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.

Really sorry @Nighttimenope and @Anyat212 it's so difficult especially when you see so many people "glowing" and enjoying the pregnancy. Last time I remember worrying that I hadn't got much of a bond with my baby before I had her but I didn't need to worry, it was all instant as soon as she came. Hoping things get easier for you soon.
Congratulations on the amazing toastie and Fanta @Hairgician 😀 sounds lush! I've mostly lived on nesquick chocolate milkshake today, maybe it's the b vitamins in it but it's all I can face. Lovely though!

I agree with the heartburn too I have to sleep with my head tilted up, but I know other people have heartburn terribly! Mines more of an annoyance and I can usually sleep. The salavia too! I woke up this morning with tons of it, I didn’t know it was possible for one person to produce so much. Night I do hope you get some relief, I know one of my friends sister suffered really badly with sickness and nausea but it did go by 19 weeks so fingers crossed it’s slightly earlier for you.

Thanks norbet I’m just welling in self pity today, thats good to hear on the bonding side. It is difficult there’s so many ladies at my workplace who are pregnant and have little to no symptoms. Im the first one out of my close friends to be pregnant so I can’t really ask for advice with them although they’ve all been fab. I’m thinking of starting my mat leave (well taking hols) 2 weeks earlier as I’m really flagging. Which means I’ll be 34 weeks.

DP has just finished work and picked my prescription up. For anyone else suffering with bad constipation this one is called CosmoCol (lemon and lime flavour) which actually tastes really nice. I’m a little nervous taking 3 in one go as my GP recommended, so I’m starting on 1 and 15ml of lactulose and I’ll see how I am in a few hours. I know lactulose can take time to work anyway but I’m always nervous taking different meds what I’ve never heard of especially pregnant. Ive done a little research online and by the sounds of it this is similar to movicol and laxido. Thought I’d mention the name if anyone else is struggling with options to be able to go, maybe ask your GP. I’m hopeful it works.

Anyat I’ve just googled cosmocol and it looks like the same ingredients as movicol so may be the same thing just different brand. Sounds like increasing and combining laxitives shoukd really help. Hopefully in a couple of days you’ll have some movement and feel a lot better. Really feel for you. This morning I finally had a proper bm and it was so good! Still don’t feel like I’m on top of it but better than before (for now at least).

Nighttime hopefully you’ll be through the worst very soon.

Hair your dh doesn’t sound very helpful at all, hope that’s not getting you down too much.

Avacadoo yay to going out and being a normal person but I hate how we have to feel so rubbish afterwards and recover from everything.

Eal hope work goes ok this week. I have my scan on Friday too! I’m really worried about getting there and back and how I’ll feel (I have to leave home at 7:15 to get there in time!) as it’ll be the longest I’ve been out in months. Hope I don’t feel too terrible afterwards. I’m suppose to have a blood test afterwards as they are doing the nuchal test late for me and need another blood sample. Knowing the hospital it’ll be another thing to wait for so I may just stick with the scan.

So poor dh had to leave work to go to a doctor and I felt bad so picked him up, then went to Tesco for dinner. (He has gastrointestinal something)
Managed to drive home, wonder into the house before losing all my stomach acid, pro tip drink some squash mid spew it makes it taste better and burn less!
After not been sick for days cause the meds started working I've done it twice today. One step forward and two back apparently.
Impressed I made it home tbh because I got a whiff of the bakery and it almost sent me over the edge.

I had cosmocol but I can't take it because I ended up sleeping in the bathroom it made me quite sick but i think that's just my over dramatic stomach taking revenge on me but it's completely safe.

Wish me luck I'm about to attempt a pizza!
Hope everyone's doing ok!

Evening ladies. Just checking in.
I seem to have a little routine now, I’m sick in the mornings up until around lunch time. If I can vomit just before lunch then I’m lucky enough to keep it down for the rest of the day. Them come 3/4pm I start to get sick again and I’m sick a few times throughout the evening. I’m wondering if tiredness is a trigger. At least I know that if I can keep lunch down then that’s a positive.
I have my first midwife appointment this week at 12 weeks. So hopefully she will sort out a scan for me. I’m desperate to see the little bean responsible for all this. That said, I have been thinking about how to tell my children, I don’t want them thinking it’s their new sibling that’s making me so sick! They’ll hate it before it’s even born. I’m going to blame the placenta.
I joined a HG Facebook group, it’s world wide but most the ladies in there seem to be from the USA. I must say it’s nice to scroll through Facebook and see a post that I can really relate to and it really does help more having that extra reminder for knowing I’m not alone. It has also made me so thankful for our NHS. Reading how some of them struggle to get meds because they simply can’t afford them or the extra care. They also are not protected if they take time off work for pregnancy related problems, so a lot of them have been fired from their jobs. Just a little reminder of how lucky we are to have the NHS.
I hope everyone is doing ok!

@norbert I’m now adding chocolate nesquik to Tesco 😁
@Anyat and @Reastie- I hope you see some light (movement) at the end of the tunnel (bowel).
@Bili, tiredness is definitely a trigger 😞 you have to walk such a fine line to stay afloat with this I find
@Avacadoo yes to the squash tip! I used to chug some down in the mornings so my getting up vomit would be as easy as possible. Of course this was after a few weeks of really dragging out getting up, eating dry crackers slowly etc.. I soon realised I was going to vomit anyway, might as well rip the plaster off and make it as pleasant as possible at the same time! Has put me off squash in normal life tho 😁

This evening has been mixed. I’ve been feeling absolutely horrendous, but a distant friend who heard I was sick has come by and dropped off preprepared meals for our fridge and kept me company while DH ran around as usual doing all the evening jobs... I’m so often humbled by people’s kindness, that was really above and beyond for someone I don’t even really know too well.
On the other hand, my mum is not really very helpful but does text me with how ‘worried’ she is for me, and it’s not normal, and she’s petrified I’m going to have preeclampsia again etc etc. I feel frustrated having to explain things to her time and again when really I just want her to say ‘get comfy as I’m on my way to do xyz for you/I’ll take the kids on thurs/ let me bring you something tou fancy to eat..’ I probably sound ungrateful for her concern.. but it’s misplaced and she uses it instead of actually helping which is very frustrating! If I ask her for help she turns it round to what I should or shouldn’t be doing to get better, so overall I try to involve her as little as possible. Last time I was dangerously ill with preeclampsia and nearly died in birth, and nearly lost my son. She was moaning even on the day he arrived about putting DD1 to bed before my husband came home! And despite knowing I’m on preventative aspirin this time and am at no risk of preeclampsia at this early stage she still asks me if I have headaches, high blood pressure etc. Less panic more practical please 😤 sorry. I am just sick and grumpy!!

Oh dear, suffering all round.CalmerComberI do hope the new meds help a lot, and you can get some fluids down.
Reastie I do hope your bowels move soon.
Anya I don't blame you for being envious of healthy pregnant woman. It's not fair! I do hope the CosmoCol does the trick. I am so glad it at least tastes nice. That is interesting about suppositories not working if the blockage is too high up.
Hairigician Good suggestions. I am glad the toastie went down well yesterday. I hope DH took over manfully. I am sorry things are so bad at the moment. Oh dear, I had to smile at 'Boils my piss'.
...And I love the expression 'wrinkly wise wee face'. So sweet: and a lovely thing to look forward to.
hotchocolate Baby is 17 weeks already! I am so pleased you are enjoying life in the Pink Castle. With luck, Olivecake shall soon walk - I shan't say waddle - over the drawbridge.
norbert Congratulations on dressing. That can make such a difference to morale.
Bili Blaming the placenta sounds a fine idea. I am glad the Facebook group is about. I vaguely remember people on here started up a Post Hyperemesis group, too. It's awful that those poor women in the US couldn't get meds if they couldn't afford health insurance, and some even lost their jobs. As you say, thank goodness for the NHS.
I hope that's everyone. Sorry if I've missed anyone. A bad day for a lot of people. It seems as if it may snow tomorrow. Well, it's better to suffer from this in bad weather rather than good.

advocadoo Sorry, I didn't type up my message. That sounds a useful tip about squash. I do hope some meds can help you with heartburn. You can get stronger ones like Ranitidine over the counter than Gaviscon, if that doesn't help - and and I have to admit it sometimes made me vomit pink foam in liquid form, but many find it helpful, and I learnt recently you can get it in tablet form.
norbert Oh dear. I am sorry about your mother not being helfpul. That is distressing. I am so glad the friend is. Gentle cyber pats on offer to you and all suffering badly.
Much sympathy to all about tied up bowels, burping, acid and that horrible excess saliva.

blii tiredness really makes the sickness worse. When people say Rest, it's not just because it's nice, it's because it really helps keep the nausea and upchucking at a lower level! So don't feel guilty :)

Hoping everyone has a quiet night

@Nighttimenope it's been the best day I've had for weeks and I'm pretty sure nesquik is the reason 😀 (cue a huge chocolate milk
vom now that I've said that!) it is full of extra vitamins though so maybe that's why it's a huge craving.
Wishing everyone a good night's sleep x

Oh I am partial to a nesquick chocolate milkshake when not pregnant!! It's not quite the same with not real milk (ive not found a milk alternative yet that really works). My amazing discovery of today Is that alpro dairy free custard (think Its soya based) tastes like normal custard!! This made my day -in fact, I'm fairly sure that nothing will top this discovery this week! Work was good today. Productive and normal for 2 whole hours!!

Tiredness definitely makes the sickness worse. I think it was the sole reason I felt so rough and puked for the first time on Friday. It's so tempting to do more when we feel good, but we need to be careful!

Thanks Reastie - I hope the movicol kicks in properly with you but glad you’ve got some relief with the BM. This may be a stupid question so apologies - do you still take movicol or was it senna before on a regular basis even if not constipated? This is the 5th time for me whilst pregnant and previous to being pregnant I was a smoker so that helped me go a lot easier. I’m just thinking to keep regular would it be worth having 1 dose every few days of movicol or lactulose. My diet is good, water intake could be better but I just want to be regular!

Just thinking Eal do you take lactulose on a regular basis? Just I know you’ve mentioned the awful constipation too.

I’ve finally managed to go, it’s been a long 3 hours, tears and genuinely thought I was going into labour at one point - but I do not recommend CosmoCol effective if may be, but gentle it certainly isn’t! So glad I didn’t have the three as the GP suggested! Now that I’ve brushed up on my breathing techniques and stopped being a drama queen it’s certainly bed for me, slightly concerned I took another dosage of CosmoCol before ‘going’- hopefully I won’t go the other way.

Night - your comment made me laugh earlier I tried to reply earlier but I was having a bit of a nightmare. Your wise words managed to work so thank you! I can also relate to you with your mum, it becomes frustrating because although they are concerned it really is channeled in the wrong way. The things you’ve mentioned are much more helpful rather than being quizzed on how you are feeling. You of all people will be looking for the signs of preeclampsia. My mum texts me a lot concerned or rings and gets stroppy if I shut her down (I have to now as it just annoys me) she consistently tells me I’m loosing weight and don’t look well (I’m gaining weight) I’m too skinny to give birth naturally (I’ve tried to explain that isn’t a thing considering I am a normal sized 8/10) I get little help and the house really has been a right mess as DP was doing everything, working, looking after me where he could and doing uni, bless him. I would have loved it if she even hoovered the front room or cleaned the bathroom but nothing. I certainly don’t think you sound ungrateful for her concern though. I hope she turns a corner and starts to help out!

Lucinda - thank you! I wasn’t aware of that with the suppositories either, does explain why they won’t particularly successful. Hope you are well :)

Blii - I wasn’t aware of the US and their pregnancy rights, how awful for those women. Not being able to afford the meds and then loosing their jobs too, it’s shocking. It does put everything into perspective doesn’t it.

Avacado - I’m with you on the CosmoCol, although I wasn’t sick it made me feel very sick. Never. Again. Hope you’re feeling better and enjoyed your pizza!

I’m off to sleep feeling like a new woman

@eallison88 I have it with oatly whole (the chilled one) and it's amazing. I'm mostly dairy free as my DD has a milk allergy and much prefer oat milk now. 😋

@eallison88 I have it with oatly whole (the chilled one) and it's amazing. I'm mostly dairy free as my DD has a milk allergy and much prefer oat milk now. 😋

anyat I take at least 15ml every day. If things "back up" I take 2 x 15ml a day. Have you tried squatting? At my worst I used my son's potty, it put me in a perfect squatting position and really helped. And yes, breathing techniques really work to.

Blii I knew maternity leave in America was rubbish but I didn’t realise their rights when pg and working were so rubbish too. Thank goodness we’re protected as well as we are.

Anyat I’m taking movicol every day, whether I’ve been or not and previously I was taking Senna every day. Non pg I don’t take anything ever, I have a high fibre diet usually and drink lots of water so it’s never needed! I keep taking it because the ondansetron will keep giving me this as a side effect whilst taking it. I’m glad you got relief so quickly but it doesn’t sound pleasant. When I did my movicol research (and it seems to have the same active ingredient) it sounds like some gps give huge dose recommendations for some and it can lead to quite explosive results as different amounts are required by different people and the tricky thing is finding the dose that’s what you need as it varies. I’m up to 1.5 sachets a day now but not sure it’s keeping on top of it but I’ll give it another few days to check before I increase again. I started with half a sachet as I was nervous about how it might make me feel.

Having cockily thought I was on top of the constipation... so far this morning I've spent 45mins (in 2 stints cos my 3 year old got bored...) on the loo. Completely unsuccessfully. Yet as soon as I get off the loo I feel like I need to go immediately and need to rush back. But nope. Bleurgh

Urgh eal, rubbish. At least you’re home today and not at work. Last week I googled on you tube massage for constipation and did some of those techniques. I had a decent bm an hour or so after. Could ha e been coincidence but might be worth a try?

eal - thanks, I’m definately going to start doing that too. I’m still taking Ondansetron a lower dosage thankfully but it’s still unforgiving with constipation. I do have a squatty potty which does help can be a little awkward with a baby bump though when your back and forth from the loo. I bought a cheapish one from Amazon around a year ago for £10 and it was worth it. Sorry to hear you’re suffering from it, as Reastie mentioned I’ve heard good things about massage too, my friend recommended something about the part between the vagina and rectum (sorry tmi) that apparently massaging that area helps to relief constipation. I’m abit squeamish anyway so I’ve never tried to say but she swears by it (not 100% sure if it’s okay in pregnancy though)

Thanks Reastie! I’m usually the same with fibre in my diet but it doesn’t help at all when taking Ondansetron. It’s just the worst type of constipation I’ve ever came across! How often do you take the dosages? Or do you take the 1.5 in one go? I took x2 sachets (separately) in the space of 3 hours(ish) which could also explain the uncomfortableness. I’m trying to think back when I’ve used Movicol before (3 per day), I don’t remember any stomach cramps like I had yesterday it definately was gentle but if it’s the same ingredient as the one I had yesterday I think you are right to gradually build up.

Anyat I’m always scared about side effects so I stated very gradually. I did one day one half dose (mainly because dh didn’t get it until the afternoon and I didn’t want to take a whole sachet in one go. The next day I did half a sachet in the morning and half in the evening. I did that for another day before doing one sachet just in the morning then I increased to one sachet in morning and 1/4 in the evening. Now I’m on 1 sachet in the morning and half in the evening. 2 days in a row I’ve had 2 bms first thing (my old pattern) so I’m really really hoping this continues. So far I haven’t had any stomach cramps (although I do still feel sick often in the hours up to needing to go, for the last week or so it hasn’t been as bad as when on Senna so I continue to cross fingers it’s helped). I don’t take any Senna now but obv if your gp has got you to combine then do. I do get loud but not offensive smelling (luckily) flatulence a few hours after which I attribute to it as it’s the only thing that has changed. I don’t down it in one. As I say, I get nervous with side effects so initially the one sachet I’d take over a period of an hour or so, now it takes me maybe 15 minutes. But that’s just me being fussy! However, if you don’t drink it relatively quickly you have to keep it in the fridge and it lasts in there up tom6 hours I think, so don’t leave it out on the table all afternoon slurping, keep it in the fridge if you’re doing it gradually. That is assuming yours is the same as movicol, check the info! I think it was weebean on here that said she had to take 2 sachets in the morning and 2 in the afternoon every day, so the dose really is very variable between people. I’m also making sure I try to drink decently as it needs liquid to draw back into the intestine as it works by adding liquid to the bulk so I figure it all helps.

Oh the farting! Lots of that today, loud and smelly, but still no poo! My son thinks my farting is hilarious and keeps shouting "mummys doing stinky trumps". We're currently at Ikea... (cos we had a voucher for the restaurant so I didn't need to cook...!)

Eal dd loves Ikea cafe! She loves getting there early before it opens and having the breakfast when I have a voucher for getting it for something ridiculous like 50p. Then she looks forward to the ice cream at the end at the checkout, it’s like a fun day out to her as she loves playing in the children bedroom sets . At least you have a child you can fake blame it on

Hugs to everyone having another hard day. I am nesquiked out and lying v still trying to not puke. I had 2 pints of it this morning, I feel so thirsty that I can't help myself and water is so horrid right now that it's a relief to actually enjoy drinking something.
I've booked a scan for tomorrow afternoon to see how the little bean is doing, I had 2 mc before this so quite cautious and mindful that it could all go wrong still. It'd be nice to get good news though to keep me going while I feel so rubbish!

I lived on chocolate nesquik when pg with dd! Can’t tolerate it any more but in my head I’d love some!

Feeling sorry for myself as dd has had a really nasty cold bug with headache, hacking cough, aches etc. Thought I had escaped as she’s had it for a while now but today I’ve been coughing and sneezing and have that feeling that a cold is just about to explode. This past week or so has been my best yet so far of pg in terms of nausea so I’m concerned that getting ill will bring it back again, does anyone know if it’s a foregone conclusion that the sickness will return if I get ill? If it helps I can just stay in bed all day feeling sorry for myself so I don’t have to get to work atm. Do have scan on Friday though.....but take it day by day, if I’m really not well I’ll have to have it postponed I guess.

Poor you @Reastie my DD also has a terrible cough and cold but luckily I haven't caught it. I think staying in bed and resting is a good idea, there's so little else you can do even if you're fit and well while you're pregnant, never mind the added bonus of HG. I'm glad you've had a good week sickness wise xx