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.
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.
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.

@eallison88 congratulations! Aneurin is a beautiful name.

Thanks everyone! We are so relieved. Still no idea what caused the increased nt, but we know as much as we possibly can at this stage.
We told ds tonight that he’s going to be a big brother. He’s insistent that he also has a baby in is belly!

I love the name @eallison88! Are you Welsh? I am. We have a lovely little baby Aneurin already in the family, or it would definitely be on our list.
Really pleased the dr’s are happy with him. What a great weight. I hope you are doing ok? It can’t be easy having him in nicu.
And I really hope those mini eggs hit the spot & stayed down! A very well deserved treat.

Glad you are feeling a bit better today @beforeIhit30.

@ClareDB & @Littlehouseinthebigcity, you’ve had some great meds advice already. So I’ll just say welcome to the club that no one wants to join! Sorry you are feeling so rough.

@ElkieMacjibe I always feel more sick after a bad nights sleep. Ds was up with lots of snot last night & today has been rough. I hope you are feeling better this evening. Don’t worry about work. Your health comes first.

Sounds like a very productive day @Reastie. I hope you don’t feel too wiped out from it!

@avacadooo glad your day at work was ok. I was also thinking what a boy heavy thread we have! I sold most of ds’ baby clothes because I was convinced i’d Never do this again & that if we did, it would be a girl! How wrong was I?! Kicking myself now.

Waves to everyone else!

Ah lovely name eal and that’s a great weight! More than my full term first baby. Haha.

Glad everyone is doing ok. We’re all just plodding on.
I had my whooping cough jab today, ouch my arm! The nurse mentioned I might have a dead arm for a bit but I can’t even change gear in the car without wincing. I’m a wimp.

Welcome (back?) Clare to the club no one wants to join! You may have experienced this before, but whilst it may be a bit rough/worse at first it should improve later on to a more manageable/bearable level. Some great advice already on different medicines, and where possible try to rest and take it easy as exertion seems to make it much worse.

Oh eallison a lovey name and what a good weight! I grew up (and still live) in a staunch Labour stronghold, most of our roads and council estates are named after former Labour politicians - we have a Nye Bevan estate and a Tredegar Rd, named after him and where he was born and became active in TU and politics. As a result I was brought up being told lots about him and others, and as a young child believed Nye Bevan to be the very best politician to ever have existed so his name always brings a positive association to mind!

Hi littlehouse sounds like you had a very eventful pregnancy last time. I hope you have lots of support this time too, it’s good that you’re already on meds for the sickness (how far along are you?).

Reastie that’s at the back of my mind, they took 5-6x the usual amount needed for my function tests, so I do hope they got what they need!

@Sessy19 there's a Swedish study which looked at over 600,000 women of whom over 2000 took cyclizine - details are on p2/3 of this UK medicines document from pharmacists www.sps.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Nausea-and-vomiting-in-pregnancy_Jan18_FINAL_v2.docx . They have also studied antihistamines as a class much more throughly than they have ondensatron. I didn't know cyclizine wasn't used in the US, but they definitely use other similar anti histamines there like doxylamine - quick Google suggests it's their first line treatment.

@eallison88 congratulations! With reintroducing dairy, advice on my breastfeeding allergy mum's group is to be careful with high lactose stuff initially just in case you have become temporarily lactose intolerant?

@PickledEgg89 I'm on no 3. Lots of medication, TV for the kids and some family help has got me through it - any of those available to you? Ive also found I've had to take it day by day rather than looking too far ahead, easier said than done though!

I've had a fairly good day nausea wise, but we are 3 weeks into potty training DC2 and she has had a major regression with multiple accidents today. Really didn't need that much extra laundry....

No Welsh in our family... So we did wonder if we could get away with using the name. But we loved it too much not to. Especially, as many have said, after a pregnancy that relied so heavily on the NHS. Yes, the NHS has its flaws, and there are health care professionals within it who really could do better, but overall it's a phenomenal system and Nye and I would never have got to this point without it. I am in awe of the staff who have cared for me in the last month or so, and the staff now caring for my son.

And food wise I'm feeling good. I had MacDonalds for tea! Hyperemesis seems to have gone! I was scared it would take a while, but seems not!! Have hope ladies! Wishing you all a peaceful night. I'm actually hoping to be disturbed; the NICU nurses will ring up for me if Nye wakes and looks like he wants a feed so I can go down and offer him the breast. I hope he does :)

Welcome to those newbies; congratulations pm your pregnancies, sorry you need the support of this board. Stick around and you will get understanding and sympathy, and we all share our experiences in the hope that spmeonebelse can benefit.

Someone mentioned being 6 weeks and feeling like there's no end in sight... I'm not sure any of us avoid that at some point, I certainly remember it well. But there is an end, and it's brilliant! This time yesterday any dairy would have made me violently sick. Today I've eaten mini eggs and MacDonalds milkshake, and the only reason I felt a little.nauseous was the fact that I ate most of a family.bag of mini eggs in about 15 minutes! You can do this! Minute by minute if you need to right now, but you can absolutely do it!!

Morning,

Well, after 3 not too bad days I’m feeling suitably awful today and feeling very sorry for myself. Not sure if I’ve overdone it or if it’s hormones or I’m coming down with something. Have gone back to bed but have 3 deliveries arriving at some point today so hoping I’ll be able to drag myself out of bed to answer the door. Thry are always so impatient and don’t wait long and it takes me a little time to stand up and get downstairs or else I see stars and go faint if I get up too soon.

Eal I hope you enjoy all the foods today! Sounds like things are going well.

Teddy hope the washing pile isn’t too huge.

Blii a really painful arm seems to be common after whooping cough. I believe (but could be wrong) that that’s from the tetanus that is also in the injection. Which I didn’t realise until I googled and was glad I did because I had a bad reaction to my last tetanus injection and was advised neve to have it again unless essential, so have had to turn down whooping cough injection in pg.

Thank you so much for all your lovely messages. It means a lot knowing there's people that understand. I've got an appointment today at the doctors but it's with a nurse prescriber so I don't know if they'll be able to give me anything in addition to the cyclizine but I'm desperate now.

Sending strength to everyone else going through this xx

Hi please can I join? I'm only 6 weeks 4 days. Like my previous pregnancy it started with a vengeance at 6 weeks. Finding it already harder as have DD to look after aswell. Been signed off work for two weeks by the doctor and prescribed Cyclizine. It does help with the sickness but has made me feel like a zombie. Does anyone know if any the other mediation doesn't has such an affect? Must add I'm also still breastfeeding.

Username I’m sorry I don’t kmow about drugs suitable during bfing. The only thing that comes to mind is that domperidone (a second line drug) I’m sure I remember reading was once used to improve milk supply in people bfing so might be an option. Sorry you’re feeling so rubbish. I was signed off from the very start of pg too.

Clare I hope you get good outcome with the nurse prescriber. She may well not as as much specific knowledge I’m drugs depending on her experience (although the same can be said for a GP) so I’d recommend printing the NVP medication options and dosages to show her (I attached a photo of the medication options yesterday on the thread from it) and if she says she is unwilling to prescribe anything else ask her to either research/ask advice of gp about the options in order to get you a prescription ASAP once she has found out what is possible or to get you an urgent apt with someone who can be more helpful.

username welcome. have a look at this link www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk/treatments/ at the bottom of the text, before the info about the options there's a link for a download about hyperemesis, meds and breastfeeding. It will show you the options , and might be a useful printout for taking with you to GP. Maybe also take the RCOG guidelines in case the GP is reluctant to prescribe anything at all.

clare as reastie said, I would take a copy of RCOG guidelines for hyperemesis to your appointment. It makes it quite clear that drugs can and should be used to support suffering mothers!

LO continues to so awesomely. Consultant was very impressed and said if the blood tests come back clear tomorrow they will start the process of moving him out of the incubator onto an open cot. I'm so proud of my little fighter :)

Anyone want to share their tips/advice for getting through each day? I don't mean eating/drinking wise but mentally, how do you pass the time (on days where you don't have to look after children etc!).

Feeling so low this week. There's only so much daytime tv one can watch and I feel like time is crawling by whilst I'm being eaten up by guilt at not being able to do anything. I still have 24 weeks to go 😭

ekie I taught myself to crochet! And then whilst I was pregnant I made a blanket for my eldest (single bed sized), a big snuggly blanket as a Christmas present for my SIL, a hat for my son and dad, some slipper socks for my son, and started two baby blankets. I did it with telly on. I used to take mornings really slowly; breakfast then back to bed for a sleep. Then slowly got up, showered and got dressed if felt up to it, then moved downstairs. It would usually be lunchtime by then, so would eat again. Then the crochetand telly would start. There would usually be a nap at some.point in the afternoon too.

@ElkieMacjibe the sims, I've played so much that I'm quite attached to them all 😂

username34853. Welcome to the thread nobody wants to be on, as we all say! You've already had great advice and links. I see you are a veteran and so don't need my 'have you got kesostix, as hospitals do take their readings seriously' and 'do you find full sugar flat coke, ice lollies and the juice of tinned fruit any good' spiel. If Cyclizine doesn't really seem to be helping after a couple of days, do ask for extra or other meds. Do you find an anti acid helps?
eallison I forgot to say that I too, fully applaud the choice of the name Aneurin in celebration of the NHS. No Welsh since the seventeenth century in my family, I think, but we did live in Denbighshire for six years in my later childhood, and I now live in Mid Wales and can even get by in Welsh, so here is a message for little Aneurin: 'Croeso i'r byd, fy nghariad bach.' ('Welcome to the world,
my ltttle darling.') You must be very proud of him. You should also give due credit to yourself. Being a warrior mus tbe hereditry! I am sure we all admire how stoic you have been. Here's some presents from me:
cattaxi It's a lovely name.My favourite Welsh girls' name is Eiluned.
ElkieMacjibe Tiredness can make things a great deal worse.
How are things now?
Reastie As ever, you are making Mother Hen flap and cluck. 'Several hours' on a sewing machine? You must not drive yourself like this...

CalmberComber How are things with you and the twins?
Bili Great advice as ever from you and others...
Advocadoo I hope you are feeling - well, not too bad, anyway?
Waves to Teddyreddy and everyone...

Lucinda I know, I know, it was too long at the sewing machine. It’s so frustrating when I’m doing an activity that is so sedentary and when I don’t feel too bad feels like it should be easy yet it overtireds me. Dd was very excited though as I made her a selection of new scrunchies!

Elkie I feel like the queen of wasting time atm! My routine has got into such that I get up, have a bath (take the radio in with me to keep my mind distracted), sometimes do some yoga or stretches if I’m not having a bad day then go downstairs. Sit in the dining room until about 11wasting time on my iPad (pointless game apps like scrabble). Then I try to muster energy for some chores (eg empty dishwasher or do washing) then make lunch. After lunch I lie on the sofa reading for a couple of hours and usually fall asleep at some point. Then I either sit on the sofa and continue to waste time on the iPad or if I can manage it I get up and do some more little chores around the house. Around 4pm if I’m up to it I might try to do dinner for dh and dd. I have dinner around 5:30 and then usually just get my pjs on and lie in bed wishing the day would finish watching stuff on Netflix to waste time. Dd often comes up to me whilst I’m in bed for a nice chat but I feel like a lousy parent. And this is me having made a lot of progress! In the early days I couldn’t move from bed or sofa ever. Those days were tough as I couldn’t concentrate on anything on tv to be able to enjoy it and couldn’t read books either as I felt so sick. I’d recommend talk radio type shows (I really like Iain lee’s radio show which is on late nights and listen to it on catch up the next morning whilst in the dining room) so you don’t feel so lonely. And app games are a great time waster. Atm I play words with friends (scrabble), simon’s Cat (bit like candy crush), design home (you decorate rooms with furniture online) but always interested in recommendations if anyone else has time wasting apps? I downloaded sims but didn’t really get what I had to do. Maybe because I had a free version? Mentally the tedium is tough. There’s only so much four in a bed and the Ellen DeGeneres show I can manage every day! Netflix is great if you’re up to watching stuff.

Thanks guys loving these suggestions. Crochet stuff has been Amazon Primed! At the moment I am struggling with energy to move much so even getting up to have a bath is hard work (hence why looking after my son is virtually impossible, he does not stay still for a second!). Will check out some apps too.
Lucinda I do feel a bit better than past 2 days, thanks for asking. No vomiting today 👍

Good afternoon!

@Teddyreddy I hope the potty training is less messy today. Another bit of parenting I didn’t particularly enjoy.

@eallison88 you can definitely get away with Aneurin, welsh or not.
Glad your little dude is doing so well. And that your sickness has gone. Smashing it on all counts!
Also envious if your crocheting skills. I’ve tried to teach myself several times, but I don’t have the patience.

@Reastie I hope you are feeling better this afternoon.

@ClareDB I hope your appointment went well this afternoon .

@username34853 cyclezine has been great for me, and I did eventually get used to it & stop feeling like a complete zombie. It took a good few weeks though. I tried stemetil as an alternative, but that made me sleepy & didn’t really help my nausea as much. I’ve been off work for 12 weeks.

@ElkieMacjibe watching tv & reading has passed the time for me. Now I’m a bit better I’m getting on with small jobs around the house & the odd walk if it’s nice. I spent this afternoon sorting through some maternity clothes & putting some stuff that won’t fit me for ages away.
I’m not a daytime tv fan, so Netflix & reading have been my mates. I’ve also played way too much candy crush!

@LucindaE “da iawn ti!” I’m first language welsh, and love it when I see it on here!

Hope everyone is having a good day. I’m taking it easy as we have a busy weekend coming up going away with the family for my mums birthday. Everyone will be very understanding of my need to rest etc, but I’m really hoping to be well enough to enjoy it.

Thank you everyone for your great advice. Really hoping I get use to the cyclezine so that I'm not so drowsy with it. I can remember it making me drowsy last time I would literally spend all day in bed/watching tv but I can't now with DD. I do find coke/Pepsi helps. Got some lemon ice pops aswell today going to give them a try.

cattaxi Diolch. I think learniing French was a walk in the park compared to Welsh, but as you are a first language speaker, it will seem as easy to you as English does to me. Those mutations... when they are introduced is when a large part of a class - so eager when they started out - drops out. Good luck for your trip.
ElkieMacjibeI so agree with others, I foun d the rado invaluable. Did anyone suggest audio books? Also, I know it varies how much print peoplecan stand looking at, b ut a read a few of the books I knew I'd never get round to - I only suffered for a short time compared to most, but I did get through 'War and Peace' 'Vanity Fair'
'Frankenstein'' and others. .The only problem is that I have found that to this day, 'War and Peace' sets off a mild feeling of nausea - odd, as
this association thing didn't happen with the others.
Reastie I can understand your frustration. You sound as if you are one of these very active people normally.
Teddyreddy Not an enjoyable part of parenting, indeed.
Waves to Advocadoo and everyone.

Reastie apps I play include Merge Dragons, Wordscales, and Cells. The last one isn't the most interesting but I was interesting in it as they're beta testing it and it's about evolution. But yeah.

I've found that trying to pass the time can be really difficult with a DS who doesn't seem to stop. Wasn't feeling too good this morning so came over to my nan's. DM ended up coming to me yesterday so that helped. I'm really not the sort of person who is good with younger children... if I wasn't pregnant it would be easier but I cant keep up with him!
Got another dentist appt on Thursday to have my fillings done. He's really nice, my dentist, and understands the problems of Hyperemesis thankfully so didn't judge the erosion of my teeth, just said he'd sort them out for me.
DS currently has 3 canines cutting through and so his bum is really sore, bless him. It's never been this bad and he's unsettled but last 2 nights he's slept through so I've managed to sleep well.
Couldn't get hold of the GP yesterday so will try again sometime this week. But friends on FB have been telling me how brave I am to be going through it all again knowing how sick I get. No-one yet has told me I'm being too pathetic.

eal glad to hear baby is fighting well. And glad the sickness went instantly. It's magical, being able to eat again after 9 months of not being able to do so. It's what's keeping me going...
cattaxi good news about your results! Forgot to wish you congrats the other day (thought I had, I apologise).

I saw the nurse prescriber this morning (after an hour's wait in the waiting room which was hellish). As predicted, she knew nothing and said cyclizine was the only option or I'd have to go and get an IV. Luckily, she went and got the doctor to check, and he has prescribed me metaclopramide, instead of the cyclizine. I've taken one and not noticed much of a difference, but I'm hoping I will over the next couple of doses. Has anyone had success with this drug? They kept talking about hospital, I think because I'm only 5 weeks and they think it will get worse. That terrifies me but I'm trying to take it one day at a time.

Avacadooo I'll have to get playing on the Sims again, I used to play loads pre-kids!

That’s great eallison! You’re both clear very strong

On the topic of keeping oneself occupied, I am also bored. Having felt a bit worse on Sunday and Monday, and today I’ve mainly rested, I do feel a bit useless. There’s only so much I can do, I watch some Netflix, read a bit, but I also don’t have the mental wherewithal to do much so I can’t do lots of reading for instance. I tend to move between BBC News, Mumsnet and Twitter!

The biggest things that need doing are some online bits for DH, and organising the house (the latter being a significantly larger task). That would keep me plenty occupied, but no energy as yet! I’m hoping later this week I’ll at least be able to do a little, so even if it’s just a bit each week it will all add up eventually.

@LucindaE yeah I'm doing alright, I've discovered fabric softener and it smells amazing, I suck at being an adult 😂😂 Had my boss try to phone me at half ten last night but dingyed it because I was in the bath and I don't fancy being asked to cover random shifts!

@Reastie the one on the phone is rubbish, I play on the computer!

@ClareDB it's great!!! I've been playing it since the first one 😂 I highly recommend getting back into it!!
It's a great distraction and passes the time quite well.
I hope you don't end up in hospital but I promise you will feel better than you currently do at some point, I was in bits in the early days and didn't know why I was so ill and now I can do some what normal stuff so hang in there!💕

Hi everyone, new to mumsnet and so glad to see this thread!
Currently 31w with number 3 and in the past week I've slipped wayy back to square one! As a back story, I've been on cyclizine since 4w and was put on ondansetron alongside cyclizine a few months ago.
Had some lovely fluffy weeks from about 26w till 29w (still vomiting every day but at least having an appetite and energy) but now the crippling nausea, lack of appetite, constant vomiting and exhaustion is back tenfold! Meds aren't touching it now but I know fine well through plenty of experience with 3HGP's that I'm not in ketosis enough to be admitted for fluids etc.
Sorry for possible TMI but alongside this I have had consistent crippling heartburn and the most awful burning liquid BMs which I'm assuming is down to my digestive system in meltdown mode and it's given me horribly painful piles!
Oh yeah, and the lovely insomnia is back meaning I'm suffering through some horrifically long days and nights with nothing to entertain myself sufficiently enough to ignore symptoms.
A bit of a long winded, moany groany introduction I know but I feel like I say all this to DP and its white noise to him now lol.