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.

Still the same today but docs don't seem concerned. Bp still high for me but ok in general (130/73 today).

The first foods I could manage were aunt Bessie yorkshire puds with a splay of gravy. I then progressed to one of these and a couple of roast spuds. They would usually come back up but it was all I fancied for weeks!

ealli sounds like it really is improving :) good news!

lilac maybe try a tiny sliver of watermelon and give it 24 hours?

Back and I see that Meerka elizabethsumum MotherofPearl and others have been giving brilliant advice, as ever.
Welcome to any. A lot of people have that panic when they have a good day or two, and it's horribly reassuring when the sickness comes back. At least a good day is a sign of the coming turn about, which as Meerka says at week fourteen will hopefully not be too far away.
Hello How are things now? What is the latest news?
Meeleebacca I never knew that about migraines/HG/pre eclampsia, goodness. -I can't get over the insensitivity of the midwife and you say, a couple of other medical people making that arrogant suggestion. I've only ever known it made to one other person on another Hyperemesis thread.. She had been overweight at the beginning of her pregnancy, and lost about three stone or more, as she suffered throughout. She was young, about twenty -and she suffered throughout, and they wouldn't give her any stronger drugs than stemitil (spelling?) and then a doctor suggested she was making herself sick on purpose.
Glad that eallison and dilly are feeling better.
lilac There was a woman who swore by melon, liquidized and frozen into ice cubes, as what helped her through her worst, but these things are so individual.
Has anyone on here found it possible to get hold of barley sugar for that awful taste? I know Meerka got it online and I used to get it form a funny old sweet shop.

Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.

Welcome back lucinda =) we are still getting through the gigantic bag of barley sugar. Our older son really likes it too.

I managed to find a tin of barley sugar in the little pharmacy down the road from me. I found it did slightly help get rid of the horrible taste I always had in my mouth.

So I may be free from hg at the moment (hopefully it stays that way!) but I've now discovered I'm anaemic and I'm now on iron tablets explains why I've been so exhausted and out of breath (I thought it was just part of being pregnant!!). This pregnancy malarkey is hard work!!

hello glad you are being closely monitored, crosses fingers for continued stable bp- although higher for you it sounds ok to me at the moment. mine is normally 110/60 or so. at booking it was low - 90/50 and then with with PE it was something like 154/95 - the lower number is particularly important I believe?? glad they are doing it daily as it can fluctuate a lot and be unstable with PE . also good that urine ok x

so lovely to hear of continued improvements with eallison and dilly. I had anaemia as well dilly so know what you mean about tiredness and breathlessness- could barely make it up a flight of stairs, and the iron tablets....

lilac it is such a cruel irony that the food you do actually crave is so randomly rejected by your body I found that if I really fancied something I seemed to eat it far too quickly for my body to be able to cope with (i.e. I would eat it as I normally would have done prior to hg but it's like your body can't manage it somehow). second meerkas advice to try a sliver or perhaps freeze small pieces so you can slowly eat like watermelon lollies!

waves to Lucinda - hope you had a good trip- and everyone

Well I only went back yesterday to have bloods taken so they can check them. They said they only worry when the bp is 160/90 or above so I'm ok

Hello Thank goodness for that. How are the spd and the daily vomit? You are not exactly having the easiest of pregnancies...
Dilly I'm glad the barley sugar helped a bit - I remember those tins. I liked those tins of 'travel sweets' too, but not the green ones, appropriately nauseating.
Meerka I bet you've gone off them, so it's great LO enjoys them. You must have had a huge bag of them.
elizabethsmum You mujst have felt dreadful with such low blood pressure at your booking in, I normally feel bad if it slips below sixty without Hypereemesis...
I'm still so indignant about that eating disorder assumption from a midwife. As I say, I've only heard of one other person who was confronted with that, and it was all part of generally inadequate treatment throughout.
I hope everyone is coping today.

I'm actually not doing too back on the spd front, think physio last week really helped. Still vomiting occasionally, more so over the last few days but think that's because my headaches have been so bad

Hello Oh no, headaches too? You poor thing, this is too bad.
Gentle pats on offer.

Been vomiting all day Can't keep much food down and throwing up every kind of liquid unless it's frozen, so back on diet of ice-lollies, ice-pops and 'safe' fruits. Thanks for the frozen-fruit tip, slivers of frozen watermelon are amazing.
Desperately hoping today is a one-off!! Don't know what triggered it, last 2 days I was vomiting more often but stayed home, nothing strenuous, wasn't stressed, no migraine just horrible constant gagging feeling like early days.

Hi all, happy weekend!
Saw my doctor this week and she's written me off work till the end of June. I only vomit 2 - 3 times a week now but the nausea is still crippling for most of the day. The plan is to work July, August and half of September, only 4 days a week and slowly chew up my annual leave before taking maternity leave the earliest I can in mid September.
Thank you for everyone's feedback and support in regards to the eating disorder assumption. I'm doing the best I can to make sure I have everything in order to prove my midwife wrong at my next appointment.
Hello - my heart goes out for you. Headaches, vomiting, spd and blood pressure worries. Have you finished work yet? You must be counting down to when this is all over for you!

Lilac - I found the HG came in waves, a few really bad days and then a slightly better one. I attributed it to the hormones surging every few days and then a little relief as my body got used to the new level.
Also dehydration will make it worse, so if you get a teeny tiny amount of liquids in you for a few days in a row, you may get worse from the dehydration. How are your ketones looking?

Mellee and Lilac Oh dear, too. as well as Hello's nasty symptoms. Mellee the nausea if relentless can be as b ad as the vommiting. Lilac
I'm glad the frozen melon helps a little...
(glances about anxiously).
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked or cross posted with...

lilac I'd second mellee, it comes and goes. Once you start having good days at all though, it's a good sign. Just hope you get rid of the headaches, when you are able to liquids down that may help with that too.

hello glad about the SPD but god, it's really time you had a break.

dilly i hope the iron tablets help. Preg is no fun at all for some people, is it

I feel like its just been one thing after another throughout this pregnancy! First the hg, then rhinitis (still suffering with it!), then serious problems with my back, then severe rib pain and now anaemia. That's on top of the thrush and piles that I'm also suffering from. I so wanted to enjoy being pregnant but to be honest, I can't wait for it to be over!!

Hopefully I'll enjoy motherhood more!

Sorry I'm gunna be a bit rude as I haven't read through but I feel like I can't take any more today. I was either in bed all day yesterday with migraine or bathroom vomiting, today luckily migraine has gone but it's continuous vomiting and retching. I've been up since 6 and with the exception of half an hour at the most to have a bit of porridge I have been vomiting pretty much non stop :( is there anything at all I can do?

Amy - this makes me so sad. It's a terrible position to be in. Keep your fluids up and just rest. If ketones get high, go to the ER. I find that drinking during retching bouts makes me vomit up all the water, which is so much nicer than dry heaving.
I had an unfortunate vomiting session this afternoon, and have been in bed with awful nausea since. Feels like an awful step backwards, but I'm just hoping tomorrow is a better day.
Lots of hugs!

Thanks mellee I don't have a way to check ketones. My GP was happy for me to just rest at home as I had a couple of hours where I could take liquids each day which helped to stop dehydration. However that was now 5 weeks ago, the sickness tablets don't work and yesterday and today I can't keep a single thing down. I have tried ice cubes and my usual go-to lucozade with no luck at all. I'm trying to hold out until tomorrow to try and see GP but I'm really struggling :(

Plus hope your nausea eases! Fx for a better day for you tomorrow x

Go see the emergency out of hours doctors today. Ring them, tell them youre vomiting almost constantly. Either they'll whisk you in (take a bowl, I know it's horrid but you might have yo wait a bit) or send you to hospital having forewarned them. If they see you they're likely to have antiemetic injections that they can try (did for me) Which act faster than oral meds.

You can get thru this, I promise. I Remember this stage. You really need to push for ondansetron. We did it by just saying whatever they tried did nothing, rather than specifically asking for ondansetron -but my docs were happy to move up the ladder til they got there. If you're told there's nothing else then you have to ask. Am I right in thinking youre worried about meds and baby? Seriously, dehydrated, starved and demoralised mum is worse. Sending gentle hugs

Amy I really empathise, constant vomiting and retching is horrible. I recommend going to A+E or Early Pregnancy Unit if you feel dehydrated and have no means of checking keytones. Sounds like you need stronger meds and maybe IV rehydration. I was admitted in early pregnancy and stayed in a few days, it was a relief to get properly treated.
I know you're trying ice-cubes, but have you tried ice-lollies too? When I can't keep much down I seem able to absorb some water and sugar from them. Fruit Pastille lollies, Rocket lollies and lime Calypsos are particularly good. Frozen fruit works for me in small amounts, frozen watermelon is lovely, so refreshing and it sort of dissolves in mouth.

Mellee thanks for advice, yes I think you're right about hormone surges. My bad days often coincide with awful headaches and increased breast tenderness, so makes sense body is trying to adjust to new hormone levels.

I'd got used to pattern of feeling better- for few weeks I was down to approx.3 vom-sessions a day with intermittent nausea- so it's a shock to feel so ill again! Feel like I've backtracked, nausea constant last 24hours and I'm carrying a bucket round house again (so dignified). Keeping sips of water down and sucking ice-lollies but body rejecting food. Wish I could sleep through days like this!

any I so agree with Lilac's great advice, you may well be dehydrated and it needs checking as obviously meds failing to help you much. A and E the best thing, as she says. Do let us know how things go if you can.

dilly Oh no, that sounds awful, too. sympathies.
I hope everyone isn't suffering quite so badly today? Waves to Meerka and everyone.

Thanks for the advice everyone I really appreciate it. I felt so bad earlier I crawled into bed and must have fallen asleep. Woke up feeling a little better and managed some melon. Gunna hang on until tomorrow and see the GP. Sure he will want me off work again which I'm worried about, there's another pregnant lady at work who is sailing through and it's almost like they don't believe I can be so ill!

Hi everyone :)

I posted here before - under a slightly different username. I haven't been diagnosed with hg, but have been suffering with sickness and 24/7 nausea since 6 weeks, been on metoclopromide since 14 weeks (am 29 weeks now).

I said about how I was having trouble with work as I was too ill to work, because in addition to the sickness I had crippling exhaustion and breathlessness. Turns out this was due to anaemia - my HB wasn't too bad but my ferritin levels were very low.

Anyways, I had my iron infusion this week which has made me feel bloody awful. Hopefully I start to feel the benefits from it soon! I've also been signed off sick until the end of the month (on SSP...eek..money worries) and then I'm taking ML from 1st June at 31 weeks. It's 4 weeks earlier than I wanted, but I just know I won't cope going back.

Is it normal for sickness/nausea to get worse during the 3rd trimester? It was still not great, but under control from about 22 weeks, but now I seem to be going downhill again - is this normal?