Being off work sick on first trimester

[Feelingstressed444]

Hi I'm hoping someone can share their experience.
I'm currently 6 weeks pregnant but feeling nauseous all of the time to the point where I'm barely eating and just want to sleep all of the time.
I'm still working just about but I am lucky in that I can work from home occasionally so that helps. However I've woken up this morning feeling so sick that even putting my laptop on is a struggle.
I just don't get how to carry on as normal working when I feel like this. I feel horrible at the thought of calling in sick, especially because nobody yet knows I'm pregnant and I wouldn't even know how to explain myself, but I don't know how to handle this especially if it continues for the whole of the first trimester.
I usually love my job but I feel like I'm falling so behind because my concentration is not there when I feel like this. I can barely get my work done when I'm in the office all day.
Does anybody have any advice?

Oh I had this :( I ended up having HG and I was so so sick for nine months.

I didn't have any time off in the first two trimesters because I worried that I didn't know everything was ok and I knew they'd get rid of me if they knew I was trying to get pregnant.

I fainted a few times at work, used to vomit constantly... it was really really hard :(

I ended up being signed off from 6 months quite seriously unwell.

See if you can work from home more? Or get signed off for a week or on reduced duties. I know that's not ideal :(

No real advice, just empathy! My nausea started week 5 and by week 6 I was being sick most mornings. I battled on at work until about week 8 and then I told HR and my manager. It's lucky I did, because I ended up off sick and in hospital during week 10 (for a variety of reasons) so it made that whole period of time much less stressful as I knew work understood. I was then told to spend some time working from home and taking it easy. I was fairly unlucky, and my morning sickness was pretty full on until about week 16/17 (now just reached week 18) but work have been great at letting me do my first part of the day from home and then going into the office mid-morning. I did take anti-sickness tablets from week 10 and have just stopped taking them this week. If the nausea and/or sickness gets bad and you're struggling to keep your fluids up, there is no need to battle alone. I ended up on a drip in A&E and it really shouldn't have got to that point. It's easy to kid yourself that all women have morning sickness etc and you need to toughen up, but sometimes it is debilitating and you need some help.

I suppose my only advice would be to talk to someone at work and explain the situation. They have a duty of care and my experience has been that the pressure was really taken off once people knew what was going on. It really is a horrible feeling when you're in the middle of it, but it will eventually get better (even though it feels endless!). If the sickness gets to the point where you're struggling to eat and drink, speak to your GP. It doesn't last forever

I was off sick for whole first trimester. No sickness I was stressed about possible mc.

Thanks ladies. Unfortunately my manager is on leave for another week and she is the only person I trust with this news this early. I will just try and take it a day at a time until then and see how I go!

@Feelingstressed444 - I hope you feel better - sending you a hug! I just turned 8 weeks and only today feel like I can function normally again. I have been in bed for the last 2 weeks but luckily I was on holiday from work. I cannot imagine what the last two weeks would have been like if I had to go in. Especially with the nausea, tiredness and not wanting to tell anyone yet. My colleagues are very nosey and would have picked up on this easily which would have annoyed me!

Before I felt like I had wasted 2 weeks just sleeping when I planned to do some studying- but honestly I did not have a choice - it's physically impossible and have stopped beating myself up about it!

I have read that you start feeling better towards the end of the 1st trimester so keep going and keep strong.

What has helped me in the odd days I had to be up and out of the house is cold drinks, lots of water, fresh air, eating small means regularly and trying my best (as hard as it may be) not to nap as much - this is because I will struggle to get a good nights sleep!

Xx

I am 16 weeks and still feel the nausea pretty strong. The first 12 weeks were horrendous, I am shocked no one at work figured out I was pregnant, as I felt like throwing up and was almost gagging during meetings and lunchtimes for like three weeks before holidays started. Hardly had any work done, but I did tell my superior so that he was aware why I worked so slow. To other people, I just said I was not feeling well and that I will be doing blood tests to see why I feel so exhausted once they started asking why I look so tired.
My advice is, don't push yourself. It's a difficult time, so do as much as you can and rest as much as you can. My midwife told me not to push myself to eat if I do not feel like it too much (I felt sick even thinking of food) and to drink a lot of water and to find things I enjoyed eating- fruit sort of saved me, the one thing I did not find offputting.

Won't say much as I'm lying here in bed at 34 weeks having a rotten day with nausea so don't feel like typing much. Just wanted to sympathise and implore you to see your GP. I needed several weeks off in the first trimester due to sickness. It wasn't ideal but there was nothing I could do and they can't hold pregnancy related illness against you. Try bland salty carbs and sugary drinks. Rest as much as you can.

If you end up sick enough that you need medication and time off - that's 100% ok. There's a Hypermesis Support thread on here. Come and join us.

Thank you soooo much ladies you have made me feel loads better.

I drank No to morning sickness tea. That helped a lot. Tea helps to settle the stomach too. Crackers did not really help me. But I know a lot of women that it helped. And if it does not get any better call your doctor.