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, phone them on:
024 7638 2020
Lastly, the NICE guidelines on treatment are useful:
cks.nice.org.uk/nauseavomiting-in-pregnancy
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.
On my image of a pink castle: that is an image I use because when I was little, my family had a Snakes and Ladders board with an image on the last square of a pink castle in the clouds. As Hyperemesis is so like a grotesque version of Snakes and Ladders - eat a meal, go up a ladder, first thing in the morning bile run, down a snake - I have used the image of that pink castle on the last square of that Snakes and Ladders board as a metaphor for the happy end of Hyperemesis.

I'm 24 weeks tomorrow  over last few days the horrible nauseous feeling is back with a vengeance....constantly feel sick & have reflux. Is this normal? I thought I was going to have the rest of the pregnancy feeling good...instead feeling really frustrated.

Priscilla last time with me it felt like around the 20ish week mark the usual pg nausea sensation did improve but it was almost instantly replaced by feeling nauseous from reflux, not sure if it might be that? I had to sleep sitting up and lived on gaviscon (the double action asregukar did nothing),

Priscilla Sorry you feel so bad. A good anti acid can make a huge difference. Gaviscon can make you feel so bloated - can the doctor prescribe you Ranitidine or Omprazole? A lot of people do have a big hormonal surge at 20 -21 weeks that can last a while, but this sounds as if it should be past by now. I hope an anti acid might help. It did, I remember, with MotherofPearl.
Beanhunter Oh dear. That is tough. Much sympathy. Have they given any constructive advice?
Reastie Thank you! I have the remains of a once excellent memory! I have done these threads for a long time, it is true - but I was lucky in that I suffered for a short time compared to most people. From what i have seen on these threads, - I would say for often seen problems, yes indeed, sufferers do try and push themselves too hard - particularly as people are so judgemental and unsymapthetic - dragging themselves into work for too long and going back too early, and forcing themselves to do to much round the house, too (sorry bumblebee!). Sufferers tend to underestmate just how debilitating this is, and the length of time it takes to recover. I think not getting prescribed a laxative with Ondansetron causes a lot of suffering, and not being prescribed an effective anti aid. Then, there are kesostix. While they may not be the best way of testing for dehydration hospitals take their measurements of ketones seriously.
I think, too, that often women allow themselves to become terribly dehydrated - to the point of being mentally confused before they go for fluids because they 'don't want to make a fuss' (and one can understand why, when some hospitals are so overstretched that they do take risks and refuse to admit sufferers who should be admitted sometimes). Those are just a few of the things. I think it is an excellent thing to take an advocate when going to ask for meds. I am sorry to say - this sounds as if the year is 1962 - that doctors seem to listen to the OH if he says that she is very ill more than the woman!

Those are just af few of the things.

@Reastiepeace @LucindaE thanks for your kind words, it's just nice to have people who understand. I already take ranitidine twice a day, have resorted to gaviscon this eve. HG is so horrid. I've been off work now since week 6 & hope to go back in December. Your so right about feeling pressured to try and be back to your pre-pregnancy self. I find it's really hard to judge how one day will be never mind planning anything ahead of time.

Priscilla Sorry to hear that heartburn is bad despite Ranitidine.
Beanhunter Sorry - my message was rather cryptic. I meant that it is good that you don't have gestational diabetes, but it's bad that steriods increase the risk.
Reastie and everyone - waves.

Hi ladies, I'm 14 weeks with my first child and was diagnosed with HG at 10 weeks after being hospitalised.

I've had 4 weeks signed off work and went back this week but am struggling. Due to being on prochlorperazine I'm not being sick too often now but it's the nausea and fatigue that are affecting me.

I'm having a real internal battle with myself over whether to get signed off again or not. Work aren't being too sympathetic and neither is DH, and no one seems to understand 😫

I am 7 weeks today. I've had nausea for 10 days. Got cyclizine from the GP last Friday and have been taking it 3x/day. I felt like it was helping somewhat, however yesterday evening I just had to vomit. This morning I have upchucked my breakfast. Struggling to eat or drink in general. Really need a poo, which doesn't help things (think the lactulose I had this a.m. probably ended up in the toilet bowl). Have lost 1.5kg in 10 days. I think I need to go back to my GP and ask for something else, but what? Or give the cyclizine more time to work?

mrsreader 2 things immediately come to mind reading your post;

1. If you are still feeling sick then your GP needs to try you on some different meds (either instead or as well). I suggest going back and explaining that although it's better than without, you ate still feeling awful and thus (I assume?) are struggling to eat and drink.
2. Frankly, stay off work!! You were hospitalised only 4 weeks ago! you are still feeling and being sick. The docs don't have the meds right for you yet. The single best thing you can do for yourself when fighting HG is to rest. I've now been off work 4 weeks, having also been hospitalised 4 weeks ago. I have another 2 weeks on my sick note, and I anticipate that at best I'll be able to work reduced hours in two week, but an all likelihood I still won't be up to it. I spend huge chunks of the day sleeping. Certainly more hours sleeping than awake.

Please do be gentle to yourself, HG is hard and people, by and large, don't have a bloody clue what it's like.

mauis get yourself back to doctors. You shouldn't have yo give meds more than a day to see of they work. It could well be that adding a drug to cyclizine is all that's needed, or possibly different meds entirely. I'm on a combination of 3, and combinations are unusual (each med works in a different way). You may need to be assertive, some GPs are reluctant to prescribe anything other than cyclizine, but it is common and within NICE guidelines to treat with medication.

mauis And mrsreader you may both find a phone call to pregnancy sickness support is useful in terms of arming yourself with appropriate knowledge before seeing GP .

Thank you eallison88. My GP was pretty sympathetic when I saw her last Friday. She showed me a list of the first- and second-line meds so am confident she will be happy to give me something else. Am currently awaiting a call from her as no face to face appts available today. I might ring PSS anyway, thanks for that idea.

GP offered Metaclopramide or Prochloperazine. I know I tried the former in my previous pregnancy and it did nothing, so have gone for the latter. She said if I'm still vomiting after a couple of days on the new drug then she wants me in for some blood tests.

MrsReader I am with you!

I am 16+3, was signed off work for 8 weeks and returned on Monday past to work on reduced shifts. It has completely knocked me! I have gone back to feeling sick nearly all the time, almost been sick a few times after managing not to for a few weeks! And I am EXHAUSTED!! Like to the point of no return, I could sleep for a week! Now I'm feeling really anxious and freaking out that I have now gone back to work and people are going to think I'm pathetic if I can't even do a couple of 6.5 hour shifts a week! No one understands what it's like :( I work in a butchers too so it smells, it's freezing and your on your feet for the whole shift. Just don't know what to do, and it's making me panic!

Hello,

I have been prescribed prochlorperazine by my GP however the advice in the medical leaflet says not to take in pregnancy. My GP has assured me it's fine but I haven't been able to speak to her again today to get some further clarity. Also, according to the pregnancysicknesssupport guidelines usually Antihistamines - Cyclizine and Promethazine are prescribed first. Very unwell so just looking for some reassurance really.

EJ the guidelines give prochlorowhatsit as the same level of risk category (ie the safest known) as cyclizine and promethazine (see attached picture). I’ve been taking that drug as and when required in addition to regularly taking two other drugs at the same time. They will all say not to be taken in pg as nothing is officially licensed.

Lisa and Mrs rest is such a help with this. You’re not failing if you need a little longer off or work a bit less still. My job involves food smells and I never managed to return when pg as it made my symptoms return straight away. They will cope without you, as much as you think you may be you’re not indispensable. I say this as I had great guilt about work last time and constantly fought with feeling a failure. I’ve accepted this time to put my life in perspective and focus selfishly on myself and coping through this.

Mauis glad you’ve got something and hopefully it’ll help. Agree about ringing PSS for advice if needed for more medication.

Thanks @eallison88 and others for your kind words and advice.

I rang my doctor and he has prescribed another pill to take on bad days alongside the prochlorperazine. It's something I guess.

As I've been back at work a few days this week he says I have to self certify off work for a week before he can sign me off again. I don't know what to do, as my husband will have a go at me as he thinks I'm just being lazy and as I'm not being sick that often should just get on with it. Work are hinting the same 😔

mrsreader your husband needs to get his head out of his backside. You are not lazy. Growing a person is draining for most women. You're doing it while being sick, feeling sick, and with very little fuel (food/drink). Take some more time off. Glad you have more drugs; what are they?

EJ that us one of the meds prescribed for HG. As reastie said, no meds say ok in pregnancy cos who is gonna risk testing them on pregnant women. The drugs that get prescribed, including that one, have been used for many years in pregnancy now.

lisa I'd say the same to you; take some more time off work and rest. 6.5 hours on your feet doesn't sound like a reduced shift at all!!

MrsR thing is rest makes such a difference that you could be signed off at home and coping or going to work but not coping because work makes it so much worse as you can’t rest (I have a job where I’m on my feet dashing around and it’s quite stressful). I’d ignore the seething looks (which interestingly I got most from women at where I work who I think thought they worked through their ms so I should and not realise how debilitated I was and how desperate I wanted to be physically able to work).

Thanks everyone

Been reading but not writing for a bit. Hello to new and old.
The last few weeks have been very worrisome, which definitely makes hyperemesis worse. I continued to bleed, eventually got sent for a colposcopy, which sent me into contractions and she couldn't see my cervix anyway as it is too anterior. She did remove the massive growth though which had gotten so big it was literally hanging outside all the time. There was SO much blood. She then called the next day saying she's booked me into the pre term labour clinic just in case it had started something. Luckily they saw me the next day and scan showed cervix normal length and right amount of waters still, and then had a call through today to say they have hurried through the histology and it is benign.
I need to try and calm down now as anxiety is so awful for hyperemesis. But I'm now so aware of every little thing, keep getting stomach cramps which freak me out, but I think they are actually constipation.

Thank you everyone , it's ondansetron I've been prescribed

I have a question about reflux/randitine (or whatever it’s called).

Last couple of days I’ve had the feeling of a bit of food stuck in my throat. It’s really horrible and I’ve not been drinking much today because I can feel it there when I swallow. I’ve been googling and it looks like it’s reflux. I’ve been taking gaviscon plus sporadically which isn’t making any difference so I’m thinking of taking the randitine (may have spelt that wrong) which looks a bit stronger and more likely to work. What dose are people on here with that ? A normal dose? and I assume you’re on it with the other meds too? It’s making the nausea even worse which is making me really miserable.

Reastie I take ranitidine 75mg twice per day, once in morning and then late afternoon/early evening. I take it in addition to my anti sickness meds, I had the exact same as you with horrible feeling in my throat and also in my chest and this has helped massively with that and my nausea.

Thanks, it’s really really horrible and making the nausea so much worse.

Four new sufferers - goodness. Welcome to MsReader MauisLeftNipple, Lisaloo and JD Duncan. You have had great advice already, about meds and the need for time off work and rest (and for OH''s to try and be understanding!) I can only add, things do get much better for most people at some point between 14 and 21 weeks, and even for those who are unlucky enough to suffer throughout, it is almost never as bad as in the early days. An effective anti acid can make a huge difference,as I hope Reastie will find.
Some fluids that have helped others: Full sugar flat coke, ice cubes, ice lollies, the juice of tinned fruit, Dr Pepper, Iron Bru, Robinson's fruit drinks,sips of chocolate milkshake (maybe soya), Lucoazade, soda water, fizzy water, fizzy orange, orange squash, orange juice (if not too acid) Elderflower water, Elderflower cordial and tonic water and lemonade.
Some foods of a sort, cuppa soup, tinned fruit, cheap ice cream, nibbles of crisps and chips, slices of melon and mango, baked potato and Scotch pancakes.

SilversplodgeI was wondering how you were. Goodness; that sounds dreadful. What stress you must have had. Hugs on offer, if required. I knew you had a threatnened prolapse, I seem to have missed the problem with the growth. Do keep us informed about how things are going.
Olivecake and eallison Great words of wisdom, as ever .
Reastie I hope Ranitidine helps.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.

silver that sounds so stressful. I'm glad everything is alright and hoping things stay calm!

mrsreader you really should find that ondansetron makes a big difference - it's the one that almost all women respond to really positively. Be careful tho; the side effect of constipation is both common and spectacular. I'd suggest getting some lactulose in as you are likely to need it sooner than later and I would suggest taking it as soon as you start being affected by it. I am gridlocked, as it were, and the lactulose is helping, but I definitely started it too late!! A side note that there seems to be a little bit of a shortage in ondansetron supplies at the moment, many chemists are struggling- don't leave it til last minute to get a repeat prescription and more meds.

reastie have you been prescribed ranitidine? I'm taking 2 x 150mg dose daily. It's been working well until today. Today I've spent a long time chugging gaviscon as well!!

Thanks @LucindaE and thanks @eallison88 . I'm already majorly blocked up so will def start on the laxatives- I have some laxido that I've been told is ok to take