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.

@Melleebacca thank you 🙏

RoseAlia I am so glad that you are finding the advice on this thead useful.
Melleebacca Cheering you and everyone on.
I will be away overnight.

I can update the due dates now @LucindaE 7th August.
Works more in line with my dates, the scan put at 12wks 5 days today.
Baby was a pickle and wouldn't lay quite fright for the all the measurements, I was in there for about 30 minutes, full bladder, half bladder, empty bladder - but all were gotten in the end. So worth all the wiggles and rolls!

Hope everyone is having an ok Friday.

Hello, I found these threads a while back but was hoping my HG would fade at 12 weeks - I’m there now and two hospital admissions and a tonne of medication in it’s definitely still here! I’m pregnant with my first baby, the nausea hit at 4 weeks and then started being violently sick at 6 weeks. At it’s worst I was being sick/retching about 30 times a day, and that’s what lead to being in hospital for IV metoclopramide (Cyclizine IM and IV just didn’t touch it) and fluids which made me feel like a new woman! I’m on metoclopramide every 8 hours and buccastem in between times but still feel extremely sick. Sometimes I’ll have a few days without vomiting, but then it all kicks off again and the nausea is absolutely unrelenting. 12 week scan on Monday so hoping the excitement of that helps, but at the minute there are definitely days I just wish I wasn’t pregnant and I miss my old life and being able to do simple things like a cook and eat a meal and a walk with husband and the dogs. Due 12th August which just feels so so far away right now.

I’ve lurked around this thread on and off for a few years as I’ve had two hg pregnancies which resulted in my two beautiful girls. I have always wanted three children so decided to go for number three but my third pregnancy sadly ended in a MMC discovered at 13 weeks - I was still very sick but was medicated from positive pregnancy test and the sickness tailed off towards the time I found I had lost the baby. That was this time last year and I couldn’t put it behind me so here we are again - I’m 6 weeks pregnant and have just got back from a stay in hospital being rehydrated. I have been given a very short supply of ondansetron (the only thing that does anything for me), plus cyclizine and prochloperazine. I’m panicking - my sickness has always build up in the past, peaking at 9-12 weeks and then has stuck around at a slightly more manageable level til 22-26 weeks. But this time it hit hard without warning at 5 weeks. I’m so scared for what might be in store.. does it always get worse?

@FarmWife31 most HG sufferers don’t get relief at 12wks. And that’s a huge mental challenge to get through. It does generally get easier as the trimesters progress. My best trimester is the fourth, when baby is out and I can eat again, but vomiting stops for me usually around 16wks.

@Msgreenx3 your story is very similar to mine. We have 2 daughters, 6 & 4 and lost a son at 17wks in 2020 due to genetic malformations. Currently 22wks with another wee boy. I found my HG pregnancies got easier due to knowing what meds worked and taking them religiously. I’m on ondansetron and cyclizine this time around and it really helped, as well as having lower estrogen levels due to having a boy. However, fatigue is ridiculous. My body feels very old this pregnancy.
I hope that helps a bit?

Welcome to FarmWife and Msgreenx3.Everyone is very supportive on here.
FarmWife31 I can't improve on Melleebaca's advice. It is always disappointing when sickness goes beyond that suposedly magic date. From what I have seen,, it often does last until 14-16 weeks with normal pregnancy sickness, and a bit longer generally with Hyperemesis. However, it does improve a lot for most people. As you have been reading these threads, you will have seen my normal spiel about having kesostix, which, while not the best test of dehydration, are taken seriously by hospitals, and ant acids helping with nausea, and flat full sugar coke, ice lollies, and the juice of tinned fruit. All luck for your scan. Most find it a great boost.
MsGreenx3 I am sorry for your loss. Congratulations on your new pregnacy. It's brave ofyou to go for it again. It doesn't always get worse with each pregnancy for everyone, particularly, as Melleebacca says, with effective meds.
As they have only given you a small supply of Ondansetron, have the prescribing medics advised you to ask for more if the sickness remains severe? As you have been following the threads, you don't need reminding that you may well need a laxative with Ondansetron, or my normal spiel.
PopGoesBang Congratulations on the scan. I've added your date.
Melleebacca Great advice as ever.

Due Dates
nomeslice 2 February
thingymaboob 13 February
abbs1 10 March
Pleasedon'tworry 25 March
MrsNovember 25 March
Derbee 26 March
theconfused 29 March
Catconfusion 3 April
alpi ia 4 April (provisional)
kalidasa 5 May
FateHasRedesignedMost 22 May
Melleebacca 3 June
HopefulJ2018 14 June
Starbeach 17 June
BuffyFanForever 19 Jun TWINS!
PopGoesBang 7 August
FarmWife 12 August

I hope everyone is coping today.

Hi all, hope everyone is doing ok.
Had a silly busy day Saturday and was grateful for a quiet day yesterday.
Got a busy week this week. Lots of work related things that are certainly going to test me.

Anyways hope you are all as ok as you can be.

Hi all. I am hoping for some advice. I posted on here a month or so ago but although I am still vomiting several times a day even on a good day Ifelt I was managing it. But I am now concerned about my lack of calorie intake. I am 15 weeks pregnant with twins and have lost 3-4 kg since Christmas. I am managing on a good day max 1000 calories then on a bad day (a few times a week) max 300 calories. Is this ok or causing harm?

Hi, how’s everyone doing?

I had my 24 week appointment yesterday, forgot to ask for the Mat B1 form needed for work but rang this morning and midwife kindly said she’ll post it to me today.

Over-stretched myself HG wise by trying to see friends after the appointment yesterday, we went round to their house but I felt so sick I couldn’t eat and we ended up leaving early. Supposed to be seeing friends further away this weekend but I know I’m not up to it, so DH and son can go without me.

Discussed low lying placenta with midwife, she said it technically doesn’t ‘move up’ by 32 week scan, it’s just that the womb expands downwards so the placenta isn’t as close to the cervix but still in same place. She said if it’s 1cm or more away from cervix they’ll try to push me to have a vaginal birth, but she also said to do my own research as there’s a high risk of haemorrhage giving birth vaginally with placenta close to cervix! And she said if I feel it’s safer to have a c-section to insist on one. So now I’m confused! Baby’s safety is my priority. I thought the placenta was likely to move up into the upper part of womb where it’s meant to be, not just get a bit further from cervix due to lower part of womb stretching. Doesn’t the cervix stretch a lot during active labour? So the placenta could potentially rupture and an emergency c-section be needed? So much to weigh up 😩

Has anyone else had this issue?

Thank you, unfortunately not good news at the scan today, so on a pretty different path now to the one we had planned.

FarmWife31 I am very sorry about the bad news. You have been through a lot.
Domino Congratulations on twins! While that is a lot of weight to lose, with any luck, there is still time for things to get a lot better with the symptoms. I am not medically qualified, but if you are managing to avoid becoming dehydrated, I am pretty sure that with Hyperemesis, that isn't such a bad calorie intake in the earlier stages.
Most of the babies born to those on this thead have been grown on inadquate diets as regards food, and still seem to thrive on it.
PopGoesBang Sorry you are being overworked. That doesn't seem fair to me.
FateHasRedesignedMost I wish I could advise you on the question of cervix length and a low placenta. I must plead complete ignorance.
I hope someone can advise you better.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.

@FateHasRedesignedMost I wish I could help with the placenta issue too, but I can’t. If I was in your shoes, I wouldn’t make a decision till after the 32wk scan that you need to have and knowing how much I hate pregnancy, I would jump at a c-section for having a firm date of ending (although I hear recovery is rough, and I had enough of a rough recovery after DD2, my uterus shrunk down amazingly fast, but the pain was off the charts). I think you should research it more to figure out your decision.

@Donimo congrats on the twins. I’m 22wks with a singleton and am still down 4kg weight wise. I know baby is draining all my stores of vitamins, and at last scan he was measuring 10 days ahead (which would make him either a really big baby or increase the likelihood of him coming on my birthday).
I’m not too concerned about the weight gain as this is my 3rd time around, but I am starting iron supplements to try and keep my levels up. My midwife recommends a lot of high calorie foods - peanut butter, milkshakes, French fries etc, whatever you can stomach. I know it’s unbelievably hard especially when you’re still being sick, but try anything that sounds appealing, little and often. I’m expecting a weight lecture at my 24wk appt, but my midwife knows that I’m still healthier than I was with my girls.

@FarmWife31 I hope the new plan from after the scan is helpful.

@PopGoesBang oh yes. I overdid it yesterday too. Had a rough evening and a bad night of sleep. Going to take today slower as I’m back at work tomorrow.

Waves to everyone.

@Melleebacca I hope the return to work is ok, and you don't suffer too badly for it. I'd say I hope you can rest well after but sometimes life just doesn't let that happen. Anyways thinking of you and hoping it all goes ok.

Morning all, I've lost just over 3kg now in a couple of weeks and I'm losing the will to keep up the fight with the GP about sick notes and medication changes. I'm left with a gap in medication for 10 hours from 12pm to 10pm then completely overnight at the moment. In addition to late afternoon sickness, it's resulting in me waking up and being sick, trying to drink a bit and get more rest then the same all night. I keep saying I need something else to tide me over and the GP keeps saying there's a plan in place and my sickness should be over soon. I know I've been through all of this before but I have less support this time. What can I do if my GP refuses to extend my sick note? Apparently I'm nearing the end of pregnancy sickness at 12 weeks and it should be over soon

Also, does anyone ever gets a temperature/fever through being so sick? The last couple of times I've been more sick than usual, I was clammy and sweaty and my temperature was 38.4. No signs of illness otherwise and it just goes after one dose of paracetamol.

@BFPDec21 not sure I have any helpful advice but it's rubbish that you are having to battle with the gp on top of everything.
Would it be worth talking to your midwife? Or another GP in the practice?
Too many people just write this up as 'being a bit rough with morning sickness' no, no, we'd potentially find that a walk in the park.

Like I say no real helpful advice just and sympathy your way.

@BFPDec21 That just sucks. It’s so much harder when you have to advocate so loudly for meds that keep you alive. Please mention the fevers to the GP, that’s concerning, but it could you be a side effect of the sickness and not enough meds.
I explained to my daughters that when I’m pregnant, my body becomes allergic to itself. It’s fighting itself every day.it’s producing hormones that helps the baby grow but also make me very very ill. It’s a battle until the baby is born, and the fatigue is never ending.

@PopGoesBang I start work in about 2hrs, I’m not too worried as it’s a teachers only day, but I’m a bit peeved that I’m awake so early. A combo of baby, heat, noisy dogs and first day back nerves. I’ve already done too much the last 2 days and have been sicker because of it. I’m not keen on the lack of sleep adding to it. Fortunately is a 3 day week of mostly just the teachers before a 3 day weekend, so I should have plenty of time to rest.

@Melleebacca why do our minds/body do that whole get us up way earlier on days that are going to hard going anyways. They make no sense.
I was going to say I hope the pups are providing a nice distraction, but the noise and I'm guessing the added activity probably a little less distraction and more another job to do.
Glad to hear these first days back should be ok(ish) and that there's time for rest too. So important and the thing I keep reminding myself of.

Melleebacca I hope work will be OK (not sure what time it is there now). Sorry you haven't been sleepng well. Excellent advice as ever.
BFPDec2021 Sympathies, it is so hard to fight your corner when feeling weakened by illness. Can you get anyone to go in and advocate for you?The awful thing is, doctors seem to listen to take an OH's descriptions more seriously (my goodness, that seems like the early 1960's or something but it's been true of a lot of sufferers on these threads). I am sure you have the right to a second opinion about the severity of the symptoms, the need for a continued sick note and meds, etc. It might be worth phoning Pregnancy Sickness Support on 024 7638 2020 for advice about how best to approach this unsympathetic GP if you can't see another one.
PopGoesBang Great advice from you as well. I so agree with your comments about sleeplessness!
I hope everyone is coping today.

Hi ladies, I’ll be 40 weeks Saturday and now I have covid on top of the hyperemesis. I’m so scared. I just can’t believe the timing of this. My hubby got it at work and gave it to me. His was nothing other than a mild dry cough. My symptoms are fairly mild in the sense I don’t have a fever but I have this horrible head cold and fatigue that is nothing like I’ve even experienced. My whole back aches which could be a pregnancy thing but I also have SPD and I can barely walk. I could go into labor any second and im praying I come late. Any ladies ever in the same boat? I have a doctors appointment on Thursday so I will call tomorrow. Im scared I will have to birth all alone as they may not allow him
In the room. I can’t imagine wearing a mask when both my nostrils are plugged up. Im trying not to stress and just rest but I’m this is just a nightmare.

LindSan Oh dear, that does sound nasty.Sorry, remind me. Is it your first baby, because if so with any luck the baby will be a few days late, which will be just the thing in this condition. I find it hard to believe that they will make you wear a mask when in labour if the worst comes to the worst,; won't they wear full PPE instead? but have to admit ignorance about it. Much sympathy about the worry and the awful fatigue and aching. Keep us informed.

@Lindsan oh no! Thats awful. Have you been vaccinated? I currently have covid and nearly 35 weeks. I had bad cold and aches for a couple days but now just feel tired really.
I had to go into hospital for monitoring as baby was really quiet. They said they have provision for women with covid and just use separate entrance and own room for labour and postnatal and partners can still be there.
I would call labour ward to find out your hospital policy on it so you know ahead of time so you can feel prepared.
I hope you recover quickly.

@BFPDec21 I'm so sorry the GP is so unhelpful. Unfortunately they are only general practitioners so dont specialise in hyperemesis. Have you tried the early pregnancy unit at your hospital at all? I went there at 7 weeks with my first baby as gp was so unhelpful and got the proper help I needed. You definitely need more medication. I'm not sure what meds your on atm but i was ondansatron then 4hr later metoclopromide, 4hrs later ondansatron and repeated this day and night with alarms set. I still needed daily IV fluids and ondansatron in hospital for months but you seem to be suffering far too much and the GP isnt giving you the support you deserve.
Also with such rapid weight loss the hospital need to really intervene and help you. I lost nearly 15lbs in 5 weeks.
Also with being clammy and fever, I had that and the hospital said thats a sign of dehydration and your body is really struggling and using your fat stores as its not getting enough nutrients etc. Not to scare you but sound like you really need some help from the gynae drs etc.
If you dont mind saying a rough area you live on or the nearest big town or city I can check if the hospitals there have a specialist hg unit as many do now to help you that you can contact directly.
Sending hugs. 🤗🤗🤗

@thingymaboob how are you feeling hun? Not long to go🤞