite soon as you've reached sixteen weeks -between 14-18 weeks is most common - unlucky people suffer throughout, but even they usually find things are nothing like so bad later on as in the first tri. I can't improve on Meerka's advice about medicine - she worked in pharmacy, anyway, so I'd have a nerve to try - or Chaffinch and others' advice about diet. People are very ignorant and judgemental about this, and sadly that includes midwives quite often.
xx

Chaffinch
xx

lucinda, it was only for 2 years as a pharmacist's assistant and that was many years ago ! a year in boots and a year in a hospital pharm. Very interesting, the latter. and good god at the price of some meds, even then. Eyewateringly expensive. Some people don't realise just how lucky we are to have them available at no cost.

chaffinch

It's shocking isn't it the price of medication. Worked for a few medical research charities and the money put into pharma testing on drugs is insane, with no guarantee that it works.

Still though, don't get me started on the big pharmaceuticals that's a debate maybe for aibu!

Waiting for doctor I hate waiting. Dh made me pull over to pick him up in a really busy Road and I shouted at him the whole way to the hospital for making me do something so stressful been focusing on breathing exercises ever since to reduce blood pressure!

and dutch drivers are ferociously unforgiving. It's like they're all Central London white van drivers, ecept spread out over the whole country

Hello! Just been for my booking in appointment with the midwife, ketone levels are still ok but it was like getting blood out of a stone! Apparently I have wonky veins. my scan is 2 weeks away. Really looking forward to that!
Not having a great day, couldn't keep my breakfast down so when they finally got the blood out of me I had to go for a lie down.
How is everyone else today?

Thanks for all the lovely messages. Still feeling grim, but not quite so low today.

Pinkandwhite - I agree with EVERYTHING the others have said!

I'm on cyclizine and stemitel (sp?) at the moment, is there something stronger I could go on to?

Oh god do not get me started on Dutch drivers, reckless, scary, aggressive and downright rude! I love not having to drive to work every day any more...

Blood pressure was up again so have to go back in 2 weeks and have protein tests on Tuesday :( So hoping there's nothing and it's purely down to the driving! Also I am being tested for Rhesus (?) little c cells as apparently it showed up in my first blood test. No antibodies but they check again at 27 weeks. Does that make sense to anyone?? The consultant said chances of anything being there were tiny.

On the upside, the baby is HUGE looking! She's grown so much. She's head down now and the consultant didn't think she would turn much again but would stay pointing downwards. It also appears I can't count as I am now 27+3 not 26+6 as I thought We discussed the birth a bit and aside from anything going Pete Tong with my blood pressure or going over 41 weeks I should be able to have a natural birth phew. We are going to an open day at the end of April to look round the maternity place. It's all becoming scarily real....growth scan in 2 weeks.

mrsb hooray, glad that the levels are all looking normal.

MrsHende Sorry you still feel foul - how are those ketones? There are a lot of meds they can try, though they seem to put off putting people on one of the most effective, Ondansetron, because it's expensive - though I think it may have come down in price. This link by MOH who used to post here, is very informative on the options
sites.google.com/site/pregnancysicknesssos/treatments/obtaining-treatment
Sorry about people having wearisome waits at hospital, nasty drives there with aggressive drivers,(I never realised Dutch drivers were so mercurial) depression, blood taken from small veins and unpleasant neighbours, even apart from all the other miseries of this.
Meerka You are very unassuming about your pharmacy experience!
IWorry How are you today? Starry You too? Everyone?
xx

Thank you SO much Meerka and everyone else for your replies to me. Seriously THANK YOU!!!!!

Yes, I'm living in Canada at the moment which is why I've been able to get the drug. My medical insurance pays for it.

Yes it's my first pregnancy. I can't imagine how depleted you'd be after 2 or 3 pregnancies with HG.

The reality is I'm aleady so much better than I was a few weeks ago. Its just that if I go completely unmediated I go back to constant vomiting.

Thanks again for the support and all the information and advice. It's actually made my day to be in touch with people who get it. It's been pretty lonely...

oh it's really good to hear you're better than a few weeks ago! that's a good sign. the middle trimester will be ok if you're lucky, don't be surprised if a bit of the sickness creeps back later on in the 3rd but it won't be as bad as the first :)

so a bit belated here but .. grats on your pregnancy :)

and I hope you are reassured that you are really doing the right thing by taking the meds. Oh, btw, there are some US / Canadian forums for HG too here, though you are very welcome to hang out here any time you like :)

mrs Hende yeah, like Lucinda therés still quite a few options meds wise. Ondansetron seems to help most people.

living lovely news that the baby is doing so well and that you're a few more days advanced than you thought. the endpoint is closer! :)

hope you're feeling a bit better now mrsb and punk

I never thought I'd say this, but I have a funny HG related story!!

My lovely, lovely in laws came round today to help out. My MIL popped her head into the bedroom and said she'd given the bathroom a quick clean (I told you they were lovely!).

I went to the loo later, and it was indeed sparkling. I had to hold in my giggles though when I went to get the wee dish I use as a pee pot for testing ketones off the shelf - she'd put a tea light in it!!

It's one of the ceramic dishes you get with M+S individual creme brulee, quite a pretty little white thing.

Can't wait to tell DH when he gets home - I keep giggling to myself!

(Oh, and lucindae, I've only got ++ ketones so not in the danger zone yet)

she prettified your pee pot

Oh dear that's an awkward one, lets hope she didn't handle it too much!!

MrsHende Chaffinch and msb97 At least urine is sterile, so I've heard...I've just had an incongruous vision - mother hen being as crazy as ever - of someone cheering themselves up by tying a bow about their puking bowl. As unfortunately I still have a puking bowl (for my migraines) I might just do that...
xx