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.

Light I am sniffing Olbas oil like it's going out of fashion! Cold seems to have turned into a cough today. Brilliant.

Nerr hope you get on ok at the GP today. I've been in your position and it's miserable. Maybe take someone with you? I'be found that HCPs are more likely to listen when DH/ DM tell them how unwell I am (which is ridiculous).

Thanks Mother, you are lovely.

Blondes I love how we all have hints and tips for throwing up 😂 hope the scan went well.

Oh Lucy, I was hoping that your silence meant that you were much better. So sorry to hear that the opposite is the case. Sounds like we're both having an HG resurgence. Kudos to you for only having 2 weeks off! I had 7 😳 Hop you get on ok at the dentist.

Fox any news from your GP? Glad that PSS were helpful.

Castle bless you. It must be awful not being able to watch TV. My iPad has been a constant companion through HG. Hope you're managing to rest at least.

Serious I think you GP is wrong. Are the under the lip tablets ondansetron? If so, I'm taking them with cyclizine. In some ways it'd be good if you do get admitted- I found that I started to get 'proper' help once that happened.

In my case as have mild hg to many of you it's def got better at 14/15w

Nappy sacks are too small and can't get head in them easily so end up covering lap in puke

Coop 10p bags are the way to go 😷

Scan was amazing. Lovely to see and hear bubs again. All looking good. Did 4d as well tho think bubs looks like an alien

No ketones are 2 so mw just said try and drink more or will be in for fluids

Oooh sorry Lucy, cross posted. Really pleased for you- well done!

Alien bubs

Had an upsetting day yesterday. 34 week scan to check the position of the placenta, which was fine. However, the baby's stomach has suddenly gone from the 50th to the 97th centile?! In having a GTT test now. Really upset that I might have done something to harm the baby, but baffled as I'm still slim (apart from bump), and haven't been eating loads of rubbish (obviously).

Awww blondes what lovely photos! Hope the scan has given you a boost 😊

rae you wouldn't have done anything so don't worry /blame self 💐

I'm loving the sick bags /stories 😬

Rae As blondes says, don't blame yourself, I'm sure you haven't done anything. They're probably being extra careful.
blondes Lovely scan pictures. Lighttripper Lucy Blondes and everyone - it's always medicinal to have a laugh at awful things you can't change, and that cat story was grotesquely funny .

Rae my boy has a giant tummy too & they've not mentioned that anything could be wrong. What are they worried about? Sure you've not done anything, what will be will be, if only we could influence pregnancy eh! My doc just chuckled that my boy was a very effective parasite considering he's so tubby & I'm so skinny (currently wearing non mat size 10 & 30 weeks today).

Blondes , lovely pics! I had a 4D at 16 weeks that was quite alieny too. Rest assured my 28 week 4D scan was very human looking.

Really quick one to rae, just to say baby sleepy was also measuring a lot bigger on her tummy in comparison to head size & femur length. All was fine with her and she's not got a big tummy at all. She is however, a very greedy girl! Try not to worry too much, although I'm sure you will. Good luck with the GTT, it's flippin horrible. Try as hard as you can not to puke because they have to scrap it and do it another day.

Sorry to hear lots of you are really suffering still. It really is worth it, and despite how little sleep I am getting - I still don't feel too bad. Having a HG pregnancy prepares you more than you think!

Hello... I think you are my people... saw the GP this morning after suggestions by the lovely posters on my "how much vomit is normal" thread... I have HG and a sick note.

Bleugh.

Oh no! Welcome, four , sorry to see you here 😕 How many weeks are you?

Hi rae my daughter had some very large measurements, but was a small baby... ultrasound is notorious for clinician error/bias. I'm sure baby Rae will be fine and nothing at all your fault.

So I am currently in the A&E waiting room
Having seen my GP this morning who found ketones++++ in my urine. They called ahead so I was expected. But I have been here for 6 hours now and being treated in waiting room, no privacy, no dignity and they won't give me one of the drugs here because they are worried about a potential reaction but say they don't have space to put me in a cubicle.
Meanwhile I am vomiting all over the place and hooked up to a drip surrounded by the drunk and smokers who's odours are or improving the situation...

Sorry for the rant. Feeling fed up! Wish they would give me the drugs- im feeling faint and generally dreadful.

iamserious that is awful!! I'm so sorry you're having to go through that! How're you getting on now?

rae my baby's belly was also measuring large and head and femur much smaller, try not to worry - as everyone has said scans are notoriously inaccurate for measurements (I read there is a 30% variance) and you have done absolutely nothing to harm the baby

A quick one from me I'm afraid as it appears my migraines are back and I'm struggling.

Waves to all and welcome to all the new comers

Hi happy, sorry to hear about the migraines. They are so debilitating, I hope it passes quickly for you.

Still in the waiting room attached to my drip, but they still won't give me drugs as they can't monitor me here. Feeling so dizzy. Might have a lie down on the floor.

Could I delurk and ask for your advice?

I am 7 weeks exactly with my second child. Much wanted - IVF (I am nearly 41). My first is now 2.4 and I had Hyperemesis with him from 5 - 16 weeks also.

The HG has struck again - and I have only made it through 2 weeks of it so far. I am already on Prednisolone (steroids) which has got the vomiting under control (down to once or twice a day now). So I hope to avoid a hospital admission this time. But I can't keep water or any watery fluid down, so liquid is milkshakes and the like.

Anyway nothing that you guys haven't heard before. But I am getting depressed. At only 7 weeks I am still getting worse not better. Funnily enough when I wake is the best time for me - take my steroids and get a couple of hours with my toddler and to get some work done (and anything else that involves dressing, standing or speaking). I feel dreadful in the morning but I can function.

But from midday onwards I sink into a writhing mess of nausea and exhaustion where I am retching and gagging constantly and cannot leave the house. It is a strange sort of agony and torture.

I know there is no solution - I know I have the best meds possible. But do any of you brilliant women have any tricks to mentally approach the coming weeks? You all seem so far ahead in your pregnancies, and right now I cannot imagine getting there.

How do I look to at least the next month or so (at best) without feeling so incredibly low about my physical and mental state?

Any advice would be so very valued and listened to.

Oh dear me, a lot of bad sickness and suffering going on here today.
Serious, I'm so sorry, your treatment at A&E is not ideal at all. Hope they soon find a place for you so that they can begin to administer the good stuff IV meds. I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but hospital is really the best place for you right now. Try to get a prescription for Ondansetron to take to your GP.
Welcome to Fourcornered and LHReturns. LH, I really feel for you, those early weeks feel like you're trapped in a dark tunnel. Are you working? Do you have any childcare? I think the only way to get through the early weeks is to sleep as much as possible. At least you can't be sick when you're asleep, and the rest helps. Can you manage screens OK? I spent my first trimester (this time last year) in bed with the IPad. You could also try ringing PSS to see what support they may have to offer. Otherwise please stick around on here. I think we have all been helped by being able to talk to others who know how horrendous this illness is.
Blondes, how exciting to see the scan photos! Makes it all so real. Sounds like you've nailed the vomiting in the car thing! One of my low points was throwing up, on my hands and knees, on the grass verge of a busy A road.
Happy, sorry to hear about the migraines, that's the last thing you need.
Lucy, good work with the dentist! You did a better job than I did. I didn't ever brush right after being sick, I just struggled to brush at all!
Rae, argh, a cough is the worst at bringing on retching, poor you. Sorry to hear about the GD worry. As the others have said, these things are often so misleading. Fx for a good outcome. When are you doing the test?
How is everyone else? Castle? Light? Hope I've not stupidly forgotten anyone.

Hello again. Only five weeks pregnant. The idea that this could go on indefinatly (well, up to delivery) is miserable.

I had no intention of telling work at all but the ladies is right next to the staff room and a massive vomitfest managed to coincide with both morning break and the start of lunch.

I fessed up to the head, who told me to go home. It took me two and half hours to drive thirty miles since I had to keep stopping to vomit/fall asleep.

I had an injection at the GP's this morning and have just taken my second pill since. I haven't vomited nearly as much since, just a few mouthfuls.

Spending a lot of time sleeping in a dark room, screens aren't good. I'll come back when I feel up to it. I hope those of you that are having a far worse time than me are ok.

Thank you so much Mother of Pearl. I'm sorry not to show more interest in others today - having a bad day so barely supporting my head, let alone anyone else. Safe to say I am not a good friend currently.

I work as an independent consultant and can work from home most of the time at the moment. Laptop balanced on legs between dry heaves. I am getting away with it JUST so far.

And yes I am very lucky to have a wonderful live-in nanny, so Monday to Friday I can duck away from my DS and our four dogs (the dogs make me literally HEAVE right now).

So I have many things to not complain about.

But having a bad day - I am on the maximum dose of steroids that my doctor is happy for me to be on (and have a strict plan to start reducing them slowly from 10 weeks).

My brain is starting to go in a few bad directions like:

• what if this pregnancy isn't like my first and the HG lasts far beyond the first trimester? Like so many of you, this might NOT stop like last time. I don't know how you guys do it for 40 weeks. I really don't.

• what if I wasn't meant to try for another baby at my age, and maybe this was a VERY bad idea?

• maybe this sickness is a sign of chromosomal problems (again look at my age)? I have the Harmony test booked of course to find this out, but still worry incessantly.

I dunno...I am also annoyed I haven't found ONE safe food - a go-to thing that isn't a risk. Mashed potato, crisps, plain pasta, ice lollies, milk shake, digestive biscuits....nothing works.... I haven't found the ONE thing that sits ok with me.

And yes I do look at my phone and iPad all day long, they make me feel much worse, but I continue to use them because I am miserable anyway.

Fourcornered, even in this wretched state my hand reaches out to you. It is the worst fxxking thing in the world.

Four, glad you have had an injection and are resting at home. I hope you're staying off work for now.
LH, I'm very glad to hear you have good childcare so that you can rest when you need to. I know you'll (rightly) want to punch me for saying this, but try not to think too far ahead. Just focus on getting through each day. When you go to bed at night, just congratulate yourself for surviving that day. Hang on to the certainty that it will end, even if (god forbid) it lasts longer this time. FWIW I had my third baby, DD2, in May, just a month before I turned 42. She's absolutely fine (and I took Ondansetron and ate nothing but beige stodge right up to the end). Just keep going, day by day, hour by hour if necessary.

Lucy they're worried about gestational diabetes. Interesting that your baby has a similar tummy size though!

Sleepy also interesting about your DD. Maybe it just means that I can expect to be doing more feeds! The GTT was awful but I wasn't sick, so hopefully I'all get the results tomorrow.

Welcome four. I've found that this thread is a real lifeline. I couldn't have coped without it. Glad to hear that you're signed off- try to rest as much as possible.

Serious it's so kind of you you to reply to me when you're suffering so much! Thank you- that's reassuring. How are you now? On a ward I hope.

Thanks happy. Sorry to hear about the migraines. Hope you feel better soon.

LH I know exactly how you feel. The first trimester was so hard for me (not even looking pregnant, not having Alden or felt baby, but being so unwell). Have you had a scan yet? I had one at 7 weeks and it gave me a massive boost. Other than that, just taking one day at a time helped me. And like Mother, the iPad was my friend.

^ that should be "seen", not "Alden". Thank you predictive text!!

Bless you serious four and lhreturns

I was the other way. Couldn't cope with 5am - 1pm then afternoon and evening was ok

Sleep and rest really make a different. Not always possible if already a mum but if your eldest watches tv all day etc. Not the end of the world if that how you cope

Bagels and chicken Cock soup worked for me.

Lh I'm feeling a better now 16w tho lost dinner tonight but once a day I can cope with

LH at the same point in pregnancy I was beginning to think I was going to have to end my (very much wanted) pregnancy because I didn't think I'd cope either. I have been though. I'd recommend trying to get some sleep if you can. Food wise, there wasn't anything I could eat at that point & to be honest, I pretty much didn't eat for a few weeks. I could just about sip still full fat coke when it was really cold. But I couldn't keep much else down at all.
Oddly, now when I feel really dreadful in the evening, I take a small (!) sip of red wine from my husband's glass & it stops the urge to lose my supper. No idea what that's about! Although it's not helped with my friends' suspicion that I don't have HG at all, just really severe alcohol withdrawal! Friends, eh!
Can you take Ondansetron? That's been the only thing that's helped me.

Four I had to tell work at 4 weeks as was being sick so much. Mine started before I thought to take the test - why I took one actually - so I feel your pain on that one. I had a scan at 4 weeks to see what was going on as I'd had an ectopic the month before & was feeling this dreadful then too. They also wanted to check for multiples because I was instantly so sick. Not to freak you out on that one 🙂 Have you had a scan yet?