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

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.

Woke up with excruciating SPD pain, think I overdid the exercises yesterday! Physio said to do 10 repetitions of each exercise 3xday but to build up slowly if it aggravates the pain. My hips and lower back have seized up and it's hard to put weight through right leg so hobbling around clinging onto furniture!

Mygreen glad to hear you're feeling better! Good luck with moving house. About coping with mornings... my strategy is to take my meds very early, around 5am, then go back to sleep. This includes taking 75mg Ranatidine to prevent the acid build-up. Around 7am I get up and eat toast, but avoid any liquid apart from a tiny shot of espresso (weirdly I've always been ok with espresso but not with any volume of liquid). If I drink water or tea first thing I get really bad heartburn and vomit. I take it easy for a few hours and try not to move around too much, if I have to go out for an appointment I often end up vomiting everything by time I've finished rushing around. By 11am I find the nausea's eased off a bit. I've also found it helps to eat a flapjack mid-morning.

Laura hope your cold gets better soon! I found using a saline nasal-spray helped when I had a cold, I also had a pregnancy-safe decongestant spray that contained peppermint oil. I drank tiny amounts of hot water with lemon juice (couldn't tolerate the taste of honey though it helps some) and took regular paracetamol. As Mellee said, vapour-rub is good too (I used the Vicks one) and hot baths so you inhale the steam.

Well today was a new low-sitting on the beach with the children vomiting into a nappy bag and trying very hard not to wet myself at the same time. Feeling really miserable tonight.

so sorry to hear that Barmee that sounds really horrible. I lost the pee battle tonight, must remember to do strategic wees when I feel the sick coming. How old are your children?

Mirabal I feel your pain! Not nice is it? DCs are 5&2 so too young to understand really and don't want to tell them until 12 week scan has confirmed all is ok

Strategic wees get less effective the more pregnant you get... at least they have with me!

I have a two year old too and also don't want to tell her until scan. Have only retched in front of her a few times but it is horrible. We are bringing them a lovely sibling though right, and they'll be best friends and always look out for each other right! This won't be optional after what we're all going through. Enforced sibling love! Yes I bet strategic wees lose effectiveness as you get bigger. I was trying to remember if I did any in first hg pregnancy then I remembered that I've now had a child and my bladder is screwed

Lol Mirabal well you've made me smile at least. Yes that's it, enforced sibling love! And you're right about screwed bladders-I've got no hope!!

Oh dear, I hope everyone is feeling a bit better today. Sympathies to Mirabel and BarmeeMarmee about Peeing and Puking difficulties. Mirabel , you are so right! A sibling, and an ally against the grown ups, is the best present you can give.
Lilac Great advice generally; sorry to hear about overdoing the exercises, that hobbling must be awful.
Laura Sorry about horrible mucus stage, I hope the product Lilac recommends helps. That is awkward about heavy files.
MyGreenEyedBoy I missed that about your move; the best of luck.
Apologies to anyone overlooked. Back soon.

Laura I meant to say, I never found Lucoazade horrible if it reappears, either when suffering from this or later with migraines, but some say they find it very acid; it is a bit acidic. How do you find flat coke?

Here's the due date list which needs updating: Jen hasn't been on of late,which I hope is a good sign - but she's top of the list.

Due Dates
Jen 3 August
DillyDollyDarling 30 August
Eallison 21 Sepember
Glitterball 22 September
Melleebacca 25 October
Amy 11 November
Ems10000 15 November
Laura 24 November
Chopsface 14 December
Daffodil 14 December
Kayme 28 January
mrsm14 14 February
Mirabel 19 February
mygreeneyedboy 22 February

Lucinda please could you add me to the list? Current EDD is 10 March.

With pleasure, BarmeeMarmee. I hope you don't remain at the bottom of the list for long.
Due Dates
Jen 3 August
DillyDollyDarling 30 August
Eallison 21 Sepember
Glitterball 22 September
Melleebacca 25 October
Amy 11 November
Ems10000 15 November
Laura 24 November
Chopsface 14 December
Daffodil 14 December
Kayme 28 January
mrsm14 14 February
Mirabel 19 February
mygreeneyedboy 22 February
BarmeeMarmee 10 March

Hello all. Been off the grid for a few days! Managing the spew as I hope everyone else is.

Could I be added to the list please? Now due 6 Feb.

Have a few weeks away from work (although I have written work to do at home - no court for a few weeks!) so going to try and rest as much as I can. And spoil DS before he starts school.

Everyone coping? x

Hi Ruby glad to hear you've got some time off to rest, it really is the only thing that makes you feel a tiny bit better isn't it!

I thought I was coming out of it, only being sick 2-3 times a day, rather than 10+, still feeling constantly nauseous but oh well get used to it. I even emailed work on Thursday & said I hoped to return on Monday (tomorrow). Then Friday, yesterday & today I've been really bad again

I truly don't know what to do now. I've been signed off work for 7 weeks by the GP. I feel so guilty about it as I'm part of a small team & I know my being off puts pressure on my colleagues. But I can't imagine being in the office tomorrow feeling like this. Let alone the commute each way on the underground.

Hope everyone else is doing ok?

Two Drifters Aagh! A lot of women on here go back too early; don't do it, clucks Mother Hen. You need a gentle phrased return, and that's a while after all your symptoms have massively abated. As you've got a sick note for a while longer, my bossy advice is to email again, saying you were wildly opitmistic and are very ill again.
RubyReins Glad you can take it a bit easier. That's a lovely age for LO; enjoy it as much as you can. Hope meds are working?
I've amended the list.
Due Dates
Jen 3 August
DillyDollyDarling 30 August
Eallison 21 Sepember
Glitterball 22 September
Melleebacca 25 October
Amy 11 November
Ems10000 15 November
Laura 24 November
Chopsface 14 December
Daffodil 14 December
Kayme 28 January
RubyReins 6 February
mrsm14 14 February
Mirabel 19 February
mygreeneyedboy 22 February
BarmeeMarmee 10 March

Oh golly. Feeling awful. Attempted to wean off ondansetron without slowing down my activities. No actual vomiting, but constant nausea and some dry heaving into my porcelain friend. Fingers crossed this isn't the beginning of the 3rd trimester relapse.
Hope everyone else is coping well.

Be careful mellee I've tried to reduce my meds with no success :( perhaps take what you need tomorrow unless you can rest?

Thanks Laura. Managed today alright. I'm only on one ondansetron a day, but hubby would prefer if I wasn't on any medication. Think I will have to stay on ondansetron at least until my maternity leave starts and I can get away with lying on the sofa all day on the verge of death. :)

Morning all. Just dashing on briefly to offer sympathies to those suffering. Mellee, sorry you've had this relapse. I think it's often the case that you think the meds aren't really doing anything but when you stop taking them you realise how much they are helping (I experienced this with cyclizine). If you have to take ondanestron until you give birth, maybe that's the best thing if it keeps you well and allows you to keep your strength up?
TwoDrifters, I really second Lucinda's advice about not going back to work too soon. I know it's hard because you worry about the impact on your colleagues, but I really think your health (and your baby) is more important. Hope you're OK.
Barmee, poor you being sick on the beach in a nappy bag! That sounds truly dreadful. I'm concerned that you're being so sick in spite of meds and taking them so early and regularly. I guess I (stupidly) assumed that if you got on top of it before you were admitted with ketones etc that it would be controllable (well, this is/was my plan should I have any success with TTC baby 3). Anyway, so sorry this horrible illness is spoiling your holiday with your DC.
Ruby, glad to hear you're feeling a bit better and have some time at home at the moment. Enjoy the time with your DS.
Hope everyone else is feeling tolerably well.

Mellebacca It sounds as if you are doing it too early; as Laura and MotherofPearl say, it is so easy to underestimate the amount the meds are doing. It's understandable that OH should be anxious about meds, but the doctors wouldn't have prescribed the meds if they thought there was a good chance of your being able to keep out of hospital without them and they know they are proven safe in various surveys over the years. From that dry heaving, it sounds as if you shouldn't come off them or you'll end up dehydrated again.

MotherofPearl Poor BarmeeMarmee it must have been awful. I hope the beach was quiet at least.
Laura I hope a lot better today? Back soon...

Mellee as others have said, don't come off your meds too soon! I ran out of metoclopramide yesterday morning, by eve i was vomiting a lot more than usual and today I've been up from 5am being sick I wasn't convinced it was helping much but I was wrong! Luckily I got a telephone appointment with GP this morning so the prescription is now ready. Like yours, my DH would prefer me not to be on any meds at all, he said as much yesterday, but I reassured him again why they're safe and necessary. When he saw me being sick so much this morning he agreed I should keep taking them!
Try not to worry too much about the dreaded 3rd trimester relapse... I panicked a bit at start of 3rd trimester when I started getting worse, but each relapse seems shorter and milder the further on I get. I feel much better in this trimester than in the first 2!

TwoDrifters I agree with those saying don't rush back to work! It's really important to get to a stage where you feel generally well, before you consider returning. When I was first signed off I never expected to be signed off the whole pregnancy, I thought I'd be off a few weeks then go back on a phased return. But I never actually reached a point where I felt well enough to work... the vom-sessions gradually reduced to 1-2x day but remained unpredictable... on a bad day I feel too ill to be out of bed and vomit every couple of hours. Resting, extra sleep, avoiding too much stress and not rushing around are the things that help me most. If I rush around in the morning I often end up vomiting all day. Please don't feel guilty if you need more time off... your health and your baby's health comes before your colleagues.

Hope everyone else is coping ok

Morning all (just!). Hope you're having a good day. Mellee another one saying don't come off the ondansetron unless you are absolutely ready. I understand your partner wanting you not to take mess unnecessarily but he's not the one vomiting is he?!

I'm really struggling today. Back at work after my holiday and really not with it. I'm so spaced out and feel like I'm constantly 2 minutes from being sick. I just wish I was at home curled up on the sofa :(

Barmee, any chance you could be signed off work so that you can rest at home? Or perhaps even do reduced hours?
Lilac, meant to ask how your SPD is now?

mellee stay on the meds for longer. I'm still on them ad hoc and will be til I give birth, if I need to.

Spent almost all day yesterday sat down. I know that sounds daft, but it's completely screwed my back.it's made me realise how much I need to eb able to lie down regularly during the day. I am now in agony today. I had a little cry earlier when I felt particularly sorry for myself. Baby is all up in my ribs. Like all up. All of it. I cannot sit without being in agony. I had planned to do a load of sewing today but as I can't even sit I can't.

Those going back to work too soon... don't. Don't rush it. All that happens,in most situations, is you push yourself too hard and go backwards! Trust me,I know. I know the finances are difficult and the guilt at leaving people in the lurch is just horrid... but you'll end up off longer than you would've done otherwise. Please look after yourself!

ruby very glad to hear you are not working for a while. Do take it as easy as you can, the last weeks will really have drained your reserves, it'll be good to build them up as far as you can.

barmee as MoP says, any chance of being signed off?

ealli ... you're really having a hard time, thinking of you and wishing you strength x