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:
links.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.

Back on 6 tablets a day. Farage's smug self congrulation genuinely made me vomit.

I can't spell through my horror.

And, yes, the Japanese soup (sorry for the need to Google) stayed down!

Hey ladies!! I suffer with this and it gets worse with each pregnancy! I have just got my BFP this morning and my sickness starts between 5-6 weeks! Eeek. Not looking forward to it at all! Scared is an understatement actually! My last pregnancy it lasted the whole way through and was signed off of work pretty much my whole pregnancy. I'm going to try to enjoy the next 2 weeks

I'm on 3 tablets a day which isn't really doing anything! Haven't eaten properly for 3 weeks and even toast and water cokes straight back up!
Been off from work for a week and half and they are putting pressure on me to work from home. Which I'm doing with a bucket on my lap

Can you get signed off from work? I don't know how you are managing because I couldn't even get up off the sofa. If you can't do it then you just can't :( my last pregnancy I tried every tablet they could give me and nothing worked at all! The only thing that worked MINIMALLY was this one you put under your lip and let it dissolve? I can't remember the name though. By the end of my last pregnancy I had lost 2 stone!

Princessthepea86 Welcome. As you are a veteran, you don't need my usual questions about have you got kesostix, and urging you to get pre-emptive meds. You'll know what drinks you can stand etc. Would that drug be buccastem?
Vixxfacee Sorry work are being so insensitive. That sounds awful.
Lucy Did you say you were on cyclizine and ondansetron combined? I know for many cyclizine makes for sleepiness. Can they prescribe any other combination as it seems awful to have to choose between dreadful sickness and total exhaustion? Sorry to hear you had that many individual heaves. You're throat must have been horribly sore.
icklekid Sorry about prodding and poking. How are those ketoenes? Sorry to hear you're dehydrated.
mrsmonkey You're another who is too hard on herself. Of course you are very ill! If fools can't see it, that means nothing.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked. Back soon.

Princess how long have you been off?

Lucinda I just don't think they understand.
I will get the dr to sign me off properly next week. I just feel guilty as the season is about to start and I have about 500 staff to deal with. Apparently there's no one else to do it.

Did anyone else get worried about losing their job?

Vixxfacee It's illegal for them to sack you for pregnancy related illness. I'm pretty sure - though it's years since I've been into it - that they'll have to be very careful, even if they are a small company. Try not to worry too much. That makes you feel even worse.

mrsmonkey I'm glad that your DH is speaking to MIL! Hope it goes well.

Princess, congratulations and welcome. I started being sick at 5 weeks too. Have you been to see your GP to ask for meds yet? I'm guessing that you were on some last time?

Vixx you shouldn't be working. You need to rest. I understand your worry though- I felt the same. Luckily my employer has been really supportive- I think that it helps that the owner's wife had HG, so he knows how debilitating it is. I hope that you get signed off so that you can have time to rest! They can't sack you for pregnancy-related sickness though, as Lucinda says.

Lucy and ickle I know what you mean about the referendum! I woke up at 2am feeing sick, thought I'd check the vote situation. Got no more sleep, and by the time the alarm went off and woke DH up at 6 I was semi-hysterical about how we'd have to move to Canada and deprive my parents of their grandchild. I can't believe the result, it's surreal.

Also, Goodwood update: circumstances were kind of against me, having only got 3 hours sleep. I struggled with being very tired and nauseous- however, was only (nearly) sick once- I managed to stop myself (goodness knows how!) I am totally broken now, really beyond tired. However it was worth it because DH has had a great day, and I've enjoyed most of it too. I think he's just liked spending time with me as much as anything, bless him.

As an aside- am super annoyed that I couldn't do any of the 'fun' activities due to pregnancy (off roading, and jumping off a platform onto an inflatable!) this is a minor annoyance though

LucindaE- yes! I'm sure that was the name of the meds. I tried everything but nothing really worked.

Vixxface- LucindaE is right, they can't fire you for anything pregnancy related! If your to sick to work then just make sure your doctor signs you off and you can be off as long as you need and you can't be touched! I was off pretty much from 7 weeks until I took maternity at 29 weeks!

Raeskywalker- I haven't been to the doctors yet because I have only just found out today... So I will go early next week (I believe in only 3.5 weeks right now). I have probably 2 weeks or so until my sickness starts. In my last pregnancies I have tried every possible medicine the doctors would give me and had no luck with any of them. It's so hard to be so happy and scared all at the same time!! 😣😣😣

Thank you for the advice. Will get a drs note and try to rest.

Glad your getting signed off vixx I currently am not at work again (after resurgance in third trimester) and whilst it's frustrating I have come to accept it is for the best.

princess welcome to the thread. Sorry you have to join us, hope your hg is better than previous pregnancies and that some medication might make a difference this time. Did you try ondansetron last time? A lot of us seem to find it very effective although gp seem to be reluctant to prescribe- hospitals less so...

rae well done for making it through even though I totally get the feeling broken feeling! 2 days of rest ahead of you now. Also know how frustrating it can feel not to join in all the fun things although at least they were limited by pregnancy not hg if that helps at all! Glad dh had an amazing time!

lucinda back down to traces now and did feel quite a bit better this afternoon.

mrsmonkey whilst I totally get the wanting to educate family on hg I think sometimes the way of least resistance is required. Hopefully she will still be appropriately sympathetic and kind!

In other exciting news all painting (minus glossing) is now done! Hurrah! Fingers crossed can get everything clean tomorrow and start enjoying our extension from Sunday! Ds woke up at 2am and mabaged to put pillow over his head! He and dh are straightback to sleep and I'm feeling very jealous and avoiding all brexit threads as just too much negativity

Vixee On the links to websites above, I believe there's information on the position of women with sick leave and problems with employers trying to push their luck.
princess You are a veteran - did you say this was your third- but a lot of medics seem to argue that pre-emptive meds before it really kicks in gives a better chance of fighting it, so I hope you get meds early. Sorry, that sounds quite b ossy from me - that's why they call me 'Mother Hen'.
icklekid Glad it's down to trace again.
I hope everyone's coping. Does anyone else find (and you've all got the excuse of pregnancy, dehydration, etc) that this thundery weather gives you migraines?

Lucinda just on Stemetil now. Works for the sickness, so the tiredness I am putting up with for now. Tried the others & they didn't do much, even combo. I have bad allergies so my doctor wasn't happy with me trying odenestron.

Rae I know, to say there is panic here is an understatement, one of my best friends husband's jobs is genuinely moving to Canada. It's specialist IT, so they have some very big decisions to make. They can't afford to live off her salary, so I'm just now praying Scotland does stay in the EU as his company currently has a base there too. I, for one, would prefer her to be in Scotland - but I'm just being tremendously selfish!
Good to hear Goodwood went as well as possible. I keep looking at spa breaks & thinking the same - there's nothing you're allowed to do! Why no jacuzzi? Humph. That would actually be nice on the sore back too. Extra humph.

I went to bed early tonight & my husband stayed up to watch a movie until 2 am. Now he's come up to bed, woken me up, fallen straight to sleep & now I'm wide awake. Grrrrrrrrrr.

Have a Little Pickles market tomorrow & I'm quite excited. Hoping to raid all the good stuff for bargain prices. I hear it's a pretty good market as I live in investment banker land & all the ladies are in it for the social event & not to make money. A friend bought a bunch of Isabella Oliver for 50p last time. Here's hoping for something, my IO & Seraphine habit is getting a bit expensive!

Morning all. I am completely broken after DD's bday party yest. It went fabulously and she had such a lovely time, but I can barely move! It was a lot of ppl so I ended up having to carry her A LOT so she was happy and not overwhelmed, for some reason she only wanted me not even daddy! (Which was lovely she wanted me, but also 😳 That she refused to go to PIL!) normal service resumed at bedtime when it was all 'no daddy do it! Night night mummy. Go WAY mummy!' 😄

Made it until the evening after everyone had gone before I vommed, unfort ketones were +2 last night. Have had awful nights sleep and was stressing about baby but she's been doing lots of good movement so hopefully she's ok. Will see if can get ketones down at home. Feel awful!

Welcome to princess and congrats on your pregnancy. As others said sounds like you should aim to get on pre-emptive meds. If you share with us what you tried last time we might have some suggestions as to things you could try / what to say to docs, in case that may help. It's only when I saw consultant rather than GP/midwife that I have had appropriate treatment. The RCOG also issued new guidelines on HG this week which you might find helpful when speaking to the doctors?

lucy sorry to hear you had to up meds, and a shame Ondansetron is off the cards for you as it works well for a lot of us.
Fwiw I'm super cautious but have still been in jacuzzis whilst preg! Risk of overheating though so if you go in one don't stay in long! I do recommend a good pregnancy massage if you are wanting some relaxation - can be hard to find good ones though. Have fun at the market today, don't overdo it though! I love seraphine! Have so much of their stuff (too much of a short arse for IO).

vixx it sounds like you are really poorly, sorry to sound bossy but if you're not keeping liquids down you might need to be admitted for fluids again?? How are your ketones? What tablets are you currently on - sounds like not working so do insist on trying something else. So sorry work not being understanding - definitely get GP to sign you off. As others said, it's illegal for work to discriminate against you for pregnancy illness - do make sure your work is recording your sick days as pregnancy related illness (can become relevant eg if your employer makes redundancies). There are some good websites with advice but if you don't find them let me know and I'll post some links (too lazy to do it now). You shouldn't be trying to work from home. I found my boss similarly unsympathetic, but once I had official sick notes from GP things got a bit better. I too was concerned about losing job, which is partly why I needed to be signed off - by being off I was protected better, by struggling on at work I felt vulnerable as I was doing a shit job due to spending half my time sat on the floor of a toilet cubicle... Good luck and let us know how you get on.

rae so pleased you had nice time at goodwood!

ickle hurrah the extension is nearly finished! Glad your ketones are under better control. Hope you can get more rest this week. You'll be pleased to hear no more comments from MIL yest, although party so busy I didn't really have a chance to chat. At one point SIL tried to tell me about some new recipe she'd made and seemed surprised when I said it was best not to talk about food, seeing as I was sat by the buffet! (Thank goodness for M&S,, I ordered in sandwich platters etc for the catering!)

lucinda thanks for the kind words as ever. I hope you haven't had a migraine! I used to get them pre-DD but fortunately not since then (bizarre as well eh?)

Happy Sunday all. Hope it's a good/reasonable/not awful * one!

*delete as appropriate depending on your emotional state today!

Unmumsnetty hugs to all and sorry for anyone I've missed x

Horray for successful party for dd mrsmonkey glad it went so well and you got lots of cuddles. We've got my 30th birthday party next sat (in said new extension!) Which dh is organising so I have no clue what he's doing re food etc...then got family coming up the following weekend for ds birthday. We are going to Thomas land so now have kitchen back am going to practise making cakes etc this week. Going to need plenty of rest in between! Hope you get ketones down successfully I find the difference in how I feel when +1 or +2 huge. Lots of ice lollies and chocolate milk!

lucy all this talk of nice dresses and I may have bought 4 from seraphine/jo jo in order to have one nice new one for above said party! Hopefully 3 will look horrid and 1 will be perfect! If this is not the case I blame you 😉 (for mentioning getting them super cheap when clearly I have not!!! )

Can't remember who mentioned spa days but I did go with friends a few months ago and it was lovely just to get away for a day! Swam a bit, read a book, drank smoothies and there was a slumber room for a good nap! Worth it to feel pampered with good friends to catch up with. On a similar vein I won a pregnancy massage yesterday which was nice although felt quite nauseous by the end.. no different to normal there!

Trying to work out on a scale of 1-10 how bad a mum I am knowing ds wants me to be downstairs (proper screaming) when dh just took him to play so I can rest. I've slept badly and will probably end up playing with him all rest of the day. I'm sure dh would say stay in bed and he will calm down soon when peppa is on tv but I still feel bad. He's normally fine and obviously needs to get used to it with baby imminent! Ohh screaming stopped...quick time to sleep!

ickle Horray for finished paintwork!! You must be so relieved. I'm thinking of booking a pregnancy massage too but am worried about HG not being compatible with it!

Lucy I think we're in for a tough few years. One of my friends got a redundancy letter on Friday. One day after it happened. It's only going to get worse. I'm so flipping lucky that I can escape the mess if I need to, based on DH's qualifications. Most of my family voted out, and ironically most of them won't have the option of going elsewhere. I feel like they've screwed themselves over! On a happier note, did you get any bargains at the market?

mrsmomkey so glad that the party went well! Hope you're resting now.

lucy Am I right in thinking that Stemetil is one of the anti-histamines?
Sorry you can't take ondansetron, but at least you escape that bowel problems that torment people. I hope that 200 heaves a day is very much a thing of the past with you.
icklekid Goodness, besides looking after LO and having Hyperemesis and tottering into work when you could you had building work going on at home - lol, I'm happy you didn't try and do the proverbial thing with sweeping a floor with a broomstick at the same time! Sorry about coarseness...But women are like that; they try and do too much, even when ill. But it's nice that OH is organising your birthday party! I wish I was thirty again.
Rae How is the sickness now?
mrsmonkey I hope you've recovered from LO's birthday party.
Waves to all. Hope everyone is coping. Don't Worry, Be Happy, about current affairs. You've got enough to cope with getting through this.

Lucinda thanks for asking it's ok. I'm down to 2 ondansetron and 2 cyclizine a day (from 3 of each). Upping back to my 'old' dose every few days when I'm feeling particularly rough. The nausea is still horrendous, but I am actually being sick far less. I'm trading an increase in nausea for an improvement in constipation- which has improved a lot since I've managed to cut down on the ondansetron. The exhaustion is crippling though!

Hi All, I'm really not sure I belong on this thread, but thought you might be able to offer some advice as you have all been through the mill with HG?
I am 8 weeks pg with my second baby, having sailed through my first pregnancy with little or no nausea.
I started feeling sick around 5 weeks this time, and over the last three weeks have been going rapidly downhill. I feel absolutely horrific, with constant severe nausea, dizziness and a splitting headache. I am embarrassed to say I have spent nearly all weekend in bed, which is so, so unlike me, whether I'm ill or not!
I CAN tolerate food at times, and definitely don't bring up everything I eat or drink- but I feel on the brink of vomiting all day, and gag or am sick 2-3 times a day.
I just sat in the bath crying because washing my hair felt like such an exhausting ordeal.
My dr prescribed cyclizine last week, but it doesn't appear to make any difference to how I feel. I'm planning to go back tomorrow and ask for something else, and I definitely won't be going to work unless I make a miraculous recovery overnight.
Does anybody have any thoughts or advice that might help? Thankyou so much in advance, and I am sorry if this is not appropriate for the HG thread.

Princess - have you tried onsansetron? I'm on onsansetron in day and avamine at night and lactulose to help the constipation. I started meds at five weeks when my sickness started

Vixx - try not to feel guilty about work. You need to look after yourself. You can't help how you feel. Pregnancy sickness is so debilitating

Opalescent - don't be embarrassed for staying in bed. Pregnancy sickness is so debilitating, I have had times where I have honestly felt like I'm dying. I'm on onsansetron twice in day and avamine at night and lactulose to help the constipation, onsansetron is the only drug I've tried which has helped the most. Sickness started at five weeks and I started meds then. So sorry you are feeling rubbish, you are not alone. We are all here for you.

How is everyone? I was feeling OK but had a long journey yesterday then spent hours sorting out the car luggage with OH, took that long as the place we stayed had fleas!! I could feel I was pushing myself but carried on. Today I felt more nauseous flushed and terribly exhausted and couldn't get out of bed and have a headache. Scared me a bit as I had been doing better. Realised that I still need to be careful. I'm 17 weeks now. Anyone else experienced this reaction before after trying to do more??

opalesent, please go back to your GP. I'd recommend buying ketostix so that you can monitor ketones in your urine and asks for help if needed. They're cheap on Amazon! The nausea you're suffering sounds debilitating, it's restricting your quality of life. You need help. I was put on cyclizine and it wasn't enough. I am now on cyclizine and ondansetron and am so much better!

Fresh I think we're in the same boat! I'm 19 weeks today and pushed myself too much this weekend. I feel awful today, so am resting and hoping to be ok for work in the morning. The HG is so much worse when I'm tired. Hope you recover soon!

Sorry to hear that Rae feel better soon. Hg is so debilitating xx

Thank you for your kind replies. I have struggled to eat anything today, I will definitely be going back to the gp and asking for help tomorrow. Ds (3ys) is due back from a weekend with his dad in an hour, and I am excited and nervous in equal measures. I have missed him very much, but am also dreading getting out of bed and trying to function as a parent!
Can I ask two questions?

1. how much work have you all needed to miss during your pregnancies and have gps been sympathetic in signing this off? I usually work full time in an NHS job.
2. what is your understanding of the risks of ondansetron to the baby? I'm reading some scary things on the Internet.