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.

Also for anyone who can't stand fizzy drinks anymore (it was shocking that I'd gone off them even though they helped weeks 8-9) buy capri sun cartons they really help settle your stomach when you get nauseous. The only fizzy I can have is sprite/7up. Not sure why.

NP2705 Glad you're out of hospital. Sorry symptoms have returned. I know you can take it either way, and on these threads, opinion seems to have been divided on which works best! Do they have you on any other meds now?
Heartbreak22 Great advice for Jomummy1013. I am glad you are less exhausted at 19 weeks. Sorry you had to have a termination before.

@heartbroken22

sorry to hear you had such a tough pregnancy. I don't know how you are doing it without meds. I am on antiemitics and antiacids and I am still nauseous and vomiting but it has kept me out of hospital so far.

In relation to this being your last pregnancy, my mother had 3 severe HG pregnancies, requiring hospitalisation several times on pregnancies 1 and 2. Her GP told her not to have any more children after the third one as the toll on her body was too severe. Almost 30 years since her last pregnancy, her teeth are now starting to rot-directly caused by the HG decades ago.

@heartbroken22 I am so sorry to hear you were left with no option but to terminate a previous pregnancy There is so much ignorance in the medical field about this condition. It's heartbreaking that women still aren't offered the strongest medications - such as steroids or PIC lines - when they get to the point that they feel they have no other option but to terminate. Also some fantastic advice in your post. Please take it easy and remember there is no such thing as too much rest.

If medications aren't working please don't be afraid to tell medics and push for something stronger. I told them I wanted steroids or I wouldn't have got them. It isn't always easy to advocate for yourself when you feel so worn out - partners can also push on your behalf for the correct medication. I wouldn't have got to the Pink Castle without the steroids. Hideous side effects but everything is resolved now, including the sickness. The only lasting side effect is the massive weight gain (I put on about 30kg in the pregnancy) as the steroids increased my appetite so much that I must have been taking on about 5000 calories a day at one point. It was worth it though.

This thread is a fountain of knowledge and a safe space to vent, it was invaluable for me to see people getting through it and remembering that, even though it felt like it, the HG is not permanent and will (in most cases) instantly disappear at birth. Keep talking about how you're feeling - HG is mentally traumatic as well.

Hi, not been able to write much as things have been so bad. Am 12+1 today and had my first hospital admission on Sunday. I was experiencing dizziness, confusion, feeling very weak due to dehydration. We called 111 and they sent an ambulance and then I ended up in the gyne ward on a drip. They gave me cyclazine orally which made me retch and be sick. They then gave me promethazine via IV which really helped. They didn't have any to send me home with so gave me cyclizine which are not helping and are just making me sick. Am a mess, can't function and threw up foam this morning. That was a first. Speaking to GP tomorrow not sure I even have the energy to fight for medication anymore. I'm just a dribbling mess 😔

Hi everyone. I didn't get to discuss steroids as I ended up admitted again for fluids. I think this is just it now for the remainder of the pregnancy. 😞 admissions every couple of weeks. Which isn't ideal but only 12 weeks to go. I feel wretched again already after admission last week. I had to drop one medication due to side effects and another because I'm in the 3rd trimester (prochlorperazine). I cannot express how truly sh*t I feel. I'm such a burden at home. And my children aren't getting the best of me. 😓

Hi everyone I've been lurking on this thread for some time and hope you're all holding up okay. I'm 22 weeks now and have been on cyclizine since around 6/7 weeks. My sickness started as severe nausea and dry heaving before progressing to vomiting. It was luck that I found this thread and Pregnancy Sickness Support as this is my first pregnancy I had no idea if what I was experiencing was 'normal'. I think that getting anti emetics early probably kept me out of the hospital. Although I now question ketones in urine being the deciding factor to refer for IV fluids as I had a high heart rate, struggled to give a urine sample and they struggled to get blood.

On bad days I was still sick sometimes 9 times or so on cyclizine but it did enable me to eat and drink. Midwives etc said I should feel better by 12...then 14...then 16. I clung onto that but I think mentally it's been hard to accept it might never fully resolve for me.

I was signed off work until I was around 17 weeks and have gradually returned but working from home. I'm too scared to get on a train as I still vomit more mornings than not.

I don't feel anywhere near as unwell as I did before but I had a bad relapse in terms of vomiting around 20/21 weeks and I was wondering if anyone else experienced this? The midwife encouraged me to wean off of the cyclizine so I'm now taking just one a day but I'm wondering if this was poor advice.

Welcome to peonyjamI am so glad that this thread and Pregnancy Sickness Support have helped. There is a hormonal surge around week 20 which probably caught you out. It might be worth asking if you can go back to a higher dose of Cyclizine. I am glad you have got some relief.

gretathebetter I didn't know that sufferers had to give up Prochlorperazine in the third tri. Is that recent advice, as so many on here have been on it until the end. Your LO's will soon foret this period of comparative neglect, and a sibling is a priceless gift.
heartbroken22 Might the liquid form of vitamins be better?
IHaveBeenFallingFor30Minutes I am so glad this thread helped you. Great advice. How is baby thriving?
QueenBee22 Good advice. How awful that your mother has that after 30 years.
Yoga817 Sorry to hear of the admission Can you take an advocate to fight your corner for meds, as it is so difficult to do that when feeling so ill.
Apologies to anyone rudely overlooked.

Mind if I join guys, baby number 2 and HG has started to kick in! Feel like absolute shit. I'm only 5+6 atm. Not looking forward to the next few months at all. I was on Cyclizine from 6 weeks till 21 weeks with DS. It didn't do a great deal tbf but I was reluctant to take anything else. It did nothing at all for my nausea. It helped reduce the vomiting though it didn't stop, I was throwing up up to 40 times a day on the worst days 😭

Hi cashmere cow, sorry to hear that you feel rubbish already. I hope you can get started to some meds to help you cope very soon.

My GP called to check on me and how I was doing yesterday- I was surprised but also very touched!

Have been having a bad time of it, really struggling recently. I feel a sense of dread for each day to start 😢

One minute, one hour and one day at a time. I've been repeating this Tom myself and it helps a bit

I've been to the dentist and need 2 fillings and my gums aren't amazing. Happened last time from vomiting so much and having to have fizzy drinks and sweets to stop the nausea. He's given me some high fluoride toothpaste and he was really kind. Please don't put off going to the dentist in pregnancy it's really important. I lost a tooth, needed a root canal and 3 fillings last time.I wish I had gone sooner but waited till until after pregnancy.

Hi Ladies,

Im having a really bad day today and can’t keep water down again. The lovely nurses at my hospital joke about me always being admitted on a Thursday but seems to be the trend. Any changes to my meds work for a few days and then I slowly get back to not being able to keep anything down.

I spoke to Pregnancy Sickness Support this morning and they recommended asking for Ondasetron. I’m 12 weeks on Friday so feel like I’m past the 10 week point for the potential cleft palate risk. Has anyone had any luck on this drug? I’m really at my wits end now.

I’m too weak to carry my daughter anymore and she has got herself all worried that I’ll die if I keep being sick which is really heart breaking 💔

@LucindaE Baby has been doing great thank you  she has got back to birth weight and some! She is feeding really well. I was worried because of the literally 1000s of doses of medications I took in pregnancy but she's just fine, a very content baby. I was worried about bonding because of how awful the pregnancy was but we've had no problems.

@NP2705 I was on Ondansetron from 6 weeks. I think it helped a bit but I did ultimately end up on steroids as the first and second line meds just weren't enough.

@IHaveBeenFallingFor30Minutes I am so happy for you!! That’s me at 37 (nearly 38) weeks and your posts are keeping me going through this last bit ☺️

@NP2705 Ondansetron was an absolute game changer for me, I didn’t get offered it till 14/16 weeks or so, but it really did make a difference. My only advice is to ask for a laxative to be prescribed at the same time.

@cashmerecow I started Cyclizine at about 6 weeks and found it made almost no difference, if you feel like it isn’t working then definitely
push to try something else as different tablets have varying degrees of success for different people. It’s always been a combination of Metaclopramide and Ondansetron that’s worked better for me (although at one stage I was on all 3 at once).

@heartbroken22 I’m so scared of going to the dentist after the last 9 months, I’m hoping all the rinseing with water and listerine might have saved me a wee bit 🙈

cashmerecow Welcome. I am sorry to hear that Cyclizine wasn't effective enough last time. I hope that is 40 heaves a day, rather than 40 separate sessions?! I know doctors count separate heaves as a vomit. Did you find an anti acid helped last time? I am wondering if you could ask for Xonvea, as after all that has been specifically designed for pregnancy and has helped many on here.
thaimoon So true!
heartbroken22 Oh dear, about dentist. That sounds awful, last time.
NP2705 Sympathies: Ondansetron has certainly helped many on here. Do ask for a laxative with it.
IHaveBeenFallingFor30Minutes I am so glad to hear our happy news about baby thriving, and that you had no trouble bonding. For those who do take longer, the most helpful advice I ever heard was this advice in a book: 'Act as if you love the baby, and the feelings will certainly come'. I was ill with an infection and blood loss and residual Hyperemesis (people shouldn't worry about that: that is really unusual, and always clears up and has only affected maybe ten women out of the thousands on this thread)and that did effect the bonding, but it all was as it should be in a short time.
FarmWife Cheering you on. Great advice.
Apologies to anyone rudely involved.

Cheering everyone on.

I hope everyone is coping today.

Waves to all.

Sorry I haven't said a lot recently.

Struggling emotionally today.

Having had a good day yesterday I was then up with my toddler most of the night and had awful sickness again today. So disheartening.

It seems to be changing as eating was settling it with meds and now I just can't face anything and when I do it's straight back up

Hi all. Just dropping in at 33 weeks. To say a thank you to Lucinda for her ongoing support when I had HG from 7-22 weeks. Happy to say I’m now on no meds and while I have some evening nausea, the last time I vomited was a couple of weeks ago. I really hope that doesn’t upset anyone still suffering in third trimester, just wanted to give a bit of hope to people who are where I was. This is my second pregnancy but my first HG one, and I will never forget how awful those 3 months were - anyone still suffering has my complete sympathy, it’s indescribably horrific.

💐

@Cuppasoupmonster
It's great to hear that you are doing so well. Lovely to have hope that this will end

I expected to feel better after 12 weeks, and was very disappointed when I didn’t. If I’m being honest I didn’t feel back to more or less ‘myself’ until about 22 weeks, but I turned the corner quite quickly, when I’d just about given up it was going to happen. I didn’t step foot out the house at all, not even to go in the garden, for 2 weeks at it’s worst. I really hope you feel better soon @Thaimoon and all the other ladies here 💐

Hi everyone.

For the second and absolute last HG pregnancy we have reached the pink castle!!! Wooooo hooooo

Thank you so so so much everyone, in particular @LucindaE for all your advice and support. It's been particularly tricky this time around and times honestly didn't think I could do it but baby arrived and I'm instantly in love. Shan't be doing it again though!!!

Best wishes everyone

Xx

Hey everyone. I am not having a good week. Tried to return to work, don’t think I should have, has caused a relapse. Have gone from my medication stopping the vomiting back to throwing up, and feeling nauseous if I do anything other than lie down…
I also have a glucose tolerance test in 2 weeks and already feel afraid - not eating until 1030 in the morning after fasting all night and being made to drink a big drink on an empty stomach is just completely designed to make me sick - I cannot see how I will not throw up and therefor fail the test, making it completely pointless other than to make me feel terrible. I told the midwife and the diabetes team I am almost certain I won’t be able to cope with it, and they said I had to fail it twice before they would test me another way. Has anyone had to do this while having sickness?
also I asked my GP if I could add a second anti emetic in with my prochloperazine and he said he wouldn’t add a second while I was so early in my pregnancy. (I’m 9 weeks). Has anyone has this? Am aware the HELP treatment protocol is to add a second in but the GP was not keen and just wanted to switch me to cyclizine, which I have had in pregnancy 1 and although it did help it didn’t stop the vomiting either.
In summary am probably feeling a bit disappointed by the NHS at the moment, and like it’s a long road ahead.
@NP2705 hope the ondasentron is helping you. @Thaimoon sorry you are also having a crap time. My toddler has had a cold this week and her sleep has been shocking, and she’s cried a few times as I have had to throw up while she’s beside me. It’s so hard with little ones!
congrats @ohhollyfred thats fantastic news for you xx

ohhollyfred Wonderful news. I am so glad you have reached the Pink Castle. Congratulations on baby. 👏👶I am so glad that the thread helped. Thank you so much for coming back on to encourage other sufferers.
cuppsoupmonster It is so good that things are so much better, and you are off meds. The majority of sufferers seem to improve considerably at some point between weeks 15 and 21, and you were obviously after the end of that time scale! Thank you so much for your encouraging message.
Moneybum Oh dear. I had heard of those who will never be able to get through the test being offered a blood test instead, and not heard about this 'two fails' rule. I wonder if Pregnancy Sickness Support might be able to advise you, on 024 7638 2020, about that, and about more effective meds. They will ring back with good advice. From all I have heard on these threads, LO's tend to forget it all very soon, but it is distressing for you all at the time. Much sympathy.
Thaimoon Poor you and LO too. I think fatigue makes it much worse.
Apologies to anyone rudely ignored.