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
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.

Thanks for responding @LucindaE my sickness is definitely worse due to the anxiety. Also have a raging headache. As you say, these results often work out low per 100. It’s still very scary. I’m sorry you went through that. Xx

@LucindaE that is SUPER useful!
Sadly only made it to 14 weeks before a miscarriage earlier this year but did give me a chance to work out some tips.

I'm on cyclozine and metaclopramide. I still can't move without being sick, but can work at home a bit on my laptop on the meds.

A tip I came across is a pressure point on the bit between your top lip and nose and if you press it with all your fingers in a row it stops you being sick. Great if you need to get to the bathroom or like me you can't get downstairs without being sick! Weird but true!

So glad to hear about it tailing off at 14/20 weeks. I did IVF which made me poorly so feels like I've been ill for nearly a year already!

Good luck with the scan @MrsNovember

This is slighlty off topic, but when we had our little boy we were staying at my husbands parents house so they were there when we brought baby home and my dad got to see baby before lockdown. We then got to enjoy mostly being in a baby bubble due rto no one being allowed round.
This time we now live in our own place, when baby comes home, his parents and my dad can come see bub but then give us some space to get adjusted to a family of 4 and other relatives/friends can come after a week/10days etc. Hes like no they can come whenever they want you cant say no. I said I'm gonna want time just us and its a huge adjustment for our little boy and recovery from birth for me and we need time just us as a family.
Am I being completely unreasonable asking for this?
I feel like I can somewhat enjoy this pregnancy as my medication is keeping my symptoms to a minimum so I want to be able to enjoy the birth and days after unlike last time when I was finally sickness free but my body was just completely wrecked from hg and I had nothing left in me so I really didnt care that other people were there.

For you mummies who have 2 kids what was it like adjusting to 2 kids at home and allowing visitors esp after hg journey.

Hi everyone! I hope you're all doing the best you can 💗

I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for keeping oral meds down. I'm at the point where I can't even tolerate my tablets, and it's making life unbearable.

It's not a matter of swallowing them, but they just won't stay down 😭💗

Oh honey - is there anything at all you are managing to keep down? I try to distract myself with the aim of keeping tablets in for an hour, and then I stop worrying… but most days I can manage that and if you can’t then can’t they give you community injections if you’re not in hospital?

@meg232xx my Dad (a retired doctor!) always told me that if you can see the pills in the vomit, it's fine just to take another dose right away. I was told the same thing in hospital. You might have better luck keeping the second dose down if you've just been sick.

If you are routinely vomiting the meds, though, you probably do need to be in hospital so they can put them in IV for a while. When I was vomiting relentlessly, I had the impression that my digestion basically "stopped" anyway: I mean that even if I did manage to go a few hours between vomits, what came up looked intact, as if normal digestion just wasn't really working.

The other option is to ask if you can have any or all of your meds in suppository form (to put up your bottom). Bit undignified, but can be a much more reliable way of absorbing them. I'm in France, where everyone loves suppositories (weirdly!) so you can get everything that way, but the drugs you are on are probably available in that form too if you can get hold of a GP. (Or alternatively, if you end up in hospital, you could ask about being discharged with drugs in this form -- hospital pharmacists can be quite creative in my experience and like a challenge!)

From my side, still quite good news. Day three of Xonvea here and I haven't been sick since I started taking it at Tuesday lunchtime, which is v. good news as I had just that morning started the two-hourly vomiting which is usually the beginning of the end for me. I had been really struggling to eat at all, and noticed that I had already lost a couple of kilos (not brilliant for six and a half weeks) but today has actually been better. I bought some Coke which really helped a bit. Don't think I have drunk Coke since the last time I was pregnant, back in 2014/15!

@HolsGreen I'm so sorry to hear about your miscarriage at 14 weeks. I think that is every HG sufferer's worst nightmare -- to get through the worst bit and then lose the baby. You are very brave to be doing it again so soon. I really know what you mean about the isolation. We have just moved to France so I don't really know anyone anyway, but it is tough being stuck in bed all day on my own with my husband at work and the children at school. Luckily, just before I got too ill I made friends with the mum of another child in DS2's class and she isn't working so is keen to pop round to keep me company sometimes. I feel so glad that I introduced myself to her on the first day of school!

@HolsGreen I’m so sorry to hear about your mc so far into an hg pregnancy. We lost our first pregnancy after 12 weeks, 6 of those weeks I’d be suffering from hg. I felt so confused and blindsided after everyone told us it would likely be good news considering our symptoms. I was so exhausted and distraught.

It’s really brave to go again, especially to go through IVF. You must feel like you’ve been pregnant forever. I really hope the symptoms tail off early. I was managing better at 16 weeks with my ds and I stopped being sick at 26 weeks. This time around my symptoms started two weeks earlier and now at 12 weeks I’m getting the odd better day. Fingers crossed for you. Xx

HolsGreen I am sorry that you lost a pregnancy at 14 weeks. As others say, it is brave of you to go for it again quickly. I am glad you think the spiel will help.
Catconfusion I am so sorry that you have this worry after having an m/c at 12 weeks. It is kind of you to sympathise with my worries of yesteryear when you are suffering from them now! In fact, I realise that the odds they gave me were 1 in 33, noy 1 in 43, but as you say, that is only a very small percentage out of a hundred. Sorry to hear of your headache. I am sure the worry makes every symptom worse.
meg232xx That's a great suggestion from kalidasa about suppositories.
kalidasa That is enocouraging about Xonvea.
abbs1 Great advice, as ever.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.

Thanks everyone, hoping it's all worth it this time, it's been a long road and this is our last chance so fingers crossed.

@meg232xx this may not work for you but I time my tablets so I stay still in bed for an hour after taking, preferably asleep. I usually am sick when I move but figure by that time hopefully they have digested a bit.

@Catconfusion I'm so sorry you lost yours at 12w. It's a terrible thing to go through.

Thanks @HolsGreen it’s such a difficult thing to recover from. Pregnancy is just not the same after such a trauma. It’s difficult to be reassured by symptoms when being sick did not lead to a positive outcome. I’ve had 5 losses in total. Thankfully 4 were really early on. Blessed to have my ds though and hopefully all will be well with this baby. Xx

@LucindaE thank you, it’s not ideal and being an older mum means there doesn’t need to be much wrong to get a high risk result. It seems it can be lots of worry for no reason.

High risk is high risk. When someone says that to you it’s difficult to deal with, even if the percentage itself is a bit more reassuring. I’m sure you can remember the worry it caused.

Thankfully the headache is better today. I think it was the stress. I’ve not had a phone call yet with the blood test results so trying not to worry about it until we know Xx

@LucindaE - I missed your message of congratulations - thank you! Please don’t apologise!

@LucindaE 3 days have now passed and I was assured we’d hear by now if there was something to worry about. I can only assume our combined result was low risk. My bloods must have been good. I’m pretty shocked considering our consultant told us to prepare for high risk. I just hope the hospital hasn’t messed up. Anyway now we wait for the letter to confirm. Xx

Catconfusion That sounds encouraging. You are so right about the worry aspect, particularly after mc's. Five losses must have been traumatic: even one spoils the next pregnancy with anxiety.
Pleasedon'tworry It's always nice to hear the happy news.
HolsGreen Good ideas for meg232xx. Absurdly, my handwriting is so bad that I thought I'd just randomly jotted down my surname when I had in fact written the name you post under, and I thought, 'My goodness, I'm starting to get vague!'.

Hi ladies!
Hope you’re all coping ok. I was on this thread back in 2015 when I had severe HG with my first (think my username was LilacWine or something similar back then).
So 6 years later I’m pregnant with my second; only about 5.5 weeks so while I’m nauseous a lot the HG hasn’t fully kicked in (yet). I think it hit me hard around 7weeks last time, and I found this thread an invaluable source of support. Thank you Lucinda ❤️
I haven’t told many people in RL yet as it’s so early, and haven’t told my son. Did anyone have an easier time with HG second time around or is it always worse?

@FateHasRedesignedMost welcome and congratulations. Unfortunately I’ve found it worse second time around. In my first pregnancy it started at 7 weeks and was severe but I felt I got a little bit of respite each day. This time it’s been really relentless in the early days. It started at 5/6 weeks and I’ve felt so ill with regular vomiting. Since 10 weeks I’ve got the odd few hours of feeling a bit better. Now I’m 12 weeks and I’m getting the odd good day. So I think it’s easing a bit.

I do hope it’s better for you this time. Every pregnancy is different. Hopefully this one is much easier than your last. Xx

Hi all, have been lurking for a while but need some advice. Am 26 weeks pregnant and still vomiting multiple times every day, because of this my iron is low and I have been prescribed iron tablets. However I took my first one this morning and I have been throwing up almost non-stop since, have wet myself while vomiting and my stomach is feeling so sore I have just been in tears all morning. I feel like the doctor won’t take me seriously if I ask them to try giving me iron another way after only taking one tablet but I can’t put myself through this later on as well, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

@Alwaystrappedunderababy I’m so sorry you’re feeling so unwell and so late on as well 💐. It’s such a horrible thing to go through. I certainly relate to the vomiting and setting. It seems to go hand in hand for me during this pregnancy.

A friend of mine had hg and problems with iron tablets. She was offered intravenous iron infusions to help get her levels up. My advice would be to talk to another doctor if they’re not taking you seriously. If you can’t keep the iron tablets down, you’re not going to get the benefits so they should be offering you another option. It’s important for you and your baby, even if it’s one tablet you couldn’t keep down. I hope you get further help with this. Xx

@Alwaystrappedunderababy it's really common not to be able to tolerate iron tablets, even if you don't have HG. If you are not very anaemic they probably won't do an infusion (unfortunately!) but there are sachets you can get which you dissolve in orange juice and drink. I found those more manageable than the pills at least once I was in the second half of pregnancy, so you could ask about that. Just tell the GP that you vomit the iron tablets straight back up so you need a different way -- obviously if you vomit them you are not absorbing the iron, so even if they don't care about your vomiting itself (which they should!) it's obviously not going to work to treat the anaemia.

@FateHasRedesignedMost I also had a baby (DS2) in 2015, though in January so most of the pregnancy was in 2014. I think I remember your old username though. I had severe HG with both my previous pregnancies and I'm at the early stages of another pregnancy now, the boys are 6 and 8. My HG was a good deal worse the second time, unfortunately, I took both cyclizine and ondansetron pre-emptively and even so I was admitted before 7 weeks. But this is unusual and was bad luck -- most women who get pre-emptive meds organised seem to do better in their second pregnancies, like @abbs1 on here at the moment. And in this third pregnancy, though definitely basically similar to the previous two, I think it is more like DS1 than DS2, so I'm hoping the peak will be a bit less severe and I won't have to be in hospital for as long as I was with DS2. I started taking Xonvea on Tuesday and that has stopped the vomiting for now, which is great. Unfortunately I can't really tolerate ondansetron and also can't take metocloprimide (I had extra-pyramidal / neurological issues with it), so my options are a bit limited when the vomiting breaks through the Xonvea. With DS2 I was on IV steroids for a long time but it would be so much better for the family if I could avoid being in hospital for too long this time!

I am 6+4 now and this is now the fourth day with no vomiting (so far) since starting on the Xonvea on Tuesday. I do feel very sick today though and am trying to avoid moving at all. If I can make it to 7 weeks on Tuesday without having been admitted to hospital that will be a record for me! Does feel like a long way to go though as I know I am still probably several weeks off the peak . . .

It’s good news from me. My combined test has come back low risk after a lot of panic and worry. I still need to speak to the midwife about the extra fluid baby had at the scan but for now I’m feeling more relaxed. Also interesting my hcg level has come back normal when suffering with hg. Just goes to show hg isn’t necessarily a sign of raised hcg. Xx

Back at the hospital today ladies!

How are you all feeling? I hope you're able to keep something down:(

Been waiting for about 2 hours and they've just checked blood pressure etc- I have a feeling I won't get the drip today. I feel my body is beginning to just get used to this situation and doesn't react much anymore but I hopeeeeee I get the drip I haven't eaten anything or kept fluid down for days!

Alwaystrappedunderababy Welcome. From your name, I am assuming this isn't your first HG pregnancy, so I'm not giving my normal spiel about keostix as hospitals take their measurements seriously, flat, full sugar coke, the juice of tinned fruit and ice lollies, an anti acid, etc. Sorry that you are suffering so late on. Many do vomit with iron tablets. Some find the liquid form better. Great advice from kalidasa and others about options to ask for form your doctor. What meds do the doctors have you on?
FaeHasRedisignedMost Welcome back. I do remember a name roughly like LilacWine. I am glad the thread helped a lot. It does seem to vary whether sufferers suffer worst the second time round; , I didn't go for it for another LO, which I regret, but as many on here seem to find it easier with a secnd pregnancy as otherwise. Going for pre-emptive meds can make a big difference, from what I've seen. Having Xonvea pre-emptively has really helped abbs1, for instance, and I am glad that at least for now, it is helping kalidasa. Have you got help with your LO as rest is as good as any medicine? Of course, LO must be school age now, which might give you some rest in the day.
Catconfusion That is happy news abouta low risk after all; I'm so glad. Sorry it's worse this time. I hope the turnaround is indeed coming soon.
kalidasa Keeping my fingers crossed it keeps up. Great advice as ever.
theconfused I do hope you get seen soon. Poor you, having to be re-admitted again. I hope you get rather better treatment this time.
Sorry if I've overlooked anyone.

I think I remember your old username though. I had severe HG with both my previous pregnancies and I'm at the early stages of another pregnancy now, the boys are 6 and 8.

I remember your username too, and I think you came back to help when I was still having sickness post-birth (think it was a combination of bf hormones, heartburn and the associations of food, luckily GP prescribed metraclopamide and omeprazole which sorted it).

I’m still a way off the peak too. My son has just turned 6 and has his birthday party next weekend!

Woke up at 4am vomiting today but the nausea isn’t constant (yet) just comes in waves and eases off completely in between; so I’m either naive about what’s to come or maybe more clued up this time! I think I’ve blocked out the worst of it!