Morning sickness - can dr presribe anything

[changeofnameforthis]

I know GPs are reluctant to presribe drugs for morning sickness but I have really severe nausea, all day every day and am finding it really difficult to cope at the moment. With my previous pregnancies, I had nausea & vomiting to weeks 16/14 - I can't imagine feeling like this for another 6 weeks (am just past the 8w mark with a twin pregnancy). Is there anything the dr can prescribe? If not, I won't waste time making an apt but if so, I'll go along and ask. Thanks!

Another ploy if you like (sounds a bit devius but not really) is to print off some of the iformation from blooming awful- sometimes that helps reassure GP. At elast that you have considered all angles, at least.

Are you keeping down fluids? That's realy the key imo: no fluids = risk of dehydratin. Vomiting in itself won't ahrm you, as the baby will just get all it needs from your reserves- but dehydration is a big risk. Sometimes Mums can keep down ice, or hot drinks; and foods such as lettuce, melon etc contain high amounts of fluids in a different format.

The other key is rest- evidence suggests that tiredness is a big contributory factor to nausea in pregnancy. So rest all you can.

However, severe vomiting in a twin pregnancy isn't that unusual- indeed after my hospital admission first thing they did after wiring me to drip was scan me for multiples.

Eating starchy food helps with the nausea, before I took hyperemesis I lived on ready salted crisps and lucosade.(sp)

Sideways how pga re you? I'm 18 weeks today, and agree- if someone had offered me a termination before the meds were taken, I would have considered it, even though I was despearte for this baby and it took many months to conceive.

Peachy, I'm 29 weeks now, still feeling sick a lot of the time but only being sick very rarely.

It took me a year to conceive this baby, but I still told dp in hospital I would have a termination if offered. Feel very guilty about that now, but it shows the state hyperemesis can leave you in.

Don't feel guilty, hyperemesis messes with every natural instinct you have- it's normal to feel like that.

Very true.

I hope the rest of your pregnancy goes well.

I also went to the docs and the hospital asking for something to make the sickness and nausea stop but they refused to give me anything and told me to put up with it. It has reduced me to tears several times and I have had almost 5 weeks off work where everyone thinks I am putting this on - I only wish they could have it for one day and then they will see how horrid it is.

Thanks everyone. Reading your stories I almost feel like a hypochondriac as I'm not actually being sick but I spend all the time feeling like I'm just about to. I'm obviously keeping fluids down but not a lot - I reckon yesterday I only got about 0.5l into me - today I forced myself to down a couple of glasses of water. I can't feel excited about being pregnant or having twins cos I feel so yuck - and this is a much wanted IVF pregnancy ... it's reassuring to read, Peachy & Sideways, that you also had negative thoughts and simply due to sickness. Now, time to get my other two, walking, talking children to bed. Thanks again for all the support. smile

Sorry ... one more question. On the Blooming Awful website, I read somewhere that the medications don't do much for nausea but are more designed to stop vomiting. Please, please reassure me that there is something out there to stop the nausea??

It depnds. To alrge extent ime the nausea is often at the very least worsened by the dehydration / lack of food etc. So as that lessens, so often does the nausea. Also, I found the meds put me out of it so much nausea wasnt an issue anyway.

Does depend on the med though- Avomine seemed to stop the nausea, whilst bucastem simply prevented the vomiting and didn't help with the nausea at all- to the extent I was dry retching. But I changed that medication and got the avomine insytead. It can take a few tries to get the right med- but it is out there somewhere.

My gp gave me sickness tablets straight away, i did'nt have to beg for them, if he did'nt give thhem to me i would of had to give my job up as i work with food.

I only took them for 2 months then i was fine.
It's worth asking

Thanks Peachy & Marne

Hi changeofname I really feel for you and what you're going through as you sound like me, I felt so sick 24/7 for weeks but never actually threw up. It is the absolute pits. I was signed off work and prescribed anti-sickness drugs, I think they were called prochlorperazine. Same as Peachy, they put you out of it and make you drowsy so you sleep more which for me was welcome 'time out' from the constant nausea - that is how desperate I got. Good luck, I really hope things start to get better for you soon.

Changeofname, if you aren't hydrarated you will feel worse. With my first pg I was in hospital for 3 weeks hooked up to a drip. I was given medication in a suppository(sp), but they just knocked me out. So I asked for a change and got the injections instead. They still made me sleepy but not knocking me out, just to wake up to throw up!If you think you are dehydrated ask your GP to test your pee. If it has keytones(sp??) in it you need a drip. With my second pg. I was fine once I was on the drip, nausea and dizzyness went away, but everytime they took me of it ,it all came back. Sorry for long post, but don't suffer thinking nobody will believe you. When I was on the gynae. ward the first time, there were 4 other women in with hyperemeis. You really have my sympathy. I thought labour was a doodle after suffering this!

I found cyclizine not bad for nausea. It makes you sleepy but wears off after a couple of weeks or so, as does the stemetil sleepiness. Nausea does crazy things to your brain - the vomiting makes you lose weight and look terrible - but I am sure it is the nausea that has so many people crying for termination - who would never have considered it otherwise.

The forums at hyperemesis.org are good for medication suggestions and support if you feel you need a specialised kind of a place. They are American though.

So sorry you are feeling so awful - I agree the nausea is worse than the vomiting as it just seems never ending. I ended up with terrible ante-natal depression from hyperemesis, but on the plus side- by the time ds2 was 2 weeks old it had all gone.
In the meantime it is just a case of coping best you can - take some information of what medications others have had to the Drs with you. I had an old school friend who was a pharmacist and she wrote a list of the medicines I could take safely for the Dr to see and that convinced them I was serious. I took cyclizine and stemetil right through my pregnancy - not sure if was more tired because of them or just from feeling so ill, but I did sleep a lot!
Other things you can try are chewing gum - this really kept the nausea at bay for me - somthing to do with saliva production (TMI!) I also heard of people eating those refreshers sweets to help - the round hard ones not the chewy ones. Try ice cubes if you really can't drink.
Good Luck - sorry was so long!

Hope you are feeling better soon, i had severe hyperemesis throughout pregnancy, but for many woman it can ease off in the later half, hope that is the case for you.

After several visits to the doctor and checks showing i was dehydrated, I was presribed stemitil and metaclopramide (sp?) but these did nothing for me - i think i had a bad reaction to Stemitil it made me very agitated, but not necc same for you of course.

I had several stays in hospital on a drip to get rehydrated. The constant nausea really got me down. I think it depends also on your doctor. i saw one who told me it was all part and parcel of pregnancy. I went to see my own doctor in tears, saying i couldn't cope and wanted to think about a termaintation, it was then that i was prescribed Zofran, it is a drug given to Cancer patients having Chemo, and is very exspensive for Doc's to prescribe, it worked for me though and i was able to keep down two light meals a day.

It is a shame that i had to get to this point in my pregnancy before Zofran was presribed, and when i moved and had a new doctor they seemed shocked that i was on it, and made me feel quite bad about the potential side effects on my unborn baby.

My darling boy was born fit and healthy with no health problems to date, if it hadn't been for Zofran i am not sure i would have him now. As i understand it, there is not conclusive evidence that these drugs harm the baby.

Not sure re meds, but was nauseous, sick and tired both preg but more so with second. Found anything icy really beneficial for keeping hydrated... icepops especially (all sorts of mad colours) and icy water sipped. Anything else didn't stay down... hope it eases soon

changeofname, not sure if homeopathic remedies have been mentioned. A friend has hyperemesis with both her lo's and it was the only thing that helped her (her gp was also a homeopath). Mind you she was still throwing up twice a day, but she was throwing up 10 times a day before that. Seemed to help somewhat with the nausea too. Worth a try?

I too had medication - stemitil.I was nearly all nausea with more retching than vomiting but I still became dehydrated through not eating and not drinking enough.I lost a stone in 2 weeks.You can get ketone sticks to test for dehydration - ask your midwife/GP.

I agree with the thoughts of terminating a wished for baby - I think your body goes into self preservation mode .If it was just the morning not 24/7 then most women who suffer could cope.I, like others know just how terrible it is.
Get to a sympathetic GP and ask directly for medication - there is a wide variance on prescibing especially if you are more nausea than vomiting.Some GPs are not at all comfortable to give any medication in pregnancy.Take your partner with you and ask him to put across the difficulty you are having in coping.Most hospital antenatal units also have a unit for rehydration/advice although again treatment protocols differ widely.I pre pregnancy would never have considered taking any medication but lots of women are put into this situation and it can really help.

I would strongly suggest you post on www.hyperemesis.org/forums for advice.Although American in set up there is a British contingent and a section for non Americans to post in for help,advice and moral support.

If nothing else if you need medication at least it reassures you that that although no drug is without risk, the risks from them are low and the women on this site who have taken medication do go on to have healthy babies.

Peachy,that is so weird that you say that about the anti-sickness tablet bucastem. Of course you know that I bow at your feet for your wisdomly words(helped me before)but my Dr told me that by no means what-so-ever take bucastem whilst pg as it will cause an instant miscarriage So frustrating!! Even the tablets I had when I went to the chemists to pick them up they didn't want me to have them as they thought they weren't suitable for pg woman and said was I sure that my Dr knew I was pg!!! I was huge!!!!

Similar situation to mum2g really. I was in hospital for a month and finally told them I'd booked a termination at a private clinic as I couldn't take anymore and that's when they finally gave me Zofran (Ondansetron) which quite frankly worked miracles.

I had tried all the others first stematil, buccastem, cyclazine but nothing worked. It's a truely horrible experience and it makes me so angry that had to spend a month in hospital before they would give me something that would work, I know it's an expensive drug About £8 a tablet but it's surely got to be cheaper than me taking up a hospital bed.

I dont really have much to add as a I know from experience Peachy has the best advice on this!
Just wanted to say I am 17weeks and am still suffering from HG, not as bad as it was but still nto nice, I have some tablets doc gave me.
The one he gave me tbh made me feel even yuckier but doc did say there were lots they could try so to go back if I had no let up.
Congratulations.

If bucastem causes an instant miscariage, can he explain DS1? According to my GP, bucastema dn stemetil are one and the same medication in different forms (maybe neverenoughpumpkids can confirm or deny this as she is a GP). Stemetil is very often used in medical situations.

Zofran is often known in HG circles as the king of meds- partly because it is so useful, and aprtly ebcuase it costs them so very much!

have checked on another forum and sremetil and bucastem do seem to be one and the same

What a bizarre comment!