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

Lastly, the NICE guidelines on treatment are useful:
cks.nice.org.uk/nauseavomiting-in-pregnancy#!prescribinginfosub

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.

Commiserations to everyone suffering! It doesn't seem to be a very good time does it?! I am at 23wks and still nauseous. Last pregnancy I had a break from 5m to 7m and then the nausea returned and to be honest I was counting on it this time! I am not as bad as 3-17wks but still the constant nausea gets very wearing after a time. I've spent the last weeks eating eggs and tomatoes - I have no idea why, my food aversions are still changing all the time.

Still feeling rotten despite the cyclizine. Can pretty much guarantee I'll vomit about an hour and a half after taking a dose. Now know what people mean by the "bile run" in the morning. I'm vomiting more liquid (as opposed to non liquid) on the cyclizine than when I wasn't on it, but it's reduced the nausea to a manageable level most of the rest of the day, so I can get a bit of food down. If this pattern continues I'm going to revisit my Dr and see what she says....

Hi all, well there is the world's faintest line this morning (12 dpo) and, on reexamination, a barely-there shadow in the same place on yesterday's test (11 dpo). I still feel very uncertain about it all though, and ironically I actually feel a bit better this morning than I have for a few days. So I wouldn't be at all surprised if this one petered out.

Work is really tricky - I am behind with marking now. If my period starts after all in a few days and I feel better (as I will immediately, from experience, if that happens) then I should be able to catch up without a problem. But obviously if I am going to have to hand stuff over the sooner my colleagues know the better. But I hate the idea of explaining to my HoD that I am probably pregnant at the moment but it might not last long. So I don't really know what to do. I am going to try to get some marking done today anyway.

Sasseh how far along are you now? It might be that the hormones are still increasing which is why you are vomiting more even with the cyclizine, you might need something else as well. I found that the vomiting repeatedly "broke through" the drugs up until around ten weeks which I suppose was the hormonal peak.

I'm kind of torn between saying 'Yay Kali' and 'oh no Kali'!

I guess yay is probably better as at least you know where you stand now!

Thanks okla. Though it's so faint I don't really believe it, especially as I actually feel better today. Oh well, in another few days it should be definite one way or another.

Hi ladies, I hope you don't mind me butting in on your thread!

I'm 7+6 first pregnancy, first DC, and am really struggling with sickness. The last week has been pretty horrendous and I caved and called the gp this morning after much nagging from DH. The gp prescribed cyclizine which I can see some of you have been on but it sounds like it has nasty side effects, has that been everyone's experience? Is it really safe?

I'm nervous of taking anything but I can't go on how i am, I feel so physically and emotionally drained. We haven't told anyone yet about the baby and I feel bad for moaning at DH but he really cant understand how I feel and just tries to badger me into eating which really doesn't help and makes me upset. I think he thinks I could eat if I tried! I don't want to tell my mum because I know she'd just be the same, she didn't get ms in her pregnancies. I'm on the jan due thread (even though EDD is 30 dec) but no one on there seems to be having the same problems as me so I was just looking for a place to chat and if anyone has any suggestions for magic remedies? (no ginger biscuits please!)

Hi Saraswati. My DS2 is a cyclizine baby, and he is absolutely fine - a full of beans, robust and healthy 3 year old. I know how scary it is to take meds in pregnancy - I really didn't want to first time round (now I am desperate for more and better drugs!). I remember a midwife telling me though that the risks from dehydration were far greater than from cyclizine, which has been used for decades without issue.

Kali, exciting! Although my BFP this time was a real mix of "yay, baby!" and "oh no, here we go again...". Fingers crossed for you.

Sasseh I'm still feeling rotten despite stemetil... Think it maybe just takes the edge off enough to avoid really excessive dehydration for me. It seems (for me, sorry if TMI) to encourage maybe hourly massive chunders, instead of the constant wrenching and little bits of sick.

Right, I am about to start my epic journey back to the UK. I have no idea how I'm going to manage but I just have to. I feel awful - a bit dehydrated, light headed, sick sick sick. Can't tell what's a medication side effect and what's 'real', but haven't kept a meal down for really days, so I'm boing to be feeling a bit odd. If you read about a plane being quarantined on the Tarmac at Heathrown due to someone throwing up in the loos and everyone having to be tested for Ebola, that'll be my fault . My mum is being a superstar, am so grateful she is here.

PS Lucinda my due date is 24 December, happy to be added to the stats if it cheers up others to have more people below them.

Kali a line is a line on these things.... They don't tend to give false positives. I had faintish lines because I checked early too. It may hold for you
I would hate for you to have been through a crappy couple if weeks for nothing :-(

Sara congrats!
There will be no crackers or ginger here!!!
I've used cyclizine, it didn't help me other than to send me to sleep which would give me a few hours respite from the nausea. I didn't get any other side effects from it either :-)
It's a first line treatment however if it's doesn't work for you there are plenty of other meds to try.
The only other thing is just to eat and drink whatever you can manage whenever...sucking ice lollies, I found sparkling water to help and I still guzzle it at 37 weeks (my symptoms have never left :-(

On a positive note I am day four with no vomit!!! The nausea and food aversions are here still, probably too much to expect them to go....

Sasseh ranitidine really reduces my bile run from a pint of the stuff to a much more acceptable level. It also protects the oesophagus from repeated acid exposure. It's as important to me to take this as the prednisolone every day. It's been used in pregnancy for years and is issued by obs pre section. Might be worth trying in addition to the cyclizine? Can buy from chemist although GP will prescribe if you tell them loads of acid and burn....

Lucinda my new due date is June 2nd although I do feel a bit of a cheat ;-)

Sunny cross posted

Good luck for journey. I have much admiration for you ladies who have managed to travel at all.

Agggh had a dream I was still at work...it was a day from hell too. Feel much better now and appreciating the official mat leave rather than the guilt I would normally feel.

deep breath kali ... like okla says, half yay, half oh no ... you do have our full support cheering you on, if it's confirmed.

saras welcome and congratulations and commiseratoins!

Ok first off, the meds are safe for the baby and for you. Cyclizine is actually pretty mild and the side effects, if you get them, are annoying but there is no long term danger to the baby or yourself. It sounds like you need stronger meds though. One (metoclopramide) does have potential side effects for a few mothers (not the babies) but therés a lot of experience on this thread by now and we can help you

Secondly, can you enlist your husband's support as an advocate for you? when you are very sick like this, its really hard to explain to the doc what it's really like and also, your husband can look up some of the links ill post in a sec. They give you the list of meds commonly used in preg for severe sickness. [[www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk/ This site] is run by survivors of HG and has good info on meds under the Help tab at the top. They also have a retired, very experienced doctor there who you can speak to if need be.

Please ask your husband to look at that link and the others Lucinda put at the top. also, there's some good american forums here with a section just for dads which he may find helpful?

Thirdly, are you able to keep water / liquid down? maybe in the form of ice chips or flat coke or ice lollies. Some people find very hot drinks also bearable, sipped through a straw. Please get some ketostix cheap from the chemist or amazon. You can test your own dehydratoin levels. lucinda explains it well but the dehydratoin is actually more of a danger than the lack of food. Its the dehydration the doctors check for.

Fourthly, the only justified use of Ginger Biscuits with HG women is as ammunition to throw at people's heads who don't realise what it's like. Arrrrrrrg how we hate ginger!!!

link fail : this site

Hi Sara congratulations on your pregnancy but commiserations on the sickness!

I took Cyclizine but didn't find it did anything for me. I didn't really get any side effects though either. Different things work for different people and there are lots of meds to try, all of which are very safe. People just get unnecessarily paranoid when it comes to pregnancy because of the Thalidomide disaster forever ago. Please don't worry about safety.

As the others said, no ginger here!

All of us have been through that awful not being able to tell anyone but feeling so ill you don't know how you're going to get through the next hour phase. I know it doesn't feel like it now but you will get through it. We are all here to support and help you so moan, rant and bitch as much as you need to.

And your mum might surprise you. Mine did. At first she didn't really get it but after a week or so of seeing the state I was in she has been amazing ever since. DH just doesn't have the info yet. The links the others have given you are great and have sections for families of suffered too. That will help them understand it isn't just normal preg sickness.

Sorry this turned into a bit of an essay!!

Hang on in there...

Hi sara, congratulations. Glad you listened to dh and took some action before it got worse (took me until 9+3 to do something about mine, regret not going sooner as I may have said an overnight stay in hospital)! Feel free to join us on the December thread, we don't bite and there's a few of us feeling particularly rough and on meds there.

kali I'm 10 weeks today, so hoping it's just a hormonal peak. My Dr does phone triage consultations so she's calling later on to see if I need to come in for an appointment.

The cyclizine does take the edge of the nausea, and I've now (just) managed a bit of bread and jam. I'm hoping it stays down!! I've thing I've learnt is that I need to learn to chew my food better, as it comes up much easier in small bits.... ewww! ketosticks are great, help put my mind at ease at home and let me know when I really need to drink more.

Oh ladies thank you for your advice, you are all so lovely! I'll check out all those links, you are all so helpful.

I will give the cyclizine a try, I'm a bit worried about drowsiness as I'm struggling to stay awake anyway but anything is better than the nausea. I'll sit DH down and give him a bit of a talking to as well. We had a talk about the birth the other day as I need him to be my advocate then (if I get that far!) I'm allergic to a lot of painkillers and quite anaesthetic resistant so want to avoid all of that during labour and was telling him how I need him to be really firm in the hospital (he's quite mild mannered usually) and he was really supportive so I think if I help him to realise how much I'm suffering he'll be more supportive. I guess I've been trying to hide it a bit so as not to worry him but I think I need to be more honest.

I don't think I'm dehydrated I'm keeping down water and mint tea and a few tuc biscuits if nibbled slowly. Tuc biscuits were always my hangover cure at uni which makes me laugh now I'm on them again!! I never thought ms would be this bad but I should have known I get travel sick, sickness with migraines and awful vomiting hangovers so I don't know why I thought I would react to pregnancy any differently!

Have you guys found it eases in the second trimester or am I in this for the long haul?!

Sara HG tends to last longer than NVP :-(
I had some improvement after 20 weeks and managed to work very part time from 26 weeks.
It's never fully left but I can function much better now e.g shower, go for a walk, do a few things around the house.
The nausea has never fully left but I do still feel better than I did. I had it until term last time too but lots of women do improve between 14-20 weeks. You could be a lucky one :-)

what punk said. some women do improve a lot around week 14-20 and never look back. some women improve a bit but it never really goes away and often the nausea gets worst in the last 4- 6 weeks again

Fingers crossed for you that you improve a lot :) but do get meds til then. Its been proven that the earlier you get effective meds, the better they are at cushioning you from the worst of the severe sickness

Hi Sara and congrats!

My sickness isn't as bad as some of the ladies on here but I thought I'd chip in a bit. I'm 20+5 and starting to feel better, more active and cooking again which I couldn't do for ages at first but I still have food aversions and early morning bile runs. I didn't take meds I just got through it with lots of rest and I gave into my cravings. I can't really recommend anything in terms of my food and drink as I do have a problem getting enough liquid and I put on too much weight giving in too my cravings so now I'm having to watch what I eat. Im not going to overdo things though or be complacent about it getting worse again but it's nice to feel a bit better.

Kali, good news by the sounds of it.

Sarah Welcome, can't improve on what others have said - don't feel guilty about taking meds, invest in some kestostix from a chemists to check for dehydration and try and sip anything you can stand, I found flat full sugar coke good, others say diet, or Lucozade or soda water or ice lollies or ice cubes and little nibbles of things you can stand - crisps in my case! Try and ignore the ignorant 'advice' from people being judgemental. There does seem to be a connection between migraines and Hyperemesis, unfortunately - to do with hormoanl imbalance, maybe? and cystitis, too. Some of us get all the fun!
Sunny Good luck for journey, you poor thing. I'm so glad that stemitil is helping a little. Never worry about tmi here- the details of puking a nasty speciality on here!
sassa I am so glad you are still feeling a bit better.
kali This is exciting - nerve racking.
My PC and I are still at war - it just deleted a long post I just did - pure spite - I hope it doesn't try and sabotage these due dates: -

*Due Dates

Punkstar 2 June
Livingzuid 6 June
DiddyBeth 12 June
SliceofLime 2 August
IWorry 8 August
Starry 12 August
What 14 August
Lottie 12 September
Booboostoo 14 September
mrsb87 29 September
mrsnec 1 October
George by the Sea 6 October
Pickofthepops 7 October
Oklahoma 28 October
Sassehmonsta 15 December
SomeSunnySunday 29 December

Sarah Sometime in January, did you say?
Hope Everyone is coping.

xx

Hi Lucinda due date is 24 December, rather than 29th - I need to be a week closer to the end!

Sara, if it helps you to keep optimistic, my HG cleared up completely and suddenly around 20 weeks last time (and it is going to again this time, yes it is). I had a wonderful, nausea free second half of my pregnancy, despite having been medicated and needing several hospital admissions for IV in the early days.

Right, all packed, really am leaving now. Next post from British shores.

good luck sunny!

lucinda my EDD is 30th December :) luckily I haven't had a migraine for ages but was plagued by them when I came off the pill, some of us get all the nice things!!

Thanks ladies, I don't think it's full blown hg from what I've read on here and from dr google. For instance I've managed a few bites of food a day but liquid seems to stay down and I haven't taken anytime off work. Luckily I have a very easy office job with no commute, if I did something else I think I would have had to stay in bed! I'll get some of those stick things though and monitor my wee (lovely, I thought poas ended with the bfp!!)

I'm going to be positive and envision this ending at 13/14 weeks, 20 weeks at the very latest! I had a completely irrational breakdown the other day saying that the baby hated me and I was going to be a terrible mother because I'm failing in the first few weeks. Also totally terrified of a miscarriage and that all this suffering will be for nothing. I really admire you ladies who have coped with this for your entire pregnancies! Is there any truth in it being more likely to be a girl with bad sickness?

Hi saraswati you are definitely not failing as a mother! The opposite if anything, your body is going too far in the opposite direction, going all out to protect the baby and you are suffering. Bad sickness is actually associated with lower rates of miscarriage at everything except for the most extreme end. But it is totally normal to have mixed feelings about the pregnancy/the baby as a result of feeling so ill, it would be odd if you didn't to be honest.

The studies re: gender seem quite confused. Most seem to say a girl is a bit more likely but some say a boy is. Mine was a boy and one of my sisters who's had both said it was pretty much equally bad. Girls are associated with slightly higher HCG though I think, which might be a factor.

There are some fairly well established risk factors that make HG more likely - family history of HG in your mother/sisters, HG in a previous pregnancy, being very young, being overweight, also women of south asian ethnicity have a considerably higher incidence. Not sure about other ethnic variations. They also say that it is more common in a first pregnancy but I suspect that might be a statistical glitch caused by the proportion of women with severe HG who decide against having another one for that reason!

kalidasa that's really interesting thank you and glad I'm not the only one who has felt like this! I was glad of symptoms when they kicked in but now I'm regretting wishing for them! I've got a weird feeling it's a girl and did before I got the sickness to be honest. We aren't going to find out the sex so I've got a long wait!

I don't come under the other risk factors (unless 28 counts as very young which I doubt!) but this is my first pregnancy (maybe the last!).

I'm finding the heat very exhausting, how is everyone else coping with the weather? I feel like everything and everybody stinks, my nose has gone insane!