Will GP sign me off with morning sickness? 15w

[Pretendbookworm]

I’m 15 weeks and just come home early from my night shift with pregnancy sickness. It’s been constantly all day every day this week, struggling to want to eat. Now I’ve got stomach ache constantly mixed with nausea (think it’s round ligament pain) and I just couldn’t cope at work anymore. I work in a hospital so lots of bad odours around too.

I was off sick with it when I was 7ish weeks pregnant, then I felt better so went back and it’s just gradually got worse. I’m so fed up now. Would the GP sign me off for a few weeks to see if it improves? It wasn’t this bad with my DS.

I doubt a GP would give you a sick line this early but there's no harm in asking, just be prepared for the usual speech about ginger biscuits &

I was signed off for my entire pregnancy with severe sickness.

I was signed off for several weeks. On anti sickness medication and still unable to function. But I saw a different gp each week and some were more willing to than others.

I was signed off but I had hyperemesis - the GP had to arrange my admission to hospital every time i went as I was in such a state. Questions you might be asked are -

How much you eating?
How much are you drinking?
How many times are you being sick? I. E. Are you keeping anything down

Objective measures of how you are doing would be:
Have you lost weight?
Are you dehydrated?
They can test your wee on the spot to see if you are producing ketones.

Even if you are not vomiting living with constant nausea is horrendous, depressing and debilitating and will definitely affect your ability to do your job, especially in a hospital. Can you self certify for a week?

There is safe medication you can take to tackle nausea and / or vomiting. I took cyclizine and I have seen others here mention ondansetron and another drug whose name I forget. So don't get fobbed off OP - you have a few available solutions.

Good luck

Just wanted to say my sickness got LOADS worse at 16 weeks and then by 20 weeks I was fine (didn't always feel great but knew I was not going to be sick).

I think it's quite common for it to get worse before it finally eases off. If you took a week or two off I think you might feel better by the time you're back at work. I would ask for the sick note if you feel you need it.

Hope you feel better soon.

I was signed off for 8 weeks in both pg, then had a phased return over several weeks.

Do you feel sick when you smell something bad (and does everything smell revolting)? I had that, it's hideous. Mine was much, much better by 18/19 weeks, so if you're struggling you could try getting a bit more time off.

For me work was the only 'safe' place as I work in an office where hot or smelly food isn't allowed. Getting to work was awful though.

Pregnancy Sickness Support have lots of practical, medical and legal advice.

They'll try anti sickness medication first

Yes - be firm. In my first pregnancy I had HG but because I didn't really know how I should be feeling / what was normal, I didn't make much of a fuss at all so although I was signed off eventually I suffered through a hell of a time at first! The second time I was pregnant, the day I started vomiting more than twice I was straight to the GP and had a prescription for meds and was signed off that day! In the end I didn't have HG in my second pregnancy but that time off really helped and I was glad I had the prescription in case things ramped up unexpectedly. Go to your GP, be very clear that you cannot do your job safely and you need to be signed off. They may initially sign you off for a week and then do a telephone consultation or follow-up appointment to see how you're getting on OR they might just sign you off for however long you think you need. Either way, don't be afraid to ask for what you need!

My colleague is 9 weeks pregnant and has been signed off for last 4 weeks due to morning sickness. It is just getting a bit better but with her last pregnancy it came back later on so we will see what happens. It's no good being at work when you feel so awful.

I went to my docs with severe exhaustion at the same point and they signed me off for a week without even asking. I'm now 18 weeks, been back at work for a couple of weeks and things are getting better - like some others have said it seemed to get worse before improving.

Thanks for all your replies. I’ve only just managed to get in contact with my deputy manager who was really kind and understanding. The problem with being off with this is you hear so often that pregnancy isn’t an illness (usually from people who never had a symptom!) and yet I can’t help feeling that I am ill!

Going to see GP on Tuesday to see what they say. Mine have never been awkward with me so hopefully they’ll let me have at least 2 weeks off.

Try thinking of it this way: pregnancy itself isn’t an illness, but the effects of pregnancy mean you can become ill as a result.

Hi my gp gave me a sick line for this for two weeks I think and then it was extended.

Hope you feel better soon!

My doctor signed me off for a couple of weeks without a second thought when I went to GP and said I had bad morning sickness. I just asked outright and they asked me how long I wanted to sick note for initially.

Thank you everyone he signed me off for 2.5 weeks. Hopefully will feel better soon. Only kept a few meals down over the weekend.

I only had nausea without the actual vomiting, but I found the acupressure travel sickness bands really helped me feel better. Might be worth giving them a go?

Use this time off to get plenty of rest and look after yourself. Hope you start to feel better soon.