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 @kalidasa. I have to say right now the nausea is worse than the sickness because like you say for the very reason at least after I am sick I feel a small few minutes of relief, but this is relentless. I will speak to GP tomorrow re trying something different - my only worry being I am not signed off work (although thankfully working from home) and I really don’t think I can because I would automatically go on to half pay which really wouldn’t be great months before a little one arrives...xx

@kalidasa thank you 😊

@pregnancydiaries I think we’re at similar stages, I recognise your name from the June 2022 thread. Is this your first pregnancy? I had a MC but never got this far and it’s been a real shock to the system with the extreme sickness. I can barely function, definitely don’t have that glowy feeling lol. Another pregnancy side effect I’ve found out today really dry skin on my face. Lovely. As long as the little bean is getting everything it needs 🙈

@HopefulJ2018 we are! Hello 🤗 I’m 6+5 today, where are you in this journey? I’m the exact same we had an MC in February and then MMC in May but never made it this far. Found out about MMC at 6 weeks so had a scan last week, was good to make it across that milestone. How are you holding up after MC?

I definitely do NOT have a pregnancy glow, in fact I’ve never looked worse 😂 xx

@pregnancydiaries is your nausea relentless from the moment you wake up? I’m lucky as the nausea comes on after I eat breakfast but from when I wake up until then, I just feel extremely weak. Hence I manage 2hrs of work in the morning and then go gradually downhill. I know it sucks having to worry about work while you’re so sick, but if you do get signed off even if just for a little while, it may reduce the stress and worry and you may be less sick. Your mental health does affect the physical sickness too.

@HopefulJ2018 my stepmum suffered from HG and recurrent loss, the poor woman. But she always told me, she was sicker with the ones that stuck. So in some ways, the sickness was a blessing.
I also have no pregnancy glow, my face is a pale washed out version of itself, which gets worse when I go upstairs and my blood pressure plummets. I’ve attempted to keep the pregnancy as secret as possible, which I can only do by hiding away. Anyone who sees me knows instantly. The only perk is that I now sleep at least 9hrs every night, out of sheer exhaustion, and the bags under my eyes have improved somewhat.

@kalidasa oh I totally sympathise with you. My DH is becoming aware of the mental work that I do in organising everything. He usually just goes with the flow while I follow more of a structure and since I’m bedridden, he’s left to his devices and is struggling to fit in everything. Especially as it is spring and the lawn is growing non-stop (usually a me job). I’m desperate to be able to pull my weight a bit more, but also well aware of my limitations. It’s a hard balance, but hopefully I will be helpful again come January.

@Melleebacca it is SO relentless. It wakes me up in the morning and lasts all day and night. I’m completely bed bound with it which is why I’m thinking that can’t just be normal pregnancy nausea...surely!! Doesn’t sound like your lucky, weakness completely floors you doesn’t it! Wise words about work and my other half is trying to convince me to take a bit of time off. Currently I’ve been “working” from bed, moving the mouse around and cancelling meetings. Think I’ll at least need to let my boss know soon which I really didn’t want to do after MCs xx

@pregnancydiaries it’s hard, because everyone you tell, you have to be prepared to tell them if you miscarry. With our son that we lost at 17wks, we knew that it had a good chance of ending badly at 11wks, unfortunately that was days before Christmas and I had to see extended family and tell them the news and then again tell them when we lost him. As a very private person who wanted to grieve alone, it was awful. This time around I have told 5 people and burst into tears each time. But I am glad I have told my boss, as he has worked to make sure the rest of the team can pick up my slack, which helps me not feel like I’m letting everyone down.

Hey hope you don't mind I join! Honestly wish I knew about this thread with my previous two pregnancies. I had HG with ds1 and ds2. I thought I'd get lucky this time round (I'm dated at 7+3) but the constant nausea has hit hard over the last 48 hours, there's no break. I know what's coming. I've barely left my bed all day because I feel so terrible 😞

@Melleebacca I’m so so sorry to hear about your son, I can’t even begin to imagine how that must have felt and must feel this time around. Are you getting the level of care you need from the NHS with this pg given the circumstances? I’m the same I’m such a private person and I think that also comes from telling everyone last time, but you’re right telling my boss might help alleviate some work stresses xx

nubbie That sounds awful and I don't know why they are ignoring the dark kesostix. I suppose it is to do with overcrowding in hospitals, unfortunately, if you're in the UK. Still, sometimes they rehydrate sufferers while still in A and E on a chair. I so agree with others, do ask for stronger meds. If you are refused, it might be an idea to ask Pregnancy Sickness Support about how to get them on 024 7368 2020. They will ring back with good advice.
kalidasa I am glad about it being a better day, but sorry to hear of vomiting episode and OH at the end of his tether. Hopefully, the holiday will help him. Your advice about ketones and ketoacidosis and the relationship between them and starvation and dehydration is particularly instructive.
theconfused The differences between the level of ketones needed for a hospital to admit seem to be inexplicable. A woman on this thread FluffyWhiteKittens some years ago, was discharged from hospital by a consultant though she still had 3+ ketones because 'we can't keep her in forever'.
pregnancydiaries A good idea to ask for stronger meds. If you can't get up because the symtoms are so bad, definitely it is Hyperemesis.
HopefulJ2018 I so agree with others, that sounds like pulled muscles. I used to have it until recently with the vomiting with migraines. Very painful but with no sinister meaning.
Melleebacca That sounds awful about the backpack and I am so sorry that you and pregnancydiaries and HopefulJ2018 have the quandry of how many people to tell because of previous losses.
Togetherismyfavouriteplace Dysgusia: thickhead Mother Hen here had to look it up. That foul taste in the mouth is really typical. Many suck sweets to get rid of it; I sucked barley sugar, some swear by Love hearts or Parma violets, but that can make the problem of excess saliva worse. You can't win! Sorry you feel so low. Do you have dark urine, headache etc which are often a better indication of dehydration than ketones, which is always a quandry, when hospitals so often insist on certain levels of ketones to admit? Can (or will) the doctor add any meds?
FateHasRedesignedMost Eighty pounds! Oh dear. I wonder why there is that annoying Catch 22 situation over private prescriptions and consultants?
abbs1Good advice.
Apologies to anyone overlooked. So much great advice going on on here.

@LucindaE thank you as always, going to ask for stronger meds straight away tomorrow. I stopped taking the stemetil today because the nausea was too bad I actually needed to just be sick to feel a slight bit of relief. Now the sickness is bad with a vengeance - what a vicious cycle there is to HG which I am learning about here!!

@fallhappy1 welcome! And sorry to hear you are feeling so rubbish. Hopefully you can get straight on to some meds that will help soon xx

fallhappy1 Sorry to have missed you - cross posted I think - and welcome from me, too. Congratulations on your pregnancy. Sorry you may not have escaped the scourge. There's lots of support on here. As you are a third time veteran, you need no advice from me about kesostix, ice lollies, and anti acids. What meds, if any, helped before? Have you got help from family or friends?
pregnancydiaries That sounds horrible. Hopefully the GP can advise, but I wonder if an anti acid might help a bit with the nausea? A good one like Omprazole has helped many.

@pregnancydiaries I’m in NZ, but I do have a very supportive midwife and GP and I’m booked in for my NIPT test next week. Currently waiting to get the first trimester screening bloods done (I can do them from 9wks onwards and I don’t intend to do any unnecessary waiting).

Hi ladies, after a bit of advice and hopefully reassurance! I had HG with my last pregnancy, I was throwing up multiple times (10-20 times a day not able to brush teeth/keep water down etc) before my period was late which was how we knew to test. I have just had a positive result (period 3 days late) and am only slightly nauseous and haven't thrown up. I know I should be happy about this but it making me feel stressed that something could be wrong. Have many people had varying degrees between pregnancies?

@HoneyPea congratulations on your pregnancy. No advice really, as I am in my first pregnancy, but didn’t want to read and run. I found out I was pregnant at 5weeks, and didn’t have any symptoms. By 6 weeks I was feeling awful, and by 9 weeks I was given my first IV and started medication. It got steadily worse, day by day, until a bit of relief in the last week or so (currently 19w2d)

Hello @HoneyPea like you I have had very noticeable nausea well before missing my period in all my pregnancies. But with DS2 (the worst) I was pretty much bed bound from 3 weeks whereas in this third pregnancy I was able to function quite normally up to nearly 6. So I'd say that although I've had HG each time it does vary and that in my experience the earlier it starts the worse it is at the peak. Hopefully this will just be a slightly easier pregnancy for you! (Also might be a different sex, some women notice a marked difference between carrying girls vs boys.)

@nubbie sorry you’re feeling so awful, did you go to hospital in the end? They don’t always keep you in, during my first pregnancy I was admitted for rehydration a few times but it was literally just a bag of IV fluid and glucose with anti sickness injections, then sent home with different meds after the IV was done. Agree it’s likely to be overcrowding and bed pressures.

@kalidasa How long’s your OH away for? Mine is at the end of his tether too, he’s not used to doing all the food prep. I just can’t face deciding on meals or shopping for groceries, or cooking anything, so I’ve handed that to him and he keeps trying to hand it back! He doesn’t like me staying in bed so much but if I don’t keep still I end up vomiting. When I feel sick I need stillness around me, not 6 year old running about jumping off furniture and the TV on and DH stomping about because he has to make lunch again. At least half term ends tomorrow so that’s one less meal to stress over!

@HopefulJ2018 It could be your uterus and ligaments stretching, I get pains in my pelvis and ribs from that. Or as others said it sounds like pulled muscles from vomiting/retching.

@Melleebacca sorry you have OH problems too! I know it must be hard for them but I wish there was a way they could just get on with it and stop acting so hard done by.

@Togetherismyfavouriteplace is it a metallic taste? I find it comes and goes. Chewing gum helps me, or fruit ice lollies.

@pregnancydiaries Omprazole has helped me a lot, along with ondansetron and metaclopramide. I’ve also started taking 2 promethazine (phenergan) tablets at night to help with insomnia (and sickness) and find they help me to sleep through instead of waking up sick at 2am.

@HoneyPea welcome to the thread but sorry you’re feeling so ill. How are you doing so far? Do you have much support from family?

Having a rough day here, DH is in a bad mood and even ondansetron isn’t helping the sickness much. Hoping it’s the yolk sac chancing over to placenta function (thanks for advice @kalidasa) as I’m 12 weeks now. According to my app I can expect to feel hot, sick, dizzy and exhausted this week but next week should be better 🤔
I’m getting really light headed going up the stairs and getting up from the bed, think my BP’s dropped. My Fitbit shows my resting heart rate as below average. Need to summon the energy to go get the washing out of the utility room, have to go through the garage hoping no neighbours stop me to chat!

How’s everyone else getting on?

@kalidasa and @Derbee Thank you. It does feel very different to last time with my DS. Seem to be hungry all the time and grazing helps at the moment whereas last time I couldn't keep anything down. I suppose the situation is different this time as I'm a SAHM as opposed to last time when I was a teacher in a behaviour school and walking to work and back every day.
Hope everyone is having an ok day today.

Ladies, my daily panic here if anyone can calm me down 😂 my ketones are very high so being admitted. I’m so worried as I’ve felt they’ve been bad for a couple of days now. Is there a chance them being high for 2 days could cause damage to little poppet or would it have to be more consistently without treatment? Getting the IV now thankfull and midwife keeps telling me it’s fine but I’m a worrier (can you tell?!)

@FateHasRedesignedMost sorry to hear you’re having such a rubbish day, it’s so horrible that normal life tasks take so much strength. Keep an eye on yourself and ignore DH, my approach is men don’t have a clue!!!!x

@pregnancydiaries when we say the baby is the most effective parasite, we mean your body will do everything to keep the baby safe, at the expense of yourself. Ketosis will make you feel even sicker, but IVs should fix that quite quickly. We all worry, but at this stage, I would focus on keeping yourself alive, as that is what will be the best thing for the baby. Baby will deplete all you nutrient stores for itself. Glad you’re getting rehydrated, it should reduce your sickness so use it as an opportunity to get food in.

@HoneyPea between DD1 and DD2, my period didn’t return, so I didn’t find out I was pregnant with DD2 until I had been nauseous for 3 days. According to my dating scan, I would’ve been 5wks at that stage, which was the same time I started vomiting with DD1. I wasn’t as sick with DD2, as I took meds consistently from the day I found out I was pregnant, I was a sahm instead of trying to work a 40+ hr week, and weeks 6-9 were my husbands Christmas break so he was able to help, a lot. I think having a wonderful DD1 also helped me to see what the outcome was going to be (although I did suffer with pre-natal depression due to how much of her development I was missing while I was sick).

@FateHasRedesignedMost I always suffer from low blood pressure, but it is more prominent in early pregnancy. But my resting heart rate is higher than it should be. But I think that’s because it goes sky high as soon as I do any movement. Walking up the stairs seems to be an intense workout for me at the moment. Anyway, tips for low blood pressure, take every movement slowly, put head between knees if need be, and if your vision starts to go blurry while moving, sit down immediately. I have thus far avoided fainting but have often been close.

@kalidasa how are you going? Any results yet? I woke at 4.30am freaking over my screening results, but they’re not up yet. Plus I have a big day at work which I’m not excited for, yesterday was a lot too, and the vomiting increased because of it.

@LucindaE & @FateHasRedesignedMost
It’s kind of metallic / rubbery / just overall rancid! Even the hot shower water smells like metal! I didn’t have it with my first although I did suffer with Hyperemisis and feel like it’s making this pregnancy and Hyperemisis so much worse.

Hang on in there all ladies in this post - we are absolute warriors going through this! I had my urine tested today for ketones and was OK but very borderline. My Cyclizine isn’t doing anything so been prescribed stemetil. I’ve been advised that if these don’t work and I have any more days like the past two then I’ll be admitted for IV.

Hope you are all doing OK. Thank goodness for this post keeping me slightly sane x

@pregnancydiaries of midwife advised all OK then I wouldn’t worry and you are in the best place now.
Can totally relate, I have been putting off going to get urine tested , calling the GP or hospital even though I’ve felt myself deteriorate. Then I had a panic today like what if I’m doing baby harm by not just getting my S* together and speaking to a professional! Hope you are doing better x

Hi new here. I'm just wondering if there is anything that you all do for sleep? Ive been waking up starving at 3 or 4 am and as soon as I'm awake the nasuea and need to vomit begins. I've gotten a pregnancy pillow and have tried a hot water bottle but nothing is working.
I realise I'm starving because I can't keep anything down and the medication the gp prescribed is doing nothing. This is my 4th pregnancy and 3rd hg pregnancy. This one has already won for being the worst.
I was hospitalised multiple times the last 2 pregnancies and I'm already fearing the worst for this one.