Hypermesis 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.

I've had 3 days off (Fri, Mon Tues ) following first hospital admission, then did a 5 hour day then a 2 hour day, then absolutely flaked and had the Friday off. Then it was half term (work in a school) then the Monday I was due back (last monday) I was readmitted to hospital. Signed off for the rest of last week, back in tomorrow on reduced hours and duties to see if I can manage a few hours a day - as much for my sanity as anything else! Luckily the best part of my day, by far, is the morning, so it puts me in as good a position as possible to try and get a few hours in. Im certainly not labouring under the belief that I won't be having more time off at some point, though.

Thanks :) I hope it doesn't last too long for you. I'll try the tinned peaches as well. Not sure if they even sell them here, but if they do I will have shot.

I really don't want to be off work if I can help it - our pay gets cut if we are, and I need to save up!

Skipton, I hope you manage to get some better meds soon. I was in a very similar situation to you, I didn't throw up much, just had constant nausea. Unfortunately it did then develop into vomiting a lot. I'm now on the same meds as eallison and at 14 weeks I'm feeling a lot better! I had about a month of work. One week of which was booked of as holiday anyway. I then went back on reduced hours for a couple of weeks and now I'm doing 4 shifts a week instead of my usual 5. I had to tell them I was pregnant a lot earlier than I wanted but they've been really good and are quite happy for me to take 10 minutes and sit down if I need to. Unfortunately with hg its very hard to keep it from employers.

It does get better. There were times when I was in hospital that I didn't want to be pregnant any more. Now I'm feeling a bit better, I'm a lot happier about it all

Hi dilly, if you don't mind me asking, at what point did it go from infrequent vomiting to frequent? Right now I feel like I could be sick all the time. I'm chucking up in my mouth a bit every hour at least, but not 'properly' spewing (sorry if that's graphic.)

I'm glad your felling better. I want this baby so much and I have my eyes on due date in October. I'm actually wondering if it might be twins... Despite eating nothing my waistbands are tight. Probably just The Bloat but still...

You're feeling. Sorry. Ipad keyboard plus wobbly paws :(

skipton you need to ask for something more. Meclozin is very mild, the mildest you can get.

Roughly in order of strength:

cyclizine (old fashioned anti-histamine; can make you sleepy) [meclozin is the equivilent of cyclizine + B6; I was on it too, under another name]
Metoclopramide (empties the stomach faster, less to upchuck)
Domperidone (similar)
Prochlorperazine (stemetil) (works on your sense of balance; also a travel remedy; can be good for some people).
Promethazine (called Phenergan)(stronger old fashioned anti-histamine, also sleepy-making)
Ondansetron (the strongest and best, but causes constipation).

I think you shoudl ask for something stronger. Not being in the UK, the swedish medics may be more comfortable with some meds and not with others, but you do need more than you're on now.

Getting sufficient meds early helps prevent the HG getting too bad in all but the worst cases.

Regarding your employer - are you in a union? can you ask them for help? also, again, do explain to your midwife or doctor the situation with the employer and ask for more meds to -try- to tide you over.

Do you speak swedish? can you find any HG groups in sweden? there should be something, hopefully. They might be able to help with advice.

And ... Im really sorry to say this ... but are you able to consider and plan for what woudl happen if things do get unmanageable? With good meds you mgiht avoid the worst, but planning how to manage the worst might give you some peace of mind, though ofc hope for the best :)

Good luck

durhamred how are you doing? :)

Hi meerka,

I am indeed in a union (yay for swedish work practises) so I will talk to them. If I can hang on until week 8, I have a private scan booked and I think seeing a heartbeat will make me feel better about telling work.

my swedish is still rudimentary as I haven't been here long. I'm ok in cafes etc but not really up to much else. I don't have a real support network here yet - work keep me too busy to socialise - but I do have a wonderfully supportive hubby. First pregnancy so no little uns to take care of and a tiny flat so sod housework :)

I think I'm going to try to get a midwife appt next week and talk to them. She was very sympathetic when I wasthere last and did say to go back if it got worse. I think I've just been trying to tough it out. I thought this was normal, to be honest.

I know it's irrational but the thought of taking anything scares me. I'm a geneticist by training and so probably know enough to be freaked out but not enough to be reassured!

Ladies, thank you so much for your support. Means a lot.

I started feeling really sick at around 5 or 6 weeks and really started suffering at about 8 or 9. I ended up in hospital 3 times with severe dehydration. It was only after the 3rd time that they agreed to give me stronger meds.

I'm now loads better though and managing to eat and drink a fair amount and don't feel like I'm constantly about to puke!

Yes, do go back. It's not normal, it's incapacitating and um ... im sorry, but it could get worse :(

interesting summary of the biggest study of ondansetron: reported in the New English Journal of Medicine

The actual situation is that cyclizine (and equivilents like what you're on) have been used by 'millions' of women with no ill effects and one of the equivilents is actually considered an FDA cat drug A. The others are Cat B or C, with few formal big studies except for ondansetron. But again the others have been heavily used for years now, at least 10+ and often longer. They are considered in effect safe, and I gather less risky than being dehydrated.

The only proviso is that except for cyclizine-equivs the very long term effects are not fully known. Even so the general view as far as I can see is that dehydration is considered riskier than the drugs currently recommended. Metoclopramide is the only one that can be a bit iffy to the mother (completely safe for the baby) if you get the side effects of twitching and trembling.

By the way the Pregnancy Sickness Support helpline Mother Hen recommended has an elderly very experienced doctor who can speak to with you, if you leave a message. He has worked extensively with one of the big UK hg-specialised professors in the UK, who's at Warwick.

(I'm not a med-person myself, only worked in a hospital pharmacy for a while at a low level, but did quite a bit of reading about HG at the start of the 2nd HG preg)

Thanks meerka :) I read that metclopromide can cause extra pyramidal side effects (these are more common in younger women, for some reason, no idea why...) I will go to my doc next week and see what they say.

Interesting paper, thank you - just looking at the abstract it seems that some negative effects were lower in the zofran group! Maybe there's some truth in the idea that hg is associated with healthy babies.... I know my poor mum suffered horribly with me.

I'm just grateful that I have a supportive hubby. Honestly, I am going to treat him to something nice once I feel better. He's been amazing.

It getting worse is what I worry about and you're absolutely right - I need to plan for that. Right now I'm forcing myself to sip constantly as I do feel dehydrated. I will sip more.

I'm intruiged to see if it's twins. They're in the family. Hubs thinks I'm barmy. :)

Hi Meerka I'm not doing too badly thank you. Nausea seems to be abating and have now totally stopped taking ondansetron at 37 weeks (been on antisickness meds since 3.5 weeks so lovely to be med free at last!!).

I'm still having growth scans on a weekly basis as little Redette has decided she likes being a small baby (as the sonographer put it, I'm going to have a dinky baby) so I'm just taking each day/week as it comes. Not long to go now until I get to meet my little girl...then I know all the suffering will have been totally worth it.

do post here when you want to skipton.

HG is so very isolating because not that many people get it, but many people think they know what you're talking about because they've had lower levels of sickness. They don't realise that HG is to normal morning sickness what a typhoon is to a summer breeze. Also many health care professionals don't realise what it's like unless they have gone through it themselves :s This thread, well, people here are welcoming and have lots of good tips. Different levels of sickness but always friendly =)

durham very glad to hear Redette is doing okay in her petite sort of way. Your digestive system will be happy to be ondan-free :)

Skipton I can only agree with the advice of the others - re any danger of sacking, US boss who doesn't believe in sick leave or not, I can't believe he'd get away with it in Sweden, particularly if you're in a union. Nobody wants to take drugs in pregnancy, but again, as the others say, rather than face the dangers of dehydration, it's much better to take the proven safe ones, and I do hope your medics give you something stronger that will help more. It does get a lot better for almost everyone. I can understand your being alarmed - it is frightening - but everyone on here is very nice and will give you lots of support.
dilly I'm so glad that you are so much better and DurhamRed My best wishes to 'dinky' Baby Durham, and eallison Mother Hen clucks and says do try not to overdo it. I know it's difficult financially when you're off sick for ages, but... Well, you know what I'm going to say.
Meerka How long till the Tying of the Tubes did you say? I hope Wilhelm is thriving. Well, if he thrived inside, after all that drama...
Waves to Hello elizabethsmum and everyone...

I've just had a horrid return to work meeting. I feel like my boss didn't hear what I was saying. I told him I want to be here as much as I can, but don't want to push myself too far, as well as making clear (or at least trying to) though I'm eating, I'm not eating much and thus don't a deal of energy. It was the agreed (ie he said and I didn't feel able to say anything else) that I will work til 2 pm every day this week, with unspoken understanding that I'll be back to full time from next Monday. I felt completely railroaded. I thought I'd made it clear how much in struggling but want to try to do. But clearly not. I'm now sitting in the chapel (where I'm based) trying to eat snack a jacks, feeling very queasy and trying not to cry (don't wanna waste precious fluids!).

eallison is it possible for you to go back to your docs and get a fit note suggesting reduced hours? This is what I have done and I'm not continuing on 4 hours a day until I go on May leave end of May

oh ealli what a shame. How unwise of him :/

Please do get to the doctor as hello said and get a sicknote. you really are not in a fit state to return to work!

Hope you're surviving ok hello

My sick note species reduced hours... He's rediced them by 2 hours! I am tempted to go to docs and just get signed off completely; I feel like if he can't play at supportive and reduced hours, why should I bother trying!?

Is there an HR department that you can speak to? Can they get him to offer somethign reasonable instead of this farce?

if not then honestly ealli it's probably your best bet to get signed completely off :/ HG really gets worse if you overdo it. It can get much worse.

Going in and vomitting on the carpet 3 times in a morning outside his office so that it smells is the best third option. He'll see that it really is better to let you take things easy.

Blimey the thread is busy- will catch up later- briefly eallison so sorry that your boss is seemingly so unsympathetic. the stress of this is likely to make hg worse I'm sorry to say. to be fair to your boss he has unlikely to have had much experience of hg so may be more receptive if you have a sick note from your doctor etc as suggested ? for 4 hrs a day for 4 weeks to be reviewed etc etc. if not as meerka has said you would probably be better being signed off completely until you are much better than at the moment. ime the workplace- whether your boss is sympathetic or not- is a pretty unforgiving place with hg and once you are visibly there people assume you are ok to get on with it. please think of yourself and baby take care as I have learned that no one else will if you don't and you don't get much thanks for it- sorry to sound bossy!!

My sick note is very specific and doesn't just say reduced hours it actually says '4 hours a day and no more'.

If you do this then I don't think they can argue!

I've booked a telephone consultation with a particularly sympathetic gp for Thursday, Il just have to get thru til then. I'm not gonna stay til 2 pm if I can't.

Oh that sounds awful. Agree with the others, you need a fit note. Poor you. If I could, I'd go and puke on him for you.

I called the midwife today. She agreed that this isn't normal ms and says there's no reason to suffer. She is going to talk to the doc and get me a prescription for something stronger ( I couldn't catch the name) and then if that doesn't work they will look at signing me off for a rest week or some rest days. My boss will have kittens, but frankly, she can deal with it. I regularly do 60+ hours a week, so for once, they can accommodate me.

Of course, I burst into tears because the midwife was so nice. I'm a wreck.

skipton ... < gentle hug > you've done the right thing.

Yay for supportive midwives! really glad you can get something a bit stronger.

Skipton I so agree with Meerka - my goodness, you need to be off; youj're too ill to do a low pressure job, bu sixty hours? And yet poeple imagine social conditions have improved in the last few decades'1
eallison I do hope you get something sorted out, as you aren't up to this either. Great advice from elizabethsmum Meerka and Hello as ever.
Hello How are things now? Any improvement again, dare I ask?