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.

Chatty, I think Lucinda and Meer have the full list of drugs options. The ones I know about are:
Cyclizine, commonly prescribed as first option, can make you drowsy for the first few days at least. Widely used and very safe. I took it all thru my previous HG pregnancy and it did make some difference.
Buccastem, you can get over the counter but say it's for travel sickness or they can make a fuss. You dissolve it on gum line and does help some women.
Ondansetron, this is what I'm currently taking, along with many others on the thread. I'm one of the lucky ones for whom it's made a big difference. Some doctors can be reluctant to prescribe it because it is very expensive. Unfortunately it causes bad constipation, but I find that preferable to the misery of constantly throwing up.
Try to see your GP or go to an Early Pregnancy Unit if you have one near you, to discuss your options. Keep us posted on how you get on.

Chatty as MOP says there are a number of safe options you can take to help - but be prepared to come across some ignorance around taking medication when pregnant...there are sadly a lot of healthcare professionals around who aren't aware that there are options so don't be put off. I was offered metaclopramide at 8 weeks but had a nurse tell me off so I didn't take it till about 10 weeks which made me a lot more sick than I necessary. There's an explanation of the treatments you can get here: www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk/help/treatments/ - it's useful to know you're options and feel confident when talking to HCPs.

chatty, this is a list of the stuff you can get.

All of them are considered safe for the baby, most especially cyclizine, millions of women have used it.

cyclizine (old fashioned anti-histamine; can make you sleepy)
Metoclopramide (empties the stomach faster, less to upchuck)
Domperidone (similar)
Prochlorperazine (stemetil/Avomine/Buccastem) (works on your sense of balance; also a travel remedy; can be good for some people).
Promethazine (called Phenergan)(stronger old fashioned anti-histamine, also sleepy-making)
Ondansetron (the strongest and many people find the best, but causes constipation).

Meto is the only slightly iffy one for the mother. Best to start with cyclizine. It's an old style anti-histamine that helps counteract your body's reaction to the HcG hormone, which is what triggers HG. Any sensible up to date doctor will prescribe that - just be sure to let them know any other meds you're on.

the Government's own best practice guidelines are clear that everything should be done (including prescribing meds) to let the preg woman lead as normal a life as possible, btw.

Good news ladies I've been allowed home for a week on a trial on oral meds! Back in next Friday - hopefully can go a week without needing admission! :)

I'm off til July... hopefully we'll have progressed past needing to hose mummy down in tge wee small hours by then!

icant fingers crossed that this is the start of better, controlled days for you.

RE meds: don't forget that any meds from meers list are fine and mummy on meds to make it so she can eat/drink is important for baby. Dehydrated and starved mummy is only ever bad for baby.

Thanks everyone I appreciate it. I'll get on it with the midwife. However my husband has helpfully pointed out that there was some other drug in the 70s I think which they prescribed for morning sickness snd Said it was safe at the time, and then it caused a load of birth defects....

It was called thalidomide apparently

chatty your midwife won't be able to prescribe anything, you need to see a gp/early pregnancy unit. And yes, thalidomide was prescribed, and yes birth defects. However, cos of thalidomide the tests on meds for pregnant women are very thorough. Cyclizine particularly had been prescribed for quite some time for pregnant women.

Icant great news!

Welcome, ChattyCat78. Congratulations on twins, only the third or fourth set on this thread, I think, and the other women expecting twins found that though the symptoms were savage, they were comparatively shot lived, so perhaps it was only the twin pregnancy that tipped them over into Hyperemesis. Did you avoid it with your LO? You'lll certainly have a family close in age; nice, as they'll all play together,but it's no joke for you and Charlie and others coping with a baby and Hyperemesis. I don't think I can improve on the advice on meds and testing for dehydration with kesostix and great links from everyone.
Thalidomide was actually circa 1961, due to inadequate research. It could never happen now with new health guidelines.In that year, a doctor proved the link between taking it and birth defects to the limbs in babies. The horror of that made doctors if anything too reluctant to prescribe anything in pregnancy even when women were in danger of being severely dehydrated, which is itself a threat to the baby. Now, only safe drugs are prescribed; cyclizine, for instance, has been proved safe for about thirty years.
emysmarie (or was it Emysmarie)? had twins a few months ago, and posted such a sweet picture.
Reebok and MotheorfPearl Goodness, my very thoughts. I was about to type 'congratulations on train journeys without vomits' myself. What a thing to be thankful for. I do hope the train you have to take has a loo or is it the underground?
Ican't Ah, wonderful news. . Congratulations on boy, too. I only call it the Pink Castle because that was the colour of the one at the end of a Snakes and Ladders board when I was a kid, but perhaps we should call it 'The Sky Blue Pink Castle'
OnceaMeer Cross posted yesterday, as ever. Great advice as always. I am so glad you have been having a nice, busy time, not a nasty busy time.
bugista Thanks for such a lovely, encouraging message. I am so glad this thread helped you when you were at your worst.
spandau Sorry to hear you are still being sick. I'm hoping for better days for you asap.
squeezed I am so glad you are feeling rested.
amysummy I hope work wasn't too bad today?
eallison Oh no. I do hope baby gets a lot better soon.
Caper How are things, today?

Apologies if I've rudely overlooked anyone. Watch me cross post as usual.

Hi everyone, sorry to have been absent for a few days. After a good day or so I have relapsed somewhat and have been finding things tough again. Really got my hopes up too!

I'm also finding it hard because now I'm in the second trimester I'm getting incredulity from some people that I'm still suffering, and lots of "Oh, in a few days you'll wake up and feel much better." I wish more people could understand that HG IS NOT LIKE NORMAL MORNING SICKNESS. Grr. Sorry for shouting.

I also need to go back to work which I'm dreading - will be starting on Monday so I'm hoping for a miracle over the next few days! I am still completely incapable of preparing myself any food at all, and cannot shower without vomiting, so have to take a bath every day which is much more time consuming.

I also think I've got a cold starting which is making me feel more shitty and I'm really struggling emotionally - feel very alone and frustrated at the moment. In some ways, I think the good day has actually made it harder to bear the subsequent bad days because I had a glimpse of the "old me" and I really miss her!

Sorry for the me me me post. Hope everyone else is ok.

Madrigal Goodness, Mother Hen thinks you do not sound nearly well enough to go back to work. Remember you will get very tired, and that will increase the vomiting, unfortunately, and now with a cold...Do you absolutely have to go back to work?

chatty because of the 60 s scare with the birth defects it's stopped a lot of meds being given out that are safe now !
Docs are very aware of dangers and won't give you anything that will hurt babies.
I had twins with 1st preg at 20 .. I had HG never got any help lost a.stone in first trimester and I was skinny any way! After I stopped being so ill I didn't gain any weight as there was no room for two babies and my stomach lol.
My boys are 14 now and I'd like to say it's so.much easier lol but twins is a.big life changer .. total opposite.to a.single.pregnancy babies toddlers school ect ...

Best advise rest up... get meds.. take all help you can get now and in future. Get involved with a.twins and multiple births group it will keep you sane !!!
Best of luck !!!
It's a very unique experience :)

saw my consultant today... he said oh I see you ve had a little sickness
I said yea so little I wound up in hospital at 10 weeks mate!!!
He was ok actually said don't suffer in silence they can do steroids and all sorts if needs be ...
He also wants me to have a CPN

shoophave you been offered a CPN ??
They are very useful for after the birth when the low feelings can swoop in and I d hate for any one to ever feel like I did .
chatty pls also be aware that double the hormones crashing after birth leaves you extra vulnerable to PND so pls don't ever feel like a failure if this does happen get help ! I didn't and it spoiled the first 6 months with my twins .. I never want to go through that ever again...

Xx

madrigal same here with the 2nd trimester comments ..
I can't shower or bath without vom still... hate food ...

Today a colleague of mine gave me ginger and cammomie sweets. I wanted to laugh in her face but I didn't as she's very nice and kind of like a second mum to me...always looking after me. Bless her. Still getting the comments of 'is that all you can eat? Surely that's not good for the baby...' I want to slap people when they say that to me!

Welcome chatty. Sorry to hear you're suffering but you've come to the right place.

Sorry I've been so bad at replying to individual posts...work takes it out of me. Surviving on 3 hours sleep thanks to insomnia, peeing, vomiting, a crying 2 year old, a cold and sciatic pain. My brain no longer works. Another day done ladies. Try to rest. Night all x

icant very glad to hear that you can try a few days at home =) will be so nice to be in your own familiar place.

chatty as others have said, Thalidomide was given against morning sickness and yes it caused awful side effects. I'm pretty well writing what mother Hen and others have said, but here goes:

the testing procedures now are far, far stricter and Thalidomide would never be passed for that under current standards.

Secondly, the pendulum swung the other way and medics refused to prescribe anything for morning sickness, even stuff that is considered very safe. There have been women who have been untreated and whom have had to go for a termination because they just cannot go on :(

Thirdly the current meds are not officially licensed (except one sister drug of cyclizine in the US & Canada) but are considered safe after being used on tens of thousands or sometimes hundreds of thousands of women. Is there a tiny risk? Yes, there is. But there is generally a higher risk from being dehydrated / not getting enough nutrition, or your whole system being weakened by long term HG.

Also, taking meds early can help the HG from getting too severe.

If you have any doubts, ring the Preg Sickness Support number above, leave a message and they will get back to you. There is an elderly, very experenced doctor there whom you can talk to.

(Actually thalidomide is still regularly used as a cancer treatment and sometimes in other cases such as rheumatoid arthritis and I -think- against leprosy too!)

madrigal .. what everyone says. You really really don't sound ready to return to work. Is there no way you can get an extension on your sick note?

ealli lovely to hear you have a good long stretch with tinyealli before July =)

Thinking of spandau and squeezed and MoP and everyone. Hoping everyone can sleep deeply, that helps a bit too.

Have had a relatively good week, tiredness lifted to some degree but felt rough all day. I was sick earlier for first time in almost a week but only the once and just watery fluid - haven't felt great since so heading to bed very soon.
chatty I am on metoclopramide, 10mg 2x per day and find they work for me (most of the time!), cyclizine didn't work this time but was amazing last pregnancy - it's weird how our bodies change isn't it. I'll need to call drs tomorrow to get my prescription done again, fx he just passes it through, he's giving me 2 wks course at a time atm and this will be the third lot - can't believe I've been on them for almost a month and I'm feeling like they're only making a difference in the past week or so I keep thinking that I'm feeling better but then I get to 2:30 and if I don't have my second pill asap that's me screwed for the rest of fee day

Hi All, other than that severe indegestion after eating and the feeling of nausea, today has been relativly ok. Espically as no gagging or vomiting. Got my letter from hospital confirming my 20wk scan will be on 16th Dec. So trying to use that as something positive to look forward to. I also bought a neutral item of clothing (1st thing ive bought so far). The HG with my 1st was pretty much over by that point so crossing fingers for the same as due back to work at 23 weeks. You lot currently having to face going to work are so strong, i dont know how u do it. Espically wen u come across ppl who are so unempathetic to your situation.

Havent really been out much since hg started but due to go to a masquerade ball tomorrow which i booked with a group of friends and OH months ago (before i knew i was pregnant). I feel quite anxious about being out late and away from home. Will be so weird putting make up on & a dress. Been such a long time.

Icant - glad u have been able to go home, hope the treatment at home makes things more bearable.

I saw your thread msgs about thalidomide and heard about that from my mil. She has a friend who was born without legs due to her mum taking that mediciation. So she was panicked that i was taking anti sickness tabs. I reassured her that guidelines and testing these days are much more lengthy.

After recently shifting a viral infection i totally symphthazie with anyone who has come down with colds etc on top of HG. My LO is now better to. But OH is now ill with it. So ive banished him to spare room.

Off to sleep now but hope tomorrow is a better day for every1 xoxo

Just had first bile run for a while at 3 40 am !!!
Acid stomach pain wow
Sipping hot milk hope it helps n stays down
HG in all its glory ... waking to puke

Spandau have you tried asking doc for omeprazole? Your reflux sounds as bad as mine was. Ranitidine won't help you when it's that bad.

Charlie we are scan date buddies! That's my 20 week scan too!

On my way to work. Suffering from constipation today so in pain. Arghhhh! Roll on the end of my working day so I can rest!

spandau second vote for omeprazole.wit was as much of a game changer for me as the ondansetron.

With new people, it's time we updated this. Ican't I hope I've got your date correctly?

Due Date

Laura 24 November
Chopsface 14 December
Daffodil 14 December
TwoDrifters 4 January
Kayme 28 January
RubyReins 6 February
mrsm14 14 February
Mirabel 19 February
mygreeneyedboy 22 February
BarmeeMarmee 10 March
Bugista 26 March
Shoop 28 March
Reebok 29 April
spandau 5 May
MotherofPearl 7 May
ICan't 7 May
spandau 8 May
Iam 11 May
Motherof Pearl 12 May.
lemonslemonslemons 12 June
amysmum 12 June

Sorry to hear of 'Vile Runs', spandau and Reebok Oh dear. Somone said to me on hearing about this thread: 'But why didn't you change our diet? Why don't you tell the other women that?' !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reebok Sorry, my typo took away the point of that. Someone said to me on hearing about this thread: "But why didn't you change your diet? Why don't you tell the others to do that?"' !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!