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.

Just coming on quickly to say that I so agree that nobody should feel guilty about being like a Victorian lady and reclining on a sofa - you have no choice!
Those words from HaichM are very wise:
'Children need attention yes but as long as they know they are loved and valued and receive reassurance of that, they can cope with less attention for a while. You need to concentrate on you. It won't do your LO any good if you don't. It won't be this horrible forever. You can get through it. Don't feel guilty if you need to use electronic babysitters for a while. You can make it up to your Lo later.'
From all I've seen on these threads over the years, the lO's don't even remember the period of comparative neglect, and they have a sibling as a result, which is a priceless gift - a far better companion than any adult. There speaks one who stopped at one! Also,
If you think back a few decades, children were routinely neglected by today's standards. The mother didn't have time to entertain them, no modern gadgets, no car, etc. The view then was that if a mother was 'good enough' then that was OK, the children would grow up undamaged - and they do.
We all have dark thoughts when suffering. If thoughts were punishable, we'd all be in gaol.
Mustang27 I do sympathize about your OH having Aspergers - my older brother is autistic spectrum or whatever they call it these days, and I can imagine how difficult it must make things .
SickDownUnder They can't for obvious reasons, try Ondansetron on pregnant woman. It hasn't been used as long as cyclizine,but is used routinely in the UK if the other drugs fail, as others say, because prolonged dehydration is not good for the baby (or the mother, but that is always treated as a secondary consideration!).
Waves to Katemeister and everyone.
Watch me cross post.

Hi everyone, sorry for the silence. Not had a great few days. Will catch up and reply properly soon but currently in hospital. The dreaded ondansetron constipation curse has hit me hard. Not been for 7 days now and bleeding quite a bit. Midwife wanted me to come and in and get checked out so here I am, Sunday morning as usual, feeling sorry for myself. How have others managed to go? Is 7 days pretty standard?

Oh holly that sounds rough. I've found bisacodyl great for help with ondansetron constipation. Although you have probably tried that already.

It is not much help now, but I've read that the thing to do is to try and get out ahead of constipation. So if I have been 1-2 days without going, then I take a pill to help things along.

Thanks Satsooma. I havent tried anything yet. I have been naively assuming it would just happen. Drinking, or trying to drink more and taking lactulose has been the extent of it. They are talking about an enema...

Bad few days here been back in bed and throwing everything up. No idea why. Hormone surge? Anyway, what tablets/suppositories did we decide we're safe for the ondansetron constipation?

NHS website has this to say on constipation:

"If you're pregnant, there are ways for you to safely treat constipation without harming you or your baby. Your GP will first advise you to change your diet by increasing fibre and fluid intake. You'll also be advised to do gentle exercise.

If dietary and lifestyle changes don't work, you may be prescribed a laxative to help you pass stools more regularly.

Lots of laxatives are safe for pregnant women to use because most aren't absorbed by the digestive system. This means that your baby won't feel the effects of the laxative.

Laxatives that are safe to use during pregnancy include the osmotic laxatives lactulose and macrogols. If these don't work, your GP may recommend taking a small dose of bisacodyl or senna (stimulant laxatives).

However, senna may not be suitable if you're in your third trimester of pregnancy, because it's partially absorbed by your digestive system."

My GP prescribed me gel suppositories and some sachets of power you mix into water possibly called Laxido?

I found both very useful also he gave them to be at the same time as prescribing Ondansetron saying I needed to start them immediately to avoid a problem. He's a good egg that GP.

Hope you are feeling better Holly. Xx

I'm not sadly and they are now talking about surgery to remove. A suppository and enema hasnt worked, nor has manual extraction. The stool is too hard to be removed. I am terrified and wondering why I have put myself through this. This pregnancy has been nothing but physical and mental pain. I keep thinking it cant possibly get any worse and it somehow does. The 'manual extraction' is the most painful thing I have ever experienced.

Oh Holly how awful for you. You really have been through the wars. I wish there was something we could do to help. Just sending love and strength xx

Iam I'm taking lactulose and my stools are soft they just aren't moving very quickly so I think a helpful 'boost' is in order

Oh Holly, I'm so sorry you're going through all this

Sorry to hear about everyone else having a bad day too. Hope next week gets better for everyone!

Hollyhop My goodness, that is awful. I have never heard of enemas not working - even with impacted stools. That is awful; I do hope they act quickly, you must be suffering horribly.
I hope everyone else is OK-ish.

Hugs Holly that sounds truly awful. I hope it's nothing but relief from here on out for you after the op x

Holly so sorry to hear of your continued suffering. You have scared/inspired me into doing something about my own constipation so I don't risk a similar experience. I hope it is quickly resolved.

I have had a rubbish day today. As bad as or worse than Thursday or Friday and I didn't really do anything other than sit and read yesterday so not sure why. Poor DS has had to entertain himself for most of the day and I allowed more ipad use than normal but I'm not going to feel guilty about it. I'm not sure what to do about work tomorrow. I felt so bad today with severe headaches, nausea and dizziness (at the same time at some points) that reading and listening to music was out. Part of me doesn't want to risk it or push myself if I was this bad today...

Holly! - all my thoughts are with you during this tough time. You're definitely having a hard time. Hopefully the doctors will give you a laxative that works for you after this ordeal.
I'm usually in crampy pain if I don't go in 2-3 days and that's when I take lactulose. Was prescribed laxsol tabs at the same time as ondansetron and 2 of them before bed kept everything relatively regular. Also have black licorice when I can stomach it.

Waves to all. Hoping for an update from Holly soon

HaichM Go with that instinct, says Mother Hen.
Hollyhop Hoping things are being dealt with...

oh @holly :(

never had that prob while preg but after giving birth and placenta not
coming away,meant i lost a lot of blood and had 3 transfusions and been on iron tablets since

didnt poo for 5 days :(

the first poo wasnt great,also as had stitches so vary wary,but did take lactulose

makes me fart badly, real manly ones,ones that df was quite embarassed and impressed about

dd is 6w tom and im still on tablets and lactlose,i need to take it every other day or get bunged

the joys of preg and labour eh ladies

but

all worth it when our baby is in our arms x

Blondes Lovely to hear from you. That is a lot of blood, three transfusions, goodness. Lol about ripping them off! I lost under two pints, so they said 'you can make it up naturally with iron pills' but I was one of the unlucky tiny minority whose symptoms had a resurgence after birth (don't worry, everyone; that's about seven on this thread where hundreds have posted) and iron pills came straight up again.
I'm shocked about Hollyhop getting that ill with constipation in a week. I do hope they have operated.

Thanks everyone for supportive messages. Still in hospital sadly. 4 lots of suppositories and 2 enemas later. Surgery ended up being a no go as it was too far down to reach, but too high up for the medicine and manual extraction. The result is I am being pumped with lots of medicine which is having a very, slow and painful reaction. Waiting for doctors rounds this morning but feel like they are going to keep me in until most of it is gone

About to be hooked up to the machine to hear LO's heartbeat. He has been moving fine, think they are doing it as a treat...

After all I went through to get ondansetron, I wont actually be taking anymore. They said they have never seen such a severe reaction. So, I'm prepared for the sickness to massively return. After all thats happened, I think I would prefer being sick to the excruciating pain of severe constipation. Please dont kick me off the board for saying that...

Hugs to everyone, thank you so much for being so kind. I had a bath at 430 this morning and read all your comments, it did make me cry a bit.

Gosh holly! You poor thing. It sounds horrific for you and can't imagine how painful it must be. Have you had an ultrasound to see where the impaction is? It probably won't touch your pain but I find a heated bean bag/ hot water bottle good for gas pain, just for some intermittent relief.

Ondansetron has constipated me and I'm afraid to say the only way I can go is with a gloved hand and ahem manual extraction every couple of days.

I asked my midwife about what else was safe to take and she said she had never heard of constipation with ondansetron! But then again she's also suggested ginger to me numerous times... I will try Bisacordyl today, thanks everyone, pharmacist had originally said not to in pregnancy.

Who said pregnancy was glamorous??

Morning everyone, I got my bfp this weekend. This is dc2, had awful HG with dc1 in 2014. I'm seriously anxious about it happening again!

I'm with you putput 😳 Rubber gloves every few days is the only way I've managed to get anything to shift. It's horrendous. I was given pills by the Dr a few days ago but I'm scared to take them after the pharmacist refused to prescribe them and the GP said there wasn't clear evidence either way. Although I managed to do a fair bit of walking over the weekend, and as a result managed to go yesterday without intervention (although it still took half an hour!). I'm going to try and walk more as I'm sure stagnating in bed (on top of everything else) isn't helping my guts function.

Holly, I really feel for you. I just hope the drugs help it eventually work their way through. I totally know what you mean, the constipation made me so miserable that I also contemplated not taking the pills. I could either take the odansetron and get horribly constipated, or take the promethazine and turn into the most useless zombie. In the end I cut down on the odansetron, deal with the constipation in a horribly embarrassing manner and only take promthezine when I have to and ideally late in the day. I came to realise there is no magic HG drug which stops sickness and has no side effects I hope you're getting all the care you need and at least enjoying hearing your little boy's heart. Have you tried Stemitil or even steroids? They are options worth discussing if odansetron is a no go.

So I was off work Weds afternoon, Thurs and Fri. Between the fall and the weird rash and the blood tests I'd really had enough. I managed to have an ok-ish weekend and back to work today.

Waves to all.

Welcome MrsB what name were you under in 2014? I imagine we would have been HG thread mates back then. Hopefully you will avoid it this time...

Oh god ladies I was ready for marching into the drs to say Stemetil was useless but after all the issues you are all having with the other drugs I might just ride it out for awhile as I really am far too much of a weakling. You are all troopers seriously.

Holly I'm so sorry that they haven't been able to get you a quick fix.

Hi MrsB I'm on my second too and it's bloody awful and I'm just 8 weeks in. Congrats on your positive and I hope you are going to luck out and have a sickness free pregnancy

Oklahoma, same name! Dc1 was born in October 2014, pretty sure I remember an oklahoma on the thread.
I've spoken to the GP pre-pg and she has agreed to prescribe over the phone if necessary.
I woke up feeling icky and not wanting breakfast this morning. I'm hoping that's not the start of anything.
I hope you all have as good a week as possible x