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.

Thanks living Oklahoma the ups and downs (mostly downs) are really wearing me down and I'm finding it harder and harder to cope with it all and I appreciate your support. Sometimes I wonder how on earth I'm going to get through the next few minutes, never mind weeks. It's so lonely and it would be even harder without this thread - I can't even bear to think what I would have done without this thread.

Part of me wonders how much of it all is to do with the shock of how unexpected all of this was and how it is the complete opposite of what I had hoped for... none of the nice things that are so often part and parcel of pregnancy, just the horrors.

lottie I'm staying at my mum's house at the moment so no dh until the weekend. Makes things even harder :-( Thanks George it will end, but not soon enough.

I'm so sorry to be such a misery-guts at the moment and dragging the thread down :-( I can't seem to find anything positive to say at the moment.

Okla You poor thing, puking through the night is awful. Remind me what meds you are on - don;t seem to be working too well?
Kali You are facing it very bravely and sounds a good idea for you and Oh to exchange this encouragement! I do hope you avoid so much hospitalisation at least, this time.
Starry I think it is overwhelming anyway- and the Hyperemesis makes you physically weak so it's much harder to cope, but you will.
Livingzuid I think quite a number of women to get a form of PTSD, especially if they've suffered throughout. I'm glad you'll have support on hand. Cyber pats on offer to you, as needed!
Fraggle31 Don't force yourself to do too much - he won't mind a bought cake! Glad you don't feel too dreadful today.
Babybutton One and a half stone weight loss - as Kali says, that is a lot - I think one tenth is considered serious, that's much more from your original weight - I do hope you manage to avoid any more admissions. Sounds a hellish experience altogether.
Lottie Good advice - how are you?
I bet I've cross posted with someone. Waves to all and apologies if rudely ignored anyone.
xx

George I knew I'd cross post with someone! I wish I could advise you about the whooping cough jab, but as I had a mild version of the real thing as a kid (despite one or two jabs, forgotten - I wasn't offered it.
My daughter got a mild version of it despite jabs. It is a totally foul illness even when innoculated against, but I don't know how common it is at the moment. Hope you don't feel too bad today.
xx

george I think it's worth having the jab because whooping cough is quite dangerous in very small babies. I actually can't remember if I had it when pregnant with DS (born November 2012). I definitely had the flu jab. I know it feels daunting to do anything at all that might further destabilise your health though when you are feeling so fragile already.

starry you don't have to feel positive! I really feel for you with the isolation, it is awful, and of course friends are busy with their own lives and do forget. I was lucky to have one fantastic friend last time who visited all the way through, and also really understood about how if you are v. ill/in hospital you are longing to see someone but can only really manage 20 minutes or so. So she would come regularly but briefly which is the best thing. Are you in the UK? Have you been in touch with the pregnancy sickness support people? I know they can arrange for someone who's had HG to visit you, which seems like a really fantastic idea, especially for women whose families have no experience of HG. At least my Mum and sister had it so understood what I was going through.

living the cabbage leaf thing really does work. Get DH to buy a big cabbage and put it in the fridge. Put a leaf in each cup of your bra and swop them for a fresh one after each feed.

starry sorry for being insensitive re. Your DH being away, I can sympathise there, in the non pregnant world I can cope with DH being away but since all this it makes me sob with loneliness . On the plus side you made it through the afternoon, almost another day done.

Lucinda I'm doing ok thanks, nausea still there but managing, havent actually been sick in quite awhile now. Baby really active which is reassuring! (But making me pee a lot!). Food aversions seem worse than ever though, bizarrely can't even contemplate eating meat in any form. Oh and my nose is still in overdrive, things most people don't notice still smell disgusting to me ATM.

Ive been lurking, as my sickness has died away. Now 12+2 and not been sick i 6 days, just nausea frim time to time and a few retching moments. Not sure if its meds or placenta or a combo but I am feeling much more human. Still staying on the Stemetil until I run out (got almost another 2 weeks worth left).

Off to a wedding this weekend, have informed the bride so i am not plied with alcohol or taking away fron their occasion. Its a Skyrim/Elder Scrolls themed party (read, medieval with some other cool costumes mixedcin) and Ive been.so worried that we a- wouldnt make it as I wouldnt be up to driving or b- my outfit wouldnt fit! Luckily I can.drive OK at the moment. touch wood and when I tried my dress on today it fitted!! Phew.

Hope everyone is doing OK as they can. I will be paying for a GBS test to be done, as I dont eant the.risk.

Oops, the group B Strep comment was meant for the Dec thread! Got 2 windows open on phone lol!

sasaeh your strep comment is not at all irrelevant - writing from hospital as I watch my daughter have a penicillin dose injected to get rid of strepB you do not want to go through what dh and I have been through this last week! Getting the test done is worth it 1,000 times over. If I had known I would have done it.

That party sounds amazing by the way, one of my favourite games!

Going back to cabbages :) will it work even though I am not bf? Think I am finally getting to see mw today after much nagging so will talk about sickness then too.

starry and lottie big hugs. It's horrible when the men are not there. Dh has to work this week and it's so isolating. For weeks when I was pg he was the only person I saw. To have no social life with hg adds to the depression. WhatsApp was my communication tool, I couldn't even face a Skype.

sasaeh I think sunny also had the horrendous strepB experience. Yes it is easily treated but needs to be picked up straight away and here certainly they treat any blood infection as meningitis because it takes two days for the culture to grow and they can identify what bacteria it actually is and get the right antibiotics. Daisy and I had matching epidural patches! So to be told it could be meningitis when she was a day old was enough to finish me off permanently.

It makes sense why they do that obviously as the earlier you treat meningitis the better the outcome, but the relief to hear it was 'just' strepB was huge. It's still awful to watch your baby go through that but it can be treated easily at least.

So yes, get that test done!

Congratulations punk!!!! Wonderful news and welcome to the world little Luca!

Welcome and commiserations to all thread newbies.

I had a great week (plenty of stress in Greece as my family is imploding as usual) but last night had the first stirrings of nausea. Could it have been the antibiotics I was taking for the sinusitis? I can't see why but that's the only thing that changed.

boo families! I come from a large Portuguese family and there is always one drama after another. Glad you made it safe.

And sorry yes welcome to all new people and sorry you have to be here.

Also maybe change on diet/environment could jiggle the hg?

Hi all just checking in. Glad daisy is doing well. How are you both punk?

I totally agree on the strep b issue. I haven't asked about it yet but I'm going to put it on my list of questions. A girl I went to school with lost her baby last year at 4 days old to a strep b infection. I had no idea what it was until I saw all the fundraising and campaigning she's been doing since it was such a sad story.

boo glad you're settling in but not the the sickness is bad. It could be as living says or the antibiotics but I hope you get some relief soon. Mine still comes and goes my mum is convinced it's to do with air pressure and the change in the weather!

Sass, that wedding sounds interesting!

I've had a bit of a breakthrough this week. I've noticed I can tolerate sweetners now so I can drink diet coke and tonic water. This might sound minor but it means my aversions are getting better and I can drink more without worrying about calories so it's a really big deal to me!

living yes, I reckon the cabbage leaves should be useful whether you are planning to feed or not. I think basically it just has some sort of mild anti-inflammatory action which soothes them. Most women who are breastfeeding use them if they are engorged/early on so basically the same point that you are at. Are they giving you anything to help slow/stop the milk supply?

So glad that you and daisy are both recovering.

Can't do Thursday's, they are the pits. Vomiting again this morning (6 days since last Thursday's vomit fest!) And pretty sure my meds came up with it. Feeling crap again, but nowhere near as horrendous as a couple of weeks ago. But we have a multitude of house guests at the moment (2 last night, one tomorrow, a different 2 Friday!) So even vomiting in my own house feels like a public vomit. Luckily all slept through it other than dh as I was just getting dressed. Rarrgh. And I'm back into work again today as a client promises to stop by. On the plus side, only 5 days until dating scan and then we can announce to the world! Telling one of our clients who works downstairs today if he is in.

Hope everyone's day improves.

khali aargh don't get me started on getting something to slow or stop the supply. This is the Netherlands after all and the only reason I get any kind of drugs is because of my bipolar so I am a special case I get a succession of older nurses who are nice (apart from one and Dh laid into her - she was basically accusing me of being a bad mother because I was in my room trying to rest instead of on icu feeding my daughter which the nurses did automatically anyway), but very old school and the advice I had was cold compress and then bandaging and said I didn't need to see the midwife for that. Which infuriated me.

The younger nurses are much more up to date I've found and the midwife I saw had also spent time in the NHS and was really good. So I'm in my room now eating peanuts for breakfast hoping I will catch her on her rounds. I want to ask about the nausea I have had too as I thought the hg had gone!

Livingzuid Hugs about that mean nurse's comments, cheek - I had one who said the same when the baby was crying as I came back from being sick yet again. Being brought up to be more uppity, and being taken more seriously by medicos, even over 'women's issues' I think men, as long as they understand the seriousness of the symptoms, make good advocates.
Sassehmonsta Oh dear about Thursday relapses - and it seems all wrong to be discretely puking if people come as guests when they know you're ill. If you could see the tablets, or parts of, in the vomit, I think are advised to take them again@?
I wish I'd known that about cabbage leaves.
Kali How are things today?
Oklahoma I'm glad you feel a bit less desperate and OH will be at home a lot. It's intriguing - we either seem to get a group of sufferers with role model OH's - or ones who aren't very understanding at all. One woman on here had an OH who complained that it wasn't fair she had Hyperemesis as his first wife had had a placenta praevea (spelling?) pregnancy and he wanted to enjoy this one. I see...
Lottie I'm so glad the improvement continues.
mrsnec Glad it's not too bad in the main. When I last went to Athens - years ago -hope I'm right, and you are there -it was very polluted which wouldn't have helped, but I think since then they brought in regulations about car use on different days or am I wrong?
Boobboo Oh dear Thickhead Mother Hen can't read her own writing, whatever it was!
Bet I cross post with someone. I hope everyone not too bad.
It was foul weather here yesterday, wind, rain and only 6 degrees last night.

xx

Locked myself out the office.and boss not in. KNEW it was going to be.one of those days...Arrgh! Chi

Hi all, very sorry for those who are struggling at the moment I am too. I just don't think I can cope with feeling like this anymore. I haven't cried about this for a while but today I just can't stop, not helped by the fact it's DS's sports day today, his last at primary school and I can't go.

Dh isn't coping very well at the moment either, he is physically exhausted and run down. DH and I got the results of our blood tests for slapped cheek syndrome, both fine but they said that DH had a Strep infection, so he's been back for another blood test but the nurse said she couldn't explain what it was he would have to see the GP but typically he can't get an appt for nearly 2 weeks. I suppose this could explain why he's feeling so run down at the moment but I feel so guilty because he is doing everything, cooking, cleaning, washing, looking after the other 3 DC and every spare minute he is working on our extension on top of a full time job. I do try to do little things for him but it makes me feel even more sick.
I feel shaky and weak most of the time, I guess because I've got no stamina from having done bugger all for the last 2 months but this worries me as I wonder how my body will cope at the end of this when I have to recover from a CS.

Anyway enough moaning from me

Living glad Daisy is doing so well but sorry about the horrid MW. Does StrepB only affect the baby if you give birth vaginally?

Sasseh Sorry you are having a horrid day, you are very brave with your house guests, I can only imagine how hard it must be feeling naff with other people in your house too!!

Thank you lucinda yes, dh is a marvel at speaking for me. Particularly with the language barrier. He was during hg times as well often talking as I was too sick to.

mam you poor thing that sounds horrendous. No locum GP or emergency appointments? I thought it was law now you had to be seen in 48 hours?

Funny you should ask about that as it turns out I probably have a uterus infection to top it all off, sigh. Really hoping they get over the Dutch aversion to antibiotics and give me some. I asked if it was related to the baby's strep B and the midwife said no, just that I carried the bacteria.

And I still have lingering hg yay me? She expects it to tail off slowly and that recent events have not helped make it speed away!

Oh dear god living ... I'd say 'is there anyting else can go wrong' but then it'd be tempting fate :( bloody hell, I really hope things improve soon. Can your husband insist on antibiotics for you? the last thing under the sun you need now is an infection!

The way my gyne explained it, the HCG hormone that is mostly responsible for the HG tailes off dramatically after birth but it does take a while to get back to normal. I feel nauseaous now and then too but as I've said, I actualy don't mind it becuase it's so very much better than it was!!!!!

mampam and starry the strain of the sickness is horrible isnt it ... I really hope you can get through the next hour, then the next, then the next, then the next .. only way to manage it sometimes.

okla fantastic news about your husband being able to work from home. that's got to help the practical support and the isolatoin!

sunny your hospital sounds lovely, hope the spotting has stopped.

meerka DH was all ready to come guns blazing if needed. I'm getting antibiotics today. They just took some blood tests and I'm waiting for the midwife to do an ultrasound to be sure the placenta departed.

God the glamour of pregnancy and childbirth....what they don't tell you....

okla sorry forgot to say, that is great news. It will be so much nicer for you knowing your DH is around and he will probably find it easier too.

living I also had lingering sickness after delivery, like meerka at a low level but it lasted quite a long time. In my case I think it was perpetuated by breastfeeding. Apparently breastfeeding does keep similar hormones to pregnancy in circulation, though at much reduced levels. Obviously this is unusual even amongst those with severe HG but after more than two years on and off this thread now I have noticed a handful of women mention it, and sometimes it comes up on the facebook group too. The fact that you are not breastfeeding may help to shake this off. Though if you have an infection that won't be helping, I hope they put you on some sensible ABs soon.

Today is I think fractionally better than yesterday but I am feeling pretty dreadful and that awful awful smell has really kicked in. Everyone/thing remotely organic - but especially DH! - reeks of awful unwashed-tramp. Anyone who has ever worked with the homeless will know what I mean. Totally ghastly. And such a weird effect, I feel like a dog!

I am drinking OK though and managing to eat very small amounts. The ondansetron is doing pretty much nothing for the acute nausea/retching but I am not vomiting very often. I think it actually makes it much harder physically to throw up, harder to progress from retching to vomiting if you see what I mean. Shame it doesn't actually make me feel better though! To be honest right now it is taking all my self-control to keep fighting the vomiting because at least when you throw up, awful as it is, you do feel better for 15 minutes afterwards.

That is so true about the vomiting. Many times I have sat on the sofa debating the pros and cons of being sick so that I could feel human just for 15 minutes!

I do feel for our OHs. It must be like suddenly being married to a different person. I cannot fault mine but I wish he got some support too. It is making so much difference having him at home. I don't think I see or speak to him any more than usual but just knowing he is in the study if I need him is wonderful.

Living I cannot believe how unlucky you have been. Wishing you a speedy recovery and well deserved break!!

To everyone feeling really down. Lots of sympathy and support. Like Meerka said, just take it hour by hour.