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.

Hello All. So annoyed, I came on the thread earlier this evening, wrote a long post and then somehow lost it. Argh! Have had a reasonable few days. Am managing on 2 rather than 3 Ondansetron and provided I stay stable like this for a bit, I'll try cutting down to 1 a day. I'll be interested to know how you get on with reduced dose Madrigal. I'm 19 weeks today, feel like time is finally starting to move a bit.
How's the bleeding now Reebok? Hope you've had a restful weekend.
Spandau, sorry to hear you've regressed today. But good that you had a few better days before that? Maybe a sign of better days ahead?
Shoop, hope you're managing with everything now you're back from your mum's? How far along are you now?
Ruby, sorry to hear you're still suffering at 32 weeks, and have GD too. I remember when you were at your worst a few months ago, can't believe that court case dragged on all that time!
Gold, so glad to hear of your recovery. The relief in your post is almost palpable.
Big waves to Amys, Squeezed, TwoDrifters, Icant, Meer, and of course Lucinda. I'm in bed chomping Rennies and enjoying my comfy new maternity pjs! Wishing everyone a restful night.

Awful day here. Projectile vomiting. Feel like utter shit. Roll on April! Sorry not to reply to all. Will try catch up tomorrow. X

Hugs, Reebok. I really believe that once the new year starts, which is not long now, April will feel a lot closer. X

I'm not sure if I qualify for this thread. I'm 7+4 today, and basically been in my bed for the last 8 days. I'm on anti-sickness drugs as I need to take morphine for chronic pain, and have not actually been physically sick, but I am so nauseous I can barely move, and can hardly eat.

I am managing strawberry milk which hopefully is keeping my protein and fat levels up, and tangerines seem OK, but that's pretty much it.

I have the doctor this morning as need signed off work, I just can't function at all.

oh gosh lily that's a tough haul, being on morphine for pain and getting HG :( sorry to hear it.

Can you speak to your doc about meds? There is aprintout here about which meds you can have (i hope that's the right page, I can't directly access it as Im not UK. If not, there is another page about the meds you can safely have, maybe someone else can link it).

A print out can help as some doctors are not fully up on severe preg sickness. (btw, never mind about 'qualifying' for the thread, everyone is welcome!). Also it lets you be involved in your own treatment a bit.

Also, an advocate can help a lot if therés someone who knows how bad you are and can speak for you. For some reason doctors take it more seriously sometimes.

Please do get help now, early treatment can prevent it getting quite as bad as it would otherwise.

reebok thinking of you too, what a rotten few days (or months, really) . Do hope that the bed rest will soften the HG a bit, soon. Take care.

Icant how are you? Please let us know if you can.

Thinking of everyone, shoop and MoP (lovely to hear you're getting a few good days now) and madrigal and everyone else

Sounds like you more than qualify lily sorry you came here under the circumstances but welcome, the more the merrier! The nausea is just as debilitating as the vomiting at times, at least with vomiting there's sometimes a sense of feeling a bit better afterwards (only sometimes 😓) but the nausea just seems endless and so constant... I think in the past seven or eight weeks there's only been a handful of times when I've felt "not sick" usually in the middle of the night when its useless lol xxx

Thanks Amys & Meer, the nausea is awful. I'll have to go in to my work today to allocate urgent work out since it's already waited a week, but I could barely stand for 5 minutes just now so goodness knows how that will be!

lilygirl Welcome. It sounds as if you more than qualify, as others say.
Do try and get yourself signed off work; I'm dismayed you've had to go in; so many woman on here force themselves in and collapse; this is a serious illness and needs bedrest. You've had great advice from OnceaMeer and others, so I can't add much; kesostix from any chemists will help check for dehydration in the early stages. If the ketones in your urine measure more than 3+ then you need to be admitted for fluids.
RubyReins Welcome back. How awful that you are still suffering. Did you say that you do have days of relief now and then? Sorry to hear you still feel so foul. At least you can joke about it. Ghastly white was my general colouring when suffering,The Ghostly Look, accompanied with a staggering walk...
Reebok I am so sorry to hear that you had such a bad day. Are the cramps receeding?
Goldalmond That's marvellous news. Now you can enjoy baby.
MotherofPearl and Madrigal Happy news, too.
squeezed Oh dear. Mixed fruit to be avoided, I gather.
amysmummy I am so glad you managed to get out.

I hope spandauIcan't and everyone is coping.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.
OnceaMeer Ah, that sounds good about flood defences. Except in London, in the UK the motto re any extreme weather conditions is 'Be Unprepared'.

Thanks lucinda I wasn't sure if I could get those sticks or not so that's good to know. If my desk wasn't a tip I'd be able to just ask people to do things, but it really needs me to sort it out sadly. Shouldn't take more than 30 minutes hopefully, and it's only a 15 minute drive, though all together it suddenly seems a lot. Think I may go back home after the doctor and head in this afternoon instead of straight after this.

Are there any foods you have all found edible, or is it really just trial and error?

it varies wildly from person to person. Reactions to meds are the same actually.

Highly processed stuff seems easier to keep down for quite a few people - McD's or similar. Tinned peaches or other fruit. Water melon, cucumber.

If you fancy something suddenly, don't wait. Eat it then and there. Have you got a supportive partner who can do a supermarket dash for you? (and not get annoyed when your body suddenly decides that it doesn't want the whatever-it-is after all!)

Any calories are good calories at this stage, so don't worry about healthiness. If you can, try to take folic acid & calcium. Some people can, some can't.

The sites mother Hen links in the very first post give some good food tips too.

Hello all. Just want to canvas opinion if that is ok? Been throwing up constantly since 3 am. No let up at all save for about 30 minutes. Just bringing up bile and water (that I drink to make the experience less unpleasant). I have been sick pretty much every day since mid May but this is different. DH and DS are ok so unlikely to be food poisoning. I have left a message for my midwife between spews. I feel "poisoned" if that makes sense? 32 weeks now. Just a bit scared and wondered if anyone had any ideas?

I'd get admitted.to maternity if I were you ruby... they can stabilise your vomiting and check for infection ect ect... pls get seen asap

I'm not having a great day feel sick constantly with stomach ache and horrible taste is back in mouth ... I thought it was going....now I feel.like I did weeks ago ...
This is such a cruel cruel illness. .

I hope you don't mind me just popping in, but wanted to see if anyone had similar experience. I am 14wks5 and have had awful HG from about 6 weeks. Was prescribed cyclizine which has been great, enables me to stop vomiting down to once per day, able to eat a bit. However, I still had horrific nausea, the meds made me so drowsy, so days were spent mostly sleeping. Have been signed off since this point. Now I seem to have good days where I don't fully vomit, dry heave, but nausea is still so bad.

I went to the GP for more tablets as I had ran out (they mixed up my prescription & couldn't get mine in time) so the constant vomiting had started again. The GP has never been sympathetic but stated that it should have cleared up by now. Then asked me if my scan was normal, which I said it was. She went hmmm & said well I don't know why you are still sick. She then said I am only giving you two more weeks off. I said I really am not up to much as even on the meds, the drowsiness & nausea is still overpowering. She then looked at me, laughed a bit and said "Have you been on bed rest this whooooole time?!!!"

HG is no walk in the park, some days I needed help just to have a shower. Anyway, what do I do if next week I am still suffering & she won't sign me off? I sit in the surgery feeling like I am a liar, it really is so disheartening. But I also know how much this has impacted me & I feel like a shadow of myself. I am lucky it has been managed well with medication & I haven't had constant hospital admissions, but I still am not up to working at all. I thought it was normal for HG to last a few weeks yet into the second trimester, I was holding onto the fact it might go by week 20!

Pebbles, it's awful that your gp is being an unreasonable oaf some people just don't "get" how crippling hg is

Ruby you might have picked up a bug from somewhere, germs are everywhere

Hope your day improves Spandau xxxx

Hope everyone else is fairing well xxx

Ruby do you have an option for direct admission to hospital? I had that and when I was vomiting like you I was able to self-refer to the hospital without having to go through the GP first. It meant I was able to get help much earlier in the day, and they were able to stabilise the vomiting and rehydrate me. It really sounds like you need something to help you to break the cycle. Hope you feel better soon.

Sorry you're having a horrible day spandau. I keep thinking that it must be yours and reebok's turn to feel better.

Pebbles I am so about your stupid GP. HG is the worst thing I have ever been through, and the only thing which has made it bearable for me has been the support of DH and healthcare professionals. Is there anyone else at the surgery that you can see?

As for me, I am feeling pretty nauseated today, and I've got the awful washing machine stomach going on, so I'm not sure I'll keep my lunch down. MOP I've split my ondansetron in two, and taking one half at about 6.30am, and then another around now. I don't think it is quite enough really but the constipation is motivating me to persevere for a bit longer if I can!

Hello to everyone else, and of course, mother hen and Meer.

I will see if there is someone else, I think I need to change surgery really. I just felt so down as she really talked over me & just made me feel like an idiot. There was one Doctor at A&E who was so lovely, had experienced it herself & it made all the difference. Just panicking about being signed off, but I suppose I just need to be assertive. So annoying as normal me is so active & never been one to relax etc, So I know myself that I am bloomin ill because I can't even go to the shop etc.

Hello. Triage don't want me to come in until norovirus or similar has been ruled out as they don't want me infecting others which is totally understandable. A friend I saw on Saturday has posted on Facebook that he has food poisoning so I think we might have alighted upon the cause.

My GP was totally unsympathetic too. The drugs similarly wiped me out which is totally useless for me. I only earn when I actually work and have no safety net of sick leave. No one seems to understand this. I called the surgery earlier today to have them hang up on me saying it was their lunch break. Bloody hate them.

Pebbles: This is a thoroughly debilitating condition and I am livid that women are being so dismissed. Some posters here (forgive me for not properly citing names) speak of being sick until after they have delivered so the arbitrary time frames imposed by your GP are ignorant and ludicrous. I would complain.

Ruby, I totally agree. I just began questioning myself, just because it is being managed doesn't me I am fit for work. It is helpful to hear from people on here as it shows me I am not going mad or am being too much of a wimp. HG is far by the worst thing I have experienced to the point where I just felt I couldn't go on being pregnant anymore, was completely at boiling point. There needs to be better understanding from GPs so women can be properly supported. They don't need more stress at a time like this. They told me to get a phone consultation this week, so we shall see how it goes.

If it helps I felt exactly the same. This is a much longed for baby but I admit to having had dark thoughts as I just couldn't take another day of the crippling nausea and crushing sickness. I have burns inside my nose and throat from all the stomach acid, I have lost weight and at best I feel as though I have the worst brandy hangover one ever had. Then I am told "it will pass" or the midwife does that irritating head tilt whilst offering nothing other than sodding bloody ginger (it have meds but they whack me out and make me sleep). It is a very misunderstood condition and very easily minimised when so many are just a bit sick at 12 weeks. You have my utmost sympathy and I believe how much this impacts upon you.

So after nearly a week of feeling better. Today i decided i wasnt going to take my 1 ondanstron tablet (as was going to to try and take it every other day). Have not felt too bad other than the continued is with acidy stomach despite taking several things for it. Managed to eat breakfast and lunch. Then 30 mins ago out of no where i started to be sick. I just bought up watery stuff no bile or food. Hoping it doesnt happen again. Only 2 more days til my 20 week scan, cant wait.

pebbles do not see that doc again
Make a complaint when u feel better.
See a different doc and demand what you need.
HG can be a killer so how dare she treat you in that manner...
Iv had to be very hard this time round to get meds ect.. I won't be walked over in any way this time.. but I have had similar experience s in past ...

Ppl who make you feel like that you do not need in your life...
We here all know how debilitating HG is...
I'm having a terrible couple days and I'm 19 +4 ! I think I'd have slapped her if she d have said that to me !!!!

ruby the midwife head tilt made me laugh out loud !!!
Do these ppl.never see any women with HG obviously we are the only ones alive to have it... oh hang on ... what about all you lovely ladies going through this daily...

Dum f .x

spandau

RubyReins Poor you. What do your ketones test as? If they are 3+ you will need to go to A and E, surely. How long has it been going on? Over twenty-four hours and its a medical emergency, infection or not.
Pebbles Welcome, poor you. If you phone this number
024 7638 2020 they'll give you good advice about how to get medication if your GP isn't helpful. They do have to ring back, but they will.

Did the doctor test your urine? I hope so, as with this it's so easy to get dehydrated.
Much sympathy to all those suffering.

Haven't tested for ketones yet. Other than in July it was all fine on that score. Have a second Glucose Tolerance Test on Wednesday so, if I can drag my sorry frame to the appointment I will ask them to check.