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.

@woollycat hi! I had a routine check up and asked my dentist about this. She suggested a child’s toothbrush as it’s smaller. Also a children’s toothpaste for older kids. The fluoride level in adult toothpaste is 1450ppm and in the kids ones it’s the same. Colgate do a fruity one and Tesco do a strawberry ice cream!
I also said I was worried about my teeth rotting away from all the acid and she said not to worry as that takes years of regular vomiting!

@woollycat I have had to use strawberry children's toothpaste from Tesco. It was recommended by another poster on here. Not sure how effective it is. Manage it about once a day max (was once a week earlier in pregnancy!). Can't stand mint anything.

Bol87 I am so sorry to hear of the exhaustion returning; as you say, it is probably the anaemia. I hope you manage to find a chemists who stocks the iron drips. I am always in awe of women who manage to survive this with a toddler!
woollycat I so agree with the dentist about children's toothbrushes, and Twirlsandcurls and HGpg about how much less nauseating strawberry toothpaste is!

I’ll chip in to agree with the children’s toothpaste! I manage my usual brush but I use Boots Berry Toothpaste which mostly reminds me of bubblegum flavour. It’s been a tooth lifesaver.. I still struggle everyday to brush my teeth but I can battle through so long as it’s not mint. I cannot stand mint in pregnancy. Normally I blooming love mint as well!

Pregnancy is so bizarre .. both of mine have made me find the taste of cake/chocolate/biscuits really horrible. Not just I don’t fancy them but when I try them, they don’t taste good! I remember last pregnancy feeling really upset about it 😂 I was worried I’d never like chocolate again!

Sending love to everyone this weekend 🧡 hope it’s been bearable so far

Bol87 I’m the exact same this pregnancy I cannot stand the taste of chocolate, it does not taste right! Plus I still have that horrid taste in my mouth which I have been unable to get rid of and its coming upto 8 months now

I’ve not been on in a while but I have been reading, sorry to hear so many are struggling and going through some of the tough early weeks, however it does get better even if you never get back to yourself (I haven’t been able to) it is usually never as bad as those early weeks.

Rest and meds if one gp/hcp is not helpful see another, have an advocate fighting for you if need be but do not take no for an answer as HG needs to be treated.

My thoughts and prayers are with you all and Lucinda is great with all the advice she gives and for keeping this thread going xx

I'm looking for some reassurance here. I've been placed on hydrocortisone iv steroids for the second time and will be placed on prednisolone steroid tablets as of next week also for the 2nd time. The doctor is saying I may have to stay on these along with ondansetron and metoclopramide for the rest of my pregnancy which is 24 weeks still due to all my sickness and dehydration I've been having and it's the only way to stop it.
Has anyone had all this medication and had a good outcome? All the evidence is pointing to cleft palate and low birth weight etc and its freaking me out. I'm under consultants and doctors but still scared and question them each time and told it is, but is it? I've been on medication since week 6 of pregnancy.

@abbs1 - no advice on steroids sadly but I’m on ondanestron & meta. My doctor has been very honest about the meds and given me lots of research papers. She’s really into research, I find my visits quite fascinating. She’s just given me one on iron absorption!

The metaclop appears to carry no worries. I’ve read nothing. My secondary doc keeps pushing me to drop to just this med but I’ve tried & it doesn’t work well enough.

Ondansetron, there’s a possible increased risk of cleft palate. One American study said more than double but the most recent published in JAMA of 1.8 million women found 3 babies out of every 10,000 got a cleft- a fairly minor risk all things considered. This study is way larger than any other done before.

Worth a read for a summary - www.cnn.com/2018/12/18/health/morning-sickness-pill-birth-defects-study/index.html

Obviously, it’s still a risk. I have one healthy ondansetron child so far. I took it to 28 weeks last time.

It sounds like you are extremely poorly with HG, there are risks with being so sick as well. Your docs wouldn’t give you all these meds & really good management if you didn’t it.

Hi everyone, just checking in and sending sympathy to all. I'm 9wks today and still very nauseous and retching a lot. I'm on promethazine but not sure it's actually helping so am going to ring gp tomorrow about trying something else.

Just wanted to have a quick moan about how crappy it is and how much I hate having this awful taste in my mouth, and the excess saliva.. it's just so grim... I dream about food , does anyone else?! I dream about eating lovely things and really enjoying them it's like torture when I wake up, I don't know whether to laugh or cry, I don't remember his in the previous 2 pregnancies.

Also I've never noticed before how many pictures and articles about food in magazines and newspapers - why?!?!

Just needed to vent there thank you

Yesss @HildaSnibbs - you never realise how many adverts & TV shows have food in them! I’ve been watching programmes like Grand Designs, Location, Strictly, Interior Design Programmes 😂 ‘safe’!

Food is torture, I still have huge aversions. I long to eat a slice of cake, a regular meal, a glass of coke! I feel so sad when I look in the fridge.. I’m 17 weeks & things are improving. I can stomach carrots this week! And carrot soup! Some veg finally! I’ve also managed a fish cake with a parsley sauce, a tiny amount of flavour!

Lots of love, the early weeks are particularly rough this is a good place to vent! I know I did/do! It’s good to talk & get it out your system!

Oh Bol vegetables!! You brave and lucky thing 😂 I'm just sitting with a Tupperware box and a glass of water trying to keep some porridge down, fingers crossed ... getting to the end of each day is such an achievement...! DH is putting the kids to bed I think I'll be asleep before they are... night all!

HildaSnibbs Welcome. I am sorry you feel so bad. Sucking boiled sweets - it was barley sugar for me from an old fshioned swseetshop - can help relieve that, but it can stimulate the saliva, which is a pest.
Things get better for most people between weeks 14-20. Even those unlucky ones who suffer throughout almost never feel as ill later on. A good anti acid can make a big difference. It is always worth asking to see if there are any further meds to try for the nausea. What helps with the nausea for some, doesn't for others. It is a good idea to buy some kesostix from a chemists to check for the dehydration, as while ketones in urine are not the best indicator A and E departments take them seriously. Some drinks that have helped others, and food of a sort. Flat full sugar coke, the juice of tinned fruit, ice lollies, ice cubes, Elderflower water, fizzy water, tonic water, soda water, Elderflower water and tonic water, Lucoazade, fizzy orange, lemonade, Dr Pepper, Iron Bru, 7UP, Robinson's fruit drinks, orange squash and sips of chocolate milkshake (maybe soya). Nibbles of chips and crisps, baked potatoes, cuppa soup, cheap ice cream, Scotch pancakes, tinned fruit, biscuits, slices of melon and mango and jelly.
abbs1 Sorry things are so bad. It is very difficult for those who have to be on a cocktail of meds. As Bol87 says, the doctors wouldn't recommend any meds that had anything but a very low chance of causing a birth defect and they thought the risks of prolonged dehydration were more serious. There have been any number of women on these threads over the years they have been going on a whole cocktail of meds including steroids who have had perfectly normal babies. *eallison' was one.
Bol87 Great advice for abbs. I am sorry that chocolate tastes foul. As you know from last time, these aversions rarely last! Congratulations on a fish cake and carrots. I am so glad things are improving a bit.
composed I am sorry you were one of the unlucky ones who have had this miserable thing throughout, even though it has improved. I am so glad that this thread has helped at least, and thank you for your kind words.
Apologies to anyone rudely ignored.

Hi guys,

This is my first ever post here!

I’m a secondary teacher and started my current job on 1st July this year. I found out I was pregnant during the summer holidays (not planned at all). I knew something was right because I started to go off all food, could never sleep enough, lived on the bathroom floor because the sickness never stopped and started to lose weight rapidly.

I’m now 15 weeks and have told my work because I can’t hide the sickness any more. My problem is, the sickness, tiredness and general feeling down hasn’t stopped and I’ve already been signed off for Hyperemesis by my GP for 2 weeks and since returned to work. I’ve been back a week and already I’m finding it too difficult. I have terrible nightmares so I don’t sleep, my back always hurts, I still get sick a few times a day (but not as much as before) and just generally want to stay at home instead of work.

I’ve taken today off because I woke up this morning in a sweat from a nightmare about zombies (what?!) and then cried at the thought of having to get up and go to work, but I’m so worried that work is going to get really annoyed with me for being flakey.

I’m the only one that works as my partner is studying so I really feel intense pressure to keep this job so we can pay the rent and bills.

Sorry for the rant- just want to talk to people who understand!!

Evening all, I've been following this thread for the last couple of weeks as started hugely struggle in this pregnancy.
It's baby number 4.
I had HG in my first two really badly and was hospitalised with the second one. They are now 14 and 12 and the meds on offer then didn't work (& I was in China....)
Fast forward to baby number 3 who was with a new partner and I only had a small amount of nausea, what I consider 'enough to reassure you you're pregnant but not enough that you wish it was all over'

So, now wi number 3 aged 13 months I'm 7+ weeks pregnant and on the floor with raging nausea. No vomiting. But constant nausea. It wakes me in the night, stops me doing anything.

I cracked this morning and made a gp appointment for Wednesday and am wondering what I should ask for as I'm not vomiting so won't be dehydrated and am managing to eat BUT cannot function.

I'm really concerned it's going to ramp up as with my first two pregnancies - it lasted until 24+ weeks.

Sorry for brain dump

Just coming back to say I’ve had my baby! She was born on 13/10/19 at 4:55am. I want to says thanks for the support from everyone here. It was an absolute life saver during the first half of my pregnancy. To everyone still on their journey it’s worth it and things will be ok in the end. Even if you don’t eat healthy foods and can’t take the vitamins try not to worry. Just knowing that there are other people out there feeling the same makes it so much easier than being alone.

Congratulations @TwoShades1 !! So glad to hear of babies safe arrival Hope you are feeling well & not sick!!

TwoShades1 Wonderful news. I am so happy for you. Congratulations on your girl. Thank you for your lovely message of support and I am so glad that the thread helped you.
Boycay Welcome. I am so sorry that you are suffering so badly. It is very hard trying to keep on working, and difficult when your financial situation makes it difficult to take time off. I am sure that employers cannot penalise you for time taken off due to pregnancy related conditions. Is your school unionised? Your rep. should be able to give some good advi e. To be honest, most people need some time off with this. Did the doctor put you on any meds? There are various ones that can help and might well make all the difference. will just add my usual spiel. This is defintely not normal, so don't feel guilty about being miserable. Things get better for most people between weeks 14-20. Even those unlucky ones who suffer throughout almost never feel as ill later on. A good anti acid can make a big difference. It is always worth asking to see if there are any further meds to try for the nausea. What helps with the nausea for some, doesn't for others. It is a good idea to buy some kesostix from a chemists to check for the dehydration, as while ketones in urine are not the best indicator A and E departments take them seriously. Some drinks that have helped others, and food of a sort. Flat full sugar coke, the juice of tinned fruit, ice lollies, ice cubes, Elderflower water, fizzy water, tonic water, soda water, Elderflower water and tonic water, Lucoazade, fizzy orange, lemonade, Dr Pepper, Iron Bru, 7UP, Robinson's fruit drinks, orange squash and sips of chocolate milkshake (maybe soya). Nibbles of chips and crisps, baked potatoes, cuppa soup, cheap ice cream, Scotch pancakes, tinned fruit, biscuits, slices of melon and mango and jelly.
hardheadedwoman39 Welcome. I am sorry that the dreaded symptoms are so overwhelming. That is a disappointment after your third pregnancy was so different. I am so glad you are going for meds. I am not sure what meds they offer in China, to be honest. over here Cyclizne is the one they usually try first, which helps many and then they go on to others like Stematil (spelling?). It is possible to have Hyperemesis without vomiting. I am glad that you are not in danger of dehydration. As you are a veteran you have no need of my usual spiel about kesostix not being the best test for dehydration, but it is good to get themas they take the measurements seriously in A and E departments, and how the juice of tinned fruit, ice lollies and flat full sugar coke help many, etc, and how a good anti-acid can make a big difference to the nausea. I hope the GP can help tomorrow.
Bol87 Waves.

Thank you @LucindaE
I wasn't sure if it fully counted as hg without vomiting but almost reassuring to know it does (not going mad!)

I'm no longer in China, now back in the uk so hopefully I can be prescribed the medication you mentioned.

Thank you again

@LucindaE thank you. It's especially horrible when other women tell you to just get used to it or judge you for not handling it well.

I have been to the GP today and have been prescribed Prochlorperazine (I think it's stemetil) so we will see how it goes. I was showing signs of high blood pressure and dehydration this morning and if it continues then I need to get some fluids in a hospital.

My work have actually been great about it all- I think it's just my own anxiety about being the only one working and taking such a risk by being off sick. If the tablets stop the vomiting today then hopefully I'll be okay to drive to work tomorrow.

@Boycay you have my total sympathy, I was teaching when I had my first baby and it was absolutely impossible with hg, running to the toilet to be sick when you have a class of children staring at you isn't an option.

I hope that your work can look after you.

Another general question, my nausea is so bad at night I can't sleep - so any of you snack to rough the night or have any tips?

Just checking in to say hope everyone is doing well and congratulations to those who have had their babies. Super jealous!

I'm 12 weeks today and keeping things under control with Zofran but very nauseous and then have really vile sickness vomiting episodes every couple of days. But this is an improvement on everyday and I'm on the maximum dose so it's the best I can hope for.

I really am just counting down the days until it's all over in April.

Sending strength to all who need it. Also there is a great little support network on insta for anyone who wants to connect with other HG mums - I'm on as @the hg Chronicals (but with an underscore between words) if anyone wants to connect

@Hardheadedwoman39 I so empathise as my nausea peaks at night too (probs when the meds wear off) and I end up puking before bed quite often and then struggle to get over.

Little sips of flat coke sometimes help but I haven't solved this one yet! Hope you feel better soon.

@Hardheadedwoman39 How did you deal with work when you had HG? It's so difficult to maintain the patience and smiles! I'm on new medication now so I'm hoping it subsides soon

@Snipples thank you, I will try that. I'm considering stashing a range of bland snacks in my bedside table but worried the crunching will wake DP. Not that that matters!

@Boycay I didn't cope to be honest and they signed me off properly but I don't remember how this affects pay. What I do remember is they didn't want me to go back as it took a number of weeks for their insurance to kick in to cover my sick pay - I think it was 3 weeks (this is 14 years ago!)
I remember saying I felt a bit better and would try to come back and they said it was better not to!

It is the hardest job in the world when you're ill. And you can't tell them either (the kids)..... I would suggest speaking really frankly with your Head or whoever deals with staff sickness. Fingers crossed it passes at an early stage x

Hi all

Welcome to all the newbies, I hope you find this thread as welcoming, supportive and comforting as I have over the last week or so.

It seems I did tempt fate somewhat as the cyclizine isn't helping over the last couple of days. Back to feeling 24/7 nausea and vomiting around 5 times a day (admittedly not as bad as it was before). I phoned the GP surgery yesterday morning as I need a fit note now as I couldn't even contemplate going back to work and he has signed me off for 2 weeks so the pressure is off from that perspective. My boss is being very good about it and telling me not to worry about work (and I feel so awful that I don't actually care what people might be saying about me behind my back). At only 8+5 though, I am wondering when I might actually feel well enough to work :(

My nausea also picks up at night. I find that I am now awake most of the night because of it and then napping during the day. But I think this might be a vicious circle as then I am not tired at bed time (also I am not feeling well enough to go out or do anything so I am not that tired anyway.)

I think I am going to ring the GP tomorrow to see if I can try a different tablet as I seem to have gone back to almost square one

Thanks everyone

@Hardheadedwoman39 my husband wears earplugs at night now as I am munching on all sorts during the night