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.

I know how you feel. I have a fear of throwing up now too...so much so that sometimes I will hold it in for hours.

Have you tried taking ranitidine (Zantac) for the acid reflux? You can take it in early pregnancy. I took it with dd and she's perfectly fine. Also on it now although sometimes it's not strong enough for me. Better than gaviscon.

Holding it makes it worse as stomach feels like it's a cesspit but I hold it too
Seeing things in re erse too is no fun
Doc said no too zantac but I'm buying me some cos acid is the worse plus reflux is already kicking in :(

bluejeanlady Good, I'm glad you're getting that support. Do get some kesostix too, available from any chemists, to check for dehydration.
Barmee I am glad about the scan.
elizabethsum Great advice, especially for Freshbread.
MotherofPearl I am so glad that you've got Ondansetron. No doubt the good day has to do with that?
Thisisnow Oh, dear about car puking, how embarrassing. But you deserve a medal for still working. How are you managing? You are so right, in your post to Reebok.
Reebok You'll be a nice mother again; as thisisnow says, she'll get over it all very quickly. Her mind is still flexible.
Melleebacca That does seem to be typical for people on Ondansetron; it helps the vomiting, but not the nausea. It's disappointing.*
TwoDrifters Aagh. I'm glad you are going back on it. After all, it's been proven safe in pregnancy for decades.
Spandau You are very brave. Fifth? A great post.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked/cross posted with.

Why does everything smell so bad :( ahhh gonna buy a tent and live outside x
Oh one tip
Buy a toddler toothbrush to do ur teeth with .. less gag reflex
Mind u after so much throwing up with pregnancies my poor teeth are screwed :(

Sorry I've been quiet, there was some stuff going on with my family in England. Positive outcome and im back now.

freshbread thinking of you and praying for you and the baby.

ruby glad to hear from you .. How are you doing now?

MoP .. ouf, first hospital visit eh? hope it has helped. Sending thoughts and sympathy your way

Reebok I hope the stopped - up problem is sorted now. Thinking of you. HG is so utterly isolating and miserable. Sending you on line hugs and thinking of you, wish I could lend you strength.

Hello pegsPigs, welcome; are you still in the baby-brooding stage or has tinyPegs found their way into the world? :)

barmee So glad the scan was ok. Your manager needs a really bad hangover then putting int he middle of a hurricane in the sea. What a bastard.

heaven can't remember if I've mentioned it recently, but that saliva is god-awful. If you can, try to spit as little as possible, apparently the more you spit the more saliva you make. I used to spit down a straw into an empty drinks carton to avoid the smell

spandau welcome. 5th?! my god, you're brave. Quite a few people can't watch tv or even use a screen at all in the worst weeks. Hope you are surviving. Do take the cyclizine, at least try it. Side effects do occasionally happen but they're pretty rare and it's absolutely safe for the baby. start the cyclizine now and take it WITH the B6. they work better together than alone. Tehre's some evidence that taking the meds early tends to cushion the worst of the HG.

kayme glad that you got a doctor's note saying your days should be shorter

bugista it really helps to have someone advocating for you doesn't it.

bluejen - the cyclizine is good, but you can also ask the doc for other meds. Prochloperazine is a good one to try (aka stemetil, buccastem).

twoddrifters cyclizine is really good if it works for you at all! Lots of people say that htey don't realise how much it's helping until they stop it, then .. uh oh!

sorry to everyone I've missed.

Taken second cyclizine Tabley and feel very woozy and tired is this normal ??

Spandau it can be yes. It may be you need to see the GP and get different meds if that doesn't agree with you.

Had a small victory today. After lots of to-ing and fro-ing over email with HR and a face to face meeting they have agreed to try and put a stop on my pay being deducted so they can look into hyperemesis and speak to operational health etc more.... They may still decide to deduct it after that but it feels like a small victory.

barmee glad to hear that therés a .. you know .. chance that they might be able to fulfil their legal obligations!

HG is by definition a pregnancy related disease and thus covered by the Equal Opportunities legislation

spandau quite a few people find that but some find that it passes after a few days. Give it about 3-4 days; if it's still as bad then ask the doctor for prochlorperazine instead

Thanks Lucinda and Meerka.

Spandau, that's the initial reaction I had to cyclizine with first pregnancy. Now it just makes me so tired and I want to sleep the day away.

Barmee that's great. Fx for you!

Today I'm really struggling to stay awake. I had to force myself to get up and eat a little breakfast this morning and then I had a 3 and a half hour nap and couldn't get up. Just felt so sick after it too from hunger so I thought I would try some toast and after two teeny bites I've got bad indigestion....from two small bites! Thing is I know I will get nauseous from hunger again but I'm struggling to eat with this horrid indigestion. I don't know what to do. If I could keep down gaviscon I would but I can't.

Thankyou for prayers meerka. So sorry reebok that everything is still so yucky :( what anti nausea medication are you on and what Meds have you tried? I just threw up which reminded me to check this thread! Hugs to all! I struggle to keep up with all the names! X

Sorry to hear you're still unwell fresh. I'm on ondasetron cyclizine and ranitidine. As suspected I felt sick again and been throwing up acid. In so much pain and I just want to die!

Reebok what has your Dr said about all your Meds and continued sickness? My Dr said that we might not get on top of things and I might just have a crapppy pregnancy, I've already tried stemitil and avamine, crazy how strong the symptoms are even on strong Meds

Reebok I'm so sorry that combination is giving you no relief. Have you had them on IV or just pills? I would really fight for other combinations - when in hospital I was told I couldn't expect relief from the nausea but at least the vomiting I really hope you can at least get the same

Reebok I have been on omeprazole this time for acid it seems to help.

Apparently while sickness will be cut down which it is I may just continue to feel sick. My hormones are really high and some bodies can't deal with it.

Shoop I'm on pills. Iv seems to work better for me. Unfortunately gp surgery doesn't do injections.

Kayme doc won't give me that until second tri. I think the acid is making me worse. Always gets worse by afternoon. Struggling with things to eat as nothing appeals. What are you all managing?

Morning all. Sorry everyone seems to be really struggling, especially Reebok. I'm a lot better with the ondanestron, although still had 3 vom sessions yesterday, still really battling to get hydrated, and having a terrible time with the saliva. Reebok I'm managing to keep down a small portion of cereal in the mornings, nibbles of toast and crackers, and anything iced/icy (lollies, ice cold vanilla almond milk, ice cubes). That's about it. One thing I find very soothing that may help others is baths. I've started having 2 long baths a day. I like just lying there in the warm water, and at least the loo isn't far if you need to dash for a vom. Like Lucinda I can bear the smell of lavender with HG, so I add weleda lavender bath milk to the water. It doesn't take away the sickness, obviously, but it helps to soothe, especially if you get shivery as Spandau was. Hope this helps others.

Spandau when I first took cyclizine I came back from the chemist at midday, took my first one, and then slept until gone 18:00! It utterly knocked me out. But that wore off gradually until now I can take them throughout the day & still get on with life.

I am back at work & whilst still feeling sick a lot of the time, I am able to hold it together on the commute, which has given me confidence.

On a side note, as my bump is now showing, I have been wearing my "baby on board" badge on the tube & muchly enjoying watching people clock it, then swiftly look away & pretend they didn't, so they don't have to offer me a seat

TwoDrifters, brave of you to travel by tube. Can't believe people don't offer you a seat, that's dreadful. I commute by train and am not looking forward to those journeys.
Can I just say: White's Lemonade Ice Lollies! Best HG food/drink I've found. Only wish I had a bigger freezer so I could buy more.

Just had my home birth 'assessment' visit/38 week apt (at 39+3weeks!) and now feeling very excited and ready to go. Hoping this is what baby was waiting for and that it will just get on with it now! Rang hubby to talk about a couple of things midwife said, and forgot that he'd probably think it was THE call...I'm gonna have to start phone calls with "I'm not in labour. Can you get bread"!

Hope everyone has a calmer day today. I know it's frustrating to feel knocked out by drugs, but try to see the silver lining; the best thing for HG is plenty of rest, so at least the meds are helping you rest!

MoP on the same vein as whites lemonade ice lollies, try calyppo orange/lemon and lime - the lemon and lime particularly. Boxes of 6 I think, 3 of each... I have about 20 orange ones in my freezer and no lemon and lime ones left! Now I'm not in the worst of HG I've been banned from buying more -but at my worst, hubby would go out and buy me a new box every time I started the last lemon and lime one! And my neighbour knew they worked so she'd buy me a box whenever she was at the shop. An unknowing visitor looking in my freezer a few months ago would definitely have judged me - literally tens of calyppos, scotch pancakes and bags of chicken dippers and frozen mini sausage rolls!

Ealli, so excited for you, you are nearly there! Really hope you have an easy, happy home birth. I remember when you were at your worst, which doesn't seem that long ago (to me!), so it really gives me hope about the time passing and eventually getting to your stage.
Yes my current fridge/freezer holdings horrify my normally healthy self: bottles of choc milk (some of which I turn into ice lollies), ice lollies of all kinds, and that's about it! Mmm, mini sausage rolls sound quite tempting...

very exciting ealli! you are proof that it is possible to get that far then when it seems so impossible now.

I'm really lucky that at the moment cyclizine means I'm only being sick a few times a day, but the nausea is so crippling it's making me really depressed.

Does anyone else have stomach aches? Not sure whether it's just part of the feeling sick or if I should be worried.

There were women in similar positions to me now when I was in the worst and they gave me hope. I know it's horrid but you really will get to the other end and nearly out the other end. I can almost smell the pink castle - and for once it's not a nauseating smell!

Here's hoping you won't have to wait too much longer eallison, so glad you can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I'm so down today, can't face another 6 1/2 months of this. Miss feeling like "me" as I feel so depressed since this started. I know others are suffering even more which makes me feel even worse.

Shoopshoop kind of stomach aches, like I've been poisoned, but usually goes once I've been sick.

Eallison good luck with your home birth! Really hope you go into labour soon and that it's a smooth easy birth.

Ladies who are suffering, please don't give up hope. Know that this will end. Keep telling yourself it will be over soon. When I was at my worst it felt like an endless road and I didn't know how I'd ever make it to Pink Castle... but the months pass, and suddenly you're there, and the memory of HG starts to fade. You will feel like yourself again.

My baby boy is a week old today! It's been an emotional week (all the normal stresses of new parenthood, breastfeeding, lack of sleep etc) but it's so much easier than the relentless suffering of HG! Whenever I feel too tired or stressed I just cuddle my baby and sniff his hair, and the anxiety melts away. It was all worth it. He's on the breast as I type and I'm happy to say HG didn't affect my milk-supply despite having lost so much weight. Towards the end of my pregnancy I worried I'd be too exhausted and depleted to enjoy my baby, but as soon as he was born my energy and drive came back.
One thing that's taking longer to get over is my wariness of food and eating. Although the nausea's gone completely, I have an irrational fear it returning and have to constantly remind myself I can eat and drink safely again. My appetite has vanished and my diet was so restricted with HG I'm having to train myself to eat normally again and to try and see food as something pleasurable. I guess it takes time to get over the emotional scars of HG.

Good luck to everyone... wishing you all strength and hope!