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.

Meerka DD is 17mo so BFing not really necessary as such, if I gave up I wouldn't need to replace. Would be the end of an era though and she loves it. I just don't think I've got the nutrients to spare :(

Tondheim. I'm similar situation to you BF I think. DD is 16 months. She was feeding first thing and before bed and she's dropped the morning feed (she didn't ask one day, so I jumped on that and encouraged the dropping since I didn't really feel up to feeding her any way) and she took to that fine. I also tried to get her to drop the bed time feed and that did not work! Perhaps I tried too soon - only a week after her dropping the morning one. I can manage that one better though as I feel at my (relative) best in the evenings. I was really trying to get her to drop it as I was initially told the meds were not suitable for me to continue breastfeeding, but then I got proper advice on that and found it was A OK so we've kept going!

No part of me wants to end up tandem feeding though so I'm hoping she'll wean of bed time feed at some point. I think I read the milk dwindles then changes back to colostrum at some point so hopefully she'll just ditch it then.

After a rough weekend I'm doing reasonably well again. Mornings are still bad but I seem to be better in teh afternoons than I was a couple of weeks ago so I'm hoping its improvement rather than just conincidence of last couple of days. Seems early for improvements (9 weeks today) bu FX!

You need to be a bit careful I think breast feeding with HG. I fed through a nasty fever/vomiting bug when DS was about 8 weeks old and I ended up back in hospital for a night as so ill and dehydrated. My breasts kept churning out the milk - v uncomfortable as took hours to get a pump in A&E - and the combination of vomiting and milk production wasn't good. Obv different if you are just doing one small comfort feed a day with a toddler, but I'd still be careful. It's really hard though, I feel for those of you in this position. DS is 19 months but I stopped feeding him at 10 months or so.

I am feeling rough this evening but had an ok day - managed to keep some of my food down at least. My Dad came to see me which was really nice.

Kali glad you're finally on an upward trend.

Welcome to other newbies, sorry you're here but it sounds like you're all being looked after.

26 weeks today. Feels like forever to go still.

Not bf here and still feel rough and having horrid food swings/aversions and sick in the evening, although I am not as bad as you all that's for sure . The tired of a newborn makes it worse for me - I remember feeling dreadful in my last trimester because I couldn't sleep and the nausea returning really badly in the morning.

It really depends on how long your hormones take to disappear for the nausea/vomiting to go away so I guess you bf ladies must have to maintain an amount of hormones to keep the bf up in the first instance?

Started on Ondansetron today, just taken my second dose; I'd already started the cycle of awful nausea so I'm hoping SO much that it kicks in soon. The thought of another night of sleeping in 30-min blocks is too much.

Hope everyone is doing ok this morning.

I've started getting some unpleasant side effects from these meds and also vomited quite badly this morning. Back to the GP for me. I've had a bit of a meltdown at poor DP, crying my eyes out, saying I wish I wasn't pregnant. Feeling rubbish today.

Basgetti we've all been there. DH has me crying on him and saying I hate being pregnant several times a week.

It's perfectly normal and no reflection on how you will love your baby.

HG just makes pregnancy utterly shit.

Totally second everything okla said. I couldn’t even bring myself to touch my bump when the sickness was at its worst and that made me feel awful and so guilty. But, as okla says, it isn’t a reflection on how much you will love your baby, just how awful hg makes you feel whilst pregnant.

I’m SOOOOO hot today... kept waking up last night too because of the heat and having to go to the bathroom and needing to turn over to my other side. Honestly, I could do with a crane to help move me from one side to the other in bed these days!

Had a bowl of fruit ’n fibre for breakfast today with a chopped up banana and milk

Thanks, it helps to know I'm not the only one who's felt like this. I had HG with my previous pregnancy but don't remember feeling this lousy!

Saw GP earlier, my ketones are back at 2+ which I think must be due to the bad vomiting earlier. He has stopped the Metoclopramide because of the side effects, which included a lot of eye twitching! He was unsure about Ondanestron when I suggested it so he rang the on call registrar to check and they said it was fine to prescribe as it is next in line on their protocol as nothing else has worked so far. So I have a small amount to see how I get on. Fingers crossed yet again!

Hope everyone is surviving the heat.

Wondering how people in full time work have coped with early pregnancy? My GP has acknowledged that I have a particularly severe case of NVP (though not HG), and I'm now on Ondansetron after other anti-emetics failed to curb my relentless night nausea. I was signed off work for two weeks and I've just come back into the office and work seem to be going out of their way to NOT meet me half way in making things more comfortable for me.

I also suffer with a physical disability that can limit my mobility and until now, it had been fine for me to work from home as needed, but they've now decided this isn't allowed even though my symptom are exacerbated by pregnancy. They are also requesting to write to my GP for more information - which seems to me to smack of them not believing me when I explain how ill I am feeling.

Any advice?

Fox my work wrote to my GP too. It might be standard procedure for easing you back in (though it doesn't sound like they're trying very hard!)

If work aren't being supportive see if you can signed off again or ask your GP to prescribe a phased return with reduced hours and / or working at home.

Hi All,

Checking in after a couple of days absence. I'm melting in the heat.

basgetti Fingers crossed the Ondansetron does the trick.

frenetic I coped with full time work by being signed off from week 7-20 and because of school holidays didn't actually go back until about week 22 and then it was on reduced hours. My work were fortunately really really good, I realise now how lucky I was. I think all you can do it allow them to write to the GP - who will only confirm the sick notes presumably? And keep getting signed off if you aren't able to do what they are asking of you. Some people really don't understand this horrible illness.

kali how is the return to oral meds going?

I think work is definitely too much at the moment. My GP is off until Monday so just two days to tough it out. Whereas before the nausea has been unbearable from about 8pm onwards - it's only 6pm and already feeling tearfully sick. So scared it's going to graduate to being sick (former emetophobia sufferer).

Feels like there's not an end in sight at all.

Fox we've all felt that way too (and still do some days).

As Lucinda says on the main title - this too shall pass. I used to function simply by getting through the next hour and some days that is still the case. And the time slowly passes but it does pass, you just have to hang on in there.

We are all here for you and will support you as much as possible. Rant/moan as much as you need to. You're almost one more day down!

Hi hope everyone is feeling ok today.

Does anyone know how long Ondanestron usually takes to work? I'm not keeping much down again, not sure how long to wait before going back to the GP, I'm really trying to avoid another hospital admission.

I think it's fairly fast basgetti :/ Not sure if it's one of the ones that builds up over a few doses. kali might know

frenetic you have my sympathy with the emetaphobia - I have that too and it has made my hg feel so much worse because it has triggered my panic attacks and had an awful impact on my panic and phobia disorder. hugs

Basgetti - each dose should work quickly but there is some cumulative effect too. It can work well with another drug like cyclizine or metoclopramide so that you can alternate them. You're on quite a low dose of ondansetron I think? So you could ask you GP about upping it if it's working but just not lasting long enough.

I am still in hosp and on drip but off pump at least. Reckon I might finally get out at the weekend if all goes smoothly but we'll see. We have been disappointed so often that I'm keeping my expectations low.

Hi all

sorry that lots of you are having such a lousy time at the moment. frenetic sounds a dreadful situation with work. Is your gp sympathetic? It really does not sound like you should be at work. Can you get an appointment for mon to get signed off again??

basgetti when I was in my worst states only iv ondansetron/ major amounts of iv fluids worked (iv ondansetron did help pretty quickly). Once under control a combo of oral cyclizine and ondansetron worked. Definitely think that effects of cyclizine are cumulative but if you are seeing no improvement soon with ondansetron I think you should go back to gp. I think whsn keytones are too high there is sometimes no way back without iv fluids- especially in the current heat.

great news that you are doing better kali- fingers crossed for this weekend for you!

Good to hear from lottie, okla, starry and everyone.

Hats off to all you bf mums with hg there is no way I could have managed it would have totally finished me off!

Please please take care of yourselves in this heat- I know I keep saying it!!

Yes I agree once the ketones are high you need fluids really. Have you got ketostix to check? I think also if you are vomiting a lot even if you don't actually vomit the pills you don't absorb them very well because your stomach just isn't working properly, so a day of two with a drip and IV drugs might be what you need Basgetti. Totally understand that you want to avoid it if possible though.

Beginning to look forward to getting out of hospital at long last though trying not to rely on it too much in case it all falls apart yet again. Bit daunting to manage off the drip for the first time in weeks.

No I haven't got any ketostix, I meant to get some but haven't yet. Yesterday morning the ketones were 2+, I was admitted to hospital just over 2 weeks ago with 3+ so I know I'm close to the line. Been sick on and off today, not done very well with food but kept some fluids down. I'll also start taking the cyclizine again, that's good advice.

Glad you are continuing to improve Kali, I really hope you get to go home soon x

Try sucking ice cubes and if you can manage ice pops as well basgetti and everyone. Xx

kali have you actually come off the drip yet as well? How has it been going with oral meds? It must feel like a huge step to dare to believe. Thinking of you and hoping for continued progress xx

No still on drip and they just put the steroids through it, I think they'll take me off the drip today though. Still finding drinking hard even though I'm eating ok so we'll see how that goes.