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.

Just wondering if I could jump on this thread I have also done a separate post I have always suffered hg from about 4/5 weeks through to birth although it calms during 3rd trimester I had to terminate last pregnancy due to poor care from my new gp and told to take ginger and drink more…I am pregnant again 6.5 weeks and my consultant decided preventative treat I’m on domperidone Prochloperazine and Ondansetron 3td and take vitamin b6 which seems a miracle cure I have not had any nausea or vomitting so far but I can’t help but have this fear that maybe it’s to early to say if treatment is working or then maybe something wrong with pregnancy? Just hoping there’s other mums like me that took medication from the moment they had there bfp and was able to manage hg ?

@Saim86 I don’t have any answers but rejoining this thread as I just got my BFP and literally the first thing I did was ask my GP for an appt to discuss preemptive medication. I really hope you continue to feel well!! I’m really scared about getting HG again.

@Saim86 I am afraid I don't have any answers for this too, but sometimes the right combination of anti sickness medication works wonders. I have tried three different medications (cyclizine, prochlorperazine and now Xonvea) and although I did not take them all at the same time, there has been a massive difference between the first two and Xonvea (which has been a life saver!).

Hi I'm not sure if my sickness is bad enough but I'm struggling at the moment.
I had fairly bad sickness with my daughter in the first and third trimester and was on cyclizine which reduced the sickness to 1-3 a day
I'm 8 weeks with my second and was prescribed cyclizine again yesterday. I have had a couple of days with less nausea but most days it's nausea from waking to going to bed and days where I'm vomiting 5-10 a day. Until this week the days I was sick I felt ok in between so it was more tolerable but I've been off sick this week with unrelenting nausea and vomiting.
It's my day off work tomorrow so I have my daughter at home with me and I'm not sure how I'm going to go. Last Wednesday my body was kind enough to give me a low nausea day but not sure if I'm lucky enough to get that 2 weeks running!

@Superscientist that sounds awful and definitely qualifies as bad enough! Cyclizine helped me in my first pregnancy but it seemed less effective in my second so I went on to Xonvea and that made a huge improvement. Later added Ondansetron too.

Please ask your GP to prescribe Xonvea - PSS have info on their website if you need it.
”Normal” pregnancy sickness doesn’t interfere with the fundamentals of day to day life. You deserve to not suffer!

Thanks @Littletoaster2021 my sister had it really really bad (lost a stone /13% body weight in a couple of weeks) and I think I use that as the bench mark.

The GP was very understanding and said looking at me gave her flash backs to her pregnancy and looked up what the next options would be when I was there. Much better than the midwife I saw last week who helpful told me that at least pregnancy sickness disappears when you eat! 🤔

I'm going to give the cyclizine until Thursday and go back if it's no better.

Hi, I've been reading through some of the previous threads and found some really helpful things.
I'm currently very early on in pregnancy (5 weeks I think) with DC #2. My first pregnancy was so plain sailing, thankfully!
Today I have felt SO sick. From afternoon to now. I've been in bed since 6.30 and feel so awful that DH has had to bath and get DS in his pjs and tend to bed time.
The worst thing about this is, I have a phobia of feeling/being sick. My anxiety is through the roof right now and I'm scared to go to sleep.

I'm currently taking sertraline, seven seas conception vitamins and vitamin b6 50mg. I was thinking of swapping the conception vitamins to pregnancy ones and also stopping the vitamin b6 but I read on PSS that this is one of the active ingredients in Xonvea so surely this should be helping the sickness (even if it's a little bit)
Does anyone have any advice? I was praying that I had no sickness/nausea with this pregnancy like my first one but it doesn't seem it's going that way

@ploo I tried taking vitamin b6 alongside Cyclizine(a first line antiemetic) but I’ll be honest, it wasn’t at all effective for me. Xonvea was much better.
I would really recommend talking to your GP and asking for cyclizine or Xonvea. If you do have HG, medication is far more effective if you start taking it before you start vomiting loads, as inevitably that leads to dehydration which in turn exacerbates vomiting. Both are completely safe in pregnancy.
the only other advice I have is to try to keep hydrated, which can be very difficult when you’re nauseous. It doesn’t have to be water, whatever liquid you can keep down (aside from heavily caffeinated stuff like red bull) is a positive.

Joining this thread. I’m 29 weeks with #2. Had barely any sickness with #1 so this was a big shock. I’ve been off work since around 9 weeks. Lost 5kg in my first and second trimesters and only got back to pre pregnancy weight around 20 weeks.
I’ve tried all the drugs and currently on odansetron x3 a day and metochlorapramide (spelling?) as and when needed. Things have definitely improved - I’m only vomiting about 1/2 a week now but nausea is always present.
Has anyone got experience on HG affecting labour? My first was a straight forward vaginal delivery and I'm worried that the HG ia going to cause intervention - mainly from having less resources to draw down on.

With my first I had sickness 5-12 weeks 13-14 weeks and 26-36 weeks. I had a quick labour at home at 38 weeks until fully dilated (only took 2-3h from 2cm) and gave birth in the pool about 45min after arriving at the hospital.
I only gained a net gain of 1 stone in pregnancy and was back at my pre-pregnancy by 10 days. I did notice the difference when I was breastfeeding however. I was on a restricted diet due to my daughters food allergies and I had severe pnd which had an impact on diet. All my reserves that should have seen me through had already been used up in pregnancy so my body suffered. By the time I stopped breastfeeding at 10 months I had dropped 16% body weight compared to prepregnancy and my BMI was in the 17s and I collapsed the day before I stopped with low blood sugars and a bp of 80/40.

I'm currently 8 weeks with my second and trying to do everything I can to eat in any moment it feels marginally better to reduce any weight loss. I can't remember how much I lost last time in pregnancy I think it was 6-8% in the first trimester and then had slow weight gain with a small loss at the start of the third trimester.

@AppleTree16 I am pregnant with my 2nd and have HG, had it with my 1st too throughout my entire pregnancy and it didn't affect the labour at all, had a very straight forward vaginal delivery without being induced or any interventions. At 38 week growth scan he was on 50th centile and came out weighing a nice healthy 7lb2 at 41 weeks

I'm 31+4 currently, still vomiting multiple times a day on the meds and they've got me having growth scans again to check her size - I think that's really only the thing that can affect labour is low birth weight as if they were to stop growing between scans, then they'd intervene and induce / section

Hi all, those who have taken xonvea, did the drowsiness lessen after you’d taken them for a while? Just started taking 2 a night but I’m sooo sleepy this morning it’s been hard to parent. Just wondering if I should expect this throughout? Thank you

@AppleTree16 i know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I elected for a c-section as I just didn’t trust my body anymore. It was very straightforward to request and I found it reassuring knowing there was an ‘end date’ to the sickness. Just in case it was a though you or anyone else had!

Thank you @Superscientist and @BeautyAndTheBump1 for your insight. It’s helped put my mind at rest a bit. Baby is smallish on the 30th percentile but my first was so I’m happy it’s not because of the HG.

@gg9320 my first labour was very quick for a FTM so I’m hoping that I have a relatively quick and easy second one. It is in the back of my mind though, I don’t think I would have the strength to go through a multi day labour/induction etc.

Hi have been quiet for last few days due to nausea 8+3 days and this is my best pregnancy by far as I have only vomitted a handful of times the nausea is really weighing me down however eating makes it go away for a bit I’m only getting nausea once I’m out of bed through to evening time but I can move around I wouldn’t say it’s magical but miles better to before I would definitely advocate preventative medication for reoccurring hg my gp and maternity services in Luton are rubbish compared to Manchester no 24/7 gynae services small epu for bleeding movement etc open 9-5 I know if I could get some help with alternating and trying other meds things can improve I have been to gp midwife and out of hours gp even a&e and all unable to help or prescribe xonevea have been told they have to approve funding for individual patients before it can be prescribed 🤨 but can’t answer how and where to go

Having been chained to the sofa all week barely able to sit up with crippling nausea and vomiting today I feel completely normal. What's going on? I know I should enjoy the day as it could come back tomorrow. It kept returning in my first pregnancy but I'm a bit disconcerted by the 180 in symptoms.

I’ve found that’s very normal. Try not to do too much when you are feeling better as I find it means a worse relapse.

Thanks, that's reassuring. I have another few weeks before my first scan so always have at the back at my head that it might not go anywhere.

It has been nice to be back at work but I have kept to low effort stuff. Trying to get a project that might have to be handed over to someone else in a fit state to be handed over just in case I need more time off sick. So mostly just admin and checking stuff. I needed to go the pharmacy so had to finish work early so not over done it.

I've been trying to eat and drink normally and not overindulge to reduce any nausea.

3rd pregnancy first time experiencing this level of sickness and nausea. I was convinced I was having twins as it's had been so different to my other pregnancies. In 2 weeks I have been. given 3 different anti sickness and it's only now I can get through a day. Xonvea has helped me a lot. I will say my energy levels are still bad and still need to rest after doing basic things but at least I'm keeping down basic foods and water.

Can I get some advice?
My sickness and nausea has returned. The nausea is nowhere near as bad as it was mostly restricted to the morning and it's not affecting my ability to eat and drink but I am still being sick after pretty much every time I eat. I think I have had 5 trips to the loo to be sick today. I feel ok once I have been sick until I eat it and drink again.
I'm on cyclizine at the moment, should I go back and ask for something else? The sickness is night and day better than last week. I have been able to work when I couldn't before but at the same time I do need to be able to keep down food! Thanks!

I would. Cyclizine did nothing for me. There are better antiemetics available.

For those with experience taking Xonvea, did the drowsiness get any better with time? It’s making me feel so out of it in the mornings, I feel almost drunk and it’s affecting my work.

Thanks @AppleTree16 I'll try to get an appointment on Thursday, I need to take my daughter tomorrow and I can only manage one a day! What would be the next line of treatment.
It was ok but not perfect when I had my daughter aside from the odd bad day I took my sickness down to 1-3 times a day which was manageable but it's harder having a little one to look after.

Sorry, I don't have experience of xonvea but have experience of sedating medication. When do you take it?

@gg9320 I'm finding the drowsiness easing off a small bit but I'm on my second week and not sure how long you've been on it. I threw up for the first time in almost 7 days so upped my dosage. I'm hoping the tiredness goes soon as there's so much I need to get on with.

Thanks @Superscientist @SunshineMummy2 I’ve only been on it for 4 days and I’m taking it before bed. Hope it eases for you Sunshine, if I can’t tolerate this then it will be ondansetron but the constipation last time was terrible 😅