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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Hyperemesis Support

994 replies

LucindaE · 22/11/2021 19:52

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.

Hyperemesis Support
Hyperemesis Support
OP posts:
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Easymeasy · 23/01/2022 18:07

@7worfs how are you managing?

7Worfs · 23/01/2022 18:16

I spit if I’m near a sink then just go lie down and browse my phone to distract myself from having to swallow all the time…

LucindaE · 23/01/2022 19:32

goldtooth How are things now?
Rcg2207 Welcome. Sorry you are suffering. I am glad that following this thread makes you feel less alone. People generally, even fond family members, find it difficult to understand how debilitating this illness is.
I have known a few on this thread be on domperidone. I am glad that they are trying different meds and combinations for you. Did they at any time suggest Xonvea? Some who don't get on with Ondansetron have been helped by that. Although you may already have read it, here is my normal spiel, which I hope will help. Sufferers find that they improve a lot at some point between weeks 14 and 20, or sometimes later. 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 doctors, 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. Also, pink lemonade , cloudy lemonade and Sprite. Foods of a sort include tinned fruit, cuppa soup, nibbles of crisps and chips, cheap ice cream, Scotch pancakes, bagels and biscuits, potato smileys, minature salty Yorkshire Puddings and slices of melon and mango. Protein drinks have also been mentioned.
7Worfs There is no doubt that this is one of the hardest things you'll have to go through. Keeping my fingers crossed it eases at 16 weeks for you again.
easymeasy Many suffer from that. It's very horrible. As 7Worfs suggests, distraction can ease it a bit. Some go about with a bowel; it often eases with time, thank goodness.
I hope everyone is coping today.

OP posts:
Rcg2207 · 23/01/2022 21:28

Thank you @7Worfs and @LucindaE. Xonvea hasn't been mentioned by doctors so far but I will definitely ask about it if the domperidone doesn't work.

BFPDec21 · 24/01/2022 00:15

@goldteeth I hope everything is OK.

Thank you @Melleebacca I did try the pineapple and it seemed my body craved it for a reason! It's gone down so well. I've asked DH to buy a stock for me when he goes shopping. I've always been shocked that it's been female gynaecologists who are less than understanding with my HG. I had a lovely male GP who really understood last time and eventually put me on ondansetron but having moved he's not an option. I do really hope that new GPs and gynaecologists are trained better on HG in the future, some services are really failing us.

Thanks @LucindaE & @PopGoesBang, for now the new meds are working to stop the sickness but I can't get out of bed for the nausea.

Wishing everyone well.

Melleebacca · 24/01/2022 02:47

@BFPDec21 oh I’m so glad the pineapple was good for you. My body doesn’t crave much at the moment, but generally the things it does, they sit well. It’s our wedding anniversary this week, which is a day that we will get takeout. Hubby wants pizza, but the only thing that sounds good to me is super spicy Indian. If this is the baby that likes spicy food, that’s all good by me!

Waves to everyone. Too tired to write more at the moment. The 4 week no rain, high temp summer weather has broken today, and we’re all just enjoying the sleepiness that comes with a rainy summer day.

LucindaE · 24/01/2022 18:54

Rcg2207 That's good.
BFPDec2021 Oh no, that the nausea is so bad. I do hope it eases a bit.
You are so right about the level of care for this condition not being anything like good enough.
Melleebacca I'm glad you've got some rain. Three degrees here. Not freezing, but the miserable damp sort of chilliness that made a woman from Northern Sweden ask me, 'How do you stand this cold?'

OP posts:
Melleebacca · 24/01/2022 20:40

@LucindaE I get it. I lived in Montreal for a year. 3 deg of damp cold feels worse to me than a -20 day. It’s all to do with the humidity and amount of water in the air.

Still super exhausted. Not exactly excited about returning to work next week. Especially as we’ve just got our first community cases of omicron, so I will need to be masked up.

FateHasRedesignedMost · 25/01/2022 07:57

Has anyone had shingles? I think I may have it across the back of one hip, spreading round my side towards my bump. It’s an itchy stinging rash, lots of tiny blisters clustered together in circle/splodge shapes. Trying desperately not to scratch it! Will send a photo to my GP when they open.

Also feeling cranky because I woke up at 3am to be violently sick, then later threw up breakfast and then had to jump out the shower twice to vomit again 😞 This is after a few days of feeling better!

Also had a call from my GP yesterday asking am I sure I need another sick note for work as ‘HG usually stops by now and you’re nearly 24 weeks!’ I reassured her yes I do need the note and no HG does not usually ‘stop’ by now (although for some it eases a lot) and there’s no way I can work while vomiting and nauseous so please could she write the note ASAP as I requested it a month ago!!

Hope everyone else is feeling ok.

School run in a minute 🤦🏻‍♀️

PopGoesBang · 25/01/2022 10:25

@FateHasRedesignedMost What a start to the day, hope the sickness eases. And that the gp is a little more helpful today then they were with your sick note!

The cat woke me up at midnight wanting to go put which meant I had to acknowledge the world existed which of course then triggered the sickness. Something very lonely about being sick in the middle of the night trying not to wake everyone and the dog giving me his paw to make it all ok.

Working from bed today - although the nausea means I'm more just in bed than working. Hoping that the thought still counts.

BFPDec21 · 25/01/2022 14:28

Oh I do hope you've got somewhere with your GP today @FateHasRedesignedMost Keeping my fingers crossed for you that it's not shingles.

@PopGoesBang Sorry you've not had the best night. Are your meds covering you for a full 24 hours? I tend to have to take medication at midnight or wake up for it to get me through to the morning otherwise as soon as I wake up for the loo, I'm down the sickness hole.

Is anyone else struggling with hiccups? Since the new meds I've been hiccuping most of the day then this afternoon they got closer together and I knew I was about to be sick. I'm wondering if it's the medication kind of blocking the sickness, if that's a thing?

PopGoesBang · 25/01/2022 15:54

@BFPDec21 I think that might be the slight issue, I tend to wake up and take the first tablet early in the day so I'm covered for the morning and can do the school run without embarrassing my dd! But I don't think they then stretch over night. I might have to talk to the gp again. They love me at the surgery!

I think I'm over tired today and that doesn't help. I said to DP the other day I feel like an old person who has to plan her days out and not have too many 'busy' days close together.

FateHasRedesignedMost · 25/01/2022 16:48

@PopGoesBang

Sorry you were woken in the night too! Agree night sickness is so lonely and isolating. I’ve spent many a night crouched on the bathroom floor retching until I feel like I can’t breathe.

Very sweet your dog offers his paw for comfort ❤️

Thankfully the sickness eased off after school run, I think the fresh air helped. Hubby did afternoon school run and I slept all day. Probably won’t sleep tonight now but just so grateful to have a rest from the queasiness!

FateHasRedesignedMost · 25/01/2022 16:54

@BFPDec21

The doctor thinks it is shingles unfortunately, but I’ve got anti viral cream now (was resorting to smothering my hip in Vagisil before for its numbing effect which GP seemed to find amusing!)

Apparently shingles is common in pregnancy and doesn’t harm the baby in any way, GP said it actually means newborn will have some immunity against chickenpox (the virus that causes shingles, it lies dormant in the nerve endings).

Rash is much less itchy now and I’ve covered it with gauze so I don’t scratch it.

Luckily it’s not contagious unless someone hadn’t had chickenpox (shingles can cause chickenpox but not shingles even with close contact) DS and hubby have both had chickenpox so no risk there.

I don’t find I get hiccups but I know when I’m about to be sick and can’t hold it, it’s like a weird feeling in my jaw that means run to a toilet (or bin/tree/hedge) immediately!

FateHasRedesignedMost · 25/01/2022 16:57

@Melleebacca

Good luck with your return to work! Do you feel well enough to return? Hope they treat you gently and give you a phased return/reduced hours.

How are your puppies are doing well ❤️

PopGoesBang · 25/01/2022 17:00

@FateHasRedesignedMost glad you've managed to rest. Sleep is the perfect escape from it all. You might be surprised and still sleep tonight.

Sorry to see the shingles have been confirmed, hope you don't find them too troublesome. But good about the bit of immunity to baby.

Hope the sickness stays at bay for you tonight, and you get some more good rest.

FateHasRedesignedMost · 25/01/2022 17:01

@LucindaE

Hope the weather warms up for you soon!

It’s damp and chilly here too. Walking across the field to school is like picking one’s way across marshland, I’m always worried I’ll fall over in the mud. Much nicer when it’s crispy and the grass is hard with frost!

Melleebacca · 25/01/2022 17:07

@FateHasRedesignedMost sorry to hear about your shingles. Shingles tend to occur when your body is already worn out/compromised. It’s a reminder of how hard pregnancy and HG is.
I only work during the term, so the summer break has been amazing, but I’ve still got 14wks to do before mat leave. I only work 5hrs a day, and then usually stay for lunch with the teachers, but with omicron, it’s probably safer for me to come home earlier.
Fortunately the first 2 weeks are short weeks with teachers only days and stat days, and I’ve planned to just do work, and then kindy pickup and be on the sofa the rest of the day.
Puppies are adorable, although starting to need more attention and stimulus now. No longer just sleepy newborns!

LucindaE · 25/01/2022 20:22

FateHasRedesignedMost Poor you with shingles as well as Hyperemesis. Like UTI's, it seems just too bad. That was annoying of the GP. That walk across the field sounds a chore in this weather, but must be lovely in summer. I'm afraid I had to laugh at your description of bin/tree/hedge. Bins were my speciality (they didn't have those half covering tops back then when I lived in London).
PopGoesBang Being sick alone in the night is grim; much sympathy. That is kind of the dog. Does the cat try and sleep on your head when you are ill? Mine always did.
BFPDec2021 That sounds uncomfortable.
Melleebacca Montreal? That's interesting. Cheering you on in your remaining 14 weeks work.

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PopGoesBang · 26/01/2022 14:14

@LucindaE the cat generally lies next to me close to the head, that's if she's in at night, she's a hunter really and unless it's cold she tends to be put and about. She also isn't a massive fan of the dog. He is very excitable when she's around and likes to give her a big lick. She just wants to batter him!

I hope everyone is doing ok today.

buttercuplizzy · 26/01/2022 15:10

I'm 8+6 and have been vomiting excessively today and can't keep down water. I've been on cyclizine & B6 for 4 weeks now and they had been working- i would have all day nausea but it was controlling vomiting. Should I call GP tomorrow to discuss medication? (I'm a really bad patient as I try to put up as I don't want to 'waste' anyones time)

FateHasRedesignedMost · 26/01/2022 16:23

@Melleebacca

Your puppies sound adorable, what a lovely distraction from HG! Do they start crawling out of their bed/basket around now or is it too early?

Yes the doctor said shingles is common when run down. And when the immune system is suppressed by pregnancy. It’s so itchy even with the cream! Overnight some of the rash has turned purple like a bruise, I’m not sure if that’s normal but at least it hasn’t spread further. It follows a dermatone I think?

FateHasRedesignedMost · 26/01/2022 16:28

Has anyone had their whooping cough or flu vaccine yet? Mine are both booked for tomorrow. Did you get side effects from either?

Think I’m having a hormonal flare as I woke up to be sick at 2am. Then went downstairs to get anti acid, my ankle buckled and I lost my balance, going face first into the kitchen door! So now I have a bruised eye and cheekbone as well as a bandaged foot. DH told me to ‘try and slow down and be more graceful!’ 😳😂

I also had a one sided headache in the night, not quite a migraine but enough to keep me awake. I tried a cold compress on it (a lion shaped one I keep in the fridge for DS) and when I woke up it was better, so that’s one positive!

FateHasRedesignedMost · 26/01/2022 16:33

@buttercuplizzy

Please contact your out of hours GP or early pregnancy unit, being unable to hold down water can lead to serious dehydration. They can give you IV fluids and anti sickness injections.

Cyclizine is a first line treatment and never worked for me although it helps some. In the U.K. I think they try cyclizine then promethazine then stemetil then metaclopramide then ondansetron. And sometimes steroids if you’re in hospital and considered risky. I’m currently on ondansetron and metaclopramide (worked my way through the list first pregnancy) and have been on them since early in the first trimester.

If you can’t get hold of a doctor and can’t keep fluids down, A&E may be the best place. Thinking of you!

FateHasRedesignedMost · 26/01/2022 16:40

@LucindaE

Those open bins are very handy! I remember when I had to walk the length of a train station platform. I managed to control the vomiting until I got off then was sick in every open bin the entire platform (there was one every few metres).

I have a mental map of all the open bins, secluded bridle paths, alleyways and footpaths en route to school, just in case! I carry sick bags but it’s not always possible to get one out in time!