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.

kayme good to have you back. My gp gave me a couple of reduced hours/duties sicknotes -basically he said I was fit to work under certain conditions (ie shorter hours and not particularly jobs)and then it was up to my work whether they wanted to accept the conditions or not -and if they didn't want to then I didn't work. Might be worth exploring that with your doc?

mouthful I know how difficult is telling/not telling people. You do what you feel is right - they'll understand when it all comes out in the wash. You're not being dishonest, most women dont tell people til they hit the magical 12 week mark anyway, and thats those with a normal pregnancy!

I don't know about the diarrhea, it's not something I had but others might know more. Definitely worth a gp visit.

mouthful I've been varying between diarrhoea and constipation, I put it down to vomiting so much stomach acid that there's none there to do its job properly, iyswim. Worth going to the gp for sure.

Waiting for a doctor to call me back now. I hope I get someone a little sympathetic!

kayme sorry to hear it's still so rotten. There is still hope it will improve a bit, some people don't get improve til around week 21 - 22.

I believe that when you are sick, you should count each individual upchuck (didn't realise that til recently). So if you have a bad session with the bucket, that could count at 15 upchucks rather than just one big session.

Is there any chance of talkign to your HR department, if you have one? Too much work will be making the whole thing worse, honestly. Best thing for HG is meds then rest, rest, rest. Ok, that's not really possible a lot of the time but yoru work piling on more work really wont be helping :(

mouthful i never experienced diarrhoea no myself. Definitely worth mentioning to the doc. Regarding work, a lot of people end up having to tell people about the pregnancy earlier than they want, just because they need to make special arrangements to cope with the sickness :(

I've just emailed my boss - I can't see this getting any better soon.

Is that right about counting each individual upchuck? I never realised that. If so I've been seriously underplaying my symptoms each time I visit the doctor.

I'm curious about the individual upchuck counting thing too. As in - are you meant to count every time you retch/bring something up as one even if you bring something else up a few secs later?!

Mouthful I haven't had the diarrhoea thing either so I'd def recommend that to your GP. Hope your boss responds kindly!

Did anyone else experience a spike in symptoms around 10-11 weeks? I thought things were calming down but in the past few days I've gone backward so it's as bad as it was at 8 weeks.

Bugista I am 10 weeks now. Had a few days of actually not being sick which was amazing. Then spent the weekend in bed throwing up so many times. It's been horrendous. Back to the doctors tomorrow to ask for an extension to my sick leave. I feel so guilty about not going into work.

I can't remember who said it, but it's been posted here a few times about the upchucking thing. It sounds counter-intuitive to me but apparently that's the way that some professionals count it.

bugista the hormones fluctuate. It's very normal to get good days and bad days or patches of a few good / few bad days when the improvement starts to kick in. At 10 - 11 weeks it isn't surprising at all to have a bad few days, unfortunately. Even later on, you might well have the odd bad (or very good) day.

Hi everyone, welcome to all new ladies and hope you start feeling better soon... Bugista yes I had a spike in symptoms around that time. 25weeks was a turning point for me, I still had relapses after that but could get out and about, had less nausea and relapses gradually got shorter.

Had a very queasy weekend! Went to NCT class and left after 2hours as felt so ill (was supposed to be a full day class). I felt so nauseous I couldn't concentrate on anything. Also class was in a really cramped room that smelt of hamsters, and the chairs were so uncomfortable... the sort you can't lean back in as they bend... no cushions or armrests or anything which IMO is ridiculous for a group of heavily pregnant women expected to sit for 6hours!! After 2 hours I was in so much pain from SPD and felt so sick, I told DH I couldn't stay. We had a big row in carpark (he felt I should have made more effort to stay and engage with the group) I was nearly crying and just wanted to go to bed! Also the group was full of happy glowing ladies who kept talking about their easy pregnancies We have another full-day session next weekend, which I want to go to as it covers breastfeeding... teacher agreed I can bring my gym-ball to sit on... though part of me is hoping I'll have gone into labour before then!! Midwife agreed to do a sweep next week.
Sorry for rant, just really disappointed as I'd heard great things about NCT classes and was looking forward to making friends there. DH kept telling me not to 'focus' on feeling sick he has no idea how hard it is to listen to a teacher or be chatty in group discussions when you're gritting your teeth against waves of nausea and wondering if you can make it to loo without throwing up!

Mouthful I had diarrhoea a lot in first trimester, I think it's quite common due to hormone changes and changes in diet (some of my friends had it in early pregnancy too) mine stopped around start of 2nd trimester. But do ask your GP in case it's an infection/virus, and make sure you have extra fluids and rehydration salts. I found ice-cubes, ice-lollies and yogurt drinks stayed down better than liquids.

Heaven please don't feel guilty about calling in sick, you don't sound well enough to work at all. Rest helps HG more than anything. I had to take 7months off sick (on mat-leave now) I felt very guilty at first but you need to put your health first. Every time I tried to return to work I relapsed and I'm sure it set back my recovery.

Lilac thank you for your reassuring words. I know I'm not well enough to work right now. It's just unfortunate that I have heard people there complaining about others that are off sick for a length of time and suspect some of them will be complaining about me also. I'm very much hoping I will start to feel better soon. I have a concert booked for mid October and a holiday to Disneyland at the end of November. I'm starting to get concerned whether I'll cope particularly with the concert. Both were booked well before I fell pregnant or I probably would have waited.

Lilac rain you poor thing, I think you were so brave to stay at that class for as long as you did feeling that way! I wish people who haven't been through this could understand how awful it is and what superstars we all are for keeping on going! Good luck next week, hope you can make it for longer.

Heaven, I'm similar- we have a big holiday booked in a few weeks and I'm already panicking about not being able to go. I'm trying to not think about it tho - worrying doesn't help. It is hard tho, I feel like my whole life is on hold. I'm 11 weeks and haven't been at work since I was 7 weeks so try not to feel guilty. You're sick!

I just spoke to my midwife to see if she could offer any further help but she told me to eat "little and often". Great. Does anyone ever feel like the only experts for this awful sickness are the people who have been through it themselves?! My GP is next to useless, just keeps telling me that morning sickness is annoying but it will go away. I probably should go back to see her just to get checked up but it's so demoralising.

Yeah my midwife told me to eat little and often as well. I thought well that's great if I'm feeling reasonable but when the sickness gets really bad I can't eat a thing and if I do it won't stay down. I've had much better advice from here and reading through old forum posts on the Internet.

Had an awful day. Thrown up 4 times at work, once at home in morning. Just feeling completely rubbish. Think the constant indigestion and heartburn is making me feel worse. I can feel the acid in my chest. So weak. Left work and on way to pick up LO. Long journey though.

Awww reebok. I hope you managed the journey home ok. Hugs for you. It's so nasty.

Hi everyone, just found this thread. Heavenscent, the advice from midwives/doctors is appalling. I've had the eat little and often a few times and if anyone mentions ginger to me again, I might explode.
I am not throwing up but have constant nausea that is not helped by drugs (a doctor friend has let me try all the good stuff) and I am off work from school with the worst guilt ever.
The only thing that helps is sleeping but there is only so much of that you can do in one day.

lilac what a real shame about your class :(

bugista god yes. no one believes how sick you are unless they've been through it. It's well outside most people's normal frame of reference :/

reebok ... please do test the ketones and I hate to say it, but is it worth planning how you will manage the next weeks if you -can't- go to work? I know you want to and need to, but honestly, you don't sound well enough

Welcome ginger. In some ways I think the constant nausea is worse. I prefer the occasional days where I'm sick and feel slightly better afterwards. Do try and get as much rest as you can but you are right about only being able to do so much sleeping in one day. I have watched loads of films as I don't have the attention span to read like I normally would at the moment. My new uni course starts in October as well. Panic!!

I agree heaven and ginger - throwing up is awful but the constant severe nausea can really get me down - at least you can get respite from the throwing up!

Reebok you poor thing. It definitely does not sound like you should be going anywhere near work and doing so is likely to be making you more sick. I second Meerka's suggestion if you can find a way to take time off? You're clearly too sick!

Got to dds nursery and threw up. Then got home and threw up some more. I feel so weak. Going hospital tomorrow while dd at nursery. Told my boss. Apologized for letting them down but said my health is vital. All I got was 'ok'. Sod work. They can sack me. I feel bad for the kids as it will confuse them (teacher wise) but me and baby come first.

I'm so glad you are going to the hospital reebok. I believe work are not allowed to sack you for pregnancy related sickness so hopefully that won't be an issue for you. You will feel better I'm sure after the hospital have given you some fluids.

I'm glad you're going to hospital too reebok. really thnk you need help.

ginger welcome (sorry, crosspost before). Great name! Tehre are some good hints on what to eat and drink on the Pregnancy Sickness Support website that lucinda posted at the top, and do post here if you'd like any information or a good moan. The people here -know- what it's like to go through it, and posting here can help with the loneliness as well as getting hints.

I started crying to dh because I'm so thirsty. He doesn't really know what to say or do. I can tell he doesn't want to be around me.

Has anyone tried tinned fruit? It's a suggestion on the pregnancy sickness website. Does it stay down? Craving for green apples. I hate green apples usually but I think it's because I'm so thirsty. I don't know what to do.

I found tinned peaches and pears stayed down but tinned oranges did not. The juice was nice though. It did help a little.