Hi all, sorry to be patchy recently, I've been in Suffolk at my parents' for the last couple of weeks but back in London (with better internet) now. I am pleased to report that I am still doing better: tired and weak and constantly nauseous but throwing up a LOT less. I'm still on cyclizine and omperazole and various stuff for my bowels, but have just finally come off the steroids completely. It has made the nausea a bit worse but I haven't started vomiting more (at least not yet). I am struggling a bit with eating again (steroids really really helped with that) but I think I'm still getting enough in. I'm nearly 19 weeks now and nearly back at my pre-pregnancy weight! Bit anxious about the 20 week (anomaly) scan next Monday, will be glad to get through that. Only bad news is that my pelvis is as expected - though earlier than I'd hoped - beginning to go again, so realistically I am looking at crutches and then a wheelchair in my third trimester again I think. Oh well.
starry so pleased you are going to get some help, I was concerned. Asking for help is a huge step in itself. You will feel better eventually, do PM if you want to.
Basgetti your miserable pregnancy sounds a lot like my first one, with the sickness just going on and on. I'm really sorry they didn't put you on steroids early on because even though my worst phase this time was truly spectacularly awful and even the steroids couldn't control it, I think they really have helped me recover and get my strength/energy back once the absolute worst was over. Last time I never had steroids and although the worst phase wasn't as bad as this the sickness at mid-second trimester was worse last time I think.
I am officially 'back at work' now but I have done a deal with my head of department and been let off all classroom teaching/lecturing this term. I just can't commit to the travel involved in commuting and the set hours. So I am doing a big admin job for the department (which I can mostly do from home) and continuing to look after my PhD students and try to catch up with my v. delayed research/writing commitments. But all of this is much more flexible, because PhD students can come and see me at home if necessary. I am really pleased with this arrangement as it means I will still be paid! Whereas I was thinking I was just going to have to be signed off for the whole autumn which would have been really depressing. I'll have to go in a few times a week at the very beginning of term (mid/late September) but after that I reckon I'll be mostly at home, which I hope will be doable.
Very excited that I am no longer at the bottom of that list!
Re: ondansetron constipation, like basgetti I was taken off it in hospital because the constipation was so severe; unlike basgetti I didn't have any pre-existing bowel probs so I think this is very unusual and almost everyone else seems to find ways to deal with it. If the ondansetron is allowing you to eat/drink relatively normally then you can try all the ordinary things (prune juice, prunes, plenty of fluid, even coffee!). Otherwise, you want stimulant (not bulk-increasing) laxatives - so things like senokot (or other senna tablets) and bisacodyl. You may also find softening things (like sodium docusate) useful. Lots of people have success with movicol, but you do have to be able to drink it regularly and keep it down. Ditto lactulose, which means drinking a smaller quantity but it is pretty grim.
If you've been constipated for a while it makes sense to tackle it from the 'other end' as well - glycerol suppositories are really worth a try; if you get totally desperate you can try home enemas (e.g. 'fleet' enema), but obviously this is pretty last ditch.
Annoyingly, pharmacists won't sell you anything for constipation over the counter when you are pregnant, though they will/would use all these things in hospital if you ended up there. So you need to either a) lie, b) send someone else, or c) get your GP to prescribe for you. You can also buy all these things online and have them delivered.
One thing to bear in mind is that a lot of constipation remedies, especially the stronger ones - e.g. a large dose of movicol or an enema - are quite dehydrating, so they won't work as well if you're not drinking enough, and they may make dehydration worse, which obviously isn't what you want.
Do throw the book at the constipation at the first hint of it because - believe me! - you do NOT want to end up being cleared out in hospital.
Courage to everyone slogging away.