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.

I had to do a lightning trip to Liverpool yesterday, and am just dashing on to welcome little Hello and congratulations, Hello. You've come through it, but it is a bit tough to have a baby who's restless after that; hope she settles down soon.
Welcome, too, to Miss Martin. Nine times a day is excessive for normal ms, and the headaches could be dehydration ones as others say. You've got excellent advice from others, but I can only add my urges not to imagine this is in any way normal, to go to dr's for meds etc. I'll have to catch up on thread now,you may have gone this morning.
Back soon...

Ahhh Hello congratulations!! Lovely news :) Hope you are both well x

Lilac thank you, I was only on one other tablet beforehand which actually made me worse! I can't remember the name but it began with a P and melted on the tongue. I'm hoping things ease in the next few weeks.

Had my 20w scan today and was vomiting all morning, vomited the whole way to the hospital in the car and had to sit in the car park still vomiting for about 15 mins when we got there! So humiliating, my OH parked near the ticket machine so everyone had a good disgusted gawp at the pregnant spewing lady in the car! :(

Good news is baby seems fine, everything they could see was normal but his hand was in the way of her checking his face and his spine was facing outwards so couldn't check his heart, so we have to go back in 2 weeks time to be rescanned. Maybe sickness will ease a little as the nerves disappear?

Anyway hope everyone is as well as can be x

Goodness, it has been busy. Another welcome to Miss Martin and I do hope you can get meds, that level of vomiting is not normal ms; those migraines are awful, and I know I confused migraines and dehydration headaches as they can feel the same and you tend to have blurred vision with both.
any Oh no, how awful for you. How humiliating. Gentle cyber pats on offer. Sorry you are suffering again; it's a good idea to try more meds, there are a number of choices and combinations, as Meerka who is more of an expert than she admits, knows particularly.
Kayme I'm not surprised you are grumpy, and you mustn't feel guilty, they'll soon forget all this. I can't imagine how you are managing to get into work, particularly in teaching. I am still horrified at Laura's account of struggling in to teach and being sick in the classroom sink. You teachers are too conscientious.
*
Jen You poor thing, working full time, two kids, did you say, and still suffering? I'm s glad ml is coming up soon.
EMS Sorry you are still suffering too, on Ondansetron.
Chopsface I am so sorry OH is ill as well. I do hope they sort out those meds for you.
Lilac I'm glad they are better with advice at the ante natal.
anyI meant to say as well, I know what you mean about of women who don't suffer sickness. What???
I hope anyone admitted or about to be admitted soon feels heaps better.
Melleebacca I so agree the veterans are amazing.
Penguin I hope no more worries about movements?
Dillydollydarling I do hope it doesn't come back, it is very hard on sufferers who have it recur in the last tri,though it almost never comes back as badly as in the first tri. What meds did you say you have been on?
Motherof Pearl Ah - The fabled Pink Castle, where I do indeed welcome those who have completed the terrible course of Hyperemesis. I'm jst lowering the drawbridge for Hello. To explain the notion to those who may think it sounds mad for me to speak of that, it struck me that Hyperemesis was like a grotesque board game - you have a good day, one move forwards, then you have a relapse, two steps back, and I remembered an old Snakes and Ladders board from when I was a kid with a pink castle on the last square, and thought up the idea of the Pink Castle where all Hyperemesis veterans finally arrive at the end of the grotesque course of Hyperemesis.
Waves to *elizabethsmumand to Meerka and all who have been giving great advice.
My apologies if I've left anyone out...

Thought I would check in again, say hi and hope everyone is doing okay. No vomiting yet, and but still this on and off nausea. Eating like a horse however. But scared to start my cyclizine (already prescribed), as I remember last time dosed up on all the meds I was falling asleep at the dinner table. Now I have an 18 mo, I need to be alert for him. Today he is doing his last day of nursery before we move in August and I'm just in bed having a sleep. but have woken up feeling dehydrated and hungry - always hungry!

Hello Congratulations on your beautiful new baby!!!!
Hope you are getting good care in hospital and some better sleep too.
Also hello to people posting here since I last checked in.
Miss Martin I really hope you get a sympathetic doctor to talk to who doesn't dismiss your suffering as not being hyperemesis enough!!
My doc told me I didn't have to worry as I was only throwing up about twice a day and I just vaguely agreed with him, as things got worse I collaborated with a family member who said things weren't right and we wrote down how a typical day went, extreme tiredness, fainting, churning stomach, not tolerating food or water or only little bits, try to be specific with amounts- yours will be unique to you but this helped a lot. As a wise person said a while back (forgotten exactly who lol) if dehydration continues you can become a bit vague and not good at explaining how you are suffering to doctors, that definitely happened for me! I really hope you get the help, support and drugs you need!!

Amy was just remembering a comment you made a while back about cyclazine when I said it wasn't working so well for me. I'm now on ondansetron and the difference is huge, it is working a lot better for me in helping me keep food down! Just wondered if you might find the same and it would be worth asking for it by name?

lilacthanks for advice about taking it slow... Hard to do lol but true!! I went out for the evening to a friends house last night (first time in ages) and was relying on a lift back and ended up not getting back until late. Shattered but triumphant still lol!! Maybe next time I'll order a taxi back tho as don't want to rush people to go home :-)

Wishing everyone as calm and pain-free day as possible xx

mygreeneyedboy Let's hope the appetite continues!
Daffodil I'm so glad ondansetron is helping a lot. Gp's are reluctant to prescribe it if they can avoid it because it is expensive, which is really unfortunate. Yes that sense of confusion and apathy that sets in with severe dehydration is a menace; it's hard enough to fight your corner when suffering from bad sickness; but with that...

confusedeio you made me laugh what a stupid thing for an obstetrician to say! That comes up there with have you tried ginger biscuits. Really happy you are feeling a bit better. I think often just being rehydrated makes you feel so much better. Hopefully you can keep hydrated.

I got told to eat ginger biscuits today!!! Unfortunately they then felt my full on frustration of the last 3 months, oops!

Honestly, we need to send out a Ginger Hit Squad to deal with the silly people who suggest it to HG sufferers! It's sheer madness! And as for the comment from that doctor to poor Confused

Confused So glad you are feeling a bit better. The awful thing is, that brilliant piece of advice comes up (sorry, Freudian slip in use of expression)
a bit more often than you might expect in the way of advice from medics.
Very (to the power of ten) annoying. That's all that's required, it seems; a little will power
Waves to all.

Confused - that's awesome. Thank you for the giggle. I always wanted to vomit in front of medical staff when they made such ridiculous comments, but was never able to.

hello delighted to hear about the arrival of tinyHello. Big congratulations to you and Mr Hello, and may she let you sleep through the nights in no time =)

I reckon the only use for ginger is to insert it up where the sun don't shine. Duly applied by the Ginger Hit Squad.

greeneyed cyclizine can make some people very sleepy yes. The effect wears off for some people, but not others. If it's not helping, then ask for prochlorperazine or metoclopramide, or ondansetron (though it's not easy to get that).

laura sorry to hear about your class :(

wishing everyone as peaceful a night as possible.

Hello lovely to hear baby has arrived. Hoping your enjoying a nice cup of tea and eating what you fancy (tho what are the post c section food rules??)

Thanks Lucinda and daffodil, i am going to go back in and ask for ondansetron. My GPs are not the best at listening though... how would you word it to them?

confused what a stupid thing for him to say! Glad you were able to show him about the ginger haha

amyyy can you take someone as an advocate?

Also, frankly lay it on thick. Not that that's difficult with HG. go at your worst time if that's possible.

• Bring the sickbucket with you.
• Make a list of how often you are sick in a day, and how little you can do compared to normal
• Print out the NICE guidelines on medications and on the Goals of Treatment, which include supporting the woman to live as normal a life as possible iirc. Emphasise how you are unable to do that atm.
• Say you've spoken to a specialist helpline (pregnancy sickness support) which is staffed by someone who's helped write some of the major articles on HG (Dr Tony). It really is worth speaking to him btw, he was willing to prescribe me ondan when I absolutely could not get it here and send it out, if i paid for it.
• If necessary quote the NEJM feb 2013 study which found no adverse outcomes associated with ondansetron (a later study cast doubt on a coupel of methodological things with that study, but it's still pretty good, and don't mention those methodological doubts to the doc!)

even so the doc might be iffy. Is there any chance of paying for it privately? it's not cheap ...

Oops posted too soon! However I'm going to start now, as today is the first day I can't face eating breakfast. 5+3 right now, it's going to be a long road!

Question: would you rather not eat or vomit it up? Am I strange for being the first?

Hello everyone,
Thanks so much for the replies to my first post and sorry I've not been able to come back to say thank you until now. I had a bad day yesterday so caved in and phoned the doctors and they've perscribed me cyclizine. I've just taken the first one about 5 minutes ago. I've read on here about taking vitamin B6 with it - can someone tell me a bit more about this? Is it something you can buy in health food shops?

I've been feeling pretty down about it all so really hoping cyclizine makes a difference for me. This is my 2nd baby but OH's first and I just feel so guilty that he's so excited but I've not been able to get on board with that as just feeling so darn sorry for myself at the moment. As well as sickness for 7 months, I also had gestational diabetes in the final few weeks of my first pregnancy so I know there's a good likelihood that will come back again, so that's another thing I'm worriying about. It's really getting me down. Also we have a weeks holiday to Sorrento booked leaving on 24th July which I was really excited about but now dreading it as the thought of travel, heat etc. whilst feeling nauseous constantly just doesn't appeal one little bit! Sorry for the woe is me post. I feel bad even writing this as it's clear reading this thread that a lot of you are suffering a lot more than me, big hugs ladies x

You can buy B6 in any chemist. take it at the same time as the cyclizine. actually in canada one of the better meds, a cyclizine-equivilent, comes with added B6 and apparently it's really quite an effective med.

Give the cyclizine about 3 days to build up in your system. Take the tablets at regularly spaced intervals. If you have a bad time (was always late afternoon / evening for me) then take one of the tablets about 30 - 60 mins before the worst is likely to kick in.

If it doesn't help, there are other meds you can try. cyclizine is an anti-histamine and works on the reaction your body is having to the hormones, as I understand it. Other meds work on your sense of balance or on shoving food quickly through your system so there's less chance of it reappearing.

mygreen it's kind of easier not to eat but it might be wise to try. even if it reappears, you might be getting some nutrition into the system. If you know HG is on the way, it's a good idea to keep your system as strong as you can for the coming difficult times. It's a balance htough; if you're certain it's going to be reappearing within seconds, it's not worth it!

Had bad nausea all yesterday so spent most of day asleep. Today I keep vomiting Think it must be another big hormonal surge as feel really emotional as well as nauseous, also suddenly started producing colostrum so my bra keeps getting stuck to me and making damp patches on top! Need to get some bra-pads earlier than planned

Hello congratulations on your new baby!! Hope you recover quickly and get some sleep.

Mygreen I'd rather vomit it up than not eat, less painful than throwing up bile or retching on empty stomach. Maybe try something soft and easy to swallow (like yogurt, custard or ice-cream) if you can't face chewing? I've had days when I haven't been able to face eating, but it's easy to get locked into a cycle of not eating and then feeling worse. About cyclizine and sleepiness, I find it still makes me drowsy even though i've been on it for months. So I take 1 tablet around 10pm, 1 around 6am (so I can go back to sleep for a couple of hours when it kicks in) and 1 around 2pm, I often have a nap after the 2pm dose (or swallow it with a shot of espresso if I can't nap!)

Casablanca hope the meds help and you're able to enjoy your holiday! At least you have a month to prepare, maybe try different meds if the Cyclizine isn't working nearer the time. You're very brave to travel!

Amy sorry you had such a rough time at the scan. I remember my 20-week scan, the scanner in antenatal dept broke, so we all got sent to A&E to be scanned there instead! Had to sit in waiting-room clutching sick-bowl surrounded by people in slings and plaster-casts (waiting area was shared with X-ray)! Must be frustrating to have to go back in 2 weeks to complete scan, but hopefully you'll be feeling less sick by then. I'm sure nerves make it so much worse! RE the carpark vom, I can really relate to this as similar thing happened to me in Tesco carpark... I was being sick in car (into a sick-bag) while DH did the shopping. People kept going past with trollies and staring in at me, then a man parked right opposite and just sat there staring!
Good luck with getting ondansetron, I agree with everything Meerka said about how to approach doctor.

Lucinda I love the pink castle idea! I'll visualise its pink towers shining out of the HG mist as September approaches...

Confused sorry you had such a bad experience with the obstetrician, can't believe he suggested ginger and implied you can 'control' sickness! Scary that someone who's supposed to be a specialist can be so clueless about HG. I hope you get a more sympathetic doctor next time.

mygreeneyedboy Oh dear, sympathies. So agree with Meerka and others, non offensive stuff like custard or jelly is so much better than a bile run...Did you say you had meds on standby ealier?
Casablanca Sorry you feel so down. No wonder, I think all those who go for it twice have massive apprehension if and when the symptoms start - though for some its easier in the second pregnancy and you may be one of those, and many find it easier to handle what with having a contingency plan, having coping mechanisms, etc. On the holiday, some sufferers have contacted the hotel and explained the problem and found that really helpful with menus, etc; if you're not self catering that might be an idea? The diabetes thing must be worrying. I suppose anyway, they'll monitor you very thoroughly.
Meerka Great advice about B6. Fascinating it can make such a difference.
Lilac I'm glad you like the Pink Castle at the end of the Horrible Hyperemesis Experience idea . Sorry it's bad day today,
and I hope it is indeed a hormonal surge.
It's not fair having to suffer in lovely weather. Sympathies to all.

Thanks everyone. I suffered in silence for a long time the first time round and didn't start on the Cyclizine until near the end, hoping starting early this time will give me an easier ride (wishful thinking maybe!). Meerka thanks a lot for the advice on B6, I'll try and get some ASAP.

Meerka thank you so much, that is so helpful! I don't have anyone to come with me but will prepare myself in advance. Mornings are my worst time, unfortunately also seem the most busiest at our doctors. I live in quite a small ish village and always see at least 1 person I know when in there which puts me off going when I know I will vomit! Will have to see anyway when they have an appointment free. They have been terrible lately and appointments are normally 2 weeks away. Tempted to ask for a telephone appointment.

Thanks lilac its horrible isn't it. As if I didn't feel bad enough I could see people looking over absolutely disgusted! Hope you are feeling better soon!

I have actually felt a bit better today and with the exception of vomiting bile on waking up I haven't been sick any more. I have even managed to eat vegetables today!! Had a salad at lunch time. Have been off any kind of veg the whole pregnancy until now. My body must have wanted the nutrition. I definitely think nerves played a part in how bad I was yesterday.

mygreen I too agree that I find it easier having something 'vomit friendly' to bring up instead of bile. I found at my worst that custard (mostly kids chocolate kind) was the easiest coming back up. If you are sick later in the day maybe mash.

Hope everyone is as well as can be and hugs to those who are poorly :(