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.

Hello does anyone here have pytalism? I can't stop spitting and the thought of swallowing it makes me sick ! I have had his before and I really can't bear it is there anything I can do its so embarrassing

Big welcome back Lucinda, hope the visit to your mother went OK. It's been great for me to be a bit more regular on here; will stick around as much as I can.
Mummy, welcome. Sorry to hear about the hypersalivation - it really is revolting as well as distressing. I had it badly in both my HG pregnancies. I'm afraid I never found a cure, but like you I couldn't bear swallowing it (instant vom), so I used to spit into a small lidded plastic pot. As I spent pretty much the whole first trimester in bed during my recent pregnancy, it didn't matter too much as I didn't have to be out in public. I know Lucinda found old fashioned barley sugar sweets helpful. Some suggest spitting down the straw of an empty juice box.
Rae, glad you're feeling better about the situation with your (former) friend. The last thing you need is stress and conflict. Hope you're sleeping better now?
Light, hope the sickness isn't creeping back up? Do persevere with different combinations if you need to.
Hues, as others have said, you really are heroic in your endurance. What a horror you have lived through. I really hope the section goes ahead on Wednesday. Hang in there.

PS. Thanks for that last night Rae! A tiny glass of rosé did help ease the laundry boredom.

Mummy, welcome- I don't have hypersalivation. It sounds awful! Sounds like Mother has given good advise though.

Mother glad you enjoyed the wine I did sleep better but had a horrible nightmare! Hopefully I'll be more settled tonight. I am feeling very guilty about the whole thing, we've been friends for a long time. It really isn't in my nature to be confrontational, I'm quite submissive really. Urgh.

^ 'advice', not 'advise' 🙄

I have it Mother but I tend to swallow as seeing it makes me more likely to vom. I do spit if I'm vomming already. It is foul. I sometimes use sugar free polos to make swallowing less vile.

Sorry, that was to MummyMulb!

Mother sickness a bit better this weekend as I've spent most of it asleep! Seems sort of stable at a couple of voms a day. Not sure it is worth back to the docs to be honest. I have a scan in 10 days so going to try to get through to that first I think. If the pregnancy looks good I may think about going back (or if sickness gets worse again I definitely will). Has anyone found drugs stop them throwing up altogether though? Not sure if that is realistic and my weight is stable. Don't want to make a fuss when so many folks have it worse...

Light, that sounds sensible to me. I don't think there is anything that takes away all the sickness (and for me nothing ever touched the nausea), but Ondanestron certainly was the best at cutting the vomits right down to a more manageable amount. I know that the 'last line' of meds is steroids, but I think they only use them in very extreme cases like Hues. But the Ondanestron works a treat for lots of people (just comes with the awful side effect of horrendous constipation).

Not heard from Sleepy or Special for a while, hope they're OK.

Hi all, I'm still here mop and still struggling away. Managed to cope with DS on Friday and he was surprisingly well behaved. DH worked from too just in case I needed him. Took him to the coast on Saturday to see my parents (they have a caravan) and left him there for an overnight stay. This gave me the opportunity to rest yesterday although having had thoughts of an early baby I started to sort through some stuff yesterday with lots of rests in the middle. I'm hoping to get organised in the next couple of weeks as I think I will def struggle energy wise the closer to due date I get. Off work today too and feeling not feeling too bad. I have cut the iron tablets down to one and that seems to be helping. Not sure if my iron levels will get to what they need to be though.

Thinking about poor hues, I really hope you get your section on Wed. You are amazing to be dealing with such bad HG.

rae sorry about your 'friend'. Her behaviour is so childish. I could even understand a little if she had been struggling to conceive but as she isn't even ttc then there is no excuse whatsoever. I often feel guilty for hating pregnancy so much when others struggle to conceive or experience loss but when I'm back throwing up, aching and generally feeling rubbish at 31 weeks it's easy to see why I'm not enjoying it.

Light my combination of meds did stop the sickness weeks 16-28ish but not the nausea. I'm back to being sick now but def not every day. If you feel you are coping then see how you are in another couple of weeks but if you are struggling go back and try a diff med. I'm on cyclizine & ondansatron like a lot of the ladies on here. Still taking 4-5 tablets a day for sickness and each time I try to reduce sickness gets worse again.

Also wondering how special is doing... Hoping for news that she's arrived at the pink castle soon.

Hi to lucinda and anyone else rudely missed.

Mummymulb16 Welcome. Really sorry you suffer from this dismal symptom as well as the rest. I sometimes had to use a small pot as a spitton, as MotherofPearl suggests, but as you both say, it's really difficult if you have to go out, and those barley sugar were excellent for the foul taste too, but it's a balancing act with spitting and sucking sweets, as some say it makes for more saliva. You can't win! I do hope it eases for you soon.
MotherofPearl It would be lovely to have you back as a regular. Invaluable. One of the nicest people I can imagine to give advice.
LightTripper I did mean to say yesterday how I sympathize with your being anxious about MC. Have you had more than two? I had only one that I knew of apart from several very early probable ones which weren't traumatic, but the anxiety does spoil everything in the next pregnancy.
I hope Hues has the end in sight. The statistics are greatly on your side.
SleepymrsE I'm glad LO had a stay by the seaside - that's really nice.
I hope everyone is coping today.

Hello, sorry for absence. No sign of baby yet, though the vomiting is properly back now. Can't go in the kitchen or anywhere near the cat stuff as the smell sets me off, and we (well, DH) had to bleach bins, bathrooms and clean the car yesterday, as the smell of all those things was setting me off. Someone please tell me this is a sign that baby is on it's way?!

I also have a cold. DH keeps saying I'm being a little bit like Sheldon for Big Bang Theory. Growth scan on Thursday, so hoping amniotic fluid levels have improved, and baby's weight is ok. Trying to eat, but back to beige carbs (noodles, jacket potatoes, toast and beans) and coca cola. I feel really awful at the amount of coke baby has been subjected to this pregnancy.

Otherwise, all is ok. Plodding on with stuff. I'm so breathless and dizzy all the time, but DH is being fab and keeps on taking me to the cinema so I can leave the house and sit in air conditioning! I really enjoyed Ghostbusters on Saturday.

MummyMulb I had hypersalivation for the first few months. Nothing to suggest, except someone on here suggested rinsing my mouth with mouthwash regularly which I think helped a bit. I did have to spit in public quite a bit though. It was that or try to swallow and end up vomiting. Pregnancy is so magical! [sceptical]

Hues Hope you have your baby soon.

Light I got to the stage where the meds stopped most vomiting, but not the nauseous feeling. I figured as long as I was keeping enough food and drink down to keep ketones at bay, that's the best I could expect.

Rae Sorry your friend is stressing you out. No matter how planned and wanted a baby was, if you have hg, pregnancy is hard. People who haven't experienced it just can't understand.

Sleepy Good work with taking the iron tablets! They are vile things! Have you got an appointment to get bloods taken to check your levels again? When are you going on mat leave? I found everything much easier once I started mat leave.

MoP Jealous of your glass of wine! I think about G&Ts an awful lot. I'm not even that much of a drinker normally!

Waves at Lucinda. I hope you and your mum are doing ok.

Sorry to anyone I've missed.

Fingers crossed the sickness is a sign of things special, I don't want baby to arrive too early but very much hoping for a 37/38/39 weeker. Just got back from the doctors. Despite iron treatment, my bowel movements have got much paler (whiter) - that combined with the feeling rubbish might indicate the start of liver problems so bloods to be taken again in a week to see if liver is functioning ok and if iron levels are improving (I have been told to try and persist with the full 3 tablets a day). The doctor was very concerned about my working but I did stress that they are pretty flexible. Have another 5 weeks before mat leave starts but with the odd days off here and there. I don't want to get signed off sick if I can help it.

Hello all! Just had a lovely booking in appointment. Didn't get on brilliantly with my MW last time (she was fine, just didn't really click) and was kind of assuming it would be her again, but I've got a new lady this time. Much nicer. More chatty and fun. And actually sympathetic about sickness rather than just saying "it's just one of those things" or "that's how you know you've got a healthy baby" like the last one .

She also checked for ketones and there weren't any, so I think that confirms I'm doing as well as can be expected for now. I actually had a good weekend. Slept a lot. Only threw up twice on Friday and once on Sunday, not at all on Saturday. Suspect the rest and the improvement in sickness are related, so I think I'm going to start to try to go home mid-pm this week and just work mornings/lunchtimes, and see if that helps.

Hope everybody is doing OK. Would be lovely to hear from Cwtchy. Hues thinking about you lots still. Any news yet on the SCBU front, or won't you hear until tomorrow?

LT xxx

Sleepy Sounds like you are doing amazingly well, juggling family and work with all the pregnancy problems. I'm sorry you're having such a tough time. I've always found taking iron tablets a grim experience, but I hope they do their job for you. Fingers crossed you get a 37 week baby! My baby is showing no signs of appearing, and I'm 39 weeks on Wednesday.

LightTripper Glad you had such a positive booking in experience. There's two community midwives attached to my GP practice so I never know which one I'm going to get. One is much more sympathetic about HG than the other, but the slightly grumpier one was amazing at my last appointment and spent over an hour talking me through everything to do with birth, because DH mentioned that I was very nervous about all the problems I've been having. The NHS can be amazing at times (although hit and miss at others).

Whinge alert - how did I do this in the first few months?! I feel really awful. I hate vomiting and I feel sick and hungry. Not enjoying the return of this feeling.

Light I haven't shaken off the vimiting totally, but as others have said, ondansetron had made it manageable for me. I felt so much better after having a good scan, so hopefully you will have the same experience. So glad that your booking appointment went well!

Sleepy so glad to hear you had a rest (even if you were baby-prepping too). Sorry about how your Drs appointment went today. Hopefully upping the iron will help- though I've had to ditch it entirely because it makes me so sick. Poor you Thanks for the sympathy about the situation with my friend. I am beating myself up about it now, but I know that it's the best thing for me and the baby at the moment. I'm sure she has her own issues and I will always think fondly of her, but I can't keep stressing myself out over this.

Oh no Special, being like that with smells is the worst. Glad that your DH helped with the bleach! Nothing wrong with beige carbs. Never met one I didn't like (though potato still makes me very sick). Has your ah sung Sheldon's sickness song to you?

I'm doing ok today- long day at work, shattered now. The nausea is much better than yesterday (last night was horrendous, I wonder if the soup I had set me off- DH has been making me totally bland stuff but put a bit of onion in last night apparently. I felt awful!) People at work are either telling me I look really well, or totally exhausted. These comments are within minutes of each other. They can't all be telling me the truth can they 😂

Mother Hen clucks that Ray and Sleepy are probably overdoing it.
Sleepy Good luck with liver tests. I hope that you and Special have early deliveries. Sorry everyone feels rather awful. Glad that Rae feels (comparatively) not too bad.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.

Ah, and I'm so glad LightTripper and Special had good experiences at hospital appointments!

Morning All. Sleepy, you really are stoical, soldiering on at work even with these additional health worries. That iron and liver problem sounds concerning. Hope the next 5 weeks speed by and that you can then put your feet up before baby arrives.
Special, I think the sickness can return at the end of pregnancy - I've certainly heard of this on the thread before. Hopefully, as you say, it's a sign that The End is Nigh. I really hope you'll be munching on that post-birth tea and toast soon!
Light, glad to hear about good MW appointment. I think early finishes at work sounds like an excellent plan. There is a very clear correlation between rest and improvement in symptoms.
Rae, sorry to hear that a brush with non-bland food has set you back. Back to beige, boring stuff I guess. DD1 had a friend to play a couple of weeks ago and I have them the last of my HG-days ice lolly stash to eat! If I never see an ice lolly or a toasted white muffin again it will be too soon! Hope you also get some proper rest after exhausting time at work.
Thanks for your kind words Lucinda. X

Sorry to hear about the soup Rae. OH made me pasta with salami in last night and it definitely was not a good thing. Luckily he made lots of veggies with it so I ate around the salami. Feel so bad though when he is doing everything (and I mean everything) to then be a picky eater... but anyway he is very understanding so it's all good. Hopefully some bland food will get you back to rights: any sign of work calming down so you can rest a bit too?

Sleepy that sounds tough. I know it's easier said than done, but I would book as many days or half days off as you can. I found I had plenty of holiday when I got back from mat leave, as you continue to accrue it while you're off, so you can probably afford to run your allocation down to zero if need be?

Special: sorry to hear the sickness is back. I've heard about it coming back at the end too, so hopefully means you don't have far to go. MW confirmed yesterday that she didn't think the consultant would want me to go to 40 weeks this time, so good to have that confirmed.

Any news Hues? Hope the SCBU situation has calmed down and you are all on for tomorrow, and hope tonight isn't too awful if so. At least it should be the very last time you have to do this. Hang in there xxx

I've got a small quandry of my own. We're all supposed to be going to a wedding in Athens (yes, in August!) the weekend after next. It's a really good work friend of OH's - but I know him and his fiancee quite well too and really like them, would love to go. But it's an evening wedding, and even though I'm now a bit better in the evenings it isn't very sensible to go is it? I'm really torn. I know if I do go then adrenaline will probably carry me through to a certain point. But on the other hand it's going to be 35c probably (maybe more), and I'm not good in the heat at the best of times. DD will be too young to remember it anyway really. I'm thinking OH should probably go without us (my parents are free that w/e and I can go and stay with them to help me with DD - they will even drive us there and back as they are helping my DSIS with her DD on the Friday, who is very nearby)... but will feel guilty to make him go on his own... :-/ I don't know... a week ago I wouldn't even have considered it but now the drugs are working better I'm wondering if things get a bit better from here whether I'll regret not going.

Hmmmm....

LT xx

Sat in my office quietly having a little cry. A work colleague who was expecting has lost their baby at 17 weeks. I am now feeling so incredibly guilty about not enjoying pregnancy when they are suffering this.

Oh Sleepy, that is so sad. I've never experienced the loss of a baby, but I always imagine it must be the hardest thing to endure, and something I wouldn't wish on anyone. But of course being grateful for being pregnant doesn't mean it's not hard. Hugs to you.

I'm so sorry Sleepy. Please don't feel guilty though. The fact we hate being pregnant doesn't mean we aren't still very grateful to be pregnant. I feel the same sometimes as I get pregnant very easily and it seems so unfair given I'm old and I then moan about pregnancy so much: I know some people would definitely swap places with me, and I definitely wouldn't swap places with them.

But that doesn't mean that we have to enjoy being pregnant or to never moan. It just means that when we finally have our lovely babies we need to hold them tight and appreciate them xxx

Sleepy I'm sorry for you and your colleague. It's awful thinking about such things happening.

Thank you all for your thoughts. It is just so sad.

Day hasn't got better either, had an appointment with midwife and urine showing 3+ glucose on fasting sample so now booked in tomorrow morning for an urgent glucose tolerance test as may have gestational diabetes. Midwife also tried getting bloods for liver function and after 3 failed attempts gave up - so after suffering what will be a horrendous morning (fasting from this evening, will have to have bloods at 9ish then given a bottle of lucozade to drink, wait two hours and then bloods tested again - the combination of not being able to take my meds, no food and just lucozade is likely to trigger sickness) I then have to go to a different department at the hospital for my liver function to be tested. Fun day for me. Again trying not to moan too much after the news from earlier but it is hard.

I really think moaning is an important part of coping. Realise you can't at work at the moment, but do come and moan here!!

Can you definitely not take your pills even? That's such a pain. Hope it isn't too awful. At least it's 24 hours and then hopefully you'll be back to rights. I don't know much about GD: what do they do if the tests come back positive?