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.

That should have read nowhere near as bad as last pregnancy*

@FateHasRedesignedMost ooooo! I feel your pain. Going through a vein is awful! I’m a blood donor and always tell the nurses that my veins are an issues. The small ones are in the best spots, and the big ones are awkward to access. Fortunately I haven’t had a pierced vein in a few years. I also find the dehydration/starvation makes everything hurt more. Good luck with your next lot of bloods.

@Peaches710 doctors have 2 issues with ondansetron. First it’s expensive, and second it could causes cleft palate, and there’s not many studies on it being given to pregnant women. The drug industry doesn’t run trials on pregnant women, so it is really hard to get prescribed anything. But meds are better than constant sickness and severe dehydration. And the risk of cleft palate is an increase of 3 per 10,000 so barely statistically significant. Talk to your doctor, see if you can get stronger meds, try to up your fluids, and rest as much as you can. Good luck.

I’m ok here, vomiting is still at once/twice a day around dinner time. I managed to work 3hrs yesterday, so have upped my hours going forward. Sickness tends to hit really bad at noon, but I will be home by then. I have my nipt test today, and my first midwife appt tomorrow (haven’t wanted to see her until we know this one is going to be ok). Should have all results in 2wks. It’s going to be a tough time mentally.

Peaches710 Welcome. There is lots of support on here. You being a veteran, you don't need my spiel about flat full sugar coke, ice lollies, and the juice of tinned fruit, anti acids and 'have you got kesostix, as while not the best test of dehydration, hospitals do take their measurements seriously'. Might they give you Xonvea if they are refusing Ondansetron? If not, it might be a good idea to see if Pregnancy Sickness Support can advise you about getting effective meds on 024 7638 2020. They will have to phone you back, but they will with good information.
Melleebacca I am glad things aren't too bad from the sickness point of view, but don't overdo it at this stressful time, making things worse. Cheering you on.
FateHasRedesignedMost Congratulations on getting those bloods.
Great advice from everyone as ever.

Back again 😓
Im 24 weeks now and my sickness is mainly controlled (medication) but the past week or so my nausea and dizziness is so bad.. is anyone else suffering from this? Or does anyone have any tips that might help me 😭 x

@Secondtimemamma in my experience even after the worst is over you can have a bad few days / week every now and again out of the blue -- maybe a hormone shift or if you have overdone it a bit and got more tired/stressed. If you are very dizzy, I would also make sure that your iron levels and your blood pressure are OK.

I am having a rather vomit-y day today had two attempts at breakfast and threw them up both up one after another but overall I am definitely quite a bit better. I have been having weird cravings for 48 hours I only wanted to eat pâté and then for three days I just ate bacon and eggs CONSTANTLY (like 3-4 times a day!). I had lost a lot of weight about 8kg at the lowest point -- so I am just going with the cravings. I'm about 14/15 weeks now, and I have come out of the worst phase much earlier in this pregnancy than with my previous ones. It's just been better all the way through, thank goodness, despite being a lot older. Last week we found out it's another little boy! The boys are absolutely thrilled; my husband is resigned!

Hope everyone is surviving.

Good luck for your NIPT results @Melleebacca -- thinking of you.

Had my scan today… very wriggly 12 week baby, was lovely to see it on the screen! All the measurements are good including the nuchal measurement which is a relief. I realised I can feel it moving as initially I had to massage it to wake it up, when woken it then became very lively and reactive, kicking and squirming in time with the movements on the screen and just like the movements I feel at home. So feeling it move wasn’t just my imagination! 😊

Had the screening bloods, different midwife and she got the needle in first time luckily.

I’m so tired now I feel like going to bed!!

@Secondtimemamma I have low blood pressure constantly, it’s more noticeable in pregnancy though. I try not to stand for very long, and if my heart rate gets elevated I have to put my head between my knees. Fluids and rest helps. As does not overheating.
@kalidasa Oh congratulations on finding out the gender! We will know too once the nipt test comes back. I’m hoping knowing more about the baby will help me feel like this is real, and just not god awful sickness.
@FateHasRedesignedMost yay for feeling movements! I can feel hard lumps in my pelvis, but generally thinking it’s just gas bubbles at this stage as they come and go. I generally don’t feel anything till around 16wks.

Coping ok here. DH is at his wits end as to what to feed me for dinner as it often comes back up and then eventually I get aversions to that food. But I also can’t discuss food with him as even the thought can set me off. Poor guy.

Secondtimemamma Great advice from kalidasa and Melleebacca. I can't improve on it, except to ask if an anti-acid might help for the nausea and to wonder if it might be one of those dreaded hormonal surges?
FateHasRedesignedMost Congratulations on your scan results. Twelve weeks is certanly early to feel movements. It was just under fourteen weeks with me, and that was considered early.
kalidasa Congratulations on another boy. Ha, Ha, about OH 'resigned'. And that sounds good, about your appetite for bacon and eggs, though sorry to hear about re-appearing breakfasts.
Melleebacca DH sounds helpful as the resident chef.

@LucindaE and @Melleebacca thank you 😊 I didn’t expect to feel movements this early either, I kept feeling little jabs and pokes but I thought it might be my ligaments/womb stretching and causing muscles to spasm. Now I’ve seen how hard it can kick and squirm on screen I’ve realised those movements were baby! It may be because my uterus is very tilted back (I didn’t have that last time, it’s just since the lap&dye I had earlier this year). So I can feel the movements deep down, though nothing through my abdominal wall yet. The sonographer had to do an internal scan as it’s so retroverted. But she said by 20 weeks it should have corrected itself and tipped forward🤞 Hopefully!

@kalidasa congratulations on finding out the gender! 3 brothers will be awesome! How do you feel about it?

My DH is hoping this one’s a girl, but our son desperately wants a brother so I feel like I can’t please them both! I’ve started thinking of it as a boy as son keeps calling it ‘he’ and now DH has seen the scan he’s leaning towards boy too, as apparently the way it stretched, yawned and kicked (when woken up by me poking it at sonographer’s request!) was exactly like our son at that stage. As we were leaving the antenatal clinic DH said ‘well if it’s a boy let’s try for a third next year’ in a very matter of fact way! I was speechless 😶😂

@Secondtimemamma

Hope the dizziness and nausea ease off soon. I find I’m dizzy all the way through pregnancy, think it’s low BP in my case, but have you been checked for anaemia? Any UTI symptoms? I’m guessing you get your BP checked at antenatal clinic?

I find it helps if I eat something salty, or something cold like an ice lolly or chilled flat coke for a sugar boost. I get more faint and nauseous when my blood sugar drops, sometimes the only sign is dizziness/nausea as I don’t seem to have any appetite lately.

@FateHasRedesignedMost I generally have the placenta on the front, and due to the way I carry, feel kicks on the back more. It’s nice in someways as I’ve never been woken up by kicks.
I’m also thinking boy, my symptoms are most like the son that we lost, and my nausea is waning at only 10wks, which is 4wks earlier than with both of my daughters. I have mild nausea in the morning, which I can deal with, then intense nausea in the afternoon and vomiting in the evening. Not sure if it’s the addition of cyclizine to my meds this time around that is helping. I saw my midwife yesterday, heard the heart beat, and she said I’m the healthiest I have ever been at this stage of pregnancy, which I agree with.
My sleep is a little rough with anxiety at the moment, but results should all be back in 11 days, so trying to stay calm.

Mellebacca Cheering you on. You are coping amazingly during this stressful time.
FateHasDesignedMost Oh dear, I had to laugh at your comment about OH's 'matter of fact' plans for the next baby...
Waves to all.

Cheering everyone on.

Do other people here suffer with pulled tummy muscles from all the dry heaving? So painful.

Hi ladies, I haven’t posted in a long time but I am now almost 28 weeks. The nausea is way more manageable however I need to eat about every four hours including throughout the night. I’m very upset because I had to do the gestational diabetes glycola 1 hour test. I failed it not by a lot but now they want me to do the fasting three hour one. Given that I have crazy Nausea still, I told him I could not fast for this test. Are there any ladies I have been in my shoes who deal with hyperemesis and failing the test? What did your doctor do? I’m really concerned.

@LindSan

Hi ladies, I haven’t posted in a long time but I am now almost 28 weeks. The nausea is way more manageable however I need to eat about every four hours including throughout the night. I’m very upset because I had to do the gestational diabetes glycola 1 hour test. I failed it not by a lot but now they want me to do the fasting three hour one. Given that I have crazy Nausea still, I told him I could not fast for this test. Are there any ladies I have been in my shoes who deal with hyperemesis and failing the test? What did your doctor do? I’m really concerned.

I couldn’t do the test in my last pregnancy because of the HG I just couldn’t keep it down so told the drs I wasn’t having the test. Was “told off” by a few midwives about it but the consultant said I’d done the right thing and that the test would have a been a waste of time. You’re perfectly within your rights to choose not to have the test. X

How is everyone today? I’ve had a pretty rough week but just hoping it doesn’t continue to get worse. Don’t know how I’m going to get back to being out and about as the dizziness is unreal and I can’t go an hour without wretching. Had the scan last weekend and there’s 2 in there again so trying to just breathe and hope it’s better than last time!

Rough morning here; I’ve run out of omeprazole and was sick 5x before school run. Managed school run with the help of 8mg ondansetron! I also have a searing headache in one eye which is either migraine or sinus, not sure. DH has man flu (a cold) so he’s apparently too ill to drive to Tesco and pick up my prescriptions. I haven’t driven since the unfortunate incident where I kerbed the car when pulling over to be sick 😷 (and nearly got arrested!) Luckily school’s only 10mins walk each way but it adds up when doing it twice a day (about 40 mins total) my hips and lower back are already suffering.

I’m also on antibiotics for a UTI so feel worse than usual.

And I keep waking up at 3am with nausea! Then I can’t seem to nap in the day.

Anyway how’s everyone else?

That sounds horrible @FateHasRedesignedMost - could you see if your pharmacy will deliver? Also, bloody men and man flu!

I’ve had another resurgence of the nausea, with some vomiting, in the last few days - I think because I was super anxious before my 20 week scan and didn’t sleep well (scan was fine!).

@PeeAche yes, I hurt my muscles from heaving/vomiting. The pain does go away as they strengthen. I had 3/4 bad days at the beginning as they were getting used to the new normal.

@LindSan sorry, I’m not much help with that. My plan is to do the GD test in the morning when I feel my best and do nothing for the rest of the day. I’m hoping it falls during the school holidays this time around.

@BuffyFanForever oh, congrats on the twins. Do you need to go out and about? I only walk short distances because of my blood pressure, and sit down for 5mins to recover each time. Small amounts and lots of rest.

@FateHasRedesignedMost sorry to hear about the rough week! Hubby often gets rundown after donating plasma which he’s booked in for at the end of the month. I am not looking forward to it. I hope everything improves soon! I’m awake at 4am today after not much sleep, so it’s likely to be a rough day.

PeaAche Lots of sufferers have that. It's really painful. Does an old fashioned hot water bottle help or one of those ones you can heat in a microwave?
Lindsan Great advice from BuffyFanForever on your not being obliged to take that test. I am glad that things are generally better, though sorry to hear the nausea lingers.
BuffyFanForever Twins! How exciting!
FateHasRedesignedMost As others say, that sounds horrible. Might a physio be alble to help with the SPD pains? How tiresome about the 'Man Flu'. I saw a tin of something once in a chemists called 'Man Flu Cure' or some such.
Pleasedon'tworry Ha Ha about Man Flu and congratulations about the scan results.
Melleebacca Oh dear about lack of sleep. Not what you need.

Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.

@Melleebacca hope you got some more sleep! Low blood pressure is awful isn’t it. After a horrible day of vomiting yesterday, I got DH to go get my omeprazole (his man flu improved enough for him to get up and watch movies!) and I haven’t vomited since! I did go to bed at 6pm though as had a searing headache. Woke up at 1am and 3am as son woke up, then slept until 6am, which is a record for me! I think adding cyclizine to my meds helped.

@BuffyFanForever congratulations on twins!! How exciting. How are you feeling?