Anti-sickness medication - what's the deal?

[novadandypowder]

With my dd I had MS from 7-28wks, and for the first 8wks of that was pretty much bed ridden, although not as extreme as HG.

I'm now 7wks pg again, and am feeling exactly the same as last time, except now I have a 10mo DD to deal with.

I wondered if anti-sickness medication was only available to those with HG, or if I should ask for it? Also, I seem to remember it being frowned upon, so is it considered harmful to teh beanie? Any other info would be appreciated.

I had v bad morning sickness with dd from week 4 till week 18 ish...I was signed off work till 14 weeks and finished on mat leave at around 28 weeks. I wasn't so bad I needed treatment just tlc and rest.

I'm now 15 weeks and still got sickness but I just cope with it. My dd is 15 months so I have little peace but I do what I can when I can. I rest when she does and try and take it easy when she plays etc.

TBH I wouldn't personally take any medication but then again I'm not very bad iykwim.
What concerns me is reports now that relate back to women taking medication for sickness 30 years ago and the results they are finding now...Bit scary.I just grin and bear it.

I am 29 weeks pregnant with second baby and had HG early on with both pregnancies. This time my GP gave me stemetil at about 6 weeks when sickness started to kick in, but in the end I couldn't keep the tablets down.

How often are you being sick? If you are bed-ridden then it does sound like you need some medication. Best thing is to go and talk it through with your GP.

I ended up in hospital on a drip and getting anti-sickness jabs despite starting medication early, but it did ease at 12 weeks thankfully. Hang in there!

I used peppermint oil on a tissue, the only thing that worked for me.

Do check with midwife or someone in the know on essential oils first (aromatherapist) as to whether it is still safe, I know these rules change from time to time.

I still use it now, if I feel sick after a few too many Definately works for me.

When I was pg with the twins I had awful sickness and these helped:

HERE

I found Nux Vomica (also homeopathic) was really useful - it didn't get rid of the sickness, but made it bearable. Took about a day to kick in. Check with any pharmacist if in doubt.

Novadandypowder, the deal is that there is absolutely no evidence that the stuff they prescribe for HG is harmful. It has been used for years without noticing ill effects. BUT they have not been able to do proper trials because it is considered unethical to test drugs on pregnant women. They therefore can't certify anything as safe in pregnancy.
For this reason, many GPs (usually the ones who have no experience of treating HG) are very reluctant to prescribe anything and will only do so after a long talk to you about the 'risks'.
There is also a lot of subjectivity about whether you have HG or not. Some people define it as sickness where you lose at least 5-10% of your body weight. Others define it as sickness which requires medical treatment (which is a bit circular given that they only treat you if they think you have HG, IYSWIM).
You will find lots of info here and here (UK and US hyperemesis sites). What one of the sites says, very sensibly, is that it is good not getting too hung up on the label and whether you have HG or not, but if you clearly cannot cope w/o help then you need to try and get some. No disrespect to people who say they cope by drinking ginger tea, always eating before they go to bed, etc, but it used to drive me absolutely insane when I was suffering with my first pregnancy and people (doctors included) kept suggesting various folk remedies which showed they hadn't got the slightest inkling of what was going on (eg if you can't keep down sips of water you're not going to be able to manage the ginger tea!). There is medication out there which works and if you feel you have tried everything else, do talk to your doctor about it. If they are unhelpful, try another doctor. Those who actually understand HG rather than just assuming that you have morning sickness and are making a fuss about nothing, are usually very helpful and will prescribe like a shot.

I agree KathyMCMLXXII. I am on my 3rd HG pregnancy (out of 4). I was hospitalised during my 2nd and 3rd pregnancies (dehydration), and advised the whole works of ginger biscuits, ginger tea, ginger capsules, sea bands, almonds, preggie pops, lemon drops etc etc, even one midwife suggested I watch a film to distract myself!!! Unless you have experienced the horrendous and relentless waves of nausea/sickness it's really hard to describe to other people, even professionals who should be a bit more understanding and clued up!! I have also had every variant of stemetil (oral that you swallow, oral that you dissolve in your cheek, injection and suppository!!) none of which worked. With this pregnancy I started on metachlorpromide at 6 weeks (didn't work), phenergan for 2 days (didn't work) and I'm currently on my 4th manageable day of using ondansetron. I wouldn't say it has alleviated all my symptoms, but I have been able to get out of bed without vomitting, have kept down small amounts of water and been able to brush my teeth without passing out!! Definit progress! So I would agree with KathyMCMLXXII and say if you need help, ask for it, and don't be afraid to ask for something else if what they suggest doesn't work.

definite progress

I'm 31 weeks now,I have had nausea and vomiting throughout this pregnancy, I tried all the usual remedies, including homeopathic, but ended up in hospital at 24 weeks on iv fluids, since when I have taken stemetil syrup twice a day, which hasn't stopped the nausea, but has made a difference to how much food and fluid stays down, I don't like taking it, but figured being dehydrated would be more harmful to the baby. Good luck.

Thanks everyone. I spoke to my Dr and she said they didn't really want to give medication, esp. to someone at less than 12wks.

I tried all the folk methods last time round with no success, so have been to see the homeopath. She is very confident that she can treat it, and I'm willing to try anything at this stage.

MY DH has been an amazing help so I've managed to get some rest, but if it gets worse, I'll def. not be too scared to discuss medication.

Have you tried the seabands? You can buy them in boots and they're meant to work well.

tried it all - was sick whilst wearing the bands last time

I had HG with my last pregnancy nova
Tried everything, was even throwing up water, in fact even throwing up as I filled my cup - being sick 20-30 x a day
I lost over a stone and went under 8 stone.
I was prescirbed stemetil, but after googling it decided I could not risk taking it - I am anti drugs at the best, not even liking paracetamol, so felt I would seek a homeopathic remedy.
This was at 11 weeks, she gave me a mixture of tablets, each day the mixture varied but within 4 days I was down to "normal" MS, mornings and the odd time durting the day when a smell would just get me.
I was able to cook again and shop.
It managed to alleviate the constant nausea that made it impossible for me to sit up.

I have also heard acupuncture is very good
Definitely take that route
Good luck

I heard Nux Vomica was good too. Supposed to be safe as homeopathic!

I'm very early in my pregnancy. I have the nausea hanging over me all the time. The only way to make it go away and not be sick is eating, even if I don't feel like it. So I'm snacking all day on crackers, fruit, yogurts, sweets. Even herbal teas help. I spoke to other pregnant friends and they say you avoid sickness that way.

Hello - may be repeating some of earlier threads but would like to add - suffered with HG for first 4 months of pregnancy (baby now 3 months old) I too am anti medication but felt so truly awful it wasn't an option not to take it - as someone else mentioned risk of dehydration is more serious for baby although I lost nearly 2 stone in 3 weeks and my baby is the happiest healthiest baby going so try not to get too hung up
I personally tired acupuncture and sea bands but they didn't work - if it gets really bad you must insist your doctor pescribe you something - I recently met a woman who had undiagnosed HG and she had an abortion because she couldn't cope which she regrets to this day - if her doctor had taken her seriously it would have been a very different situation
Good luck

I think that the medical profession is reluctant to prescribe medication for morning sickness because of thalidomide
This drug was thought to be safe for treating morning sickness but was found not to be.
The first 12 weeks are the developmental stage of a baby and drugs should be avoided if possible. There are no trials conducted on the safety of drugs in pregnancy or breastfeeding hence the books will always say to avoid.
Obviously there have been drugs used where the benefit has been seen to outweigh the risks and useful data is collected which has been used toidentify 'safe' drugs.
MS is horrendous - I suffered it myself and it got worse with each pregnancy. I tried Sparine after 12 weeks with 4th baby but it made me really sleepy. That was also no good with 3 young uns to look after.

one more thing - found that tea tree oil rubbed under my nose helped - weird but true!!

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hi Normsnockers - was given every other type of medication for my HG none of it was amazing can you tell me a bit more about Zofran as I keep reading about it - did it stop the vomiting AND nausea?

When i had MS a homeopath told me to try symphoricarpos racemosa. I had tablets and they made a huge difference.

Hi

I had HG with ds1 and ended up in hospital, with ds2 I took avomine from the day I found out.

Search on google for Blooming Awful, it's a HG support charity (now defunct but I'm a former support giver if you need to CAT me), they ahve a list of medications for HG and info opn each

HTH

(And yes, Zofran is the mother of all HG medications, but can be hard to get on the NHS due to cost)

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here is the site

I think some GP's are coming round to realising that HG isn't psychocomatic, although as the alst poster says that was accepted medical fact not so long ago, compounded by the fact that many HG survivors go on to develop PND as a result of the trauma / health deterioration (I weighed less the day before I delivered than when I conceived. I say the day before, I got pre-eclmapsia then and gained loads overnight- sigh)

My own GP was excellent second time around and prescribed the med that ahd worked for me (took a few trials of meds to discover) early on, I ahd an emergency pack for ds3 also, which I needed only a few times. It completelyt spaced me out tho, so I ahd to limit it in pg3 as I was supportingt he family financially and had to work.

The tips we used to give HG sufferers were:

Be inventive about how you can get fluid in, because that is what makes the difference between hospital and not. Lettuce, flat coke, ice cubes, melon, lucozade are all things that work for some women: experiment.

Eat anything you might fancy. Doesn't matter if it's junk, that's better than nothing.

SLEEP! there is a link suggested (I think proven but can't find the research) between tiredness and level of sickness.

Find someone to act as your advocate. Iwas turned by my first GP (we moved between PG's) away twice before my DH got them to admit me (he found me unconscious and revived me to get me to GP who wouldn't come). It needs to be someone you rust and won't take NO lighltly.