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.

How many hours in between can you have the next dose of Stematil?

@haidri I take stemetil around 3.5 hours after a dose of cyclizine. I space them out because both of them together make me feel a bit loopy.

I take ondansetron at any point I fancy but try to leave 8 hours between my ondansetron doses but sometimes I take 4mg every 4 hours if desperate. If I take 8mg at once I leave an 8 hour gap.

I leave 8 hours between each dose of stemetil

@thingymabob im doing ok. Absolutely kanckered and the nausea is awful but surviving. 9 weeks tomorrow.
Seeing you are 12 weeks and suffering still so badly can you possibly ask for steroids? I know its a long shot but i was given them via IV for a week at home 2x a day from a nurse and then was on tablets weaning down the dose every 3 days and it did wonders for me and I felt human again.

Hi @abbs1 I think I'll ask about steroids if my symptoms carry on as severely after 14 weeks.

I had my 12 weeks scan today. It was a lovely experience. The sonographer was so kind and showed me everything. NT of 1.4mm so that's low which gives me confidence that my screening will come back low risk.

@thingymaboob

Hi *@abbs1* I think I'll ask about steroids if my symptoms carry on as severely after 14 weeks.

I had my 12 weeks scan today. It was a lovely experience. The sonographer was so kind and showed me everything. NT of 1.4mm so that's low which gives me confidence that my screening will come back low risk.

They were honestly a game changer for me. The only risk they carry is that baby be slightly smaller but i was like I'd rather have a healthy baby that is smaller than no baby as the daily hospital stays were so exhausting and I couldn't cope anymore and not being able to hold down fluids and food. Ny little boy was born 5lbs 8oz but that was down to pre eclampsia that wasnt picked up on until last minute but hes perfectly healthy and now a very active mischievous little 16 month old!

Awww thats so lovely! I bet that gave you a big boost. Im so glad the sonographer was so kind to you. Ive got an early private scan tomorrow when I'm 9 weeks. Im excited but so nervous too.
With HG they normally offer you more growth scans due to being high risk. I had one at 12, 20, 22(they needed to check something they couldn't get see at the 20 weeks scan) 28, 32, 37 and then was induced before my 38 week scan. It always was so nice to see baby on the scan.

Can I get some advice please...feeling so physically and mentally drained.

Started taking the cyclizine yesterday but I feel like I’m getting worse and worse. I have vomited 5 times so far today and am not keeping anything down. Anything I eat or drink is coming straight back up. I have a terrible headache, dizziness and nausea that is relentless. What can I do? I feel utterly miserable

@Lzgs I was exactly the same as you two weeks ago without anti sickness.. turned out I had high ketones in my urine & had to be admitted in hospital. They gave me Ondansentron & IV drips to help me eat and drink again.

If you're unable to keep down water like I was, I'd highly suggest you go to hospital. I came back from hospital feeling fresh again

@Lzgs please seek medical help hun. You can dehydrated very quickly. A and E is probably your best option as its the weekend. If I was you go first thing tomorrow morning between 6-7am when it should be quiet and you can be seen quickly and not waiting hours and hours. Definitely get some iv fluids and ask for ondansatron as well as lactulose as it makes you really constipated. Ask them for IV stuff whe in hospital and a prescription to take home with you.
Also write down everything on a piece of paper what been going on, what medication youve been given etc, so you dont have to repeat yourself over and over when you're feeling so poorly. I found that helped me a lot when I had to do weekend A and E trips for fluids and IV medication.

@haidri @abbs1
Thanks for the advice will go to A&E tomorrow morning

[quote Lzgs]**@haidri* @abbs1*
Thanks for the advice will go to A&E tomorrow morning[/quote]
I hope you get the help you need hun. Make sure ask if you need more iv fluids and medication where to go as many hospitals have the day units i put a link to in my comment before. If they dont offer one find out if there is somewhere you can get seen quickly so you dont have to go to A and E each time. Let me know how you get on.

Just spoke (v tearfully!) to 111 and now waiting for out of hours gp to call. Rly feeling like I might need to go to A&E tonight

Don’t delay going, you will only make yourself worse :( good luck!

@lzgs if you need to hun then definitely go. I was more thinking of shorter waiting times in the morning as evenings can be very busy but see what the GP says or if they take too long to call just go.

@Lzgs how are you doing hun? Have you managed to get to hospital for medication and fluids?

@abbs1 well as I was leaving for A&E the gap called for me to come to the out of hours gp for assessment as it would be better to avoid A&E if poss.
She said I wasn’t yet at a point of requiring hospitalisation.
I’ve been prescribed metoclopramide to take alongside the cyclizine. She said after 12 weeks she can give me something stronger if need be...
Fingers crossed this new medication is my saviour

[quote Lzgs]@abbs1 well as I was leaving for A&E the gap called for me to come to the out of hours gp for assessment as it would be better to avoid A&E if poss.
She said I wasn’t yet at a point of requiring hospitalisation.
I’ve been prescribed metoclopramide to take alongside the cyclizine. She said after 12 weeks she can give me something stronger if need be...
Fingers crossed this new medication is my saviour[/quote]
Oh im glad you could avoid the A and E waiting times. Metoclopromide worked amazingly well for me so I really hope it works well alongside cyclizine for you. Make sure you set alarms through the night to keep on top of the dosage as that helped me a lot.
I hope you get some relief very soon.

@Lzgs glad you've got more drugs. The "stronger" drug they're talking about is probably ondansetron and you can take it in first trimester. There is an absolutely tiny tiny increase in the chance of cleft palate but it's about understanding risk vs benefit. My GP and I discussed it. There are more options if metoclopramide doesn't work, don't feel like it's your only option at this stage.

Hope you get some relief soon! It's pure hell

abbs1 Back. Thank you so much for looking after the thread with your invaluable experience and advice. It was a nice couple of days away, though the weather was awful. Did you have that scan and I hope it was a boost for you as I am so glad to hear that thingymaboob's was for her.
marchmamma Thank you for coming back on to recommend that link to the groups, which I hope will help various sufferers on here.
I hope Lzgs is improving on Metaclopramide. Waves to haidi
Ysa15 and everyone.

Makes me so sad coming on here and seeing that there’s people struggling so much!

Hyperemesis has a lot to answer for!

I’m now around 10.5 weeks.. I’m currently on stemetil and ondansetron 3 x a day.. I’m not really being sick, maybe a couple of times a week.. but I feel hellish.. I feel worse than ever now!! I even bit the bullet and went on the sick :( x

@LucindaE glad you had a lovely time away. The weather hasnt been good has it 😔
Yes my scan all went well. Baby is measuring on track so lovely to see a heartbeat. They did find a cyst on my right ovary they said I should mention and get checked at my 12 week scan.

Hoping everyone is surviving today.

Hiya @Ttcbn2 Good for you! Going on the sick was the best and only option for me. Been off for 6 weeks now. Got another 2 weeks on my current sick leave but I'm not going to rush back if I'm vomiting even once a day / still feel super nauseous. It's pregnancy related so still get pay etc.
Have a nice rest, hydrate and have some nice naps.

@abbs1 glad your scan went well. How are you getting on? Are you having a better time of it this pregnancy?

[quote thingymaboob]@abbs1 glad your scan went well. How are you getting on? Are you having a better time of it this pregnancy?[/quote]
I'm doing so much better than last time. Still feel like I'm gonna be hit by a train with sickness at any moment. I was so scared that I'd have MMC or something as I'm not being sick everyday and that my pregnancy wasnt progressing so I'm so relieved everything is ok. Im 9+1 today.
The xonvea is working wonders. I take 4 tablets a day. I still feel very nauseous first thing in the morning, around midday and before bed but it kind of comes in waves rather than it 24/7 like last time. Its worse if I forget to eat but I can function and still care for my little boy and take him to his playgroup once a week so I feel very lucky.
It makes me so sad to see everyone suffering so badly and seeing how hard it is to get medication and treatment as I know exactly how youre all feeling from going through it last time, so I haven't wanted to say too much so I don't rub it in anyones face that I'm doing so much better. Apparently from taking the xonvea before the nausea started and from 5 weeks its meant to stop the nausea and sickness from even starting and so far its working really well.
I just sometimes wish I could get a Memo out to every GP and surgery in the UK to tell them about HG and to offer medication and treatment to women without so much hesitation so that women don't suffer unnecessarily. 😢