When will I feel like myself again?

[MrsJdot]

Hi Ladies, I am currently 14 weeks pregnant. Since week 6 I had very bad nausea and vomiting, I couldn’t keep any food down and used to stay in bed all the time. No medication was helping my vomiting so at around 10 weeks I was given Ondansetron which made a huge difference.

I still have some bad days, when I am queasy all day no matter what I do, I thought about giving up on the medication, but when I do I just start vomiting again. I have noticed that since 2 weeks or so I have absolutely no appetite, I force myself to eat, no food appeals to me and I have gone off most food and drinks.

I feel awful and because I am unable to enjoy food or do any cooking due to the smell aversions, I just want to stay in bed all day. I really miss just having a normal routine and being myself, I just can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Been there. Still there. Unfortunately no one can say when it'll get better for you as some women get better anytime between 12-20 weeks and some women longer. It's hideous. I was taking ondansetron, metoclopramide, stemetil and cyclizine until 24 weeks. Then things improved a little but all food is completely unappealing. I'm 34 weeks now and haven't vomited for 2 weeks but threw up all this morning. I lost 12kg in my first pregnancy and this pregnancy I'm only 0.5 stone heavier at 34 weeks. Keep eating little and often and keep as hydrated as you can. Good luck

Sounds like you have HD. I did too, and mine started to get better around week 16 and cleared by week 18-19.
Then I had some weeks of feeling well, and afterwards my belly was so big and organs so squished, I constantly had acid reflux and shortness of breath. I also lost feeling in my fingers and toes, which was a real bugger and it cleared three months post partum.

I don’t want to discourage you, but life as you knew it will not return for some time - but other lovely things will appear, so just prepare to go with the flow, and let go of expectations and deadlines to return to your old self.
If you plan to breastfeed, expect to lose your body autonomy too - that was the biggest shock for me, but it’s worth it.

It’s a new journey, and on it you’ll get creative and find pockets of time to be yourself again.

Also, ondansetron is amazing but omeprazole was also great for the acid stomach

I'm 36 weeks now and was in the same place as you. Head over to the hyperemesis support board on here. Loads of good advice/solidarity from some HG veterans over there.
Things started improving gradually for me from about 15 weeks and a lot better by 25 weeks but life is pretty much shades of grey for a while. Do what you need to do to survive, it does get better eventually. Hang in there!

Thank you for all of your replies, I really appreciate it. Seems like I just need to ride this out, it’s just so difficult when everyday I have various symptoms, I am either nauseous, got a stubborn headache, or just generally unwell, when one symptoms gets better the other one takes its place.

In my case it never got better and I had to take medication to manage it the whole way through. I thing being told that it gets better at ~16 and actually made things way worse for me because I had been expecting light at the end of the tunnel and when it didn’t come I was devastated and couldn’t cope. Prepare yourself for the possibility that it might not go away (I took medication until the day of my delivery), and get really serious about finding a medication combination and dosage that works. I’m so sorry. HG is soul destroying.

I'm not sure sorry because I'm still there, 12 weeks and I am so over it. I feel miserable. Glad to know we aren't alone xx