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Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

Hypermesis Support

987 replies

LucindaE · 05/02/2015 17:19

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.

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Greenrememberedhills · 22/02/2015 16:32

Please excuse me poking my nose into a thread on an issue which no longer affects me, and I'm probably well out of date.

But I just wanted to say I had hyperemesis with my first, and constant sickness until at least 20 weeks with my second to fourth.

I found for me that very small regular meals helped, with baked potatoes and dry iced buns a favourite. I suspect there is something about that sort of carbohydrate which absorbs the hormone or something!

But not toast. God, no.

It really will one day be a distant memory.

eallison88 · 22/02/2015 16:42

Baked potato sounds like it might have potential. Will Try That!

Greenrememberedhills · 22/02/2015 16:47

Well I vomited my way through two pregnancies before I discovered them!

Original poster
LucindaE · 22/02/2015 16:48

greenmembereddhills Great to have your suggestion - and though you may have had it long ago, so did I, but you never forget the loneliness and misery of it, and the lack of understarstanding (which was even worse a few years ago); some doctors said it was ';sychological' then. Feel free to join us if you've a mind; your advice would be valuable.
Hope everyone is coping today.

OP posts:
eallison88 · 22/02/2015 19:53

So today is a bad day. My hubby just came upstairs cos he was so worried about the noises I was making. There is no food left inside me to bring up, but apparently my stomach likes the challenge. How the hell do I get thru potentially the next 31 weeks?!

BlueberryWafer · 22/02/2015 21:30

Hi all sorry I've not been very active recently. I'm 36+5 and so sick of being sick! Spent today at the labour ward being monitored for reduced foetal movement, but all was well in the end thank goodness Smile

Eallison have you tried having a gulp of water so you at least have something to bring back? Sounds grim but it stops you throwing up every last bit of stomach acid.

Greenrememberedhills · 22/02/2015 21:39

Lucinda you had a similar experience to me- I'm 54 and had my first over 30 years ago, and a few of the clinical staff were awfully ignorant. There was nothing worse than being so sick that you woke vomiting in the night, only to hear that it was psychological.

I got the sack for it during my first pregnancy too!

trixy04 · 22/02/2015 21:52

Ok, another meal in, another meal out - taking this as a sign to stay off next week.

greenrememberedhills, for some reason i really like toast, with a bit of salty butter, it just tastes so good. I've been reading up ideas to beat the dreaded constipation and i need fibre..... que the beans ! I need other ideas for fibre as consitpation is knocking on my door and the lack of enough water is making me ever so dried out.

eallison88 · 23/02/2015 08:21

I might try the gulp of water trick blueberry. Awful morning as well, vomited already. Just tried to eat something cos so hungry, but expecting it to make a reappearance before very long. Got a GP apt at 10.10 so I'm just focusing on getting as far as that. I feel like I'm back to where I started; vomiting whenever I eat, constant heart burn, constant stomach churning and cramping.

blueberry nearly there! Glad baby is ok

Onemilliongal · 23/02/2015 09:07

Morning ladies, I hope whoever is suffering is getting some sort of help, sorry for jumping in with my queries, I have been suffering with severe HG , was hospitalised and given anti sickness it's coming to 4 weeks and I feel better well am still vomiting but only 2 times a day. now I was told by the senior stuff nurse on my discharge that I should not stop taking the anti sickness even if I feel better but Iam 12 weeks today and feel a lot better should I continue taking the anti sickness am just wondering if I feel better because am 12 weeks now or is it because the anti sickness has kicked in? The other reason why I need some advise is my anti sickness is almost running out and I do have to see my doctor for more and if I am feeling better I see no point plus i just wonder how long I have to take the anti sickness for it makes me drowsy as well . Sorry for the long post but any advise would be great and to all those suffering it does get better if you have the right anti sickness thanks

Onemilliongal · 23/02/2015 09:15

Basically I just want to know if any one has tried to stop taking the anti sickness and how they felt I just don't want to stop if it's going to come back severely and if any one has stopped taking anti sickness how did you know it was the right time to stop ?

Original poster
LucindaE · 23/02/2015 10:10

Onemilliongirl Some very lucky people feel better at about twelve weeks, but somewhere between fourteen and twenty for enough improvement to come off the meds is more common. A lot just have to keep on with them throughout to feel human; some feel so much better on them that they try and come off too soon and the symptoms just start up again, so it seems a bit early. Bossy Mother hen says order some more and try and don't try and reduce yet.
Eallison This sounds awful - don't try and struggle on, you'll end up being admitted at this rate; if a pregnant woman can't retain fluids and it goes on for more than twenty-four hours, it's a medical emergency after all, so do make an emergency appointment telling them so, for new meds.
It honestly won't be as bad as this for the whole time - it gets a lot bettre for almost everyone;
Blueberry Poor you - I do feel for you; it's so hard on those who have it throughout; you must be sick, too, of people saying 'not long now' so I'll just offer gentle pats.
Trixy and everyone - sorry about awful days and food reappearing - I rememeber thinking it was like a grotesque conjuring trick. You are at the worst stage. Remind me what meds you're on now?
Greenrememberhills My daughter's a teenager now - and that psychological explanation hung about in some doctors' minds for a very long time, unfortunately -I hope to goodness it's seen as totally discredited now.
It's dreadful you were sacked.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.

OP posts:
Onemilliongal · 23/02/2015 10:55

Thank you LucindaE, I will definitely order some more meds and take them until the sickness is completely gone.

eallison88 · 23/02/2015 11:34

Just arrived at the hospital. Doctor said that was nothing more they could do at community level, so rang EPU who asked for me to go in. interestingly I was left to my own devices to get myself here. A severely dehydrated woman, with sever sickness, left to make it to a hospital a 15 minute drive away. Luckily, I drove home (2 minute drive) and asked a neighbour to bring me.

I'm now sat on a bed waiting for someone to assess me. On a bed in a ward of 4. and someone has just cleaned the floor and the smell is turning my stomach. And I don't know where the nearest toilet is.

Original poster
LucindaE · 23/02/2015 11:55

Eallison Again, poor you. You think thee'd be one of those horrible cardboard type bowls under the bed for an emergency, but one of the nurses might have told you; I hope someone can point the way to the loos. I'm dismayed, too, that they didn't think of how you were to get to hospital. What level of ketones are you? I hope they'll soon have you on a drip so you start feeling a bit better. Do keep us informed.
Onemilliongal It's the best tihing to stay on them for a bit. I hope you soon feel completely better.
Blueberry I forgot to say - insensitive of me - that was disturbing about the movements thing. How often is the puking now?

OP posts:
elizabethsmum · 23/02/2015 11:57

eallison sorry that you are suffering so badly but glad you have a good gp who has got you admitted- a neighbour had to take me into hospital several times also! (she had also had hg so was very sympathetic). you will feel much better with some iv fluids on board.

trixy feeling ok at home and managing at work are completely different ime. During my first hg pg I kept trying to struggle on but it was awful- would have a week off here and there in amongst various admissions but never got totally on top of hg tbh. with second pg (twins) hg was very severe from weeks 7-11 and moderate up to week 15 but then much improved after that- I had 10 weeks off sick and got on top of it with meds a lot better and I am convinced it is because I didn't rush back too soon that time.

greenrememberedhills good to have you on the thread- I too am a former sufferer but will never forget how awful hg is. words of wisdom welcome here Smile

onemillion it may be that hg is easing but also may be improved due to meds (once they have a chance to get into your system they are often more effective than you realise). the fact that you are still vomming twice a day would make me suspect the latter. I would suggest getting more meds from gp then at least you have them- you could always try reducing (not too quickly though) and see what happens. I wouldn't do it until you have had a few vom free days. I stayed on meds throughout first pg and in second until 28 weeks (although had been vastly improved from 15 weeks that time), didn't want to relapse as it is awful once you have been a bit better.

waves to everyone

eallison88 · 23/02/2015 12:31

still waiting to see a doctor. Spoken to two students, which I don't mind cos at least it distracted me for a bit. Ketones were 2+ at docs, just given another sample (makes me laugh when they keep asking for samples when I'm so bloody dehydrated!). Last time it took 4 hours from arrival to getting a drip... let's see if it's any quicker this time!

I went and found myself a cardboard bowl.

Meerka · 23/02/2015 13:21

hi onemiillion what meds are you on? is it promethazine or cyclizine (you mentioned drowsy, that's a side effect of those meds)

The meds prescribed are considered safe in preg, more safe than getting dehydrated for certain. As lucinda says very very few people with HG get better at 12 weeks. at 14 you may begin to improve a bit but it can take as long as 21 or 22 weeks to really notice a difference.

The improvement -will- come but generally it's better to stay on the meds. Also, if you get some more then you can choose if you want to try one day without meds and see how it goes, but then go back on them if it goes badly.

Original poster
LucindaE · 23/02/2015 13:45

eallison I'm glad you've got that bowl and I hope they start treatment soon.
Waves to Meerka elizaethsmum and everyone.

OP posts:
Hellohellohowareyou · 23/02/2015 13:46

onemiillion im 22 week tomorrow, still vomiting in the morning. I'm on cyclizine, was x 3 a day but last week I dropped this down to x 2 a day which has been ok.

This is what I did in my first pregnancy just gradually lowered the amount of tablets I was taking daily which worked well for me

eallison88 · 23/02/2015 13:47

No ketones now so not dehydrated, so I'm fine apparently. Nothing more they can do than the 4mg of ondansetron I'm already on.and the doctor assures me it'll get better after 12 weeks, so only 3 more weeks to get thru.

and then I started crying. He sat there for a while, then said that he'd come and check on me again in a few hours then left. Left me on my own in the cubicle sobbing. And the only person who showed any interest in me was after 6 or 7 minutes, and was a student nurse. And she didn't know what hell to do and offered me a cup of tea or coffee. I asked for ice cubes...no, they haven't got any apparently. This is after not being able to offer me anything bland for lunch while the other 2 women in the ward were eating there's. I think this may be masterclass in how not to manage a patient with HG.

CaptainCunt · 23/02/2015 13:50

Onemillion i have just stopped taking the meds regularly(20w), still got a supply for emergencies though. Not feeling great but it's bearable and I'm getting enough liquid and calories.

I have a question, my midwife says lucozade test is now compulsory - the thought makes my stomach churn. Has anyone skipped it? Pretty sure I am going to.

dillydollydarling · 23/02/2015 14:36

eallison sorry to hear you are back in hospital and that they're being terrible. I'm currently on 8mg of ondansetron so it is definitely possible for them to increase it!

I'm 13+1 and finding that I'm having more better days than bad now. A couple of days I've even forgotten to take my morning tablet. Managed a couple of full shifts at work this week and even went to a work leaving party last night! The only thing I am struggling with is the headaches. They leave me wanting to curl up in the dark and sleep!

Hellohellohowareyou · 23/02/2015 15:40

dilly what meds are you on? When I was on ondansetron I had horrific headaches

eallison88 · 23/02/2015 15:56

I've just given up and discharged myself. They weren't able to provide any of the things i asked for to try to eat/drink (plain jacket spud, ice chips) and had stopped checking on me. Told me at 2 pm they were checking if I can have 8mg ondansetron and they'd check on me in an hour. At 3.45 I decided enough was enough, if they weren't gonna put me o a drip then I was better off at hone where there is stuff to try to eat /drink. I asked them if they had answer about 8mg and "yes you can". Then I sat on the floor by the nurses desk while they sorted my discharge papers.