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.

Thank you LucindaE Melleebacca and all for your support. Last night I had a vomiting episode again in the evening - it feels like it takes the enamel off my teeth (and comes out my nose too- all very attractive):/ But better today and trying to drink and eat. Seeing the doctor next week and will get ketostix. I don't live in the UK and am in quite a rural village, the Dr I go to was quite insistent on no medication...and as I was eating doughnut and potatoes I have put on weight- I feel like I can deal with it more now but before (I was too sick to look at a computer or find mumsnet) I never felt so ill or alone, I dont have my family nearby and people didn't understand when I said I was ill - it was brushed off like an exaggeration. How did/do you all cope (mentally as well as physically? without going bat s@!t crazy)

Are there any clinical studies/explanations?

..besides all of this means birth will be a piece of cake right?! laughs hysterically

Huge Hugs and stay Strong xxxx

Wow so many new joiners to the thread since I last looked! Nothing to add really as there is already so much amazing advice here, Even if the suggestions don't work I always found that having something know what you were experiencing and having somewhere to vent helped.

Sickness is now on and off for me but the biggest problem is my spd, had a bit of a fall the other day (my own fault) so think I've done some damage to my pelvis. Really hope the physio I have booked next week will help as I can't tolerate another 7 weeks of this!

Hi Bubble - I don't live in the UK either, I'm in NZ, but fortunately my doctor was all for prescribing medication as soon as I told him I wasn't keeping anything down.

I struggle with the mental side of the condition more than the physical. I'm not used to being so unenergetic or dependent on my husband for almost everything. In order to keep me distracted, I read a lot. I couldn't deal with the movement from movies and tv until last week. I would lie perfectly still in bed and read hyperemesis blogs and websites. A girl I went to high school was a sufferer as well and she survived by listening to hypnobirthing videos on YouTube. I couldn't handle that as focusing on my body and breathing took my focus to my nausea and I would vomit. Distraction was best for me.

Hello, hope your SPD improves soon and the physio helps.

Bubble, I think coping mentally is a big challenge with hg. I find it easier to endure as the weeks go by. The more the baby grows the more excited I feel about becoming a mum. The first months were hardest, as I went from having a very busy active job to being at home all day, too sick to go out. Like Mellee, I read a lot. I also listen to music, work on creative projects, write letters/emails to family and friends. When I feel very nauseous I lie down and try to sleep, or visualise that I'm somewhere else. I try to balance resting with active things like housework, stretching exercises, pregnancy yoga, short walks. I can't watch more than 1hour TV without it triggering vomiting so I choose my TV programs carefully! I don't go out unless I have to or I'm having a good day and feel up to it and taking the pressure off really helped. Hg is an endurance game more than anything. I found it helpful to stop thinking 'when will this end' and start accepting it will definitely end when the baby's born. Maybe it will end sooner if I'm lucky, or improve to the point I can go back to work and resume my normal activities. Until then I'm trying not to expect too much. Rest helps more than anything.

Such good suggestions for coping mentally. What Caspian says about accepting it will end when the baby's born really resonates with my experience. I wish I had been better at that, because what really got me down, was that after the initial really horrific stage, I settled into a pattern of some better hours/days which were inevitably followed by a return of vomiting. Always felt so crushed after I'd stupidly thought, 'maybe this time I'm really turning a corner'. I tried to cope by sleeping as much as possible, as being awake I was always aware of that knawing nausea. Also read a lot, and did jigsaws. And listened to a LOT of Radio 4.
Bubble, not sure if there's anything you can do to protect tooth enamel. It's certainly an issue. I'd only ever had one filling in my whole life until HG, then had 3 in quick succession after my HG pregnancy. It's made worse because teeth cleaning (and minty toothpaste) can trigger vomiting - they certainly did for me.
Waves to Lucinda and everyone.

sorry for silence. Back now.

hello to new people. Hope you are surviving.

I listened to loads of radio 4 too! Tastes like Home to me :) even if you're not actually listening if you are not able to concentrate, the talking was soothing.

when i started improving I did a bit of needlepoint/tapestry, working with my hands seemed to be relaxing. same as jigsaws, like MoP :)

bubble about meds. Ring the PReg Sickness Support line. Leave a message and they will get back to you. Dr Tony there is very experienced in HG and he was willing to talk through meds with me on the phone and even to arrange a prscription of ondansetron as long as I paid for it. I'd tried cyclizine + B6 by getting a friend in the UK to send them out to me. I actually managed to get some metoclopramide in the end from one single gynecologist (BLESS HER, trust me she got quite a present at the end of the preg, she was the only supportive one and she really made a differnce) so Dr Tony didnt have to send out the meds. But he was willing to. It's worth asking.

There are quite a lot of clinical studies but it's somethign that was overlooked for a long time so people still don't really know much. But HG seems to be caused by a severe reaction to the HcG hormone that is released by preg, the one that the faint blue line detects, plus reactoin to the other hormones. It's not fully understood yet, but they are certain that the reaction to the HcG hormone is a big part of it.

Do post whenever you need to here

hope everyone is coping with today.

Hi Meerka - my midwife phrased HG so well by saying "your body is having an extreme allergic reaction to the pregnancy hormones". This is not to imply that baby is doing anything wrong, just that the hormones produced by your body are also making your body sick.
I'm also allergic to the contraceptive pill, which is made up of progesterone and estrogen. I think this is linked in some way, as my reaction is the same as HG, copious vomiting and nausea. I can handle the mini-pill which is just progesterone, so it's likely I'm allergic to estrogen. Yay for being allergic to being a woman! :)

You are all so lovely tears Thank you thank you thank you for just understanding and supporting I am going to call the Preg sickness support line and ask some more questions.
My mum sent me the Karl Pilkington Abroad box set - it did make me chuckle through the worst bit of HG. ;)
Melleebacca -my sister lives in NZ! and funnily I also have had problems with the pill. I had had a vision of an ethereal natural pregnancy and brought Annabel Karmel 'eating for two' amongst others. haha.

The past couple of mornings I've woken up feeling really sick I do hope this isn't the hg returning. I've been doing so well!

Everyone, new thread urgently needed, may this link come out as I often manage to mess 'em up...
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy?call=NewConversationPage
Gentle pats for all those suffering. Welcome back to Meerka. Excellent advice from her and elizabethsumum as ever. My annoying cat has just deleted a long post, but see you over on the new thread.

I might have known it, Mother Hen's claws messed that link up.
Try
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/2369119-Hyperemesis-Support
My goodness, hope that works [red face]

Hi, I just wanted to say how thankful I am for this thread and all the people that have posted!

I didn’t know that the pregnancy sickness support existed and thought I was overreaching but I have been told that I do have severe morning sickness and no longer feel completely insane or as alone as I did!

I also go some amazing advice about triggers and realise that working at my laptop is a big one so I can do something about it!

If in doubt reach out to the helpline - they are amazing!!!