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.

hey lucinda :) I've cut the bfíng down to about half and half and seeing if that helps. bfíng is actually rather convenient at night. But things can't keep on as they are so I'm going to the doc next week.

The baby is adorable though! it's still suprising how healthy and pink and fit and glowing he is after all that trouble during the preg. But he's a cute lil giant.

george thanks for asking after him :) Btw about the awful spitting, a nurse told me that the more you spit, the more spit you generate. So it is worth trying to not spit immediately ... course it's not easy cause it makes you feel so much sicker :s but just thought I'd pass it on. it did help slightly for me.

frenetic your work need to get a grip. I hope they back the hell off soon, you don't need this.

kali im sorry I did smile. All the horrendous misery abates just a bit and we immediately start worrying =) (i was the same!) It's got its ironic side though.

Hi All, I'm new to the board, really pleased to have found it!
I'm not sure if I have hypermesis or just morning sickness, maybe you guys will know? Apologies for the long post, but here's the background...

I'm 11 weeks along my first pregnancy with twins, I'm been throwing up since week 5. To say the last 6 weeks have been hell is an understatement!

I throw up on average about 6 times a day at the moment, which is actually an improvement. I'm really starting to struggle with it, somedays I just feel like I can't do another day of this, but there's no escape from it.

I saw my GP a couple of weeks ago, and after some reluctance she prescribed cyclizine, but said to only take 1 per day and made me feel like I was a bad person for asking for help.

I'm about to run out of these and need to make another appointment to go back and ask for more, but I'm completely stressed out over it. I tried to go a day without them last week and it was a disaster, I ended up so weak I could barely walk or even get undressed.

I feel like i was stupid to let myself get like that and worried I should have sought help for the dehydration. I just always feel like I need to be dying before I go to the doctors, and feel like they don't believe me.

At the moment, if i take a tablet in the morning, I manage to keep my lunch down. But I can't eat tea, or even keep water down in the evenings. Do you think I should be taking more than one tablet per day? It actually says up to 3 on the box!

Anyway, it's nice to have found this thread, just to read other peoples experiences let me know I'm not alone in this. x

Hi jenhad, welcome and ~congratulations~, twins! there's another lady expecting twins too here, I think she had a bit of a shock =)

HG is awful. Murder. But the good news is that you are not weak or stupid for asking for meds, you're doing what actually is recommended by best practice.

The NICE guidelines, which come from the Governmental's Best Practice board (Lucinda linked them above), have the stated goal of making sure that people can carry on their everyday lives.

They also recommend which meds are ok to use. Its a really good idea to look them up, print them out and take them with you next time. Take an advocate with you if you possibly can.

You are not putting your babies at risk by using them - you are saving them the dangers of dehydration. Seriously, these meds have been used sometimes hundreds of thousands of women. In the case of the cyclizine family, millions. Even the most powerful of the normal drugs, ondansetron, is considered safe for babies in practice. It's not officially licensed, but that's because the drug companies are running scared still after Thalidomide (which would never have been licensed now).

Beyond that, there are quite a few tips and tricks for getting some liquid and food down you.

I'm not a doctor but by now we're all fairly experienced in these meds, unfortunately, and yes most of us have been prescribed cyclizine three times a day. It's actually more effective taken with vitamin B6, if your husband can get hold of that. It does sound like it works for you which is great :)

Let us know how you go on, there's a lot of other steps you can take to get help. HG is a true misery, we're all there or been there. And vent away if you need to. We're always here to listen!

oh by the way, studies have shown that actually its a good idea to take the meds early, before the worst of the sickness hits, becuase it can help cushion the worst of it. Might be a bit too late for that for you sadly.

Welcome jen, at this point don't worry if you have 'just' morning sickness or 'HG' your symptoms sound very severe and it doesn't matter really what the diagnosis is.

You definitely CAN take Cyclizine up to 3 times a day. Please go back and see another GP ASAP, don't go back to the one you saw last time, the advice they gave you was clearly crap and dangerous.

Can you get Ketostix from the chemist? Peeing on them will tell you if you are dehydrated. If you are, go to A&E don't faf about, it's amazing how much better fluids might make you feel.

Other than that, rest, don't move unless it's to the bathroom. Staying completely still was the only thing that helped me at all at your stage. Have you got good support at home to look after you?

Hi, thanks for the replies. Feeling much better about taking the meds.

I've booked a doctors appointment, first one available is wednesday and I've booked it with a different doctor! Also hopefully this one won't tell me to eat ginger biscuits or I may actually lose it!

I'm going to ask for a repeat prescription, and ask to take the dose of 3 tablets per day, I think this might give me a better chance of coping with it all.

Luckily my husband has been brilliant these past few weeks, I couldn't have put up with me for this long! He really has surprised me, I'm usually the control freak in charge of everything, but I've had to step back and let him take over everything, which also puts me at ease knowing he will be very useful when the twins are born!

Thanks for the ketostix tip, I've ordered some from amazon, and will use them when I'm suffering to test for dehydration.

I think on the whole, this experience has shocked me more than anything. I really had no idea how bad this could be, I'd never even heard of Hypermesis before. I wish I had known more about this, but it's something that doesn't seem very widely known about.

jen that all sounds positive, glad your DH is being good, I couldn't have survived this pregnancy without mine, and I know just what you mean by being surprised at him! I was also really cross by how awful the nausea was, it had never crossed my mind that it could be so horrendous.

Thanks meerka boo mrsnec and oklahoma I felt like I was being told off for malingering. Better day today managed fruit for breakfast, napping with the toddler right now. Will catch up with thread now

Glad to hear you are getting a break kali. Welcome jen keep trying different people! for me it was a midwife in hospital who got my first prescription! I think I'd seen about 5 hcp's by then.

frenetic sympathy re work situation. I'm doing 4 hour days but they are supportive. I would Tell them you love your job, but you don't want to do it badly, you either do a phased return or you will get ill and be unable to work, which is in no ones best interests. Are you in a union? Sounds like your gp is in your corner though. Good luck.

Hi all, sorry I've been awol, was admitted to hospital and only got home today. My ketones were 4 so I was put straight onto IV fluids and given lots of meds. They kept stopping and starting the Ondanestron because it was affecting my bowel and I ended up having suppositories. They have sent me home just with cyclizine and buccastem as the doctor doesn't think I should have Ondanestron anymore, so that and Metoclopramide are now ruled out!

I was a bit scared of being discharged but they will let me call them directly if the sickness worsens again and I will keep monitoring with ketostix.

I hope everyone is doing well, I will try to read the thread soon and catch up on everyone's news xx

Jen Sorry to hear you are suffering.I totally know what you mean about the shock-noone talks about it and I had no idea pregnancy could make people so very traumatically ill.I really wish too that I had at least been prepared for the possibility that it could happen.There needs to be more awareness raising of how traumatic it can be for people so others have heard of it and be more empathic too rather then just suggesting ginger.

Welcome back to the outside world bas glad you're home, fingers crossed for staying there!

Jen & George I completely agree. I really wish someone had warned me that this was a possibility beforehand. The shock to all of us has been pretty major!

I threw up in the car this afternoon . I really should be better at predicting voms after this long!

Bas glad you're out. Hope the drugs help.

Lucinda welcome back. Meerka and the other long timers have been wonderful in your absence.

Sorry to hear you're so poorly Jen can't believe your doctor would let you suffer like that.

Hope you feel a bit better Bas sounds like you been through it.

Just wondering, do you think after a week of working that the effectiveness of the meds can wear off? I've been on promethazine for a week and it seemed to help a lot but last couple of days I've really gone down hill.

TIA

emsy I think sadly yes, we all react differently to the meds and some people have more long term success than others from what I can tell. Do go back to the doc if you suspect that's what's happening.

oh dear basgetti sounds pretty nasty few days. At least you can contact them direct now. I hope it's not necessary.

emsy yeah effects can wear off for some people. But also if you do too much, it will really affect things. Try to rest as much as your commitments let you ..

Welcome to Jen and I can't better the advice from LottieMeerka and others. Really feel for you over the shock. Because it's twins, it may be that you wouldn't have had this with a singleton pregnancy as has happened with another couple of women on here, and you may hopefully get some relief earlier. I so agree about the shock; it's devastating.
Basgeti So sorry you've been that ill - 4 ketones means you must have been in a state and it's tough you can't have ondansetron or metroclopramide. I do hope you get some releif soon.
Emysmarie So you have another with twins on the thread besides the veteran elizabethsmum. As others say, you c ould well have been overdoing it a bit but if the meds aren't working, don't hesitate to ask
for others.
Meerka Lovely news about LO. Hope you feel a lot better and soon
with some treatment.
GeorgebytheseaI hope things are improving generally?
Elletorrito I so agree about Freneticfoxs situation. Thank goodness
for a sensible doctor.
Lottie Good advice. How is the nausea now?
Meerkas advice is always perfect.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.
xx

Hey guys. Been sick tonight for first time in over a week. So gutted. I'm on promethazine at mo, have also got stemetil and cyclizine sitting here as neither worked, do any of those combine well?

Have just had a quick look at the links above and I think the next step is to maybe take B6 along with promethazine so might try and get some of those tomorrow.

Three bad days running. Please can someone remind me that I will get through this and that I won't be pregnant forever?

You will. Both of you will.

honestly.

Then ofc you'll have a small one keeping you awake at night. But the smiles that spreads over their face in delight when they see you, once they've worked out how to smile!, is a joy. And the cuddling.

It feels like hell but the seconds and minutes and hours do pass.

Hi all. Sympathy for basgetti, oklahoma and emsy. I think I'm dipping back down too, but not as badly. I look at my beautiful 19 month old who is so funny and loving and remind myself we will have another gorgeous person around soon. Not having another one though! Looking into vasectomies ...

Hugs to all suffering. 'This Too shall Pass' though I wouldn't bame you for cursing me for saying it. It's been a long haul, Okla but you'll soon be posting how lovely your new baby is.
xx

Hi Everyone,

I guess I've found my thread. I'm 8 weeks and was hospitalised last week because of severe dehydration. Since I got out of the hospital I have been feeling a bit better but having a really bad day today.

I have to go back to work tomorrow, I've thankfully been on holiday during the worst of it so far.

Hi all, hope everyone has had a lovely weekend. I THINK I MIGHT be seeing some improvements, last night wasn't as intense and I started the nausea cycle a lot later than usual so it was more short lived by the time I fell asleep. I don't want to become complacent, but it was nice and encouraging.

Having a chat with HR tomorrow; long story but things escalated a fair bit on Friday and I think I might be experiencing bullying :/