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.

theyre kind of in levels of seriousness
I got given ondansatron after being on a drip and only after demanding it as they v reluctant to prescribe as allegedly it's expensive

diff drugs do diff things - has anyone got a link ?
depends on your medical background as to what they'll offer you, I suppose

cks.nice.org.uk/nauseavomiting-in-pregnancy#!prescribinginfosub

have look at this, gives you all the drugs that the governmental best=practice agency NICE recommend. there's quite a few. All docs are supposed to go by this.

diff drugs suit diff people. good luck, i hope soemthing helps

I was only on 12mg ondansa in total at my worst - and they were such b about letting me have it. the hospital pharmacist even LIED and swore it was NOT available in tablet form. wish I'd got her name and I'd have complained - was too out of it on drips though

Hi all- just skim read through thread. Not pg myself but have survived 2 hg preg and just wanted to offer you all moral support. It is truly sonething that can only be understood if you have been through it.
My brief exp - 1st preg- hg on and off all through with a couple of admissions - took cyclizine (no help), metachlopromide and stemitil (ok). Eventually induced at 36/40 for severe PE (unreleted to hg).

Waited 4 1/2 years to have another as couldn't face it again.....only to be blessed with numbers 2&3 - yes ironically twins. Hg totally awful until 15 weeks- 5 admissions litres upon litres of iv fluids, cyclizine, metachlopromide, stemitil and ondansetron. Eventually prescribed injectible cyclizine to have at home (dh a nurse). Miraculously or perhaps due to injections - hg improved significantly at 15 weeks so there is hope.

Please feel free to pm me at anytime if needs be as i know how desperate it feels at times. Take care everyone xx

I am on prochloraperazine maleate but it's just not enough and am struggling so much with work. How much difference does ondensatron (?) make?

for most people, quite a bit. Everyone responds to drugs a bit differently so it does vary. But it helps most people a lot. Some people respond best to a cocktail of drugs. A few have to go onto steroids like MOG and I think punkstar

Thanks for your message elizabethsmum ... 5 admissions :/ not good. I suppose that getting twins might have made it worse?

elizabethsmum Wellcome, lovely to hear from you, I remember you from about three years back, am I right? Twins must have made the Hyperemesis dreadful as you'd had it before - well, as Meerka says, five hospital admissions...Have you got the time to call in regularly besides, as your experience would be invaluable in helping to advise others?
emark welcome,That's a wonderful link from Meerka, and there's 024 7638 2020. That's a number where they do have to call you back, but people have found the advice invaluable about getting meds.
Do stick around, this is very hard to bear alone.
What You poor poor thing, you're still AT WORK? mother hen flaps and clucks in dismay, particularly if the medication isn't doing it's own job properly.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked, or with whom I've cross posted.
xx

Forgot to sayMeerka I knew there was a link I'd overlooked on the blurb, stupid of me, I'll put it up on the next. How are you, is the puking as bad as ever?
I was doing some fine puking yesterday afternoon myself with a migraine, fine today, though, quite a short one -and I reflected on the grotesque fact that if you open your throat, as if you're singing, it's so much easier . I also noted that apple fruit tea comes up an ornamental shade of red.
xx

ouch Lucinda, sorry to hear about the migrane, I hope it's gone today? I'm puking less but having to go to bed at 7 or 8 or 9 pm again from the nausea. It'd started getting bad anyway, but the last days have been stressful with builders and having to paint and the sheer mess and dust around ... that's not going to get much better for a while :s

Am wondering of moG and Eve are, and sally and jayden!

Thanks, Meerka, at least that was a short one. Sorry about stress levels and the mean way the sickness has slid back again. I'm wondering about Sally and Jayden and MurderofGoths too, and do hope baby Eve is thriving - but I don't like to bother her.
xx

Hi- yes lucindae that would have been me! All a bit of a blur now!! Yes am happy to keep in regular contact!!
Ondansetron did make a difference for me when given as an injection- not entirely good at remembering re the tablet form tbh- think it helped a bit.
once i got on top of the symptoms with the injections ofcyclizine, cyclizine tablets actually helped up to 28 weeks (which they had never done in my first preg).

It is a lot of trial and error unfortunately and nithing will help until the severe dehydration is under control ime xx

elizabeth'smum It will be lovely to have you; your presence would be much appreciated -twins with the extra hormones kicking round that must have been a dreadful case of Hyperemesis as you'd had it with a singleton.
xx

a doctor told me that actually the dehydration itself makes you feel sicker. Something to do with the electroyte balance, was it? I forget. But that would explain why being on a drip helps all by itself.

Yes it was pretty grim lucindae!
meerka that sounds right from what i remember- once you get to the stage where your electrolytes are completely out you really need medical help to get you back on track- amazing how quickly a few litres of iv fluids perks you up!

My goodness, it has suddenly gone quiet on here. I hope Everyone isn't too ill to post/in hospital on IV?
elizabethsmum So, now we've had two people who had twins on this thread, that I know of for sure, there was a Mrs Dahiku a few threads ago, she was very ill in the first tri but got much better.
xx

Morning, Lucinda. I am here - I have my antenatal appointment this morning so I am just getting ready to go to that - with some bonus vomiting and retching as I got up! Wheee!

I will check in later and let you guys know what the drs said about size and so on, and if they have any plans to bring me in or just wait it out.

Hope all are feeling relatively ok...

Jen Oh no, what a way to start the day at this stage. I hope you feel better enough to eat something before the appointment, and good luck with it.
xx

jen good luck today!

I'm here. Was busy yesterday. Made it to church for the first time in two years and then had a nice relaxing time at PILs for the afternoon getting looked after. So basically overdid it.

Sick today. Nausea is bad. Have appointment with my psychologist today, first time in six weeks so I'm a bit 'sigh' about that but am having a bad response to having a girl which makes me so sad. Lots of childhood stuff and mum issues to work through and totally freaking out about being a crap mum! One part of me is so excited about having a daughter and the other part is so I just need to reduce the bit!

Also just heard from my psychiatrist and I have to go in next week again as she thinks my thyroid levels are low + wants to check on my liver again. All of the above aside it's so reassuring to feel the baby move as I think oh well. It is just as well I am not working as I am in and out of that hospital almost every day of the week it feels like. Still, better to be safe than sorry and they are all lovely.

I also have serious restless legs at night. Can't afford pregnancy pillow as the prices are eyewatering here (may go on the hunt for a big bolster pillow). And this leads to terrible insomnia. Waaaaaah.

Hope everyone is ok xx

Livingzuid Congratulations on outings. Much sympathy about these health issues, having to spend so much time at hospital and the conflict over having a daughter. I thought myself it would be easier to have a boy. With my feminist views I knew it would be a struggle with compromising - I wouldn't hold myself up as a model mother but I just had to do my best to make her able to cope with the world as it is. I found it difficult - they want to be popular with the other girls, and have the Barbies and pink dresses - so I encouraged her to climb to the top of the climbing frame along with the boys, pink dress and all and I made up gothic adventure stories for her Barbies...
xx

I'd have loved to be a mouse in the skirting board for those stories! :)

the other side of the coin if you have a boy is that you have to teach him to respect women and not to fall for the sadly-still-prevelant view in some areas that women should do all the housework and various other fundamentally stupid, sexist assumptions.

But just for anyone who has some spare time, a fun link on the subject of male / female brain: www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex/add_user.shtml

I totally wanted a girl.... and I am having a boy. I still have no idea what I am supposed to do with him (when he decides to show up).

Had my antenatal and cervical sweep - eugh. Was not fun, came home and went straight back to bed. I definitely still feel a bit raw from whatever it was she did in there, and she wasn't gentle.

Still haven't eaten anything but SO is getting me some eggs so I will have something soon. I fancy scrambled eggs or something comforting like that.

Living - I bought one of those pregnancy pillows but I don't really love it. I have been using just an ordinary pillow between my knees and sort of leaning forward on my side so that the bump is resting on the bed.

LucindaE, PunkStar, ChaffinchofDoom, Meerka and livingzuid - thank you all SO MUCH for all your incredibly kind messages of support. Honestly, I sat here sobbing because it means so much to me.

I did make it to my appointment yesterday and took your advice: had a huge canvas bag packed with 'essentials' like carton of coconut water, ready salted crisps, every type of mint under the sun, lipbalm (to smell - lavender and orange flavour, because I didn't have any essential oils apart from tea tree and even the thought of it makes me gag at the moment), newspapers and bags (to be ill on/in), chewing gum, metoclopramide... I can't remember what else I had in there, but my dh gave me a funny look when he went to pick it up and it weighed a lot more than he thought it would(!)

Because it was a Sunday appointment, the hospital was lovely and quiet and I made sure we sat in the quietest corner with easy access to the loo (very clean, very impressed!). My midwife was incredibly kind, took her time with us and she has referred me to the hospital's mental health unit for support which I'm so glad of. The walk there and back was a bit epic (around 2 hours all in), but at least it didn't rain - small mercies, huh?! I found myself timing it in tic-tacs :-) I found sucking on ready salted crisps while there helped a bit too. The jitteriness on the way home and in the evening was something to behold. Not nice, but I survived.

It has given me a tiny bit more confidence about managing tomorrow, even though tomorrow is a much earlier appointment (12pm). My dh has arranged to be at home from 11am so we can walk up again together and slowly back again. I'll take my topped up 'sack of preparation' with me again.

It was interesting what some of you mentioned about desensitizing yourself to phobias. I hope that one positive thing that might come out of this awful experience is being at least a little bit desensitized to sickness - it's either going to be that or ending up a nervous wreck shaking in the corner and I don't really like the thought of the latter...

Well, bring on tomorrow (but not too quickly!!) and I'll try to concentrate on seeing the baby on the scan - the midwife said that apparently we can buy a picture of the scan for £2 (bargain!) if all is well.

Deep breaths and relaxation...

jen hope you're feeling a bit better after a rest ... it really can't be long at all now!

starry im glad the hospital midwife was so kind. Makes an untold difference to the horrible situation of all this illness doesnt it? a kind midwife or doctor really makes you feel less alone. And a clean hospital does help! I hope it goes well tomorrow. Seeing the scan is always so special. Is your husband going too?

The MN crew is always here for when you're feeling down. Preg can be such an isolating and lonely time if you're one of the ones that has a hard time. The people on this thread helped me so much when it was at its worst

Feel better, back from the psychologist who said that my bipolar medication being out of whack + pregnancy hormones had triggered my childhood trauma and she has given me techniques to block it. We will work on that after the baby arrives and my hormones have gone back to normal. My wish to return to the UK may have to be put on hold whilst I get better as I'm not sure I'd get this level of treatment. One day!

She also said that I am an excessive worrier which I did know and to relax and enjoy the pregnancy. Having a girl will actually be therapeutic to work through my issues.

I mainly wanted a healthy baby and to get past the worst mc stage but was hoping for a boy. I thought I would not be too phased by whether it was a boy or a girl but I was rather wrong!

starry I'm so glad it went well. How exciting to have your scan tomorrow. The walking is such great exercise as well :)

My latest addiction and what makes me feel so much better is just a slice of lemon in boiling water. The smell immediately helped and sipping on it was delicious. I'm having three of these a day at the moment!

Back to sofa waiting for DH to come home. I really want potato things at the moment so he's trying to figure out a new way of cooking them as he's getting a bit bored of the same thing funny really as I could not stand potato in the 1st trimester.

Just checking in. Not a great weekend vomiting-wise, but I keep thinking back to the worst times between 11-16 weeks and i'm so much better now!

Weighed myself today and I'm down to my lightest weight since first check when I found out I was pregnant. Only 4.3 kg (9.5lb) down which is nothing compared to some I know especially given that I have a lot of extra there to begin with, but it's still enough to give me niggly worries about the baby getting enough etc. He's kicking away though so guess he's happy enough. (Selfish thoughts wishing he'd kick less when i'm already feeling sick.)

Very busy week this week, so much to do, so many appointments, so little energy or enthusiasm for any of them! GP for another sick note, health visitor intro meeting, first perinatal psych appointment and tomorrow a glucose tolerance test. I rung up and checked with them and i'm definitely not allowed to take my metoclopramide before the test. They weren't very sympathetic on the phone so I think I might "forget" my sick bags and decorate the department with sugar syrup... Karma.

On the subject of sick bags Starry, I can recommend zip lock freezer bags. They fold up small, are much more waterproof than carrier bags and can be neatly disposed of after any incidents. It took me a couple of weeks at the start of HG to realise the carrier bags had holes in them...

Gentle pats to all who need them. X