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.

Congratulations! So lovely to hear about the light at the end of the tunnel!

Hi, second HG pregnancy here, week 6, all day nausea started four days ago and I've been taking xonvea two tablets at night. Did anyone increase the dose and get better relief? I'm always cautious with meds so it'd be good to hear a positive story to encourage me to up it! X

I upped zonvea in my last pregnancy but as much as I wanted it to work for me, it just didn’t. This pregnancy I’m on promethazine 3 times a day with separate B6 3 times a day and that’s been better (not much vomiting this time, and the nausea is less) but it’s so incredibly drowsy I’m struggling to carry on with it.

deffo try a higher dose of Xonvea (I still take two at night) or add in another drug alongside it too

Thank you @SunSparkle. Have you managed to stay working? I'm due back next week and worried I just won't be able to function 😩

@BusyLiz10 I was pushing through before Christmas and taking the occasional daytime nap. It's weird because when i was vomitting in my last pregnancy all the time I didn't feel bad taking time off, but this time, the vomitting is under control but the trade off is this nausea and tiredness. I might have to get signed off as I'm so so tired.

That's the starter dose so can be increased @BusyLiz10 I have had success this pregnancy with taking the two xonvea at night combined with ondansetron during the day. Combinations seem to be the most successful

Thanks @Bunnymummy89 took 3 last night but felt awful so far today. Have you had luck with ondansetron easing the nausea - I'm not yet vomiting you see and I know people find ondansetron really good for stopping the vomiting. My issue is the debilitating nausea that makes it hard to eat and drink at all xx

@BusyLiz10 what did you try before the xonvea? How many weeks are you? It's definitely trial and error to get the right combo. i wanted Ondasetron to work for me, but like you, it's mainly crippling nausea rather than vomiting. I wish I had had Ondestron in my first pregnancy which was all vomiting, and less nausea.

How much B6 are you taking? I'm on 150mg to 200mg a day. Have you tried combining promethazine or cyclizine with the xonvea?

did it make you feel awful e.g. sick, or another sort of awful?

@BusyLiz10 unfortunately no I wouldn't say ondansetron did much at all for me on its own, with the xonvea it definitely helped get on top of the vomiting but in both my pregnancies I've never found anything really eases the nausea other than time. Sorry that's hardly want you want to hear! Are you on anything else? Omeprazole was also really helpful for me in the early days, it helps with the acidy feeling and the horrible taste in your mouth

Thanks @SunSparkle and @Bunnymummy89 it helps to hear even if only time is going to help me. I think I knew that from my last pregnancy I just keep searching and hoping for a fix! Last pregnancy I tried cyclizine, promethazine and ondansetron, none really helped. This pregnancy I've just tried xonvea. When I upped the dose last night, I felt so tired this morning and the nausea and appetite has been worse than ever today (that's probably just coincidence as it's just ramping up I guess). I know it will start easing around 12-16 weeks, it's just miserable when you're in it!!

Hello everyone!

I hope you're all doing well considering we're all on the hyperemesis support thread 😣

I've been extremely sick since November, hospitalised once for dehydration and I'm now 14+6 but still feel utterly miserable. Random bouts of wretching/gagging and sometimes vomiting out of the blue. Car rides seem almost impossible without the need to vomit and I am shattered. Nausea is horrific sometimes. I've been signed off work since November and now Universal Credit are sending me a questionnaire to see if I need to be assessed by a professional. They said they need to know more about my illness?

Did anyone else get questioned by UC regarding their sickness? How am I going to be assessed if it's nothing like not being able to move or lift an arm etc.

I'm just really sick and can't bear the thought of travelling to and from work on public transport which takes 1.5 hrs each way! I feel sick even thinking about the smells on the train, the office etc 🤮. I just want to stay in bed and sleep it off as much as possible 😭

@mamahg sorry you're suffering so much. I've not heard of needing to be assessed. I was off from July to November (I teach so absence officially only started September) but I'm still on reduced days and hours and haven't needed anything other than a GP fit note for evidence. You so don't need the extra stress when feeling so rough. Are you taking any medication?

Thank you.

I take medication yes (cyclizine) which does make me sleepy and isn't 10000% effective but it's better than nothing. I lm just baffled that they're asking for a questionnaire to be sent back even though the fit note states it's hyperemesis...

Clutching at straws now, but has anyone tried acupuncture and found any relief from nausea with it?

Hi everyone, this is my first post in the thread so apologies if this is repetitive questioning!
currently 8 weeks and have had all day nausea for around 2 weeks. Managing 1 small meal a day with a couple of snacks (definitely no more than 1000cals a day). I lost almost 2kg last week alone.
i started Xonvea on Friday but it’s not really helping, I also have a ridiculous amount of food aversions which isn’t helping.
meds are also making me really drowsy and pretty much useless!!
should I be worried about baby’s health at this stage? It’s really making me panic!

Hello @mhn1, im sure you’ve been to see the doctor (with the drowsy meds youve been given). What worked for me was ondansetron all the way to the end. Unfortunately, gps are hesitant to give it prior 12 weeks because of a small chance of cleft palate according to one study. If you’re in the uk there is a charity called PREGNANCY SICKNESS SUPPORT and they are very good in giving information and data regarding medications among other hypermemesis support.

regarding your question about being worried about the baby, they are quite resilient in our bodies. A midwife told me they’re gonna be sucking out all our resources thats why we’re left feeling crap. (In hindsight if there is an advice to all those planning to be pregnant, it would be to eat well and store up).

i think the only thing to be wary of is when you really struggle to keep down any food or fluid then they usually advise to go to the hospital for some iv fluids and iv antisickness if need be. Usually also there is a maternity helpline you can ring in your local hospital.

i hope this helps. It's quite daunting thinking you’ve still got a long way to go, but were all here to support you.

Not sure if it's full on HG, but I'm suffering with constant nausea and a fair amount of vomiting - Just been given cyclizine which appears to be helping a bit, only if I take the full 3 a day though.
I've not even had a first midwife appointment yet it's that early - At a guess I'm 6-7ish weeks along.

I was just wondering if anyone has any advice for being able to actually eat??
Before cyclizine I was both super hungry as well as sick and would gag every time something came near my mouth.
But now I'm just mildly sick and my appetite has gone completely.
I'm trying to force things down with really small well chewed bites (so that if I do puke it doesn't destroy my throat), but it just makes the nausea come back.

So far all I can really manage is Actimel drinks, chocolate Yazoo drinks, cheese strings and boiled eggs - all of which takes over 2 hours to finish!

It's 8:30pm and today all I've had is one slice of toast, the yolks of 3 eggs (The whites ramp up the nausea again, the dog had those!) and a yazoo, there's absolutely no way my body's getting enough nutrition let alone the baby - What the hell do I do?

Hi new ladies, sorry that you have ended up here! I would try not to worry too much about what you're eating at this stage, the baby will take what they need and make you feel dreadful but they will be ok. I cooked up a 9Ib baby somehow in my first HG pregnancy and growing a similar sized one now! In the early days I had to give up on eating really until mid afternoon when I usually had a break in the vomiting and once I'd got something to stay in could eat a little more and then get my fluids back up. Don't worry about what you are eating right now, keep trying different things and eat whatever you can get to stay in and keep an eye on your fluid input and output as if you're not able to drink enough you may need IV fluids. Again don't worry about what you are drinking atm. I lived on crisps and diet coke for weeks and baby was fine!

To the newest lady, I'd recommend getting on better meds sooner than later if cyc isn't working as the success rate is beter the earlier you start. As someone for who ondansetron didnt work, I've had good results with xonvea this time round although you will probably have to go armed wih the info and push for it. The charity mentioned above are really helpful and have loads of info you can print. I now take omeprazole which really helps with the stomach churning and nausea, ondansetron in the morning and xonvea at night as its slow release and gets me over that first morning sickness so much better where ondansetron just going wore off too fast overnight. There are many combinations you can ask for but in my experience you have to go armed with info and request them, I didn't know this and suffered through my first pregnancy with only cyclizine

Hi all, I've only just found this thread. 8 weeks onto my 3rd pregnancy (after 3 miscarriages in a row so I don't even know if it's going to stick!). I had hyperemesis with my second and it's started this time too. I've tried domperidone and now on cyclizine but they literally work for a couple of days and I'm back to all day nausea. Does anyone know if it's typical for these or what to try next? It feels like I have a permanent migraine with nausea and I'm still sick too, but not as much. I just want to lay in bed all the time as it's so debilitating!

@Sparklediamondstar if you find the answer let me know! My first HG pregnancy I had a ton of vomiting which was obviously unpleasant and the dehydration and malnutrition wasn’t fun. But my last two have been very little vomiting (thanks medication) but the nausea is unrelenting from 8am to the second I go to bed and it makes eating, drinking and functioning such a mental struggle and it’s exhausting. I’m better nourished this time and not losing weight so much but I’m dehydrated and permanently tired from all the meds. The doctor couldn’t really give me much hope for further reducing the nausea as most of the drugs act on the vomiting side of things and my nausea is whether I’ve an empty or a full stomach so the stomach emptying drugs don’t help either.

I sound really depressing about it all! I hope someone has some answers as I feel so much more of a ‘fraud’ this time around because I’m not vomiting multiple times a day but what I have is still so much more than the nausea my other friends describe in pregnancy

@SunSunSparkle thanks, that's useful to know that the medications don't really stop the nausea, just the sickness. Really frustrating but it makes sense. I feel similarly like a fraud this time as not being so sick but I think it's only because I've started the medications really early on. Every day is so so hard and I can't wait to crawl back into bed and even then the nausea doesn't stop!

With cyclizine it's very unlikely. Some people find that ondansetron does help with the nausea too and xonvea is supposed to. Omeprazole can help if the nausea is caused by acid/bad taste in your mouth. I'm 32 weeks now on a combination of all three of those and although the nausea is not as debilitating as it was in the early weeks, I still feel nauseous a good percentage of the time and permanently exhausted. Actual vomiting is rare for me now at this stage so i find the best thing is making sure my stomach isn't empty as the nausea is so much worse when I'm hungry. Unfortunately HG is a real battle of managing symptoms and side effects of medications and you just have to find the best combination that works for you

Idk if I'm posting here for help, advice or just to vent at this point -

I'm really struggling.
I had about 4 days of no vomiting since starting Cyclizine, but then the day before yesterday it was back, 4 times in one hour. I'd brought up everything I'd managed to eat/drink that day (tmi but could tell it was everything from the flavours!). Then was still continuing to heave, bringing up nothing despite gulping down water like a fish. I could barely breathe between my stomach spasming trying to bring up the water I'd just drunk.

No vomiting since, but nausea and food repulsion is back with a vengeance.
Cyclizine's not doing nearly as much for me as it was before at all now, and I'm now at a point where even just having anything in/near my mouth is absolutely repulsive.
I can't even "bite" anything. I have to break things up into super tiny, not even bite sized amount to be able to handle it in my mouth, and even then it's genuine torture and a struggle to not spit it out.
The second anything touches my tongue or lips, I want it gone.

I feel like I'm acting like a carbon copy of those people you'd see on that show "picky eaters" and I can't stop. I feel so pathetic and useless - I did the maths and I think I'm barely managing 500 calories a day, if that - And that's only thanks to higher calorie drinks - I'm sat now trying to eat toast and I just. CAN'T.

Food is the last thing on my mind at all times, and trying to force myself out of wherever I'm sat or laying to make food that I know I need to eat, but can't - is hell.
I'm trying so hard not to cry.
Fairly sure I'm dehydrated at this point despite only really being able to drink things, my wee is a fairly dark orange all day now and I'm not exactly toileting very much at all.

I'm hesitant to contact midwife again if I'm being honest, as last time it just seemed they wanted me off the phone ASAP - and when I phoned the GP after for the Cyclizine as I was told to do, the GP receptionist got the hump with me for not being able to remember the name of the medication.
I'm already feeling unbelievably low and have a lot of issues with regulating my emotions, so having an arsey receptionist when I'm feeling this at rock bottom is just the LAST thing I need.
I just don't know what to do.
I'm 7ish weeks and my mums telling me it can last all the way up to 12 - sometimes all the way through for some women??!!
I don't know how the fuck I'm going to get through this...

@SpicyMoth i want to give you a giant hug. I know how hopeless it feels. Please get in touch with the charity pregnancy sickness support. They can WhatsApp or web chat you and email you pdf’s to show your GP and lists of medications and doses to try. If you’re vomiting that much I would try and get ondansetron and/or Xonvea as many people find those amazing for vomiting. You can also ask to be admitted as a day patient for IV fluids and to get anti sickness meds via IV, dissolvable tablets and some of them come as suppositories too for those days when you really can’t keep anything down.

and if your GP is useless, you can ask your midwife to refer you to a consultant that understands HG tk prescribe things to you.

@SpicyMoth if you believe you are dehydrated you can go to A&E for fluids and the hospital can give you anti sickness drugs. Most hospitals take dehydration seriously & I would recommend this if your urine output has decreased. I’ve heard of people having mixed experiences of going to A&E but my local hospital always treated me well. Personally I found cyclizine did very little - there are many other anti sickness drugs you can try, often it takes a combination of drugs to get relief so I wouldn’t be afraid to go back to GP either and say it’s not working.