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.

Reebok it's lovely to hear from you! Sorry to hear about the reflux, my friend's son had it and it was awful to watch. I hope it improves soon. Hope you're feeling ok in yourself too.

Ickle definitely an iCandy. We tried the Strawberry 2 but I hear that the peach is really good too. It's genuinely not the brand I'm fussed about, it's how light and easy to steer it is (it's genuinely the only one I could lift comfortably in my current weakened state). I think we'll probably end up with a Mamas and Papas Armadillo Flip, as long as it folds small enough to fit in my car (DH's car shouldn't be an issue, it has a ridiculously large boot).

I didn't realise that you had builders in ickle! When should they finish? You have my sympathy- we moved into our current house just over a year ago and it needed complete renovation. I hated the process but it's lovely now. Can't imagine doing it with HG though!! We're not quite finished- waiting for the builders to come and tile our ensuite, and we're also going to knock the second bedroom (nursery) about a bit (knock out existing wardrobes and stud wall and re-plaster). Our neighbours are having an extension built, they started yesterday. Came home from work desperate for a nap but the ground works are too loud to sleep. I could've cried! They've just started again so I think my restful day is a write-off. I hope that the SATs go well.

reebok and Icant lovely to hear from you, and I hope tinybok's tummy settles down soon, poor mite.

rae sending a father's day card from the Bump is such a nice idea! commiserations on the building work next door, it's the last thing you need ... although poor ickle building work -in- the house on top of everything else ... honestly, you are amazing. I hope your partner is making the biggest fuss ever of you.

Reebok Lovely to hear from you and sorry to hear of poor BabyReebok's pain. I wonder though, if it may be something other than the medication you had? I was only allowed Gaviscon (though for all I know it might have been that) and poor DD wad dreadfully colicky. I do hope the doctors might be able to give something for her.
SeaEagleFeather I so agree with all you say (as usual).
Rae Small wonder you want to get out now its so lovely outside. Can you bear sitting in the garden?
Yes, we haven't heard fromSpecialStains in a while. Waves to icklekid,
SleepymrsE Chocoholic and everyone.

Lucinda I actually drive to the village next to us and had a wander round the shops for half an hour. This is the first time I've been outside alone in months, wahey! I knew when to come home so I'm not over tired now- I'm learning!

Sitting in the garden isn't an option at the moment unfortunately, due to noisy building works next door- hopefully we'll have decent weather over the weekend.

Hello everyone, just leaping back on to thread properly after catching up post holiday, my memory isn't good enough to send personal messages as can't check back through pages on phone, apologies! But my thoughts are with you all and much sympathies re the latest HG challenges and reflux-y newborns etc
How is everyone doing?
Made it to 31 weeks, hurrah. Holiday was good but ever so exhausting. DD had wonderful time which is the main thing. I do not recommend vomiting on a plane. It was fairly hideous on our return journey. Thank goodness we had a row of 3 to ourselves, I don't know about you guys but I need SPACE to throw up, esp with big bump now. I find it hard to vomit unless I can get my head down (ideally stood up leaning over toilet). The plane toilets were pretty grim so I couldn't face trying that, plus ppl were queuing. I ran out of sick bags but cabin crew fortunately v nice and gave me more, and made other passengers let me cut in toilet queue to deposit my sick bags in toilet bin...
I fared better during actual holiday although found it stressful trying to find suitable food sometimes. Poor DH, we didn't have dinner out at all, would just make sandwiches to eat with DD for early tea then go to bed shortly after her (she slept in the lounge and we had a separate bedroom). Had a few violent vomiting episodes on the days when I was too ambitious with food, but overall not too bad.
The following is complete TMI, look away now if you are of a delicate constitution (!), many of you are fellow sufferers of the constipating effects of Ondansetron and I just wanted to share (as I know you ladies are the only ones that will understand!), I managed the most enormous bowel movement the day before we flew home 😳. No cramps or pain and a good consistency (not painful hard lumps as usual - told you this was TMI). Anyway. What magic potion did you take, I hear you cry! Well, reader, I don't drink tea or coffee even when not preg so Def don't whilst preg. However, I decided to have an iced mocha coffee (it was a Starbucks brand from the supermarket). The next morning was the brilliant enormous poo. I'm convinced the two are linked. I know caffeine not great in pregnancy but I'm hopeful this could be a wonder cure... Honestly I can't tell you how much better I felt afterwards. Anyway, hopefully i haven't grossed you out too much, just thought I'd mention in case it helps! 😉
I promise to speak of more civilised things from now.
In other news, I would like a whinge about comments like 'are you feeling better now'/ 'oh, sounds like you must be feeling better if you're going to do xyz'. Would it be unreasonable to make a public service announcement "no, I'm not feeling better. Yes still the same. That's right, still being sick. I won't be better until the baby is born".
Grrrr. I know im being horrible and unreasonable, people mean well, should be grateful to be pregnant etc etc.
Right, off to sleep as I'm wrecked post hol and pelvis is causing me lots of pain. Night all xx

mrsmonkey glad you had a good holiday though sorry to hear the plane story. That doesn't sound fun! I know what you mean about people asking if you are getting better. When I answer "i'm the same" and I had given them the same answer 2 weeks ago I get the sense I am disappointing them.

Things aren't too bad for me at the moment. Managed to take my daughter out at the weekend and it was great to see her enjoying herself. Work is quite busy. I decided to stop the cyclazine today (and take only omeprazole) as I wasn't convinced the cyclazine was doing much for me. The nausea increased a bit, but no extra vomiting, so I think I'll stay off it for a few days and see how things go. My diet at the moment is mainly cheese sandwiches and chocolate milk. I've cut down on the sweets as teeth are getting sensitive, but probably still eating too many. They do seem to help with the nausea.

mrsmonkey glad you managed to enjoy bits of your holiday. I think you're amazing for going- I feel anxious just being out of the house at the moment. Really interesting about the mocha- do you know how much caffeine is in them? I'm also suffering on ondansetron (but don't like to let on too much to my GP in case they stop prescribing it, which would be the end of the world as far as I'm concerned at the moment!) I know what you mean about 'are you feeling better now'- my lovely mum keeps saying how much better I am- and she's right. But I point out that she's comparing me at 6 weeks, unmedicated and being sick 30 times a day; with me at 14 weeks, medicated up to my eyeballs.

Rocket at least your diet has lots of calcium in it! Would be interested to know how you are in a few days off cyclizine. I think it does take the edge off for me, but if I'm honest I'm probably realise I'm due my next tablet because my hayfever is getting worse, as opposed to the nausea. Ondansetron is handling the nausea for the most part I think (touch wood).

mrsmonkey that sounds quite a holiday, half lovely and half ordeal! Glad the flight attendants back were so good =)

About the caffeine - there is some (disputed, actually, if you read a book called www.amazon.co.uk/Expecting-Better-Conventional-Pregnancy-Wisdom/dp/1409152065/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464158670&sr=8-1&keywords=expecting+better Expecting Better) evidence of a link in the -early- weeks between too much caffeine & miscarriages. But by now, I should think that you're fairly safe with couple of coffees a day!

rocket about the cyclizine, it's always nice to come off the meds but if you do feel sicker, cyclizine really is safe to go back onto. It's the safest there is; its sister drug in the US is FDA Category A, the only med that is, which means that it's considered rocksolid safe. So dont worry if you have to go back on it.

rocket my teeth are getting sensitive too, frightened I may need a filling (never had one before) but dentist said last time to wait until after baby when they can do X-ray... Hopefully it's just sensitivity but I know I'm having too much sugar.
See how you go with cyclizine withdrawal, but do go back on it if you get worse. I agree you sometimes need to try going without the meds to check you still need them.
rae do mention the constipation to GP, I'm sure they won't withdraw the Ondansetron because of it, are you taking lactulose? (GP can prescribe for free or you can buy over counter if you prefer). Also, if you can stomach it, small glass of prune juice may help. I didn't even realise Ondansetron was contributing to constipation until I joined this thread (thought it was just pregnancy). But it is listed as a side effect in the leaflet. It's worth trying to keep on top of it as I find with limited food and drink intake I can end up with terrible stomach cramps if I go days without going to toilet, which generally prompts vomiting too.
I'm not sure how much caffeine is in those iced coffee drinks, the label didn't say. Thanks seaeagle for caffeine info, I recalled seeing something about a link in first trimester so prob best avoided then if possible, I believe that generally advice is one cup of coffee a day is considered ok in pregnancy. So I think I'll try iced coffee once or twice a week to see if it helps, I guess if I make it at home I can control the amount of coffee going in. I find milkshakes very good/easy to digest so have chocolate milk almost every day at mo!
It's funny how so many of us can eat only similar things to each other.

mrsmonkey Congratulations on both your holiday, though the plane puking sounded grim. I'm glad the flight attendants were good. Fascinating about your laxative coffee! I have to say, even the smell of coffee made me heave, but for anyone who can drink it, that is a wonderful suggestion because after all, it isn't hopefully a thing one has to use every day!
I hope everyone is OK. I must put up another due dates list.
Rae That sounds a nice trip.
Rocket I am glad things are more or less OK.
Waves to SeaEagleFeather and everyone. I'll have to put up another due dates list...

SeaEagle thanks for the caffeine info! I might try an iced coffee tomorrow. Guessing I should be ok at 14 weeks?

mrsmonkey I did see an out of hours GP when I was in agony with stomach cramps from it and got sodium picosulphate liquid and glycerin suppositories. Haven't used the suppositories yet because of a weird comment he made about them causing uterine contractions (intellectually I know this is rubbish, but it has unsettled me a bit). The liquid works but I don't want to become dependent on it. Interesting what you say about milkshakes, I'm really craving chocolate Frijj but haven't given on because I assumed it would make me violently ill. Might see if DH can buy me some later to try a small amount of. Would be good to get some calcium back in my diet!

Just got home from work. It went ok, I had to sort out a couple of issues for colleagues. It was nice to feel needed again and make a decent contribution. I'm struggling a bit as the person who sits next to me is a smoker and the smell is making me feel sick. The person in question is lovely though so it's not all bad

Pleased to hear you had a good holiday despite all the voms mrsmonkey, I too am a fan of milkshake (only strawberry though) so it would be worth a try rae.

Back from scan, all looking ok. Measuring slightly ahead on dates as baby is a bit of a fatty (these HG babies seem to not have a problem with weight gain) and very active. Had a nice internal too and looks like a polyp is probably the cause of all my spotting. Swab taken just in case but unlikely to be anything else. Had to take a break during the scan due to bad nausea and near vom but managed to grit my teeth and get through it. Just 19-20 weeks to go!

This list surely needs updating. I've removed spandau as surely, she would not be this overdue!
Besides SpecialStains We haven't heard from AliceKeach (twins) MusicisMedicine or FellOutofBedTwice in a while.

Due Dates
lemonslemonslemons 12 June
amysmum 9 June
Iam 22 June
mrsmonkey 23 July
racheljayne 10 August
Special Stains 17 August
Icklekid 31 August
SleepyMrsE 8 October
mrs American 10 October
1MoreTime 19 October
rocket 8 November
RaeSkywalker 20 November
shopaholic 10 December

Sleepy I'm glad the scan went well, despite the nausea. You must be relieved that the cause of the spotting is likely to be a polyp, I hope that the swab comes back ok. It must also be atelier to be over halfway there!

Thanks for the updated list Lucinda!

DH and I officially have a (very) long list of baby names sorted- 20 girls and 16 boys I'n surprised as I never thought we'd agree on that many! We're each going to 'score' them all over the bank holiday to give us a short list of 5 names for both sexes. Then we'll have 5 months to mull them over and (hopefully) choose 2. I'm a bit sad because he told me he liked a girls name I'd fallen in love with, but now isn't keen. We have got some lovely alternatives though.

rae that is great that you agree on so many names. DH and I agreed in one last time and I really don't know how we're going to agree on any this time.

Coming off cyclazine turned out to be a bad idea. Nausea has been building and also vomiting increased. I had to throw up in a grass verge when I got off the bus. That hasn't happened for a while. So it seems to have been helping more than I thought. Going back on it tomorrow.

Rocket That sounds horrible; do go back on cyclizine.
Rae My goodness, that is a wide choice of names. Always exciting choosing.
SleepymrsE Sorry, I missed that about a polyp. I didn't realise they caused bleeding, and that's a relief.

Oh Rocket I'm so sorry! I hope it kicks in quickly . I'm definitely not brave enough to attempt coming off it yet.

Lucinda I just hope we manage to whittle then down!

Hope everyone else is ok tonight.

Good morning! Or middle of the night but I'm presuming will be morning when you all read this!

Sorry to hear coming off the medication wasn't helpful rocket I've cut ondansetron down to 2 a day with cyclazine only when needed. Seems OK so far except when I do too much..but no amount of medication would help that!

rae great to have so many name choices. Top 3 is always good to try. My dh in that situation would be pushing for 2 middle names which I say no to one a regular basis! No real reason why except I did at the start and bit of a running joke now -hope I don't offend anyone who has chosen 2! Going to change subject now very quickly....!

Know what you mean about work and being useful although this week was our ks1 sats week which meant I was in class non stop you can predict how that ended this afternoon...however am done for half term now! Just a toddler+building site what could go wrong?!

sleepy ohh I think chocolate milkshake might be worth a try! Love that someone else mentioned Frijj as that was my first thought! Glad scan was fine hope all continues that way!

mrsmonkey my dentist prescribed some extra fluoride toothpaste because of damage to enamel from excessive sickness. Wonder if that would help? Also having x rays next visit...

mrsmonkey so pleased you had a good holiday and well done for making it to 31 weeks! I bet seeing dd so happy made it all worth it even the eventful flight! Hopefully not too long left and fingers crossed iced coffee continues to do its job! As for others asking if better I find it hard now because in honesty yes I am a bit better but then don't expect me to be fully better! I still have very low reserve of energy, I'm still sick every day, I'm still taking lots of medication and getting more heavily (?) pregnant every day! I just smile, nod and say a bit better and leave them to draw their own conclusions!

Right best try this sleep lark...sorry to anyone missed out unintentionally. My friend whose house I was escaping to for lunch&afternoon has cancelled last minute so will be spending the morning sourcing an alternative!

Morning ickle! Hope you found a lunch/afternoon alternative? No way will we be going for 2 middle names, the poor baby will have a long (double barrelled) surname so I think we need to give it some kind of chance for when it's form filling in later life! If the surname was shorter I'd maybe consider it. Do you have an idea of how the SATS went?

Dear everyone, please can I join the sick bus?
I was diagnosed yesterday at 17 weeks with my first baby after 11 weeks of feeling awful but disregarding it on the basis 'you're supposed to feel weird and be sick during pregnancy'. Apparently not everyone wants to faint whenever they leave the sofa and spends more time on the bathroom floor than anywhere else. I have been silly.
Anyway, after three days unable to keep fluids down I got myself to the doctor who shipped me off to A&E. Got good treatment though they're worried about my heart. Came home last night, back to hosp in an hour or two.
Reading the recent bits of the thread has already been a great help, thank you.
I have a question, which is whether those of you being treated have managed to get your sleep back on track? I have been waking up three or four times a night to be sick for the last while so really hoping to get some more rest as meds take effect.

Good days to you all.

Hi Almond, sorry to hear that you're suffering but glad you're getting treatment now. Hopefully they will discharge you with medication.

My sleep is lots better now. I'd got to the point where I feared night time, but now I'm managing a decent amount of sleep and take my next tablet as soon as I wake up. I still have to odd 'incident', but it's loads better than it was.

Thanks Rae, I am so with you on dreading the night. I have become like a kid again, not wanting it to get dark. Good to hear there might be some reprieve soon.

If they send you home with medication and it doesn't work for you, make sure you go back and ask for something that does.

Keep an eye on your hydration levels when you're discharged too, Ketostix are good for that and should give you an indication of when you might need to ask for help again.

Morning all
sleepy glad to hear scan went well and baby growing well. Hopefully the polyp means the spotting isn't something to worry about?
rocket sorry to hear it didn't go well stopping the cyclizine. At least you tried and know for sure you need it. Hope you get things back on a more even keel again.
rae we're also debating names still, although we know we're having another girl so it narrows it a little! There is an app you can both download called 'baby name' where you swipe left and right on names and then it tells you the list of names you both liked - bit like tinder for baby names, it's a bit of fun for inspiration!
lucinda thank you for new due dates list, I'm inching closer to the top!
ickle - building work!!!! Are you mad?!! 😘 You poor thing. That's a lot to deal with. I hope half term isn't too much of a struggle next week - does that mean no childcare for DS? My childminder is having an extra day off next tue but at least I'll still get 2 days childcare. Hope you find somewhere peaceful to go today.
Sorry to hear you still have insomnia. I'm sleeping terribly and not enough but mainly due to pain in pelvis and hips. Have organised physio but not for couple of weeks. DH pumped up my Swiss ball though last night and I've resolved to sit on it as much as poss as seems to bring a bit of relief, if I sit on sofa I can't get up!
almond welcome, sorry you're here. Glad to hear you're being looked after now (and don't feel silly - it's the healthcare professionals that should have got you help earlier). You haven't said what meds you're on but I hope that once you start meds things will settle down a bit and that will solve your sleep issue. I very rarely wake up in the night to vomit now (31wk).
Hope everyone has as good a day as they can. The sun is shining here at least.
Waves to everyone, sorry if I've missed anyone.

Hi all. Apologies for being awol for some time... I've been using the time to get my head around my pregnancy properly. Lots of new fighters have appeared - welcome and sorry you're suffering. Congratulations on your pregnancies.

Quick intro for the newbies... I was around a lot this time last year as pregnant with my now 8 month old (8months!). Had a pretty rough time of it, but can reassure you that it now feels a bit hazy. I remember that I was really ill, but don't remember the specifics. And I had a pretty easy labour (horrid pregnancy, easy labour, I reckon it's the least we deserve!).

I will read this thread and catch up as much as I can. Forgive me for missing people and taking my time to catch up.

I confess to there being another reason to me being back as well (though I definitely want to support you all!)... we;ve decided to crack on (as it were) with trying for baby sibling for minieallison sooner rather than later. It took 18 months last time, and I'm still breastfeeding, so we're conscious it could take a long time now as well. Those of you in the know, what can I start taking now to try and prepare my body as best I can? Doctor advised folic acid and pregnancy vitamins from the pharmacy (cos apparently they have calcium in). She's told me that they can and will prescribe me ondansetron if needed if/when I do get pregnanct, which is a relief. Is there a vitamin I can take beforehand (b6 springs to mind, but I might be wrong!)?

lucinda I don't suppose you could give me a run down of babies that have arrived (or nearly arrived). Thinking of *squeezed" and all the others whose names I've completely forgotten.

Calming non sick vibes to all!