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/topics/nausea-vomiting-in-pregnancy
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.

@nsg90 so sorry you are struggling, you sound just like me at the beginning.
I had IVF and even felt like 'what have I done to myself?!'
You will get there tho, it does get better.

If the cyclizine isn't working do go back to
The gp and ask to try something else,
There are plenty of other options. I ended up on cyclizine alongside ondansetron until
About 28 weeks and then have managed on just cyclizine since then. (37 weeks now).

Well after my recent msg, I've been admitted to hospital with confirmed hypermesis and severe dehydration. so anxious but they've said baby is fine. fingers crossed this is all I need and I'll feel better. xxx

Anyat212 Congratulations! Eight pounds is awonderful weight.
How wonderful that the nausea has gone. Thank you for your invaluable advice and support on this thread. Enjoy your baby. I hope you will call in sometimes.
Welcome to vixey and nsg90
vixey I am sorry I missed your message earlier and that you have been admitted. What meds have they put you on and have they said which they will be discharging you with? I hope you feel better soon. Here is my normal spiel, which I hope will help.
Here is my normal spiel, some of which I hope might help. Most sufferers find that they improve a lot at some point between weeks 14 and 20. Even those who are unlucky enough to suffer throughout generally are not as ill later on as they are in the first part. 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. When reporting on the vomiting to doctosr, remember to emphasize the number of heaves in each vomiting session, as doctors tend to count these as 'vomits' and this can lead to their underestimating the severity of your symptoms. Besides drinking through a straw, here are some drinks that have helped others: full sugar flat coke (if you don't find it too acid), ice lollies, the juice of tinned fruit, Lucozade, apple juice, Ribina, Dr Pepper, soda water, Elderflower water, tonic water, ice cubes, Iron Bru, lemonade, lemon squash, orange squash, orange juice (if not too acid), fizzy orange, 7Up, isotonic drinks, sips of chocolate milkshake (maybe soya), fizzy water, apple juice, Robinson's fruit drinks, Rubicon sparkling mango drink , raspberry Lucozade sport and frozen ice cubes of flat Lucozade sport . Foods of a sort include tinned fruit, cuppa soup, nibbles of crisps and chips, cheap ice cream, Scotch pancakes, bagels and biscuits and slices of melon and mango.
nsg90 Welcome. Sorry you are suffering. I am glad the Cyclizine has helped the vomiting. It might be worth asking if they can give you anything else to help with the nausea. Above in my answer to vixey is my normal spiel, which I hope might give you some good tips.
Ttc2017 I am so glad about your good news, particularly as your message mentioned what appeared to be a jelly like substance and clots, so it seemed to me miscarriage was inevitable. On Omprazole and dosing, I hope someone else can advise you on that.
Waves to snapple21 - sorry about bad day - bunhead34 and everyone.

Thank you - this is such good advice and I'm already so grateful to not feel so alone in this!

Counting the heaves is good advice, I've been counting the "episodes" so to speak, but if I count the heaves I'm easily at 30+ a day. Not sure if that's enough to class me as HG?

I'm going to give the cyclizine another day or so and hope it starts to relieve the nausea, but if not I'll definitely go back to my GP. He was very understanding and essentially said that lots of people won't give prescriptions until the mother ends up being hospitalised! Thank goodness he's not one of those GPs.

@LucindaE

Anyat212 Congratulations! Eight pounds is awonderful weight. How wonderful that the nausea has gone. Thank you for your invaluable advice and support on this thread. Enjoy your baby. I hope you will call in sometimes. Welcome to vixey and nsg90 vixey I am sorry I missed your message earlier and that you have been admitted. What meds have they put you on and have they said which they will be discharging you with? I hope you feel better soon. Here is my normal spiel, which I hope will help. Here is my normal spiel, some of which I hope might help. Most sufferers find that they improve a lot at some point between weeks 14 and 20. Even those who are unlucky enough to suffer throughout generally are not as ill later on as they are in the first part. 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. When reporting on the vomiting to doctosr, remember to emphasize the number of heaves in each vomiting session, as doctors tend to count these as 'vomits' and this can lead to their underestimating the severity of your symptoms. Besides drinking through a straw, here are some drinks that have helped others: full sugar flat coke (if you don't find it too acid), ice lollies, the juice of tinned fruit, Lucozade, apple juice, Ribina, Dr Pepper, soda water, Elderflower water, tonic water, ice cubes, Iron Bru, lemonade, lemon squash, orange squash, orange juice (if not too acid), fizzy orange, 7Up, isotonic drinks, sips of chocolate milkshake (maybe soya), fizzy water, apple juice, Robinson's fruit drinks, Rubicon sparkling mango drink , raspberry Lucozade sport and frozen ice cubes of flat Lucozade sport . Foods of a sort include tinned fruit, cuppa soup, nibbles of crisps and chips, cheap ice cream, Scotch pancakes, bagels and biscuits and slices of melon and mango. nsg90 Welcome. Sorry you are suffering. I am glad the Cyclizine has helped the vomiting. It might be worth asking if they can give you anything else to help with the nausea. Above in my answer to vixey is my normal spiel, which I hope might give you some good tips. Ttc2017 I am so glad about your good news, particularly as your message mentioned what appeared to be a jelly like substance and clots, so it seemed to me miscarriage was inevitable. On Omprazole and dosing, I hope someone else can advise you on that. Waves to snapple21 - sorry about bad day - bunhead34 and everyone.

thank you this is all such wonderful advice. so I came in feeling horrendous, genuinely thought I was losing the plot, couldn't talk properly and was hallucinating and had a severe migraine. so.they did bloods and a urine sample. showing im extremely dehydrated, which has come from not being able to eat for 24 hours and drink for 12 hours without throwing up. After tooing and throwing I was admitted and they gave me iv cyclizine, paracetamol and by tomorrow will have had 3 6 hour bags of fluids. I'm feeling a bit better and feel hungry for the first time in days. I'm exhausted and they are still monitoring my keytones, they haven't spoken about what they'll be sending me home with yet, will hopefully find out in the morning. thanks again for your advice, it's all so useful and I will screenshot it so my husband knows too. xxxxx

I feel loads better this morning. very tired but hospitals aren't great places to sleep. had two lots of cyclizine and 18 hours worth of potassium fluids. just waiting for a dr to come in and say I can go home. xxx

vixey That certainly sounds like bad dehydration, which at a certain stage makes sufferers confused. I am so glad you are feeling a lot better and that the advice has been helpful. I hope the medicine they send you home with is effective. If you find it iisn't helping as much as it should, don''t hesitate to go back to your GP to ask for others as there are a variety.
nsg90 That certainly sounds like Hypereemsis. I am glad the advice has helped and a good idea to ask for other meds if the Cyclizine isn't helping in a couple of days. It's good that you have a sympathetic GP.

Thanks again Lucinda I will of course check in every now and then

Just wanted to add, I remember someone asking a while back about taking cyclizine throughout pregnancy. I did even the day of c section. I haven't had to wean off the Cyclizine, I've just stopped taking it. The same with ondansetron last pregnancy altho I appreciate each person is different. No health problems for this baby either.

I hope everyone is coping today, I'll look forward to seeing you all in the pink castle x

@LucindaE

vixey That certainly sounds like bad dehydration, which at a certain stage makes sufferers confused. I am so glad you are feeling a lot better and that the advice has been helpful. I hope the medicine they send you home with is effective. If you find it iisn't helping as much as it should, don''t hesitate to go back to your GP to ask for others as there are a variety. nsg90 That certainly sounds like Hypereemsis. I am glad the advice has helped and a good idea to ask for other meds if the Cyclizine isn't helping in a couple of days. It's good that you have a sympathetic GP.

I need to just remember no matter how sick I am I need to keep drinking. they've given me metaclopromide but said they'd change it back to cyclizine if it doesn't help because the cyclizine was helping in hospital. also while I was in hospital I was given something called thiamine because its full of vitamins and im just curious if its something I should be taking regularly. xxx

Hi I just wanted to double check that I can take metaclopromide and cyclizine at same time.x

Just wondering when everyone’s HG kicked in? I had it last pregnancy and that time I started to feel sick 2 days after the FET (IVF baby) it started to get bad at 5 weeks and by 7 weeks it was terrible. Baby is now 10 months and we just started trying again this month and I’m on cycle day 18. The past few days I’ve felt so sick. Technically I’d only be 2.5 weeks pregnant- is it even possible that I’m pregnant again and that it’s starting so early? Would be so good to hear others’ experiences!

Justonemorepotato Welcome. A few sufferers here have suffered from nausea really early. I hope someone who did can advise you. There is lots of support on here.
Anyat212 It will be nice to hear from you.You have, as I say, been a . Congratulations on baby again .

Vikey Very true. I hope Metaclopramide helps a lot.
Ttc201 Various sufferers on here have been on Metaclopramide and Cyclizine together. I hope someone else can reassure you.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.
Due Dates
BB2021 4 April
Tiff94 4 April
doritodiva 12 April
bunhead 13 April
Dimpous 13 April
Funkypolar 19 April
Tiff94 21 April
ohidoliketobe 1 May
QueenBee95 2 May
Fruitloops34 5 May
Firsttimemum21 14 May
SweetpeaOrMarigold 18 May
Jlw2020 19 May
Snapple21 30 May
kingfisher657 24 June

Thank you @LucindaE I’m feeling partly excited that I could be pregnant, but also partly terrified that it’s this bad already so how bad will it get! Looking forward to hearing from others if they have had similar

Hi all. My baby came two days ago. So happy not to need the tablets anymore. Sickness has completely gone! I really enjoyed my first cup of tea!!

@doritodiva congratulations! Lovely to hear of another baby and even happier that the sickness has gone. Hope you enjoy all the treats you missed during the hg battle in the lovely pink castle x

@Justonemorepotato I really hope you escape the dreaded hg this time, my sickness for all my hg pregnancies usually started around 6 weeks if I remember correctly but I realised how important it is to get a plan in place re meds and any childcare help and food I may be able to tolerate so I would advise that.

@Ttc2017 lovely to hear that all is well and I hope it continues as such, hope you’re having better days x

@vixey sorry to hear how horrible things have been but great to hear you got the help you needed and meds. Fingers crossed you get over the peak and start to see more improvement. Be kind to yourself and take each day at a time x

Sorry to anyone else I may have missed but I really hope you get to have more good days than bad. I feel as though its groundhog day and getting down again so trying to take things slower, my house is still a mess which is messing with my ocd again but I can’t do anything about it atm!

Hi everyone,

Here hoping for some support from people who understand - currently pregnant with my second (6+5, according to my last period), had hyperemesis last pregnancy and feel exactly the same at this stage as I did last time. I know it’s HG again and I’m feeling really down about it. I’m not sure I can do this again (esp. with a 2 year old this time round) but I have to do this again. It took over a year (and two miscarriages) to conceive my daughter but conceived first cycle this time, so it is a bit of shock that I’m here already. Not sure how to cope. I’ve been prescribed ondansetron by the hospital (the GP was rubbish last time and looks set to be this time) and I am taking that but it isn’t helping and I can feel myself getting worse. I really struggled last time, off work for months and it lasted for my entire pregnancy. I don’t know how to do it again. It’s so early on and I’m not in a great place already. Any thoughts or advice or just a handhold would be really appreciated, thank you

doritodiva Congratulations. That is happy news. Thank you so much for coming back with your encouraging message. Glad you are better already. Enjoy your baby and welcome to the Pink Castle along with Anyat212
MimPimMim Welcome. Sorry you are suffering again. If Ondansetron isn't working might they add medicines? Sometimes I've heard of sufferers saying that adding Cyclzine really helps. As a veteran, you don't need my spiel about ice lollies, flat coke, the juice of tinned fruit and how helpful an anti-acid can be, let alone that most women need a laxative if they're on Ondansetron. It might be worth phoning Pregnancy Sickness Support on 024 7638 2020 who will phone back with good advice about medication. Did your doctors discuss steroids with you last time? Are there friends and family who might help out with your LO as presumably a health emergency means you can call on a couple despite lockdown restrictions?
Ev eryone is very supportive on here.
composed Looking forward to welcoming you into the Pink Castle too. You are quite right to leave the housework.

Thank you LucindaE, I really appreciate it. I found it really hard to get any medication at all last time - I absolutely pleaded but both the various GPs and the community midwife all just sort of waved their hands at it and said it will go eventually... Which it never did! And is besides the point, anyway. I was eventually prescribed cyclizine at 16 weeks, which did nothing, and then prochlorperazine, which took the very worst off but did nothing more. I was on my knees by that point and couldn’t fight anymore but being more proactive this time. I have a call with the hyperemesis specialist at the hospital to see how it has gone over the weekend, so will mention some of the things above to her. No one mentioned steroids to me last time, would you mind please telling me a little more about that? Thank you I do have good support from mum, in particular, but she can’t be here around the clock and that’s what I need really as my husband works long hours and now I have a toddler! Really just trying to get a handle on this as much as I can and as early as I can this time.

I tried acupuncture last time and did think it helped but didn’t start until 18 or so weeks, which I think was a bit late. I’ve found a local osteopath who offers a combination of osteopathy and medical acupuncture to help and she sounds good. She’s happy to start working with me after the 12 week scan. Has anyone else done something similar and found it useful?

Sending thoughts to everyone else suffering, it’s incredibly hard - physically and mentally

Ah sorry, just scanning back through the rest of the thread and can see there’s quite a few comments about acupuncture - all a bit mixed! It is a bit eyewateringly expensive on a weekly basis

MimPimMim I am glad you have got various options worked out. It is,as you say, very difficult to fight your corner when feeling so terrible.
Yes, the degree of relief obtained from Acupuncture does seem to vary very much; it really helps some, others not so much and there is that expense indeed. On Steroids, I have known various sufferers on here be put on them and greatly helped by them, though they do tend only to prescribe them when other medications have failed. I am no expert on them, but I hope that Pregnancy Sickness Support on 024
7638 2020 might be able to advise. They will ring back with good advice. There used to be a retired doctor on there whom everyone said was very helpful.
Waves to all.

feel so rubbish tonight. and my husband is cooking me a lovely meal, which I've even now I'm nervous because I'm almost sure I'll throw up as soon as I eat it. even though it was my sickness that's making us eat so late. just feeling a little fed up, im so exhausted from feeling ill. my house looks like a pigsty coz my husband can't keep on top of the cleaning and tidying like I do, but if I wanna go for a walk or even just to the supermarket that's me resting for the rest of the day. and people I work with are now saying if this is what I'm like at 7 weeks what will I be like at 38 weeks, which is worrying me. and then I'm wracked with guilt and feel so ungrateful because I know at least 3 couples who are desperate for a baby and cant get pregnant, and here I am complaining about it.
i'm really sorry guys for the rant, I'm just that way out tonight. xxxxxx

Thanks LucindaE, it’s been a pretty terrible weekend and I’m already feeling really frightened at the prospect of going through this again this pregnancy. Worse this time round as I have my beautiful DD and already I can’t take care of her properly, we have such a close bond and I’m worried about losing that. Not sure I can do this again. But I have had a scan already (concerns that the pregnancy may have been ectopic, which it isn’t) and have seen a heartbeat so I know why I have to. I will call pregnancy sickness support tomorrow, it would be good to talk to someone. Thank you for the advice and support, I really appreciate it

@vixey please don’t feel guilty, you can’t help being this ill with hg. As you are still in the early days its usually worse at that stage but I promise it does get better usually for the majority, if the current meds aren’t working go back to gp’s and ask to try something else. Have a read through of the food and drink suggestions by lucinda and try anything that may take your fancy, ice lollies in the early days for a lot of us were lifesavers. Be as kind to yourself as you can, pregnancy sickness support has loads of useful information on their website which may help. Remember this will end, try not to
think too far ahead and take each day at a time.

@MimPimMim totally understand the guilt when being so ill and not being able to take care of any current children. Lucinda always says they are very resilient and this horrid period is for a short time in the long run that they will get through it as will you. Even if you’re able to sit/lie in bed and watch something with her that in itself is huge, try not to worry. I have 2 and my youngest is 16mths so I understand. Have never tried acupuncture so can’t comment on that, if you’re on meds or not speak to gp and ask to try something, pss have a list of all the meds which can be tried, so getting a plan in place re meds is something I would highly encourage.

Sorry to anyone else I have missed but I really hope everyone has better days soon x

I'm a little better today, I had an awful morning, I ended up ringing nhs 111 and getting a different script for cyclizine. since having the cyclizine at 1pm, I've managed to eat and drink two full bottles of water. hopefully this is a turning point.
thanks for all the advice. xxx

Funny how cyclizine works for some and not others! My body was just fighting against it - I was keeping food down but retching so violently for prolonged periods of time that my stomach was rock hard and throbbing and my husband joked I might vomit up the baby. It was awful so I swapped to prochlorperazine and that's been better. The nausea isn't 100% gone but it's 10x better than it has been, and I haven't retched or vomited in 3 whole days. I can't get rid of the horrid sour taste in my mouth though, it constantly tastes as if I've just been sick. Has anyone got any tips? I've tried brushing my tongue and rinsing with mouthwash etc 🙈
I'm slowly starting to feel more human but still not enjoying this pregnancy! And the indigestion/acid reflux/heartburn WOW, why does nobody tell you about this stuff beforehand?!