Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Pregnancy

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

Hyperemesis Support

968 replies

LucindaE · 01/07/2015 11:55

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.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Heavenscent86 · 20/08/2015 18:13

I really hope they go down ok and stay down. Healthier food certainly doesn't seem to want to.
You are in the home stretch then. Luckily not too much longer for the sickness Smile

BarmeeMarmee · 20/08/2015 18:17

Hi everyone. Lilac that is a point about the HG and SPD hell being over sooner! Keeping everything crossed for you.

Melleebacca · 20/08/2015 20:52

Ah. The password reset is a pain in the butt!

Heaven - I've been taking ondansetron since week 7 but didn't really feel like it was helping until about week 16. Now if I try to wean off them (30w) I feel absolutely awful. So it takes the edge off but doesn't make me a real human. I took 16w off work to recover.

Anyone had to deal with low iron counts in their third trimester? I had a midwife appt yesterday and she's concerned about my iron levels dropping despite being on iron tablets. She likes to scare me into taking my medication so I'm not sure if it's a huge deal or not...

Heavenscent86 · 20/08/2015 22:15

Today has been a pretty awful day. I have vomited so many times and also at the moment am having a bleed. It's brownish and I had a scan that found baby's heartbeat last week but then the bleed started again so I'm really struggling to cope with the sickness as well as the worry about this bleed. I'm not sure if it's ok to post this on this thread but I feel like I need to vent my worries.

Melleebacca · 21/08/2015 03:06

Vent away heaven! I don't have any experience with bleeds, but from my blog reading while on my HG sickbed, brown is much less worrisome than red. Fingers crossed for you! Flowers

Heavenscent86 · 21/08/2015 07:48

Thanks mellee. I'm hoping that's the case but I'm really struggling to keep my spirits up at the moment. I had two previous miscarriages but no sickness so this time I was hoping the sickness is kind of a good sign but I'm honestly not so sure with the bleed.

Meerka · 21/08/2015 08:34

hello again, sorry for not posting but ended up in Germany and then there was the trouble with the passwords and ... well anyway the thread's moved on a long way!

Have not quite caught up but heavenscent and freshbread welcome (and anyone else I missed sorry).

heaven, do feel for you. Please let us know how it goes. Take it as easy as you can. Keep in mind that quite apart from worries about the bleed, HG itself severely depresses your mood.

About ondansetron. ealli is quite right, no firms will test meds on pregnant women so no firms will say that their stuff is safe for preg women, with one exception (the US & canadian equivilent of cyclizine + B6).

This means that the meds that are used now have been tried out gradually over a long period of time. The ones used now are considered effectively safe. Agreed there are no absolute guarentees - but severe nausea and vomitting also poses a risk for the baby and for the mother. In the weigh up, it's usually better to take the meds and remain as strong and able to drink / eat as is possible, rather than struggle through without meds and end up dehydrated and with your physical system on it's knees.

In the long term, and I speak from bitter experience here, if HG wipes you out for many months then you can be in a much worse position to look after your baby than if you took medications and reduced the HG to as low a level as possible. I happen to have ME too but without doubt, the untreated HG the first time had such a bad effect on me physically that I was not able to give our son the care he needed post birth. Deeply, deeply regret that and I -wish- I'd found this thread then and fought for meds.

A lot of the fear around the meds come from the old and dreadful problem around thalidomide, but that was sixty years ago now and the testing procedures are far tighter. it owuld never have been okay'd nowadays.

Ondansetron - there is a huge Danish study dating from feb '13 in the NEJM. There have been two analyses of the data. The first found no adverse effects. The second picked some holes in the methodology of the first, which is worth bearing in mind but the overall consensus, as far as I can tell, is that it's not going to have a bad effect on the baby and it can really help you, the mother - which also helps the baby.

ahem. Essay over. SOrry!

foodmention - lilac (it was you asking about high-cal food?) - if you can eat some of these, then avocados, unsalted nuts (maybe lightly roasted?), dates or figs with cream, salmon, hummous, full fat greek yoghurt, high-cocoa chocolate is all high in calories.

Won't make this post even longer but just to wish everyone a quiet and surviveable day

BarmeeMarmee · 21/08/2015 08:55

Happy Friday everyone. Wish me luck please. I'm off camping for 2 nights today, booked before I was pregnant. We're going with friends who don't know and the children still don't know either, so it's going to be interesting!

Heavenscent86 · 21/08/2015 09:11

Hi meerka. I will keep you all posted as and when I know anything. I do have another early scan booked for Monday but so scared to go.
Good luck with the camping barmee. It's very brave of you to do that at the moment but I hope you manage to enjoy it.

TwoDrifters · 21/08/2015 09:45

Hi all! Enjoy your camping Barmee!

Quick panicked question: I've just realised I'm much lower on cyclizine than I thought & typically I can't get a GP appointment today. Repeat prescriptions apparently take 2 days, & with the weekend coming up, who knows when it will be ready.

Does anyone know if you can buy it over the counter?! I'm in for a horrid time if not :-(

BarmeeMarmee · 21/08/2015 09:46

Thanks Heaven I hope everything is ok with your scan. Sorry you're having such a worrying time.

Heavenscent86 · 21/08/2015 10:10

TwoDrifters, could you have a telephone consultation with your doctor? I can do that and he will prescribe over the phone and then I can pick up the prescription that same day.

LucindaE · 21/08/2015 10:29

Heaven I am so sorry that you have the worry of bleeding, as others say, if it's brown that's less serious. Hugs. Do keep us posted. As if it isn't bad enough, having Hyperemesis! I believe cyclazine takes a couple of days to work, and can make you very drowsy at first.
About my lack of conventional treatment, I staggered to an Acupunturist in despair after that, who treated me as an emergency,and told me I should report to A and E if still unable to retain liquids later that day, and and was very lucky in that it really helped, so I didn't have to report to A and E and managed without meds as it calmed down, though I had dreadful heartburn throughout that sometimes led to vomiting. It did, also (and I don't usually mention this because people worry it'll happen to them but it's very very unusual) come back after the birth for a couple of days, and whether that was connected with the acupunture I don't know. Unfortunately, acupunture doesn't seem to help most sufferers quite so much.
Lilac I am so glad that you've had reassuring news.
BarmeeMarmee Good luck on the holiday - I hope the fresh air helps. Other brave souls who've gone camping have said it did.
TwoDrifters Great advice from Heaven. You can buy cyclizine over the counter, but ironically, they won't sell it to you if they know your're pregnant, though it's considered totally safe in pregnancy and is the first line of treatment.
MelleBacca Those bags sound amazing - I'd never heard of them before!
Meerka Great advice, as ever.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.

OP posts:
TwoDrifters · 21/08/2015 10:33

Thanks Heavenscent and Lucinda I've managed to get the prescription - hurrah for Mumsnet! Star

LilacRain · 21/08/2015 11:01

Awake all night with braxton-hicks and nausea, now got sharp pain on lower-right side every time I move. MAU said it's probably round-ligament pain and irritable uterus. Has anyone else had this? I keep panicking about going into preterm labour as the braxton-hicks are so painful! Midwife at MAU said to keep taking paracetamol and rest but I can't get comfortable lying down or sitting, yet walking hurts too Sad

Barmee good luck with your camping trip, hope the weather's nice and the fresh air helps.

Heaven sorry you've been bleeding and having such a worrying time. Is there any way you can get another early scan for peace of mind, or go to EPU to be checked out? I don't have experience of bleeding but my best friend bled a lot in 1st and 2nd trimesters (something to do with cells of cervix) and everything turned out fine, her DS is 2 now. Hope you're ok and it settles down soon.

TwoDrifters I agree with Heaven, ring GP surgery and ask for an urgent same-day telephone appointment, they should fit you in and then you can collect prescription before they close. Cyclizine is also sold over-counter at pharmacy (brand is Valoid in UK) as an anti-histamine or travel-sickness remedy.

Meerka thanks for food suggestions, I'll try them. Funny you mention figs, I've been craving fresh figs with yogurt and honey! I've been snacking on roasted pistachios and sunflower seeds so hopefully they'll provide extra calories.

Mellee about low iron, my midwife said the most easily absorbed source is red meat, also leafy green things and whole grains which she said to have with orange juice as the Vit C helps absorption. My iron levels were ok until 3rd trimester when they suddenly plummeted, apparently baby drains iron stores in late pregnancy.

Meerka · 21/08/2015 11:29

lilac yes I got that too.

Cyclizine is available over the counter but they won't give it to you if you're obviously pregnant. You'll need to send a clearly non-preg person, male is ideal. Can buy it in packets of 100, about 20quid. Just say that you like cyclizine, you prefer it to the modern anti-histamines and don't get drowsy. (that's what I did a few weeks ago in the UK; the guy tried to persuade me it was prescription only but it's damn well not; he did give it me eventually).

Heavenscent86 · 21/08/2015 13:11

Hi lilac. I'm having an early scan on Monday to see how things are looking at the moment. Trying to keep my spirits up but it's difficult. On the plus side the bleeding has slowed down today to just a couple of spots. Its reassuring to hear about your friend. Im hoping for a similar good outcome. I do hope you manage to get at least some rest during the day today after such a bad night.

TwoDrifters · 21/08/2015 18:28

Thank you everyone! Clutching my cyclizine as we speak!

Melleebacca · 21/08/2015 19:59

Heaven - just remembered my SIL had bleeds during the first 20w of her 2nd pregnancy. I think she had 6 additional scans and everything was fine. She didn't have HG, but did have morning sickness till 23w with that pregnancy.
Lilac - I hope the pain either fades or develops into real labour. It must be tortuous being in limbo. Thanks for the iron tips, my midwife said if my levels drop any lower I'm going to have issues with losing a lot of blood during labour. I'm hoping she was just scaring me a bit, I've had a hard enough pregnancy without now worrying about bleeding out during labour. Plus I'm a blood donor and a blood transfusion would take me off the donor list indefinitely.

Heavenscent86 · 21/08/2015 21:27

anyone know how much fluid I should be drinking to avoid dehydration? Over yesterday and today I have only managed to keep down a couple of glasses of lemonade for any length of time. I am a bit of a novice as MS last time was nowhere near as severe and oi mostly was able to keep eating and drinking.

Melleebacca · 22/08/2015 01:34

Heaven - even just a glass of water a day will keep your ketones low. You would still be dehydrated, but ketone levels are the thing to be worried about. Get some ketostix from the pharmacy, and pee on one once a day. If you get a result higher than 3+ (I think), you should go to GP or A&E for rehydration via IV

Meerka · 22/08/2015 08:25

what mellebacca says

not sure if anyone has posted this upthread but there are a few things that may help

  • very cold or very hot liquid
  • sipping through a straw
  • ice cubes/chips of ice
  • Mother Hen swears by flat coke
  • just maybe, tiny nibbles of cucumber or watermelon for the liquid content

it's worth looking through the two websites PSS and PregSicknessSOS for tips, too.

Wishing everyone a quiet and endurable day

LucindaE · 22/08/2015 09:33

Heaven Hugs. I'm so glad the bleeding has gone down to spotting, that has to be a good sign. It's very unnerving for you, my goodness. My own experience was with an mc it just gets heavier and heavier, and turns a very deep crimson. I can't improve on other's advice about trying to get liquids down and as they urge, do, do, get those kesostix. How are ice cubes, flat coke, ice cubes of flat coke, ice lollies and the juice of tinned fruit?
Oh dear, Lilac that sounds agonising, you poor thing. I know Braxton Hicks can hurt a bit despite what some medics say, but that irritable womb sounds awful. I can only offer gentle cyber pats.
Melleebacca That sounds alarming, but I do know that it is considered normal to lose about a pint of blood; they normally only give a transfusion if you lose over two, and I think you have to have quite a severe bleed for that; so hopefully, that won't happen. What I don't understand is this; if the iron tablets are making you vomit, why don't they try the drops, which I think are less nauseating (I don't know why).
I hope everyone is coping, goodness. Apologies to anyone rudely ignored, as ever. TwoDriftersGlad you have got the meds.
Winky hasn't been on of late...

OP posts:
Heavenscent86 · 22/08/2015 18:05

Hi thanks for all the advice. I ended up going to my out of hours doctor last night as I felt so ill. I was admitted to hospital with 4+ ketones so am spending my second night in being hopefully rehydrated and they are trying me on ondansetron. I really hope this medicine works.

Meerka · 22/08/2015 18:33

Hospital's the best place for you heaven. it's a pain, but you will feel SO much better for being hydrated.