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.

SnowWhite2020 A good day is often a sign of more to come, hopefully. Sorry about the relapse. I so agree about Pygmyseahorses exam. Surely these are exceptional circumstances?
I hope everyone is coping today. Goodness, it is windy up here on the hill.

A very windy day here too! A so/ so day for me in terms of sickness. Not the best not the worst. Was slightly delayed in taking my morning medication and wham... gotta be on top of that!!

@LucindaE thank you 💖

@Pygmyseahorse hope you had a better day today. Xx

Hi ladies

Re extenuating circumstances, I have applied but not been accepted yet. Fingers crossed though
I have an extension as I just couldn't manage this week so still plugging away at it :( on the plus side its taking my mind off the scan I guess

We'll that's 3 doses of phenergan/promethazine I can't keep down and now it's the bank hol weekend so looks like I have nothing for the next 3/4 days :'(
Has anyone been on this before?

Hope you all manage to have a good weekend

Hi ladies, feel like I jinxed myself about the new meds after a good few days. Was even up at 3am to be sick :(
Any advice on coping with one step forwards, two back? I’m almost at week 10 now and hoping I don’t get that hormone surge they talk about :(
@Pygmyseahorse everything crossed for you that they accept! X

@Pygmyseahorse I just read your posts and feel so sorry that your sickness is so bad. I am 22 weeks and it's just starting to subside. I hope they accept and you feel ok

I am so glad this thread is here. This isn't the pregnancy I thought I would be having. I am so scared for the baby. My energy is still low but I've been managing some walks. I've had lots of reassurance but still terrified the baby will be malnourished. I can't tolerate any yogurts or dairy but one good thing was getting an oat milk that is fortified and using it in my smoothie. Are fortified food replacements reliable? I've had to cut back on the pregnacare but got a spray vitamin that is easier on the tummy. Baby was fine on 20 week scan so hanging on to that.

Someone asked about stemitil a few posts back and while it helped with vomitting it didn't take away the terrible sick feeling.

@Pygmyseahorse I hope they accept your application for an exemption/ extension. If they don’t I would fight it to be honest because there is still so much misunderstanding about severe pregnancy sickness out there unfortunately... there may be a way to argue it as discrimination if it came to it. Did your doctor write a note?

@KatieFTM I am unfortunately no stranger to the midnight puke or just being awake feeling extremely nauseous. I feel like I’ve only had a handful of full sleeps since I became pregnant and I do find that very hard as a lot of people report getting relief at night since they’re asleep. I hope it improves for you 💖

@katieFTM poor you, its so hard. Just take things hour by hour is all I can say. My sickness is worse between 4pm-8am so used to middle of the night toilet clinging myself and its so draining. Hope you get some rest

@pandemicpreggie I'm so sorry it's not how you imagined pregnancy, I felt that with dd and kind of expected it this time. Its really hard when you imagine in your head how things will be and see others sailing through and being so excited and happy or moaning at tiny niggles when you are stuck with HG feeling like death! I really hope it eases for you and you get to enjoy a tiny bit but when your baby is here and the HG is gone at least that will be what's important.
Re oat milk I'm not sure but it's fortified and my Dr and midwife always say keeping anything down is better than nothing.
I haven't taken vitamins for weeks now but have just started keeping down (most of the time) the boots brand folic acid and vit d tablets and calcium tablets. They are so much smaller and less awful tasting so if you havent tried those or maybe liquid versions it could be we orth a go? Sorry if you have already.
I'm sure the spray is better than nothing and baby will just suck everything out of you anyway! It's so hard but try to feel reassured if nothing is picked up of concern

@Snowwhite2020 I'm still waiting for the note to be posted but will definitely fight if its not accepted. I'm a law student.. I'll throw some discrimination and disability stuff their way I'm sure the grade would be compensated from last year though so may squeeze a pass.

How are you doing today?

Still not tolerating the new antisickness and not kept down any meds or vitamins today. Sipping water slowly and thankful its the weekend and dh can take dd downstairs for a bit.

Hope everyone else is as well as can be.

Not the best day here @Pygmyseahorse. Weather is wild where we are and the noise of the wind kept me up in the night (plus the usual nausea) and a poor sleep always equals a very poor sick day. Tried a nap but hasn’t sorted it.

Hope others are fairing better today xx

Oh dear, it seems a lot of people are suffering from vomiting at night. It seems twice as bad then, when everyone else is asleep. Much sympathy over relapse KatieFTM. Hopefully, some more good days come soon.
PandemicPreggie Oat milk in a smoothie sounds a good idea. SnowWhite2020 Much sympathy over poor sleeps. Pygmyseahorse I find it hard to believe that they won't accept extenuating circumstances in your case. It would put them in such a bad light.

I don't think it's as much refusal to accept EC claim I think it's more to do with delays with corona etc.
Hopefully it'll be dealt with next week though and at least the extension was approved.

Hope tomorrow is a better day all round. Relaxation music on YouTube to drown out the howling wind for me.. Night all, hope you get a better night's sleep

@Pygmyseahorse glad the extension was approved. How are you feeling today? X

I'm over 12 weeks now and still struggling with severe morning sickness. Mentally I had been trying to get to 12 weeks in the hope things would start to improve, when they didn't, I started feeling a bit hopeless.

So last week I decided to speak to my GP again to see if there were alternative medications available. First I decided to do a 10 second Google for morning sickness medications, I came across Xonvea on the NHS website,, which was apparently licensed for use during pregnancy in the UK a few years ago (having been used in Canada and the US for decades).

I spoke to my GP and she suggested some alternative medications with the caveat that "you're not really supposed to use them when pregnant, but people do and I've never heard of any problems". This concerned me, so I mentioned Xonvea. She had never heard of it, but looked in up in her book of medicine and saw that it didn't say it was unsuitable for pregnant ladies, and she prescribed it. The pharmacy had also never heard of it, and had to order it in, saying it would take around 5 working days (now it's a bank holiday weekend, argh).

I'm currently having to ration my last couple of Cetirizine, and feeling really unwell as a result!

Anyway, at my 12 week scan on Friday I mentioned Xonvea to the midwife and she had never heard of it either. To be honest I'm completely baffled as to why healthcare professionals are prescribing people things that aren't meant for pregnancy, based on their anecdotal evidence that it's fine. Especially, when there is something specifically licensed for pregnancy, backed up by large scale medical trials, and no one has ever heard of it!?

I understand that it's unusual to have anything licensed for pregnant ladies because no one wants to do trials on them just in case, so it doesn't mean that the things they prescribe aren't safe.

I'm just a bit confused by the whole thing. What are other peoples experiences with morning sickness medication? I'm wondering if in other parts of the country, things are different?

I'm already thinking that my dream of having two children may be impossible. I'm wondering if it would be fair, when I have a young child to look after, to knowingly make myself so unwell for so long again.

EveningReflection Welcome. Don't despair about reaching 12 weeks with no relief, as Hyperemesis typically lasts longer than normal pregnancy sickness, and even that often lasts up to 14 weeks. Most sufferers find that they improve a lot at some point between weeks 14 and 20. On medication, Xonvea is fairly new. Before it was licensed, Cyclizine was the first line of treatment. It has been considered safe to use in pregnancy and prescribed since the 1980's. It has certainly helped several sufferers on here, and some sufferers, have found Xonvea to b e very helpful. But some women suffer so severely that they would be in a constant state of dehydration unless they were on stronger anti emetics such as Ondansetron, or even a cocktail of drugs. The doctor has to measure the slight risk of anti emetics against the well known risk of chronic dehydration. There is a lot of information about the safety of these medications in pregnancy on the websites on the links in my introductory post.
I hope that you get through the rest of the bank holiday without getting too ill. Here is my normal spiel in case it is of use. A good anti acid can make a surprising difference to the sickness. Kesostix are worth buying online or from a chemists, as while they aren't they best test of dehydration, hospitals take them seriously, etc. Besides Kissingthebear's orange juice, ice and lemonade, here are some drinks that I hope might be useful and food suggestions. Full sugar flat coke, the juice of tinned fruit, ice lollies, ice cubes, soda water, Lucozade, fizzy water, tonic water, Elderflower water, Elderflower tonic and soda water, fizzy orange, lemonade, Dr Pepper, Iron Bru, sips of chocolate milkshake (maybe soya), Isotonic drinks, 7Up, mint tea made with fresh mint, , orange squash and lemonade. Some foods of a sort that have helped others are: nibbles of chips and crisps, Scotch pancakes, tinned fruit, cuppa soup, biscuits, sices of melon and mango and baked potatoes. Some swear by grated cheese. Another tip was melon juiced and frozen as ice cubes.Even those unlucky ones who suffer throughout only rarely feel as bad later on as in the first tri.
Waves to SnowWhite2020 Pygmyseahorse and everyone. I

Thanks for your kind words @LucindaE 💖

Sorry to hear you’re suffering so badly @EveningReflection I hope things improve for you soon xx

@Snowwhite2020 how are you feeling today? Any sleep progress?

@eveningreflection I'm sorry to hear its not lifting yet, I'm my experience everyone kept saying the same and I felt as you do when it didn't. Hope it eases soon for you. Echo lucinda's words that it can take longer for HG and try not to despair. Each day is one step closer

@LucindaE waves back, hope all is well

After a success of keeping meds down Saturday night I woke with awful sickness and burning bile and remained that way all day, not kept down any medication or food but sips of water at times. Feel lousy, spent the day crying in bed
Dh in a bit of a grump having dd all day!

Pygmyseahorse Poor you. Much sympathy. It is hardly your choice that your OH had LO all day. Remind me: for the awful burning bile, does any anti acid help at all? I echo you in asking about SnowWhite2020's sleep?

Hi ladies, sorry I’m a bit late on to the thread today.

@LucindaE and @Pygmyseahorse another night of not great sleep last night. I’m going to bed now- really tired. I think what is happening is that needing the toilet is waking me up and then once I’m up I feel nauseous and/ or may vomit... and this seems to go in in 2-3 hour bursts.

Hoping for a better sleep tonight! Shattered.

Hope everyone is well and has had a tolerable day. Love to you all xx

@Pygmyseahorse the burning bile is also something I am experiencing... it usually signals that I’m about to vomit and I think if I try an ant acid at that point it would only accelerate the progress. Sometimes I take one after vomiting and it seems to help settle things... have you experimented with this? Oh the conversations we have....!

Xx

@LucindaE and @Snowwhite2020 it's just pure bile for me, I hadn't kept any food down and only a little water so it wasnt like I have much to bring up. Tried antacids but either immediately throw them up or can't even swallow before throwing up and not keeping them down after sickness at the moment either. I will definitely speak to the Dr about that though thank you

I think in the past 4 weeks I've kept down 2 days worth of Thyroxine, epilepsy meds, vitamins and a couple random antisickness pills
Back to the gp tomorrow!
My biggest problem is seizures increasing and obviously the risk seizures bring at the best of times let alone when pregnant or with a child to care for

I managed 1 slice of pear today and a couple of glasses of water so that's a plus!

@Snowwhite2020 so sorry you still aren't sleeping well. I get where you are coming from, with being woken to pee triggering sickness. I'm the same or if dd is up dreaming etc.
I can't think of anything to suggest I'm so sorry!

@Pygmyseahorse that sounds terrible. I have thankfully been managing to take my anti emetics most days even if they don’t necessarily always stay down. That is very stressful for you, especially with not being able to keep seizure medicine down. It sounds like they might have to make some adjustments to your anti emetics if they are not working well enough for you to have more relief and especially so you can take your other medicine.

Love to you. Let’s hope we can both at least get a decent sleep tonight. Let us know how you get on with the gp tomorrow.

Much love to you 💖

@Snowwhite2020 thank you for your lovely words as always, how are you doing today? How did you sleep? Really hope you managed even a little more rest. Sending love

Just waiting call back from the gp now, such a hassle, this is the 3rd change in 3 or 4 weeks now I think. I really thought if I nipped it in the bud sooner this pregnancy that it wouldn't be as bad or difficult finding one that works

Hope everyone else is as well as can be

In the past 3 days everything I ate or drank came right back up what should I do ?

Thanks everyone for the supportive responses. I feel encouraged that things may at least improve a bit in the coming weeks.

@LucindaE
Thank you for your detailed response. Cyclizine is the one ive been on (spelt it wrong in previous post due to an auto correct). Im currently still waiting for the Xonvea to come in at the pharmacy, so im without any meds at the moment. Despite this, today was a good day because at least my supermarket delivery came. Im eating fruit, ice lollies and even managed a cloudy lemonade to try and keep hydrated. I tried an ice cube this morning but it made me sick, maybe for the same reason brushing my teeth does. I just have to take small bits and not open my mouth too wide!

I find staying cold is the best way for me not to be sick. Even if i try and eat hot food like noodles, i just wait for them to cool down before i try and eat them.

Kay1309 Welcome. You definitely need to contact the GP and to ask for anti emetics. Mention the number of heaves for each vomiting session as GP's often count each heave as 'a vomit' which lay people don't. If the surgery is closed, phone out of hours as this sounds like an emergency. How far along are you? Is this your first pregnancy?
EveningReflection Congratulations on the fruit, ice lollies and lemonade. I hope that Xonvea helps for you.
Pygymyseahorse I do hope that the doctor was able to pescribe some course of treatment.
SnowWhite2020 I remember those constant trips to the loo in the first tri. Hopefully, it will settle down later on.
Waves to all. Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.