Is it unreasonable to take time off work for nausea?

[gretagreengrapes]

Hello, I'm very new to MN.

I'm in the first trimester with my first pregnancy and I have never felt so physically ill in my life, I knew I would feel off but this is something way worse than I could've imagined!

I am disabled by nausea and dry wretching from about 6am to 6pm. Laying in bed in silence and sipping squash and the occasional bite of bread and butter provides limited relief. I feel dizzy and my eyes go blurry if I stand up. I haven't managed to wash my hair in over a week because I cant stand in the shower. BUT I'm only actually vomiting about once a day.

Is nausea without vomiting reason enough to take time off work? Feel like a bit of an idiot taking time off for that. I work in a public facing role and spend most of my day talking which atm just makes me feel worse! Any opinions?

Sounds like it to me! You can’t possibly go into work feeling like that. Can you get to see your GP for both something that might help you feel better and a note to sign you off work?

First of all congrats on your pregnancy!
So sorry you feel so rubbish. Have you spoken to your midwife about your nausea? She might be able to prescribe some medication to help.
It might be helpful to tell your boss (if you haven't already) as you'll be entitled to time off for appointments and can talk about sick leave options.
I've had nausea on and off for a few weeks now but only been sick once (after a greasy Chinese though!) And lucky to be working from home most of the time due to COVID.

Hope this stage passes soon for you. How far along are you? I just feel exhausted all the time these days!

I don’t really see how you can work if you feel that bad all day - especially not public facing - so you don’t have a choice! Unless there’s work you can do from home instead, lying down!!?

For some people nausea can disappear completely in a few weeks (it did for me at about 10 weeks) Fingers crossed!

Yes it is acceptable and as it's a pregnancy related illness it shouldn't be hold against you from a performance management POV.

I wasn't ever nauseous but I did struggle with my back and hips from the second trimester onwards during my second pregnancy. Looking back, I wish I had been kinder to myself and taken a few more days off. The only time I did, I was 37 weeks and hadn't slept a wink all night as I just couldn't get comfortable.

You need to speak to your gp- yes you can be signed off work sick but you need to try to get it under control. I was commuting by train and underground, felt nauseous all the time but rarely sick - I found nibbling ginger thins constantly helped

You need to go to your gp and get some medication. Really push for it, and yes, take some time off but obviously you don't know how long it will last so you need something that will ease this for you.
Mine didn't get better until around 16 weeks, bit I couldn't take time off because I'm self employed and just couldn't afford to.

Thanks for your replies. I agree that I don't know HOW I would actually work at the moment, I hadn't told my employer about the pregnancy yet as I'm only 8 weeks but might have to.

I definitely will call my GP next week they're always very supportive. I did see midwife yesterday and she told me I looked awful and washed-out but had no suggestions.

Hoping this passes quickly!

It’s completely reasonable to take time off for morning sickness . The days I weren’t puking were actually WORSE! Puking helped a bit, oddly, and I always felt better after .

I will say that getting out of the house always helped my morning sickness . I had days where I thought there was no way I could work but the fresh air helped and once I got to work the distractions helped .

Absolutely. I have HG and everyone always thinks it’s the vomiting that’s worst but I’ll tell you now, the constant nausea it’s utterly debilitating. Talk to your GP about getting signed off and discuss medication

Of course it is. How can you do any work like that?? It’s not just the vomiting, nausea is absolutely draining!

Because I've never been pregnant before I didn't know if this is normal and people just get on with it?

Thanks for the support in acknowledging that nausea is just as debilitating! And that time from work is OK.

Sorry to hear you have HG, if its like this I completely understand that it's unbearable.

Also, amongst all this nausea and wretching I'm craving a McDonald's as if its going to fix me, pregnancy is weird!

Worth trying OP, McDonalds fries sometimes help when I’m feeling off colour!

Don't be fobbed off. It's really common even for HCP to fob off the nausea. Of course you can be signed off for pregnancy related illness. Ignore any tosser who tries to make you feel bad.

Eat constantly through the day, e.g. crisps. It's worse on an empty stomach. I used to keep biscuits by the bed, if I sat up when waking up I would be sick! Weird tip - sipping grapefruit juice worked wonders for me. Big tesco sells it in the fresh juice aisle.

If it gets to vomiting and you cant keep things down get on the meds immediately, there's a few you can try and the sooner you start the easier it is to get under control.

Chronic nausea is the pits.

It is unbearable and debilitating. But some people don't understand this.

Try telling people going through chemo that nausea can't be 'that bad'.

Sorry you are suffering. I tried a few things. Anti sickness bands, eating polos, boiled sweets, also eating throughout the night, porridge before bed and crackers in the night. You don't feel like eating, but the nausea you get from an empty stomach is horrendous.

You will get out the other side

Also high dose vitamin B6 is supposed to help.

OP I so so sympathise!

I had this in both pregnancies. Some days I wouldn't vomit at all, those were worse than the days I spent vomiting because there was just no relief.

I went to the GP and was prescribed stemetil. It really helped me so much, pretty much instantly. Still felt a bit rough but able to function.

Push for it, you don't have to suffer this.

@FizzingWhizzbee123

Absolutely. I have HG and everyone always thinks it’s the vomiting that’s worst but I’ll tell you now, the constant nausea it’s utterly debilitating. Talk to your GP about getting signed off and discuss medication

So sorry to hear you are suffering. I had it 20 years ago and the memory is still with me. It’s the nausea that’s the worst, best to keep drinking and bring water back up then become dehydrated...I really wanted to end the pregnancy and nobody can imagine how awful it is unless they’ve lived through similar. Hang on in there. Thinking of you.

I really feel for you - I could have written this post word for word just a few weeks ago. If you weren't pregnant and felt this unwell, would you be going into work? If the answer is no, then I don't think the fact that it's caused by your pregnancy makes any difference, except for the fact that your employer can't penalise you for your absence. Please speak to your GP - I ended up being signed off work for nearly 4 weeks and was given some anti-nausea medication that helped to take the edge off. I started to feel a bit better around 10.5 weeks, and am now coming up to 13 weeks and feel a lot more human. You will get through it, but please ask for help. You shouldn't have to suffer through this just because pregnancy is a 'natural' process. Be kind to yourself

I was going to come on and say I worked through my nausea with DC1 and it was good to have something to focus on to take my mind off it. But that sounds like more than nausea. I couldn't have worked like that and you shouldn't be expected to. With DC2 I was like you are and couldn't work for a month. Hope you feel better soon. Fizzy water with lemon helped me, by the way.

Eat Macdonalds. It was the only thing I didn't vomit in my pregnancy

I was sick 50 times a day from 6 weeks and spent time in and out of hospital and off work.

For six weeks I couldn't open my eyes let alone move.

See you GP and look at

www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk

Mine stopped 8 hours after I gave birth.

Be prepared it may get worse.

If you weren't pregnant and felt this unwell, would you be going into work? If the answer is no, then I don't think the fact that it's caused by your pregnancy makes any difference

Very well said.

I would advise you to do some research (on the NHS website for example) about the different morning sickness medications which are available. I found my GP was not clued up on it at all. I ended up telling her about a medication she'd never heard of, despite it being licensed for use in pregnant women. It worked much better for me than what she initially prescribed. I'm 28 weeks now and still taking it. My sickness has never gone away but did get much better after around 20 weeks. The early weeks (from 6 weeks onwards before I got meds) sound very similar to what youre going through. I felt really unwell and was in bed most of the day, despite not being sick very often.

@gretagreengrapes
I experienced this too in my first trimester.
Mine could strike at any point , it's irony it's called morning sickness 😂
I've had 4 days off since I found out I was pregnant & im now 18 weeks

Around 2 weeks ago , I came into work & just vomited all over.
I tried pulling myself together by sipping water & having fresh air but in reality , I just wanted my bed

My senior manager pulled me to one side & told me he was concerned how many days I was having off , even though I can't help feeling ill

I went home , contacted my GP , who asked me how often it happened etc
I explained I was getting some crap from work & she prescribed me some anti sickness tablets

I take them as I need them & there really good at keeping the sickness at bay , so far I haven't had any more days off work so it's worth a try contacting hour midwife or GP for some tablets

Best of luck xx

I have HG and even with Cyclizine, I’m signed off work sick.

Thanks everyone for showing me I'm not alone! And really just being kind to yourself is really important, and that taking medication is fine. I don't think I'd be fobbed off, my GP surgery is just not like that at all.

I'm not sure if it can be called HG without the vomiting?! Its awful whatever it is. And you're right if I was feeling like this and not pregnant I wouldn't be at work.

I cant drink grapefruit juice as PP suggested because of medication I take, but pineapple juice is going down well so I get what you mean! I will also eat the McD's, seems like a must. 😋