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.
It has been suggested that I add some practical tooth cleaning advice: a lot of sufferers find using a child's small toothbrush and strawberry toothpaste far less nauseating.
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.

Chj I can’t take lactulose, I take movicol which I can manage fine. You have to drink it in water and it tastes yucky but I have it with some lemon squash which makes it much easier to tolerate. If you can’t manage drinking a whole glass because of sickness you can have it slowly in sips but have to keep the drink in the fridge and use it within I think 6 hours of making it. It hasn’t totally solved my problem with bms as I find some days I go a lot more than others but when I go it’s not difficult. I did a lot of research into laxatives with ondansetron as I had issues with a previous laxitive but it looks like movicol is well suited with it as it works by adding the water back into the stool that ondansetron takes out.

@Reastie so sorry you're having a rough day, I feel your pain.

I definitely overdid it going back to work yesterday, just been sick for the first time since starting the ondansetron a few weeks ago, bleurgh. I forgot the golden rule of lowering expectations of myself!

Can I ask some slightly non hg (but sort of) advice? Dd and dh due to meet up with bil and family at week end (nit me because I’m not up to it). Bil has been really ill with some kind of food poisoning. Been diagnosed with doctor and has been signed off work for nearly a month. Really really unwell. Still off work this week. I assumed meet up would be cancelled. Bil messaged yesterday saying still hoping to meet, starting to feel a bit better. Have been googling and you can ‘catch’ food poisoning from someone who has it. I don’t know how I’d cope if that made its way into our home. I can’t cope with my ‘usual’ sickness as it is. Bil has apparently been so poorly. Bil and mil are notorious for not really caring about passing on germs. Mil (compulsive liar and manipulator) has told dh bil has now got the all clear from his actual food poinsonig and is just recovering (but still off work). This is just a couple of days after she told me he was so ill still. But you can’t trust what she says as she makes up facts to suit herself (ie she knows I wouldn’t want them to go if he still could be infectious and she wants to go so she could be lying about him being in the all clear to make sure it isn’t cancelled). Are you still with me?! So, I want to send a message in response to bils that he still wants to meet at the week end that says is he poisoning free as I don’t want to risk dd or dh (and then me) getting it bit I don’t want to sound ott about the situ and making a fuss of nothing. They think I’m weird about bugs etc already. To me I think this is perfectly reasonable though. Does anyone have any advice on how I can tactfully word something to bil?

Ps still having a really horrible day here. And I’ve had nearly a week of not too terrible andnthinking I might have got past the worst :(

Sorry, me again. I’m totally spamming the thread but I feel so so awful today. This is worse than first trimester (or at least equal to the worst of it). Someone save me from this! I have been worrying it’s actually a bug it’s so bad but I’m still hungry which I assume I wouldn’t be if I had a tummy bug. Andnid had some not too bad days recently too. Maybe I did too much. Yesterday I went through a cupboard to declutter and felt like I’d been really productive.

Sorry you are having such a bad day @Reastie. Hopefully it’s a one off. I was really bad yesterday / couldn’t stand up or so anything without really bad nausea. I’m
A bit better today. It’s such a rollercoaster. Go easy on yourself.
Is there any way you can rearrange the meet up with bil for a few weeks time when there is less chance of catching stuff. Hopefully, under the circumstances, they will understand your eagerness to avoid more illness.

@beforeIhit30 I’m all for jazzy wallpaper! A nice emvironment is super important. I managed to get a lovely room last time because I work with children & fMilies & there were lots of service users on the ward. Hoping I can blag one again this time. The views were lovely!

Hope you are feeling ok @ElkieMacjibe. Going back to work must be a big shock to the system. I’ve been signed off until the end of April. I’m hoping I’ll be into second trimester improvement by then.

Hope everyone else is having a good day 🙂

Unfortunately it’s not as easy as rescheduling with no because he only has his dds certain week ends. This was literally the only date he could do in Easter hols and we’ve already had to reschedule because of dds piano exam . Am lying in bed feeling sorry for myself.

Reastie Sorry you feel so bad today. Goodness, I never knew that about food poisoning. I think the only thing to do is to say that you don't want to ruin it because you'd be too unwell to enter into the spirit of things, travel, etc. I don't think it is fair for family to expect Hyperemesis sufferers to attend family get togethers, particularly as you often don't know how you will feel from one day to the next.

beforei hit30 Goodness, I have never seen wallpaper in an NHS hospital either! I am glad it has such a good reputation.
ElkieMacjibe Mother Hen is concerned about that. Are you on a staggered return?
cattaxi LO's do seem so good at making mothers feel guilty. It is hard on them, but they will soon forget all about it. Symapthies.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.

Thanks Lucinda, I’m not going in any case but I’m concerned dh and/or dd will get it and bring it home .

@chj17 I find the lactulose sets me off too. I have it about 30 minutes after I've eaten breakfast and taken morning anti nausea pills, which is the time of day I feel least nausea. At my worst I then had to lie down for 30 minutes after taking it to keep it down. You may not need much initially, 5 ml a day was enough for me for the first few weeks, and sipping it slowly helps too.

@Reastie sorry you are having a bad day. With stomach bugs, according to the hospital when DD was admitted with one, you are apparently infectious until 48 hours after the last vomit / diarrhoea. I wouldn't risk it if you aren't sure it's OK - I ended up in HDU after a vomiting bug last pregnancy and all I had then was normal morning sickness.

My scan was all OK, but for some reason it didn't make me feel any closer to the little parasite, it was too efficient (in and out in 20 min) and clinical for that. I'm also really struggling with tiredness now, I was like a zombie at work today. Has anyone else has tiredness come back in the 2nd semester after it went away at the end of the 1st semester?

@Teddyreddy awake zombie here! I can't get to sleep at normal times. 😔
My 20 week scan was shit too, the assistant was horrible to me and the songrapher wasn't any better plus we got two photos that are just if it's face and not great at all. Put me in such a mood I have been refusing to acknowledge the fact I'm pregnant since Friday (my poor mil bought a book of quilt designs round on Sunday and I refused to look at it)
Honestly at this point I feel like nothing is worth it anymore and I have to get to August with nothing more to look forward to.

Work is awful just as I remember and I've had colleagues tell me I'm far too skinny, is the baby even healthy, my teeth will crumble, I should breast feed (I'm firm on wanting to bottle feed for my own reasons, go you breast feeders I just don't want to do it myself) told it wasn't right to bottle feed and my absolute worst was one lady telling me her son died of cot death and her grandson too which was horrible to hear and she said to watch because boys are the weaker sex and tend to get cot death more often, I had only just met the woman and now have the added paranoia of that happening because I'm having a boy.
Also my dh will cheat on me when I'm more pregnant since he can't get laid at home, the guy has survived my hyperemisis so far and hasn't so I think I'm good.
Just 9 weeks until maternity leave 🙌

@Reastie forgot to say if the bil is still vomiting or has diarrhoea 48 hours before your dh and ddd see him then there's a real possibility of them catching it, we get told to stay away from work if we get food poisoning until symptom free for 48 hours as you can pass it on.

Thanks all. I know about the 48 hour thing, and he can actually still be infectious for linger through his stools so if her doesn’t wash his hands properly.....sadly dhs family are selfish with infection control and don’t care. I will message him and say only for meeting if he is not contagious. He works in a school so should be very aware of the 48 hour thing. He’s still signed off work fgs!

Thanks for your concern @LucindaE! I haven't agreed anything re staggered return or how it will work. Tues afternoon was a test run really. My usual hours are 3.5 days a week. I told them I can't do today as I've taken a few steps backwards health wise. Gonna try and go in tomorrow and discuss how/if this is going to work.

Is anyone else managing work? If so interested to know how you do it. I feel I could do some discrete tasks from home but taking on all my usual work and managing it all seems too much right now.

Also conscious about being paid in the qualifying period for SMP which I think is from week 17. I am nearly 12 weeks now. No idea how long work will continue to pay me if I'm off sick!

Argh lots to think about.

Not HG related (I think) but need a hand hold. Had my routine midwife appointment this morning, normal one off sick so another standing in. She seemed annoyed I hadn't been seen for 3 weeks and said it must never be more than 2 at my stage of pregnancy. Anyway she measured my tummy and then just blurted out 'you've got static growth, I need to call the hospital immediately.' Says there has been no increase in size at all in 3 weeks 2 days. She's booked me for a scan, but not until Sunday and said if I get reduced movements to call hospital immediately. Sunday feels like an absolute lifetime away, plus I've been struggling this whole time with monitoring fetal movements and quite frequently think they've reduced. I've actually gone in twice about it and both times been told normal so I normally try to talk myself down and then eventually do feel a movement again. Same with waters going - I quite often feel damp, have gone in twice and both times been told it isn't waters, just heavy discharge. So for the next 4 days I'm going to be consistently freaking out and not knowing whether to call or not.
Partner who is forever missing the point and trying to downplay things says at least if the baby is small it'll be easier to get out.
Has anyone had similiar in previous pregnancies?

silver poor you. Fwiw I think personally stomach size can vary a lot depending on position of baby. If you went in tomorrow you might get a bigger measurement if baby was in a different position. Did she use Doppler? If she was worried about you waiting that long for a scan she would have sent you for checking the baby with one of those machines they use for when you have reduced movement (forget technical term) to check so try to rest assured that she can’t be too concerned. Can you pay for a private scan if it would help your anxiety for a few days? You can sometimes get offers on groupon. They are so overly cautious about everything in pg that I’m sure if there was any risk to baby they would have you in hospital right now. Fwiw my measurement suddenly got a lot bigger last time in the space of a couple of weeks, which is sort of the opposite, and they got me in for an emergency scan then too.

Just to add I’ve also read there can be discrepancies between different people measuring you, that sometimes mws measure slightly differently which can account for different readings and that it’s best that the same person does it every time if possible. I’d guess that’s more than likely the reason behind the lack of growth measurement.

I have a question. Has anyone has a really bad flair up of symptoms just before coming down with something? I ask after the worst day ever yesterday. Today I’m very tired I’m a viral way and feel like I’m coming down with a cold or something. I’m wondering if the worsening yesterday was my body using a lot of energy fighting off the bug (unsuccessfully as I’m now starting to feel ill). Is this a thing? And is it likely to remain worse whilst ill? I’m back to my normal rubishness today rather than dire day yesterday but I’m definitely very weak (struggled just doing gentle stretches this morning). Lucinda, have you heard of this being a thing?

Just to clarify, the first hospital I went to had the good reputation, people seem to think it’s a bit upmarket, whereas my current hospital is ‘just’ the local hospital - but so far is miles better than the ‘desirable’ hospital! And yes also first time I’d seen wallpaper Lucinda when DH came with me for the first scan it was the first thing he noticed too!

Oh silver hugs for you, no words of wisdom but wishing you some peace and distraction.

Reastie I would be the same with sick family, fortunately DH thinks similarly and isn’t worried about offending anyone else! Hope everything goes okay.

Elkie IIRC SMP is based on the average of your earnings between weeks 17 and 25. Are you on SSP? I think it’s such a rubbish thing, I really feel pregnancy sickness should be treated differently for pay but at current it all just depends on the employer’s own policies.

Had a routine blood test as part of managing my autoimmune condition. I have these regularly and am pretty familiar with how this all goes. So was quite surprised to be called by the consultant yesterday afternoon seems that somehow in a short space of time my bloods have taken a bit of a nosedive, so they’ve increased my meds quite significantly to start immediately (thankfully I have a bit of a surplus supply and my new prescription has just been sent to pharmacy) and want to see me in clinic ASAP. I’ve never been seen in clinic for my condition for any of my pregnancies, apart from just an initial appointment at the start alongside booking in. My condition is well managed so logically I know we should be okay, but it still knocked me a bit. It would also explain/contribute to how rubbish I’ve been feeling lately (it’s hard to discern between hyperemesis, meds side effects, and my condition worsening, and of the three the latter was actually by far the least likely which is why I think they’re as surprised as I am).

Elkie fwiw I have been told by my work (where I only get amp) that being on sick pay during pg won’t change my maternity pay amount, but beforeihit is correct so I have a nasty suspicion they have given me incorrect advice and I’ll end out not getting smp. It seems so unfair that I’m not working because of pg issues so my income is reduced to sick pay and not based on a longer period when I wasn’t pg and so shows my actual normal salary. Fwiw if you can’t get smp you can apply for maternity allowance. I’m not sure at this point what’s happening with me as I’ve handed my form to work and they haven’t given me back a form to apply for ma, which apparently they should if I don’t reach points for smp.

I'm not on sick pay yet, still being paid normally but I think it's at their discretion so wouldn't be surprised if they stopped. I read you can take annual leave during some of the qualifying period if off sick to make sure you hit the high enough average earning to get SMP still.. will see what happens I suppose!

Elkie that would be good if you do that. I can’t do that as I work in a school so I’m only allowed holiday in school holidays. Got my pay slip today. £0! Have emailed the head to query why not even ssp. They have paid me this far I think more than ssp (when they could have just done ssp, although less than usual pay) and I was wondering why so now I’m wondering if they did sick pay as a chunk and they’re now saying I’ve had it all for the next couple of months until maternity pay and so will get nothing. Which seems a really weird way of doing it. Think I’ll end out being on the phone to my union —again— although it might mean as I’ve got more than ssp in my salary until I was about 24 weeks it might mean I’m just into getting smp. Gah, I can tell it’s all going to be a headache to sort out! I just sort of want to trust them but the company that own the school will get out of paying anything so I need to make sure I’m not losing out.

Oh dear, everyone seems to have work problems or feel anxious or sad.
avocadoo I am really shocked that people are being so judgemental and giving such harsh advice at work. When my daughter was a baby, the same thing was said about not co-sleeping being the cause of cot death. These people are not experts; if you feel anxious, it's a good idea to discuss your worries with a consultant or even a GP but discount the nonsense from officious people at work. You do sound as if you feel sad. Could you do with a bit of emotional hand holding? I believe that PPS can offer one-to-one buddies if you feel that might help. Some pepple on here have found it useful. They're on 024 7638 2020 if you do.
silversplodge Great advice from Reastie. She is probably just playing safe and didn't put it well. As Reastie says, if not, why didn't she teret it as an emergency if she was very concerned?
Gentle cyber pats on off for both.
Reastie Defintely people find the syptoms ramp up if they are going down with something. Sorry to hear about the sudden lack of pay. I'm glad you have a union to help.
beforeihit30 I do like wallpaper, and I think in a hospital it would make it seem much less institutional.
teddyreddy I am glad scan went well. The bondng will come, never worry.
ElkieMacjibe I do hope you can work something out; more working at home, reduced hours, or something. Do try and avoid pushing yourself too hard.
Apologies to anyone rudely ignored.

@reastie I definitely experienced this. The day before I was admitted with a virus was the worst I’ve had. Sickness then trundled on at its more usual level of horror and virus improved. At least I had the pleasure of being able to tell people I’d recovered from something. People keep asking me if “I’m better yet” or if I’m “STILL ill.” Feel like such a drain having to tell people people that yes, I still feel abysmal, and yes I will be cancelling every social engagement ☹️

Evening all. no further bleeding to report. Feeling really quite sick today, though.

work I'm not coping with work and am signed off again. Worked out that since mid October, about 5 weeks pregnant, ive worked a totally of 36 hours! Luckily, my LEA has very dock policy, and I've been there long enough to qualify for 6 months full pay and 6 months half. And those 36 hours I worked (over 6 weeks) reset the clock on the 6 months full pay again. I realise how fortunate I am in thus respect, and it really saddens me that other employers don't feel the need to support
Women similarly. My advice is to take as much time off as possible, signed off, holiday, shortened hours. Though I know this isn't always possible.

reastie I think other illnesses likes viruses and bugs really hit the hyperemesis hard. Remember my UTI over Christmas that hospitalised me with dehydration?

growth/baby size I have definitely read that unless measurements based on fundal height (tummy size!) are done by the same person, they shouldn't really be compared. They're too dependant on tape measure being in exactly the same place, and the measurements of fundal height are done slightly different by different people. It's why we're told not to do it ourselves! The wait 4 days would stress me out too, but tr to look at it as others have said; if she had serious concerns then she would have arranged an earlier scan. Sounds like she had a brusque manner and forgot about how important it is to be reassuring and supportive!

Wishing all a peaceful night