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

Hyperemesis Support

1000 replies

LucindaE · 26/03/2022 18:45

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:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Melleebacca · 18/05/2022 06:32

@Spottybutterfly I agree, it’s strange that you’re getting a reaction from the meds now. Seems more likely that it’s to do with workload, and potentially heat. I’m not sure how hot it is there at the moment, but blood pressure does drop in high temperatures and high humidity. The only times I have fainted from my blood pressure have been on days when I was overdressed and it was super humid.

@BalletN oh you must so be looking forward to having the summer off work to recover! I finished up at 15wks for the summer here, and it was great to slow down and recover, then return at the start of the year to full hours.
Sorry to hear baby was uncooperative, but it is always nice to have extra scans when you feel so miserable! Something to look forward to.

I have 2 days left at work, I have to train my replacement so hopefully that won’t be too exhausting. I’m soooo looking forward to slower days for a bit!

RedLipsticks · 18/05/2022 13:13

@Melleebacca @LucindaE thank you both so much for your advice!

Weathergirl1 · 18/05/2022 17:11

Quick question - I know that sickness is managed by GPs but I was a bit surprised that the midwife I saw today (16 week appointment although I'm 17 weeks) didn't even ask about it or ask about medications after I'd mentioned that I'd had nausea and sickness. It was just completely brushed off. Has anyone else had that or is it likely that it was just that particular midwife who wasn't interested?

I'm still taking ondansetron. Tried delaying the dose a few times over the last week but the nausea creeps back... I guess it's going to be a trial and error to find out when I can stop taking it.

Melleebacca · 18/05/2022 19:09

@Weathergirl1 my midwife is well aware of my HG, and very sympathetic, but there’s not much she can do. She can prescribe me lactulose for the constipation and she referred me for my iron infusion (and I’m previous pregnancies to maternity mental healthy and a dietitian), but she can’t prescribe me meds. Generally she keeps tabs on when I wean off them, and she’s aware that I may need anti-emetics in labour but that’s all she can really do.
Also, don’t wean off them until you feel back to normal on them. I dropped one dose at week 16, the next at week 22, and the last at week 28. I had a day or two of just feeling a little off after each dose I dropped, but rested heaps and then my body could handle it. Still nauseous now at almost 38wks, but no full on vomiting (occassionally I burp and feel things moving up, but haven’t lost anything yet!)

LucindaE · 18/05/2022 20:04

Melleebacca What shall we do without you? Great advice as ever,but roll on
slower days.
SpottyButterfly I'm not medical, but it does seem odd they didn't mention possible low bloood pressure as a cause for dizziness.
RedLipsticks Hopefully, it will come in handy.
Weathergirl1 I so agree with Melleebacca - it's early days yet to wean off meds.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.

OP posts:
Weathergirl1 · 19/05/2022 11:21

@LucindaE @Melleebacca I guess I've been feeling so normal (sorry!) with the meds that I was curious as to whether I still needed them or not! Was just a bit disappointed that the midwife didn't seem to even bother to ask how I was doing with it even after mentioning that I'd had severe nausea etc. She also hasn't written down the fact I told her I have tokophobia in the follow up notes, sigh.

buntywindermere · 19/05/2022 16:44

Hello everyone,
Tentatively checking in here for the second time this year after a MMC in January.
Pregnant again (this is now my 4th HG pregnancy, I have 2 boys aged 4 & 2 and I suffered with HG until passing my third pregnancy). I think I'm about 7 weeks. Been nauseous nearly 2 weeks and the vomiting began last Thursday. This week has been relentless. 20+ times Monday and Tuesday, eased a little yesterday. On Tuesday I got dissolvable prochlorperazine but struggled to keep it in long enough.
I am in hospital today so have received cyclizine via a drip and just getting my two bags of fluids in. The doctor is sending me home with more prochlorperazine so would love to know if this has been anyone's wonder drug?! He offered ondansetron very very reluctantly so I said I'll try prochlorperazine first. Cyclizine knocks me out so while I'm not being sick I still can't function. Metaclopromide mentioned as the final resort since you can only take it for a few days?
Just looking for anecdotes really please!! I took cyclizine with #1 which was fine, then cyclizine with ondansetron from 14 weeks with #2.
My anxiety is also obviously through the roof due to the MMC and was really hoping this time would've different!!!

KatieJayne86 · 19/05/2022 17:03

So Xonvea didn't come back into stock on the 18th and I've now been told the 23rd by Exeltis 🙄

ChloeHel · 19/05/2022 18:29

KatieJayne86 · 19/05/2022 17:03

So Xonvea didn't come back into stock on the 18th and I've now been told the 23rd by Exeltis 🙄

I was always told the 21st, so let’s wait and see on Saturday! but I’m not holding my breath!

JessV12 · 19/05/2022 19:26

Hi everyone,

I was so glad to find this thread!

I believe I'm around 7 weeks pregnant, first baby, and have been suffering with all day nausea since 4 weeks. Also having emetophobia this hasn't been a great few weeks for me! My GP prescribed me cyclizine which didn't work and I ended up in hospital for 24 hours and received 4litres of fluid. The hospital switched me over the metoclopramide which has been working to some extent (unless I miss a dose), so I spoke to my GP again today who has also prescribed me ondansetron- first dose taken this evening and I feel able to function more than I have in the last week!

It's nice to know I'm not alone in this.

LucindaE · 19/05/2022 21:38

Welcome to JessV12. Sorry you are suffering. It must be extremely hard with a phobia about vomiting. A couple of others on here have had that. I think one was offered counseling by the GP's surgery about it. Do phone Pregnancy Sickness Support on 024 7638 2020 for advice about it. They will have to phone back but do give good advice. I am glad you've been given effective meds. Do get a laxative, as a side effect of Ondansetron is severe constipation. I am quoting my normal speil, which I hope helps you. Ignore the parts which don't apply, obviously. 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, Vimto, 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 (M and S has been recommende), 7Up, isotonic drinks, sips of strawberry or 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 , dry cereals and slices of melon and mango. Protein drinks have also been mentioned.
ChloeHel and KatieJayne56 Oh dear about date. Not good.
buntywindermere Welcome back. I am sorry to hear of your MMC in January.
Congratulations on your new pregnancy. Several on here have been helped by Prochlorperazine. Doctors seem to vary about how long they prescribe Metaclopramide for. Some prescribe it long term, as long as the mother has no twitchiness, which is a sign to stop taking it. Are they reluctant to start you on Cyclizine and Ondansetron early? There is a new drug, Xonvea, but there are bad supply issues at the moment.
Weathergirl1 Sorry to hear you have tokophobia. I hope the surgery will be giving you support about it. If not, I wonder if Pregnancy Sickness Support on 024 7638 2020 would give you some suggestions? They will phone back with good advice. I have to admit to such ignorance about the condition that I had to look up the term.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked. I had to retype the message as for some reason, the pc lost it.

OP posts:
Weathergirl1 · 19/05/2022 21:53

@JessV12 - fellow Ondansetron taker here - you will want to get hold of some lactulose to take alongside it as it can cause constipation and it's better to get ahead with that than wait until you haven't been able to go for several days (from experience)!

@LucindaE ah no worries, it's my 2nd tokophobic pregnancy and I'm a lot better for knowing what to expect now. It's the lack of acknowledgement from HCPs about the condition that is the problem for me, and acknowledgement that I might not want to discuss things or do things that they would expect other women to do. I was assured in the response to my complaint after my first birth that they were putting things in place for women with it, but so far I've not really experienced anything to suggest that has happened yet - and that just causes extra stress that I could do without as it reinforces my concerns that I'm not being listened to!

buntywindermere · 20/05/2022 07:44

Hi @LucindaE thank you again for all the time you give to this thread. It was a lifeline for me when I was here with my second (under a different username!). I am personally reluctant to take the cyclizine. I had some via the drip yesterday but the side effects I find awful. Pounding headaches and serious drowsiness. So while it's great I'm not being sick, I still feel hideous and can't function at all. I actually ended up having 3 bags of fluid yesterday, discharged at about midnight with ketones still in my wee sample. I'm back in on Monday for a scan and possibly more fluid depending on what my sample shows. They did say if I start vomiting 3+ times a day between now and then to just go straight in though. I do feel I was well looked after to be fair. My mum was with me and talked me out of the ondansetron for the time being. I know she is worried after my loss as well. I have woken up this morning feeling quite hungover but kept my toast down so far and sipping on a glass of ice cold water! I still have quite a bad headache and feel quite dizzy, but I don't think it's as bad as what the cyclizine does to me.

AlM93 · 20/05/2022 16:23

Hi ladies!!
I've been a bit of a lurker on this thread for the last 5 months, first baby but second pregnancy, my HG started at 5 weeks and (thankfully) subsided around 18/19 weeks - I was on 8 Ondansetron and 4 Promethazine per day after several hospital admissions just to give an indication of how I was medicated.

The reason I'm here is I'm now 24 weeks and have been feeling ok(ish) for the last 5 weeks, I'm still sick a few times a week but nowhere near as bad in terms of nausea, but I've been struck down with a cold this week that's really knocking me around and it seems to have caused a bit of a relapse into my HG (I still take 2 Ondansetron a day) I was sick 4 times on Weds and the last two days I've struggled with smells causing nausea again and really not fancying anything to eat. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced the same when they have been sick with colds etc?

I'm scared it will go back to being how it was in those first 19 weeks, I don't have to explain to you guys how bad it is as you all already know!!! But to put it into perspective, my husband is getting booked in for the snip and I have vowed never to have any more children! xx

Melleebacca · 20/05/2022 19:18

@AlM93 oh yes! Colds are harder in pregnancy full stop, but HG makes them even harder. There’s a very good reason why flu vaccines are strongly encouraged in pregnancy because your body is working so hard to support 2 humans, that the toll of a cold/flu can be just as bad as someone very elderly getting it.
I had a cold about a month ago. My kids had it for 3 days each. I had it for 2 weeks, plus a post viral cough for another 2weeks. I couldn’t take any pain meds because they made me vomit, and coughing made me vomit too. It was just a miserable time! I’m so relieved to have avoided covid thus far.
I hope you start to improve again soon, but please rest as much as possible, and if need be, take up your dosage of ondansetron (you can take up to 3 x 8mg a day as that’s what I was prescribed).

Finished work here. Been a crazy week! Training my replacement, which was exhausting. Then my midwife mentioned she might be out of town this weekend - and I just had to laugh because she’s never been there for my previous births. And to top it off the birthing center has closed for a week due to staff burnout. I’ve been having irregular contractions for the past 12hrs, so I think it’s unlikely baby will hang tight for a full 7 days, but we shall see. I had irregular contractions like this with DD2 and they went on for 3 days, so planning to get a lot done this weekend!

LucindaE · 20/05/2022 20:17

Aim93 Welcome. I am glad that things got better after having it so severely. Sorry to hear of the cold causing a relapse. I can't improve on Melleebacca's words.
buntywindermere Thank you for your kind words. That's awful that Cyclizine gave you such bad side effects this time. There is also a problem with Ondansetron does give some sufferers bad headaches. I expect your mother is concerned about the tiny risk with Ondansetron.
Weathergirl1 I'm glad you are a veteran at coping with it, and I hope that they get down to providing some support to those with it.
Melleebacca Exciting about the contractions, if a stroke of bad luck about the birthing centre.

OP posts:
LucindaE · 21/05/2022 19:45

Exciting developments from Melleebacca.

OP posts:
Melleebacca · 22/05/2022 06:53

@LucindaE Not really! I’ve had an awful day, nausea has really ramped up. And our childcare plan for when I need to go to hospital has completely fallen apart, thanks to unreliable relatives on my husbands side. So hoping baby stays put long enough for me to figure out a plan C & D.
I’m so bloody emotional about it that I just want to lie in bed all day and cry!

BalletN · 22/05/2022 09:28

@Melleebacca Sending hugs. I hope baby hangs on long enough for you to get everything sorted out x

ohCARP · 22/05/2022 15:16

Thinking of you @Melleebacca. It's cruel that you've made it through so much already and now you have this to contend with!

I'm realising that my sickness is now mainly stress related. I've got Sunday blue about going back to work tomorrow and I've been close to being sick more than once because of it. I cannot wait to leave that place. In the meantime I've referred myself to the well-being service and have an appointment with perinatal mental health on Friday. I don't think there's a lot they can do though but at least I've tried I suppose

ElephantGrey101 · 23/05/2022 06:31

Hello Everyone. I am returning to the thread after a surprise positive pregnancy test. I have a 4 year old and Lucinda and this thread was such a life saver in that pregnancy.

I have been having problems with nausea and my stomach for over a year and I was being investigated for all sorts of things so when I spent the whole week throwing up and being unable to eat anything I thought I was ill. I took a pregnancy test yesterday and all was explained.

I was prescribed Lampezole by my GP which did help once I had stopped vomiting it up but that is not safe to take in pregnancy so I and going back today. I also need a pregnancy dating scan.

I hope I am not as severely affected as I was in my first pregnancy.

KatieJayne86 · 23/05/2022 09:26

Still no Xonvea my end 🙄

ChloeHel · 23/05/2022 12:41

KatieJayne86 · 23/05/2022 09:26

Still no Xonvea my end 🙄

Same :( no date from Alliance now! Absolutely ridiculous.

PopGoesBang · 23/05/2022 14:01

@Melleebacca glad work is done. Sorry to hear about needing a plan for childcare again. Is there a close friend who wouldn't mind helping out? I hope you get it sorted and can relax a bit before baby makes an appearance.

Sorry to hear lots are still struggling with availability of meds. Not helpful in the slightest.

I'm doing ok on the whole. Can have full days where I feel nauseous, and I really struggle with that. But considering the dietary difference for the gestational diabetes I've done better than I thought I would. Just hoping it stays that way.

KatieJayne86 · 23/05/2022 14:36

ChloeHel · 23/05/2022 12:41

Same :( no date from Alliance now! Absolutely ridiculous.

Same here. They rang someone called Pheonix too? Same issue. I've emailed Exeltis AGAIN, although not sure why I'm bothering as I have no idea where they're getting their dates from 🤦🏼‍♀️

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