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#!scenario

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 wish I had joined mumsnet and found this thread sooner. I'm now at 17 weeks and started to have real sickness problems at about week 6. This is my first pregnancy so at first I just thought this was just what happened. But after weeks of continuous vomtimg did go to the GP and got some medicines, although they didn't really help. I feel for anyone that goes through this excessive sickness. I've been off work for most of this time and at times genuinely feel like I was going mad with the loneliness at home, not being able to read or look at a computer as it only made the sickness worse. On a much brighter note this week I was able to go to work for a few hours and have dinner out one evening with my husband. Never have I been so happy to eat a bowl of pasta out of the house!

Welcome eternal sorry to hear you are suffering. Glad your gp is supportive what medication are you on? I've only just gone back to work (on phased return which sounds like you are too?) After months off and is doing my mental health the world of good even if I find it hard not to do too much and make myself ill again!

Thank you for such a warm welcome everyone, particularly the really useful tips on steps to manage this. Lucinda, that list is very helpful, thank you! I am currently living on tinned peaches and salty crisps which is hardly a healthy combination but if it stays down, it is better than nothing! I will give your other suggestions a go, thank you!
Fortunately I am not working at the moment, I resigned during my mat leave with DD as we had to move due to DH's job and decided not to go back for a year or so as I found it impossible to balance pregnancy with work (primary teaching) and we knew we wanted another soon.
DH is in the military, so frequently away, and we live hours from family due to his job but I am fortunate to have supportive friends locally who are in the same position with little ones so we can help each other out.
DD also starts nursery a few mornings a week next week which will hopefully help with resting.

Reebok- Happy birthday! I hope baby makes an appearance very, very soon for you.

Eternal- hi! Sorry to hear you are joining us but hopefully it helps.

Before anything, Reebok Have as happy a birthday as you can. As below,
(cake]. I know the cake and wine have to be virtual!
Welcome to Eternalexploration. Sorry you have suffered alone for so long. I am glad it is a little better now,and you could even dare to go out. Pasta? Very brave; dreadful if it chooses to reappear. Don't overdo it at work. So many women rush back when feeling a little better, says Mother Hen.
Nuttypops I a so glad you have supportive friends and don't have to worry about work at least. Glad you found my food of highly unhealthy bearable foods helpful.
ickekid Pizza? Poor you, that cooked cheese, oh no...
Raeskywalker Well, he was better than many OH's in volunteering for a day .
SpecialStains OH sounds as if he was brilliant at your worst, you lucky thing (though not lucky to have Hyperemesis, of course!).
SleepymrsE Thinking of you.
Thinking of squeezedspandauIcan't 1MoreTwinkle and everyone.
Watch me cross post, as usual.

reebok hoping you can manage a good birthday, and hoping even more that you get a birthday arrival!

welcome eternal and nutty Post here whenever you need to

wishing everone a quiet day

Thanks everyone. Well oh is working today so no chance of a rest from dd. She decided to wake at 6.30...this is after a night of her crying and contractions for me 5 minutes apart. I'm shattered and feel rotten. My sister is coming over today to take me to lunch but in all honesty, I just wish I could sleep with no dd. Happy birthday to me indeed!

Many happy returns reebok! Could your sister look after DD and let you have a nap instead?!
Welcome to eternal and nutty, hope you find some meds that work soon, do post on here as between us we have tried pretty much everything! Don't panic about diet at all, we've all gone on to have healthy babies despite appalling pregnancy nutrition, and you may find you can eat more variety as the pregnancy progresses and you find the right medication. In the early weeks baby takes very little from you anyway. Your main priority is keeping fluids down. I find milk/chocolate milk/yogurt drink stays down better, also having eg Ribena or other juice in a carton that you can sip slowly.
Can't rem who asked how you manage when you already have kids to look after - my very honest answer is I've only coped because I have childcare (childminder 4 days a week) as I was working, DD generally sleeps well at night, plus DH has been very good. And also CBeebies is a lifesaver. Also got a cleaner recently so that helps too. Some days I just go to bed when DD does. (And apologies I know that won't help those who aren't in position to have childcare help etc.). I love being with DD but my days alone with her are exhausting. At least she still naps in afternoon so I can have a quick rest then.
rae the food prep has got better for me, so there is hope! In the early days I would just retch over everything and smells were a problem, now things are much better and only eg meat/fish smell that's a real problem. So I'm able to prep simple food for DD, altho to be fair it is mainly sandwiches / fish fingers / stuff on toast etc so she's hardly getting 'perfect home made by mum' food. Thank goodness she likes eating the things I can manage to eat (I always wonder if that's because of what she was exposed to in the womb?!)
Thanks for the pouch suggestion (sorry I can't rem who said it!) but sadly DD won't touch Ella's etc now, unless it's the fruit pouches. I tried getting her special toddler ready meals (at great expense!) but she wouldn't even attempt them!
sleepy so sorry to hear of blood tests and spotting, what an anxious wait - would you not be able to have a scan for reassurance - can you go to your local EPU?
Hugs to everyone X

Thankyou MotherofPearl xx
Birthday greetings and quick labour and people to help you wishes Reebok
waves and blows kisses to everyone else
Getting fatter by the day, think it's coz I'm eating more to try and keep my tummy full and I'm eating far more than I'm pooping so I'm hugely bloated!!! That plus not bothering or having the energy for shaving for a month I look a real sexy beast (not!) hairy portly beast maybe but think the last time I looked or felt sexy was the night that got me into this situation in the first place!!
hugs to all suffering it's exhausting xx

just threw up
Man I hate the smell, taste and the look of puke!
Apologies if you're eating
I took ondansetron at 8am and again at 4 ish. And just threw up. I don't understand how some days ondansetron doesn't seem to work and others it does

Fear not fresh I'm just as hairy and sexy

mrsmonkey I got some of these for ds www.littledish.co.uk/ and he really likes them. They don't seem too bad nutrition wise and although about £2.50 they make my life much easier!

reebok did you manage to have a rest after lunch?

Thinking of you all hope the sun has been shining where you are.

fresh could you not have Ondansetron 3 times a day? (Apols if you are already)
I vommed this morning too if it makes you feel any better?? 😉
Thanks ickle yes it was those little dish meals that DD flat out rejected! Sigh. I know she would have liked them if she'd tried them. She's doing that thing of not trying anything unfamiliar in case it's poisonous (I googled. Apparently it's an evolutionary thing....)
fresh I'm sure you look ravishing!! (People keep telling me I look really well. I'm assuming they're being polite or have poor eyesight and can't see my broken blood vessels face).

fresh I -think- it's not so much about the ondansetron working or not, so much as as the hormone flood varies wildly from day to day. So sometimes the ondan (or other med) is enough to hold back the flood, and other days it breaches the medication dyke (any medicos can confirm this?)

Not a medic but that makes sense to me onceameer. Presumably also the reason many of us find we feel much worse in evenings, when I mentioned this to consultant he said clearly I'm having a surge of hormones in late afternoon (and therefore to get as much food in prior to that as poss).

Quiet on here. Hope that's a good sign. Interesting how many of us struggle with late afternoons - sounds like we're the same there MrsMonkey. I think the other contributing factor is that that's when you're really tired, at the end of the day, and we all know how tiredness triggers the sickness.
On that note I'm currently lying in bed feeling exhausted and very nauseous. Made the mistake of taking the DC to a soft play centre this afternoon (raining here and they had a lot of energy to expend). Those places are hellish at the best of times though, and I've come home shattered. DP has sent me to bed and is taking care of cooking and the DC.
Reebok, how was your birthday yesterday? Did you manage to go out to lunch with your sister?
Fresh, your post made me . I too feel that I've rather, ahem, 'let myself go'. I stopped bothering with make up early on in the pregnancy (watering eyes when throwing up always made my mascara run anyway!), and I feel really unkempt, wearing the same 2 or 3 frumpy maternity outfits day in and day out. It's all I can do just to have a daily shower and keep my teeth clean! Oh well.
Hope everyone has survived the weekend.

Reebok I hope your birthday went a bit better than it was early on.
Freshbreadandfaith Much sympathy over the horrors of the taste, feel and smell of puke. Those comments of the GP's, and OnceaMeer's about hormonal surges throughout the day are intriguing.
mrsmonkey Icklekid MotherofPearl and everyone I am sure that hairy or not, and frumpy outfits or no, you look lovely.
Thinking of SleepymrsE and everyone.

Happy belated birthday reebok, hope you had as good a day as possible considering the contractions & sickness have been bad.

Sorry I've been quite, was shattered yesterday - DS decided he would choose Friday night to figure out he could climb out of his cot bed, turn his lamp on and play with his toys. A little bit amusing at 8.30pm but def not at 2am & 3.30am. No more spotting since Wed evening so that's good. Like I say docs don't seem concerned but will speak to midwife on Tues morning. Roll on 20 week scan!

Hope others are coping ok. Heartburn has been a right bitch this weekend. I was hoping I'd get away with it this pregnancy after suffering horribly last time but I think whoever was talking about the links are right - it seems us HG ladies are predisposed to suffering heartburn too. Got weighed the the other day too - lost weight again. I am eating more but think as I'm doing more now I'm not eating anywhere near the calories I need to keep up. Bump seems to be growing nicely though. Already in some maternity wear.

Hi all, sorry for the lack of posts, seems like every time I come on to post I get distracted or something crops up!! Welcome to all the newbies, sorry you're here but you're in good company

Any news onicant and reebok ? My next door neighbour has gone in to be induced today, I'm so jealous!!! Took dd to docs Fri for her dodgy scabby cheek Fri and I too have to have bloods done to see if I've been exposed to slapped cheek virus like you sleepy tbh though I think the gp only mentioned it because I said it could be that amongst other things she practically googled it in front of me!

Leg/back pain no better, I've resorted to using my dads walking stick, much to the amusement of my family and friends I've knocked the cocodamol on the head and am taking these babies which are slightly better...

Good night to all my unkempt HG cyber-sisters! 😉 Haven't worn mascara in months either MOP, no point when you vom all the time! sleepy are you taking something for the heartburn? I don't get the chest pain but just the acid rising up, ranitidine helps a lot. Glad to hear bump growing nicely despite your weight loss - I'm just the same. I've always cracked out the maternity wear in the first trimester anyway! Comfy waistbands are a must. I actually have loads of maternity wear from last time as have to be smart for work but since I stopped working I've been wearing tracksuit bottoms for what feels like weeks... Will prob treat my hair to its weekly wash tmw!!
Hoping for good news from reebok and others very soon.

Great to hear everyone's bump is growing, I think I am in denial about how big I will be as huge at 21 weeks but do remember it being ridiculous last time!

amysmummy better to be safe than sorry about slapped cheek and hope the Googling provided some suggestions for treatment! Is it painful for dd?

sleepy hope ds slept better of sat and last night. I'm dreading my ds climbing out of his cot- he definitely could but hoping for him not to realise it for a while! Hope all lights etc have been moved out of reach so you get some rest!

mrsmonkey that's good you have loads of smart maternity wear I have 4 outfits which are rotating. I just stretched things last time and then replaced so avoiding that this time!

Hope you are doing well lucinda lovely thoughtful post

motherofpearl dh and I left ds with my mil (who I must buy flowers for! ) to go to rugby game this afternoon. I was convinced because all I needed to do was walk sit and walk home it would be fine. Well I was just as exhausted as taking ds to soft play last weekend! OK maybe not as exhausted but certainly not as relaxed as I'd hoped! Never mind 9pm bedtime (hence 4am wake up!) Will hopefully help me get through work this morning.

mrsmonkey I definitely get the hormone surge in eve however it is worse if I've eaten a 'proper' meal at any time of the day so eating more, even at lunch, doesn't seem helpful! So frustrating!

Right going to try and get a bit more sleep. Hope you are all feeling ok about the week ahead ladies. One more week down another week closer to that pink castle!

Between heartburn & DS crying not had much sleep so absolutely shattered. Got nursery drop off, 8 hours in the office and nursery pick up today. Wish me luck, think I'm going to need it. Must remember to take all my tablets at the right time today!

I feel so sick. :-( Ondansetron and gaviscon not touching the sides today. My stomach also feels painfully empty. My rash (which I'm pretty sure was PEP) has subsided a little but still very itchy. And on Saturday, I managed a day out walking, to have my fingers swell up to the size of sausages (blood pressure was normal though, so no need to worry about pre-eclampsia, for which I am high risk because of this stupid Papp-A biomarker). I hate being pregnant.

How is everyone else getting on?

Reebok have you had the baby yet?!

icant how are you getting on? How was the move?

Hi eternal, it's really hard explaining the loneliness of hg to people, isn't it? I'm sorry you've been having a rough time.

To add to the list of foods recommended to you and nutty, I've found helpful in pregnancy - coco pops, apples and coca-cola (you need the full sugar version), ice cold water and fizzy water. Just eat whatever you can, and take your medicines regularly. Also buy a pro-enamal tooth paste and ketostixs.

Waves to everyone else.

Thanks for the welcome. This thread has been great in terms of hearing advice from others, I have a few new things to try now!

icklekid - I was surprised how supportive the GP was, I half expected to be told to go away, lie down and sip water. Yes. It's kind of a phased return where I only go in when I have meetings etc. And its nice to get out of the house for these to communicate with other people.

LucindaE - Thanks - I'm very lucky that my job allows me to work at home, so I'm only going in when its absolutely necessary. Although I have a work trip to London next week and I'm a bit worried about the train journey!

Mrsmonkey14 - I've had Stemesil so far, which weren't very helpful. Hopefully now it is settling down a little I won't need to try anything else. I've tried the Ribena and that works quite well, and reminds me of being a child too.

SpecialStains - thanks for the suggestions. I've been wary of fizzy drinks but I might give that a go. Apples are almost my favourite food at the minute.

Sleepy, that sounds like a really long day. I hope it is quick!

How is everyone else getting on?

Can I ask- when you find medication that works, do you still feel fairly awful? I am not sure what to expect, but whilst the cyclizine has reduced the vomiting which makes things a bit easier, I still feel like I can barely lift my head from the pillow because of the constant nausea/gagging. I know it isn't going to magically disappear so I feel normal but I still don't feel I can vaguely function like this, just wondering if this is normal and the best I can hope for or if I am better to go back to the GP and try something else. Thanks!

Sleepy, that sounds like a really long day. I hope it is quick!

How is everyone else getting on?

Can I ask- when you find medication that works, do you still feel fairly awful? I am not sure what to expect, but whilst the cyclizine has reduced the vomiting which makes things a bit easier, I still feel like I can barely lift my head from the pillow because of the constant nausea/gagging. I know it isn't going to magically disappear so I feel normal but I still don't feel I can vaguely function like this, just wondering if this is normal and the best I can hope for or if I am better to go back to the GP and try something else. Thanks!

Hi nutty, sadly there is no magic medication that will cure you completely, but some people do better on some than others so it is worth trying different ones if you have a gp happy to prescribe. Ondansetron helps me the most, stops a lot of the vomiting and doesn't make me feel groggy like cyclizine and promethazine did, but doesn't stop the nauseous feeling/gagging and makes me very constipated. I still needed to be signed off work for about 2months though, and I'm still taking a lower dose now (though I am feeling so much better than in the first trimester!).