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.

Mellebacca, Elizabethsmum, Motherofpearl, Lucindae, Eallison88, thank you for a warm welcome and your support. Up until now I have been told to 'put up with it' (doctor) that I am exagerating (Mil) and someone told me I was thinking about it too much and look alright... At my worst I opened a dusty tin of fruit salad and spooned the syrup from it to get moisture (!!!)The metallic taste in my mouth is still driving me crazy but I am much better. I can only say I had no idea. My idea was natural wholesome yoga earth mother- the reality is vomit, doughnuts, potatoes, coke, sofa and weight gain. I had no idea water would become my arch enemy. I feel like I should run a marathon for the cause (not right now) and spread the word and I feel hugely sympathetic to anyone who suffers this. Some things that helped me; flat coke and lemonade, and at times nesquick with banana and ice, apple juice, and fresh pinapple with a little squeezed lemon sugar and water. I would also put a slice of cucumber in my mouth (couldnt eat it tho). If that helps anyone. Hugely grateful to have found your support so many thanks mumsnet and mumsnetters xxxxx

I was talking to my SIL a couple of weeks ago, she's due with her 3rd the day before me. She said that her midwife counted vomiting as each time you have a gagging sensation that brings something up. This is opposed to how I've been counting it, which is to count each vomiting session as one. Now each vomiting session I generally go until I can't bring anything else up which tends to be between 5 and 10 gagging sensations. I'm just wondering if anyone else has heard about this theory. It makes the U.S. Blogs I've read to be a bit more believable as 100 times of vomiting a day seemed near impossible. Even at my worst, vomiting every half an hour, there's no way I could've had 100 vomiting sessions.

I've never counted individual vomits, only episodes. It would be too depressing to count each vomIt! And actually, I'd count those thirty minute dry heaving sessions as well, too painful and distressing to ignore!

Today I've been reminded of the joys of vomiting si violently it comes thru your nose. I'm going to bed to wake up tomorrow to a better day! Hope everyone else has managed a better day than me!

Eallison - a fantastic process I have figured out that takes the agony out of dry heaving. I have a glass of water next to the toilet at all times and when the heaving is not stopping and pain is beginning, I skull the glass of water. Wait a minute and then it all comes up again. Way less painful than dry heaving for ages.

I always was told to count each individual actual vomit too (lovely!) which is why for me 100 times a day was about right. The day I got admitted to hosp at 16 weeks this time I had been sick 60 times by lunchtime.

When I was pregnant with my son a couple of years ago and my doctors didn't believe me (it was just morning sickness apparently and when they found out it was my first pregnancy they cared even less) I rang 111 in desperation who asked me how many individual times I had vomited that day / when I told him he swiftly sent me to A&E.
So I have always counted it like that!

I think that's where I went wrong! I counted each vomiting episode not each individual vomit too. No wonder it didn't sound like I was suffering as bad as some people with hg do!! Maybe I should have counted each individual heave too!

I'm glad to report that my number is now zero though

bubble quite a few people find tinned peach / pear juice helpful too, like you. Also sipping v hot or v cold drinks, or sucking tiny bits through a straw.

Yes, HG really, really is foul! Forget glowing pregnancies :s

I was counting each vomitting session too! It's a bit of a false measure though to me as it discounts the incapacitating nausea and really objectively keeping a close eye on the ketones is more reliable.

Where did we get with an updated due date list? My ELCS is booked for 23rd june

Elizabethsmum, thanks for great advice about work... taking some annual leave instead of sick-leave is really good idea and would bring me back to full-pay for some of calculation period. I hadn't thought of doing that and haven't yet booked annual leave this year so have plenty to use up. I'll ring HR and manager tomorrow. I think the calculation period is the 8 weeks prior to the 15th week before expected due date but need to check this. With each year of continuous NHS service the sick-pay increases by 1 month, so if I'd been working 3 years I'd get 3 months full pay 3 months half-pay etc. Unfortunately it doesn't reset if return for a few days, as it's the total no of sick days over rolling 12-months. I think some trusts are different though, as my friend works for a trust that re-sets it.

Ealli, how are you feeling today, any better? Hope the vomiting eases off soon. It's horrible having a bad day after a good stretch.

Bubbles, re liquids I find I can only tolerate tiny amounts if I'm even slightly nauseous, or it comes straight back up. When sickness is bad I get wildly thirsty and it's hard to control how much I drink, so I put drinks into a shot-glass to remind me not to drink more than that in one go. Like Ealli, I find fizzy drinks easier to tolerate than water. Flat coke, ginger-beer, sprite are good. Tiny amounts of thick juice, or cereal with lots of milk. Chocolate almond-milk was good too. Calypso lollies and ice-pops were invaluable when I couldn't keep liquids down. On good days I can tolerate small cup of coffee as well.

I had no idea you're supposed to count the individual vomits not sessions. I always counted sessions. When it was bad every session usually meant vomiting at least 10x as I'd keep going until bringing up bile then dry-heaving. Not sure I would have managed to count though as I used to struggle to breathe/swallow during violent vomiting and would be panicking over this rather than counting (or frantically signalling DH for water as couldn't speak when gagging). Thinking back to how it was a month ago made me realise I've made more progress than I realised, as sessions like that used to happen several times a day, now they happen once every few days. I still throw up every eve but the sessions are much shorter (2-3x per session rather than 10+ and without that horrible sensation of choking).

Had a very good day yesterday, met a friend and walked in park for hours, managed a toasted sandwich and coffee in cafe. Only mild nausea all day, was sick once in eve.

caspian it's so nice having a good day isn't it? Makes you appreciate little things like being able to go for a walk etc

Hope that will take some of the worry off caspian - keep us posted!

interesting 're counting vomit!- i only ever included actual sessions- 7-8 times per day on average but if you counted every single 'heave' / 'wretch' etc then it would be 10 x that I guess. I always wondered how people had time to be sick 100 times per day but I suppose it makes sense now!

love that we can have such conversations on this thread and none of us bat a eyelid!

I wasn't counting dry heaves just when I brought something back up whether that be water etc or stomach bile (sorry tmi).

mine were ball park figures as I didn't have the energy to actually write numbers down

I'm feeling better today, but not as good as I have done. It's so frustrating to have a bad day, cos i know that the next day is gonna be difficult cos of the lack of food I kept down on the bad day. But it's nowhere near as bad as it has been, so that's a relief.

Tinned peaches and their juice were probably the only thing I managed to eat consistently and successfully for about 3 weeks at my absolute worse. I think tinned fruit is generally quite successful. And oddly enough, calyppo lollies were really good as well (lemon and lime more so, but I've long had issues with oranges/orange juice).

Mellebacca I never realised that, and it makes so much sense to count that way. Of course, when really nauseated you can go on heaving twenty times each session, real torture, and the debilitating nature of that can't be reflected if is just counted as a session.
eallison and others - how silly of me to forget to mention the juice of tinned fruit, when I always trot that out. Maybe it's the sweetness that makes it somehow bearable just as salty foods can be more bearable, too.
elizabethsumum and others - great advice, as ever.
Caspian and others - so glad to hear of some improvement.

Bubble I' meant to say I'm really indignant about medics saying things like that; it's bad enough with relatives...
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked. Waves to Meerka

Hi everyone,

You may not remember me, I posted a while back now. I haven't been diagnosed with HG, but suffered with sickness and 24/7 nausea. At 14 weeks I was put on metoclopromide and was signed off work at 16 weeks.

I've also had extreme exhaustion, where I literally can't do anything. After lots of pushing my Dr and lots of blood tests, I've been told this week that I'm anaemic. My HB is 10.3, but my ferritin level is 6 (should be between 12-150, but ideally around 70). This explains the exhaustion, and the Dr wonders if it's effecting my sickness too. I'm now waiting on an appointment to have iron via IV.

I've been off work for 2 months/10 weeks now, so my sick pay goes into half pay, which would basically be SSP, so I have to go back tomorrow :( I'm so worked up about it.

In the whole 2 months that I've been off, not a single work colleague has been in touch to see how I am. Management have not been in touch either, not even to check on me, or see if there's anything they can do, or offer reduced hours or anything. Makes me feel like I'm not even wanted or needed there tbh. I'm so worked up about having to see everyone, and I'm honestly not well enough to return. According to Internet research, with my ferritin level, I should be in hospital...not that my Dr seems bothered though.

Sorry, this has turned into a winge, I didn't mean it to. I guess I just needed to let it out, and I worry dh is fed up of hearing it all! Just don't know how I'm gonna get through tomorrow :(

Oh penguin. That sounds awful, my heart goes out to you. I wish I knew what to say, but I know nothing about the UK system (I'm in NZ).
Shouldn't the doctor be able to provide you with a note to have you off work until you get the iron? Low iron will cause you to be more likely to faint if you're put under strain as well, so that's no good for you, baby or your workplace. My work has pretty much refused to have me on site until I'm strong enough to not get light-headed etc because someone fainting on site is a huge H&S issue.
Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Hi melle, sorry you're struggling too :(
The Dr would sign me off, but I can't afford to be on SSP. I'm wondering though, if by going in tomorrow, if it'll 'restart' my sickness if that makes sense?

If you're not feeling well, I would be hesitant about going to work due to the stress it puts on your body. That tends to make the hyperemesis flair up. Yesterday I went to the in-laws and walked a few hundred meters around their new property. I got home feeling viciously nauseous and needed to lie in bed for the rest of the day. Then I started today off with a vomiting session. So point of the story is, even the smallest extra exertion can set you back for a few days.

Penguin, sorry to hear you're still suffering. Hopefully the iron IV might improve things and help lift the nausea a bit, if anaemia is making nausea worse. Have you got to wait long for the IV?
It's awful having to return to work before you're ready, when you know you need time off to recover. I wish there was a solution! Elizabethsmum suggested taking some annual leave to recover without losing full-pay, so I'm going to look into doing this as I'm already on half-pay and not ready to return. It's a shame there aren't more systems in place to safeguard pregnant women against reductions in sick-pay, as forcing yourself to go back too soon can make sickness and tiredness so much worse.
I think it's appalling your manager hadn't kept in contact or checked how you are the whole time you've been off. Sounds like you'd be better with a phased return. Would you still get paid full time salary if went back on phased return?
I changed jobs part way through my sick-leave, as had already handed in notice when found out I was pregnant. I managed the training days plus 3 days in new job, then HG relapsed and I had to go back on sick-leave. I think the stress of working made sickness a lot worse, I'm scared of triggering it again when I eventually do return.

Hello, yes it was wonderful to get out and about in sunshine yesterday, and feel sun on skin instead of just looking at it through window!

sorry very quickly penguin it really does not sound like you are well enough to go to work tomorrow- especially with such low iron levels that require iv iron. stress with the whole situation will clearly not be helping but beside that it sounds like you should be seen asap 're iron. sorry you are in such a worrying situation with sick pay and everything. was wondering if you meant by 'restart' sickness you meant whether it was likely to come back? - i me stress and fatigue make it much worse plus going back to work on top, what type of work do you do? these days you have to be signed back as 'fit to work' don't you so I would be surprised if your gp said you were ok to go back? if you get iv iron in the next few days maybe it will improve matters and you will be a lot better and hence might only have to have ssp for a week or two.
Are you going back on phased return , which strictly speaking you should- although I didn't - even though I should have- after 10 weeks off, although I felt well enough to go back, was only part time and had a week off the following week so felt too guilty to insist!

crossed posts with caspian but yes also maybe consider annual leave??

I can't take annual leave, as I work in a school so holidays are our annual leave, if that makes sense. Would be a good idea otherwise!
I'm not going back on a phase return, as I literally haven't heard a single thing from work, other than when I phone up and speak to the person who organises cover (who says Ooo this has been going on a while etc). I think my manager should have been in touch, and there should be provisions for me going back.

With regards to restarting sick, I meant like...my 2 months full pay have run out, of I go back and am off again, whether I would be paid again. Have studied our terms and conditions and it doesn't say there is a limit to how many times you can claim that before they take the pay away. It just says if they think you are abusing it it will be stopped. I had 8 weeks off last year tho when my best friend died as I had panic attacks, so I know I look like a piss taker to them. All I want though, is to be able to enjoy the pregnancy like other people I know.

I have no idea about the wait for the IV iron and I don't know if it'll be a one off thing, or whether I will need several treatments. I'm thinking the later. I had to put a formal complaint in to the Dr's to get this far, so I'm hoping they'll hurry the referral through...hopefully it will only be a week or so wait, but as I'm only 26 weeks,the hospital might give me an appointment weeks from now. It's all a waiting game at the moment! And I'm waiting on my GTT results, should get a phone call tomorrow if I have it!

Thanks for all the support everyone