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.

Hey everyone, been a watcher of this thread for a while now (15 weeks pregnant) tried every anti sickness, been on fluids multiple times
The past two days have really improved with me I'm unsure if it's taking the odanestron or not but I'm wondering if any of you others who are on this are experiencing stomach pain/cramps. I have read that this is due to bowel issues related to taking odanestron however I'm worried about the baby, can anyone help?

@22td constipation is a terrible side effect of ondansetron. Please get a stool softener or laxative from your GP and take it daily while you’re on ondansetron. I took lactulose every day to keep things moving. Ondansetron is an excellent anti-emetic, which works by closing the valves to the stomach, which slows down the bowel too. When constipated, I feel stomach cramps along the left hand side of my pelvis. I’ve also been eating prunes and dried apricots and stewed plums and pears, literally anything that keeps my digestion moving.

@LucindaE I'm not sure about other antiemetics but I'm most certainly too scared to ever try again 😂.

The last two days have been difficult, I'm 6 weeks today and my acid reflux has been building up and the nausea increasing. I've asked for some omeprazole so should hopefully get that by Tuesday. My PTSD of pregnancy is coming back with every stomach twitch. I haven't actually vomited yet but last night was very close.

Hello everyone and special hello to angel @LucindaE I see you are continuing to support HG sufferers, even though I’ve not been on the thread since my baby was born November 2020. You and the other ladies on here really helped me get through the darkest days of suffering with HG in my first pregnancy.

My daughter is an absolute joy and I am thankful for her every day. Since she was born (and the sickness disappeared immediately- nausea took a couple of weeks and food aversions a couple of months tho not sure if that was partly psychological) to completely disappear… I have felt like a normal eating and drinking human ever since :)

We are now considering trying for another baby and I have been on and off tearful since we made that decision (even though I want another baby more than anything in the world.) I am due to ovulate soon and this morning I ended up in tears and didn’t want to get out of bed and I think I’ve managed to work out that it’s fear of another Hg pregnancy… I have not wanted to admit how scared I am but I am saying it now- I’m scared.

I think I need to phone my doctor tomorrow and make an appointment (no doubt at least 6 weeks into the future…!) to discuss how I’m feeling about this and to ensure there will be support from them medically. It took a while last time for me to be taken seriously and I want to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

What do you ladies think? So much love to anyone suffering just now. It is the worst xx

Welcome to new people. "22td I so agree with Mellebacca*; constipation is a miserable side effect of Odansetron, and you need a laxative.
Snowwhite2020 Definitely ask for pre-emptive meds and work out a care plan for your LO. Pre-emptive treatment also seemingly makes it less likely for it to become as severe. A small minority of sufferers do suffer from nausea with the breast feeding hormones from let down, and some even have vomiting at first. It all goes when breast feeding stops. As this tends to alarm current sufferers, I tend not to emphasize it, but there is no doubt it has happened to about ten of all the sufferers on over ten years' worth of these threads that I know of, as I remember. I still have two food aversions after all these years, and I as most suffer worse than I did, I am sure most ex-sufferers have.
fumedup Definitely tell your doctor about your fears of all anti-emetics. They may be able to reassure you. Don't delay.
nec22 Thanks for the link. Melleebacca mentioned that a few days ago. It makes sense.
Melleebacca Good advice.

@LucindaE I’m no longer breastfeeding… I was aware that could make the nausea/ sickness worse so stopped that in advance of trying again. Thank you for your support. Xx

Hi ladies! How are you all feeling??

I do feel as though the HG is getting some what better! I’m still nauseous all day but only being sick once daily! I’ve noticed the more I get out of bed and try and do stuff around the house the worse I then feel that night or next day.

I’m coming up to 14 weeks this week and still don’t feel ready to return to work yet! I’m a pharmacist so have to stand up for 9 hours of the day and honestly, I’m petrified it’s going to send me straight back to being really ill!

When did you know you were ready to return to work? Or at what week did you return? I’m going to get signed off for another 3 weeks but I’m just scared I’ll be off the entire pregnancy! And of course I feel guilty being off :(

Thank you :)

@Snowwhite2020 I'm sorry to hear you're so scared. I had my baby exactly a year before you and all I can say is after around the 2 year mark my body began to slowly forget and I tried again now that my LO is 2.5. It might not be the best advice but perhaps wait a little if you aren't hurried for time? Psychologically give your brain some more time?

I'm now pregnant again and yes the PTSD sort of feeling has returned (especially about the SPD I suffer too) but I just take it one day at a time. I really hope for multiples so I can just be done and never have to get pregnant again 😅.

@ChloeHel I found I get better around 11 weeks and then dip again. I wasn't fully fit to go back to work till around 17 weeks. Take your time with it and see how the next few weeks go. You'd rather wait than rush and regress xx and I'm not sure if it's your first pregnancy but try and stay positive. I thought I'd never get better but thankfully I did (I'm really sorry for those that continue with hyperemesis throughout).

@ChloeHel I stopped vomiting around the 16 week mark and felt a lot better by 20 weeks and could have gone back to work at that point- though still major food aversions and some nausea etc I could have worked I think. Lockdown meant I didn’t have to make that decision at the time.

@fumedup thanks for your response. Unfortunately age is not on my side…… xx

[quote fumedup]@ChloeHel I found I get better around 11 weeks and then dip again. I wasn't fully fit to go back to work till around 17 weeks. Take your time with it and see how the next few weeks go. You'd rather wait than rush and regress xx and I'm not sure if it's your first pregnancy but try and stay positive. I thought I'd never get better but thankfully I did (I'm really sorry for those that continue with hyperemesis throughout). [/quote]
Hopefully by 17 weeks I’ll be able to work again then! No this is my second but I was pregnant with DD1 during the start of the pandemic so work sent me off from 11 weeks for the whole pregnancy! Which was fantastic because I was quite ill with her too, but no where near as bad as this one!

@Snowwhite2020 yes same here with my first and lockdown! I didn’t have to worry about ringing every few weeks to say nope I’m still sick! I think I’m getting there and then the next day I’m rubbish again!

Hope the worst of it ends for you soon @ChloeHel xx

@ChloeHel with my first, which was also my worse HG pregnancy (pre-emptive meds constantly is what has helped with subsequent ones), I worked in the lab of a factory. My work didn’t require me to be on my feet all day, but it was quite physically strenuous. I returned at 26wks which was about a month of absolutely no vomiting. I did have a relapse on day one/two of returning to work because of the strain on my body.

@Snowwhite2020 we tried for about 6m for the this current pregnancy (#3 living, after a 17w loss in 2020). I had panic attacks at night every week that my period was due because I was scared to be pregnant. In some ways it was easier with #2 who I fell pregnant with before my period returned after #1, so was unexpected. My panic attacks stopped at about 6wks when I was vomiting daily and too exhausted to have panic attacks anymore. I’m currently 31wks, and now I wake up and freak out that he isn’t moving. Once you’ve had one loss, it never leaves you.
In saying all of that, I love the bond between my children, they just are best friends. It’s 9m of torture for a lifetime of joy, or so I keep telling myself.

Melleebacca You are so right about losses never leaving you, sadly; it does make you nervous. I found that 99 per cent of the sadness leaves you after a subsequent baby.
Snowwhite I'm glad this thread has helped you. I think we've been talking a bit at cross purposes about continuing sickness and breast feeding, as I meant that a very few unlucky sufferers do find that breast feeding after the Hyperemesis pregnancy makes a milder version of the symptoms continue until they stop, without being pregnant again. I hate to think how severe it would be breast feeding with Hyperemesis building up; I'm glad you've stopped. Usually, they have to give up breast feeding early for these days - in my case, at five months. though that was more usual then - but it's very unusual.
Great advice from everyone.

Hi everyone,
I’ve read through the whole thread, and I’m sending so much sympathy to all of you still suffering. I left the older threads a while ago, as I started feeling better. I am currently 9 days overdue, and being induced tomorrow. So I am properly bowing out of this thread now, but will keep you all in my thoughts. I couldn’t have survived this pregnancy without the support and advice I got here, so thank you very much for everything. Good luck to you all.

@Derbee oh all the best for your delivery!! congratulations on making it to the end +some

@ChloeHel agree with what others have said. Try to take it day and a time, there's no way of knowing how you'll feel in three weeks time (hopefully much better!). My first pregnancy I was sick until start of 3rd trimester, thankfully I'd already given up my teaching job, but there's no way I could have done the job.

@Melleebacca I'm so sorry for your loss, and the awful trauma that must have been. I agree that it never leaves you. I have lost babies at 5, 7 and 10 weeks and am still waiting for this pregnancy to feel real. The unfairness of suffering with hg and then not getting a baby is too much to bear.

@Snowwhite2020 your fear is very understandable. Definitely see what support you could have in place to help.

@LucindaE what you have said makes so much sense! I thought I was weird when I was bf my newborn and became instantly repulsed by food whenever she latched on. I could be starving and on the bring of passing out but as soon as I started feeding her just the thought of food would make me feel sick. I could not understand the whole "bf and eat loads of snacks" thing because I just couldn't do it!

@Derbee good luck for tomorrow. I hope it goes smoothly!

@ChloeHel I don't know how I'll cope back at work either. My husband has come home feeling unwell so I had to do dinner tonight and even making plain food had me retching all over the place. I can't bear being in the kitchen. I'm a teacher so on my feet a lot and work with secondary SEN students who don't know their own strength. I really don't know how I'll manage but I'm also stressed about work being angry with me for being off for so long. I can't wait for the summer holidays 😩

Derbee Nine days overdue! I am glad you are being induced, that this thread was helpful, and that things got better for you. It's always so encouraging for those currently suffering to get messages from those who got a lot better, and thank you so much for yours. Enjoy your baby.
ohCARP That's grim, about having to stagger about retching when OH wasn't up to cooking. Being a teacher must be really hard anyway, let alone SEN and with Hyperemesis. That is so true about when the letdown hormones trugger nausea. It's awful, and as you say, you really can't eat and drink properly. It's grim, and so rare that you are believed even less than you are with Hyperemesis.
nee22 I am so sorry for your losses. One is bad enough; three must make you even more anxious. I remember seeing statistics that the chances are overwhelmingly on your side still after three consecutive losses. Much sympathy with your anxiety.
I hope everyone is coping today.

@ohCARP oh you can feel my pain of being stood up and running around most of the day then! Have you been back at all yet? I’ve been signed off for another 4 weeks so at least I can relax for a bit. Every time the week draws to a close and I know I have to ring work to update them my anxiety hits the roof and the HG also seems to hit the roof! Aw god, I still haven’t made a meal yet, making toast is hard enough 😂 hopefully he recovers quick!!!

Feeling a bit lost today! 8 weeks of HG is taking its toll on me now. Waiting for it to just end!!! 26 weeks to go 😭

Hello everyone, been lurking on these threads through the last 10 weeks of crippling nausea then vomiting. Been so grateful for all the posts. You've brought so much reassurance and helped me feel less lonely about being stuck inside/ on the couch, and thank you @LucindaE for making sure this resource is always here for sufferers.

I hit my wall today with it at 15w2d. Have been trying to stay positive and telling myself and everyone else that 'it'll get better next week', but it's been getting worse for me from 12/13w and I think today it dawned on me it might not get better for the rest of the pregnancy.

I'm on cyclizine since 10w but it hasn't stopped me from shifting from constant nausea into vomiting, and it's got such a strong sedative effect its making it hard to function. Did anyone else find that with cyclizine, and did you see improvement with other meds? And if it gets worse after 12w, does that mean I'm in this for the full 40 weeks? I'm still working full time as WFH, but having to take a lot of half/ full days off sick, and wondering if I'd be better being signed off for a bit just so I can rest. Grateful for any advice from you wise sages x

P.S. haven't been able to take any vitamins for a few weeks and found a great solution today in case it helps anyone else. Better You make a pregnancy vitamin spray that's got a gentle mint flavour. Took it earlier and fine so far. It's a relief - been worried about baby not getting enough nutrients esp. folic acid

@awed You should be able to get tiny folic acid tabs from your GP if you’re concerned, but they’re really only necessary up to 12wks. Once you have a clear nuchal scan, folic acid isn’t as important, especially if you’re vomiting a lot.
My SiL has had on HG free pregnancy, followed by one that the sickness didn’t start till10wks. But it didn’t last all pregnancy for her. A lot of women on here get gradual relief from 16-20wks, and even if it does last all pregnancy, it’s not generally as bad in the third trimester. I have nausea till the end, but with careful management and loads of meds, I have been vomit free since 13wks. But I only weaned off the meds last week at 30wks (because I know from experience that if you do it too fast, you will relapse).
Also, you can get stronger meds, you don’t have to suffer through.

@Derbee oh congratulations! I hope the pink castle is everything you dreamed it would be and more! You deserve to be treated like a princess after the torture you have endured!

@nee22 sorry about your multiple losses! The mental challenge for you must be huge. You’re so brave!

@ohCARP I’m 31wks, and I don’t think I could make dinner. Hubby threw out a passing comment that his work stuff is getting a little out of control in the states (he usually travels there twice a year). So now I’m mentally preparing in case he needs to fly out for a week. I think it would be a week of cereal for dinner.

@ChloeHel with my first, I used to occasionally pop into work after a doctors appt to physically drop off my doctors note. Mostly because seeing my physically, and seeing the iv line marks on my arms generally stopped any stupid questions and they packed me up and sent me home immediately. Maybe a quick zoom call to show off your greyness and breathlessness will help them be more convinced of your illness, and help you be less anxious?

Thank you @Melleebacca, so reassuring and great advice x

Had to make dinner again tonight. With my husband out of action I've pushed myself too hard and thrown up everything I've eaten today. I'm in a bit of a dark place and have shouted at my toddler a few times, which I feel horrible about. She doesn't understand what's going on or why neither of us can look after her properly today.

I don't know how much longer I can do this for and I feel absolutely no bond with this baby. Is anyone else struggling to bond? I've lost 7 babies before so it's ridiculous that I feel this way but I feel so rubbish I just want the world to stop so I can get off.