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.

kali there must be something about junk food, because when I couldn't eat anything else, I could eat bits of McDonalds. I guess it is so processed that we don't have to do much digesting, so our bodies absorb it/digest it almost instantaneously!!

REALLY hope you keep that zinger down!!

I just put on my out of office message on at work, so am officially on maternity leave - WOOOHOOOO!!!!!! Not long to go now!

Thanks starry. It came with chips which I didn't eat but we let DS try one. He looked very suspicious but then when he actually tried it this hilarious look of total bliss spread across his face and he shouted MORE! He is such a greedy little thing.

Zinger has stayed down, thank the Lord. Junior doc said she thought NG tube wasn't really appropriate as if you are still retching/vomiting with it it gets dislodged and doesn't really work. Apparently there are other options if I am still really struggling next week. Quite relieved about that.

Hope everyone is surviving the heat.

Good news about the kfc kali hope you have managed to keep it down! On my better days I could usually manage a macd's fillet o'fish and choc milkshake- I think it is nature's way of insisting that you get as many calories in your body as possible! Keeping everything crossed for you for an improvement over the weekend xx

hope everyone else is surviving xx

Hello everyone

I'm just popping back to say hello - I'm 37 weeks today and honestly never thought I would get this far at some points. To all you ladies suffering, I offer my heart felt empathy and sympathy. I spent a lot of time going round in circles in my head, feeling guilty as I was hating pregnancy - and it's only recently that I've decided that's ok. It doesn't mean anything about how I feel towards the baby - it's just being that sick is absolutely awful. Especially when it goes on for months.

I also wanted to pop back in case anyone else searches for hyperemesis and gestational diabetes. (I did a few weeks ago and didnt come up with much so thought it might be useful).I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes a few weeks ago. The first step is diet control but as my diet is so limited with HG there wasn't much wriggle room (no cakes, biscuits, choc etc anyway) - so I started on insulin which I was utterly panicked about. Injections? I was going mad then discovered something. Firstly, they weren't lying when they said the finger prickblood test was worse than the injections - it's only bloody true! Secondly, doing your own injections is fantastic compared to someone jabbing you cos you can go slow and gentle and lastly, I felt so much better - each meal was making me sleepy, no energy - and the injections changed that, and I vomited less. Result! Now on 2 types of insulin and getting more good days than bad days. Consultant sure that the HG and gestational diabetes are interacting and making each other worse.

Induction booked for next Friday!

kali haha! That's so cute about your ds! I'm so happy your zinger stayed down

eliza so funny about the fillet o'fish and milk shake - those were my McD's foods of choice, but I confess I also used to get the chips(!)

Glad you kept your zinger down kali. I keep fantasising about McDonalds breakfasts but the nearest one to me is about 20 miles away!

Iworry good luck for your induction! I found your post interesting as in my previous pregnancy I had HG and was also diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 30 weeks, ended up on insulin too. I'm being monitored for it during this pregnancy although it has not appeared yet, due my next GTT at 26 weeks.

The metoclopramide seems to be working quite well for me so far, I've had a couple of episodes of nausea and retching but nothing would come out. I'm guessing this is how it is supposed to work? I'm just glad to have been able to keep fluids down in this heat. I hope everyone else is feeling ok.

heh, didn't livingzuid live off mcdonald's too? that's 4 people ... maybe they really are good for HG! Lovely about your son, now you'll have years of him wanting them :)

congrats, starry! close, close!

iworry you're even closer :D all the very best and please let us know how it goes. So good that the insulin is helping the HG as well as the GD. Best of luck!

basgetti good news about the meto, that does sound better. If the effect wears off, don't hesitate to go back to the doc
\

Quarter pounder with cheese and tap diet coke, or a cheeseburger. Sometimes both No chips, I couldn't cope with anything potato. Or milkshakes which I loved but the taste after was horrendous.

The amount of money our drive through McDonald's made off of me is obscene. If that or a KFC or a burger king or whatever works for you then roll with it. All calories at the end of the day! Daisy seems none the worse for it certainly.

worry so glad you found something that works and sorry about the GD. But the end is in sight! Thinking of you.

how is Daisy handling the heat, living? we're melting here ...

Hi all, I hope someone here can help me. I don't believe I have hyperemesis, however my nausea is pretty debilitating.

It starts about 6pm with a mild stomach grumble and by 9pm it's progressed to the hot/sweaty, gaggy feeling you get just before throwing up - but I never throw up and it never eases. It's robbed me of so much sleep. My GP initially prescribed me Promethezine, which did nothing. Then Procloperazine and Cyclizine, both of which also did nothing.

I was then tried on Metaclopromide which worked for about a week but has now stopped being effective and I'm back to getting sleep in half-hour blocks when I pass out from exhaustion only to be woken up by feeling gaggy. My GP says there is nothing else they can try me on, because I also take sertraline (antidepressants).

I'm 10+4 and I'm at my wits end. I've been signed off work for two weeks, due to go back on Monday - work are really losing patience with me. I feel like such a wuss as I'm not physically vomiting, but I feel like I'm on the verge of it for about 12 hours a day, consistently.

Is there anything I can do? I'm so low.

Hi frenetic. Your case sounds complicated and I don't think I have the expertise to help as such, but do check out pregnancy sickness support (linked above) and try and make contact with them. I can offer empathy though, I know what sitting in bed with that gaggy, breathless, sweaty feeling for hours on end is like . Keep going back to your GP as well 'there's nothing we can do' isn't a good enough response! for you!

I spent weeks where I just felt really really nauseous to the point I couldn't do anything 24 hours a day,it was horrendous.I did start vomiting as well later on though.No meds helped me and I just had to get though it until it finally started easing at week 20.Hopefully you will be able to find some meds that work for you-most people seek to.
Please don't feel bad/push yourself with work as you will probably make it worse.I haven't been able to work my whole pregnancy which has been a complete nightmare as I'm self employed and had to borrow money but you have to look after yourself and baby.Id rwcomemded fling back to the doctors and getting different meds and resting as much as possible.

Seem to,not seek too!!

Ps hopefully it won't be as bad for you as it was for me,and you will find meds that help!

Pss maybe try a different doctor as I know people who've been in anti depressants and tried lots different sickness meds?

Hiya frenetic congrats and commiserations!

the nausea alone is probably the worst part of HG for many people, even if they loose weight badly it's so much .. er .... nicer ... to vomit and feel better than the endless, unendurable nausea

sadly from what I've looked up, your doctor is possibly right. (btw, he sounds really like a good doctor; most are uninformed and highly conservative, yours seems up to date on HG). The only thing further I'd suggest is looking up the British National Formulary and seeing if Ondansetron interacts with sertraline - im sorry, i cant look it up myself as Im expat and they've put layers of protection in so that only UK people can see.

If there's no interations, then you can ask your doc for that. It is powerful, safe and effective.

Beyond that, rest as much as you can. It does significantly help.

Do you have a manager or HR department that you can talk to? even if most of work in unsympathetic? Becuase they are not allowed to count preg- related sickness as part of your sickness record, by law, and most decent employers will understand.

My boss told me that even though my sicknote says 'pregnancy related sickness and pain', it still goes down as off sick and I won't be paid for it. There is nothing in my contract or employee handbook about preg-related sickness whatsoever. Is there anywhere online I can find something to print off about that law? If so I think I'll need to take a lot of stuff in with me on Monday to help me fight my corner - it's not the nicest environment to work in and I've already come up against a lot of resistance.

www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/work_e/work_discrimination_e/discrimination_at_work_because_of_pregnancy_or_maternity_leave.htm

This link seems helpful. It seems that sadly they don't have to pay you anymore than they would if it was a non-pregnancy related illness. BUT the important thing is they can't sack you/dicipline you or allow this sickness to affect promotion opportunities etc...

That's really good to know, thank you.

Anything that helps me out is good. So far I've been denied even the most basic of requests!

Oh the thunderstorms last night were something else! And such a blessed relief from the heat. Daisy's spent the last week in nappies and nothing else and we have spent a fortune in fuel as every evening we've been driving around for hours with the a/c on just to give us all some respite from the heat. We've explored some really nice areas though as a result :) Today is much cooler thank goodness but she really struggled in the heat, wouldn't sleep, wouldn't feed properly. getting fretful easily etc. She's better today thank god. None of us have slept much!

How were your boys and how did everyone else get on with the heat, kids/pregnancy etc?

frenetic I am sorry to hear that about your work. Sadly some employers are still stuck in the dark ages when it comes to pregnancy. Check out the HSE site which is very good and shows you your rights.

www.hse.gov.uk/mothers/

They are supposed to provide you with flexible working options so you could reduce your hours if you need to.

Also on the setraline - worth checking with the NHS or NICE site to see if it interacts with onaestradon (sorry don't know if I have spelled it properly). I think it is listed on the NICE site but you could also contact MIND and ask them for advice - they can provide guidance on medication.

I took lithium throughout pregnancy and took a range of medications that did not affect my lithium, or my baby. My thyroid medication I took at a different time to ensure there was no interaction between the lithium and the levothyroxine but aside from that, no problems. All promethazine did for me was make me feel like a zombie the following morning and pre-pregnancy I used it as a sleeping tablet. It's a pretty bog-standard antihistamine, nothing exciting.

This is my issue with the NHS, the GPs are not the be all and end all but they treat such a range of illnesses that really you should have been sent straight to a consultant for. Ask for a referral if possible.

Evening everyone, welcome to all the new members - sorry you find yourselves here!

Kali - sorry to hear you're still in hospital, I really hope those ketones have come down

I had a pretty good week and over the last few weeks have managed to wean myself down to once or twice a day anti-emetics which I was really proud of. Unfortunately this afternoon I'm really struggling and feeling soooo sick, I've done nothing but lie on the sofa and feel sorry for myself. Feels like there is something stuck in my throat and the sensation just won't go away - horrid :(

Hi all - just quickly checking in to see how everyone getting on... sorry that you are having such a bad time frenetic (welcome to the thread! ) as others have said the debilitating nausea is awful and difficult to get on top of with meds, particularly with the added complications with your meds (am assuming you can't have buccastem??- that was the only med that sometimes eased nausea for me). You have already received much excellent advice from everyone which I can't add to apart from to say the stress from your employer will not be helping the situation and I would urge you to remain signed off if possible as you are clearly not fit for work from what you have said. Hoping for you that this does soon ease for you as for many the peak time for nausea/vomiting is weeks 7-11 (crossed fingers for you)!

Great to hear from you iworry and good luck for friday(eexcitedly awaits news!)

Sorry for your rubbish day fraggle hope it is just a blip due to the heat. Can you up the meds again if poss to keep them down that is? How many weeks are you now?

meerka and living hope you and babes are coping with the heat- imagine it is several degrees hotter with you and it is fairly unbearable here at the moment!

Will check back later x

Elizabethsmum - I'm 17 weeks today, and hoping it's a heat related blip too!! I have upped the meds today and will do that for a few days till things start to settle again

Fingers crossed fraggle! I think when you do have a blip like this it shows that you do still need the meds to a degree (obv for the most part they are working well) so I would not think about coming off them for several weeks still. I stayed on cyclizine until 28 weeks with second (twin preg) and tbh I had felt pretty ok from about 16 weeks (with only one relapse at around 20 weeks). With first preg I couldn't come off meds totally for entire pregnancy x