very severe hyperemesis - what treatment did you have?

[tatt]

A friend had this in her first pregnancy - she even threw up during last stages of labour - and is now suffering again (and in hospital). What did other people have that helped?

I also ended up in hospital and nothing i worked until I tried acupunture, I would definitely recommend it. I needed a number of treatments until gradually I had no sickness at all but I have to say that i started feeling human again from the first treatment.

Your poor friend .

I had this too, and didn't find anything that helped except trying to stay asleep as much as possible.

Just wanted to bump this for you.

I was recently in hospital with hyperemisis for 5 weeks (weeks 9-14), on a drip. Lost 2 stone in 5 weeks. 17 weeks now and much better, eating normally and obssisvely writing down everything I drink to make sure I get at least 2L a day! I think what worked best for me was 1 - very cold water (the nurses chilled it for me, as the hospital was like a greenhouse and I couldn't drink warm room temp water). Also, the docs prescribed my alternating different anti-sickness drugs so I could have them more frequently. (So instead of having 1 dose every 8 hours, I was having Semotil at hour 0, Cyclizine at hour 4, Semotil at hour 8, cyclizine at hour 12 etc ).Semotil as an injection worked well because it knocked me out!

Cold sparkling water works well.

This s my first pg. Big respect to hyperemisis sufferers who do it again!

Hi I had HG with two pregnancies, seem to have escaped it this time!
I was on a drip a few times. In hospital I was on Semotil- same as you AHLH. When I left hospital, I took cyclizine for the rest of the pregnancy and slept as much as possible. Ditto sipping fluids. Separating meals into single food items, not drinking during meals. Sucking orange juice ice lollies if fluids are still difficult. Not having to explain to people that it is not just morning sickness. Good friends like you who are there to cheer her up!

Oh yes, and seperating food and drink. I still can't eat and drink in the same sitting. I think that is as much to do with my stomach having shrunk to the size of a pea.

Your poor friend. I am on baby no 2 and have suffered both times round so can empathise a bit with her.

A good website for self help tips is [www.hyperemesis.or.uk]], it really helped me. Everybody finds different things work for them but there is a long list of things to try on that site.

1 Cold drinks
For me it was also ice cold liquid, and although it didn't "cure" me, it did keep me hydrated enough to stop me being rehospitalised for the 6th time this pregnancy at xmas. Had been on a drip almost constantly etc etc for the previous 8 weeks. Ice cold water, lots of ice cubes, and a dash of high juice squash to stop my blood sugar levels plummetting.

2 Separate tiny portions
Would second the not eating and dinking together bit, as well as eating only tiny tiny amounts of very bland foods (eg a piece of buttered toast, then a couple of hours later half a plain jacket potato, couple of hours later something else).

3 Being firm with drs
And if the medication you are being given doesn't work- speak up. Either the method or the drug itself. Eg gp gave me tablets to take orally to begin with but of course I couldn't even keep down my own saliva let alone a sip of water to take the pill with. Ditto syrup. Suppositories or meltlets only for me - meltlets are little "pills" that you put between your gum and cheek and they dissolve there.

The stemetil, cyclizine, and a couple of others I can't remember that I was prescribed in hospital did not do a jot to help (although the cyclizine did make me feel lovely and drunk and gave me incredible psychadelic electrically sparky dreams and tingles which was a welcome distraction!). They eventually gave me a shot of Ondansetron (brand name Zofran) which was brilliant- it stopped the sickness quite quickly, although as it is very expensive it is always given as a last resort. So I'd have to go through a few days of them trying the others each time I was admitted before they'd see that it wasn't working and give me the Zofran. Last couple of times I just said "look I know the drill this is what happened the last 3 times..." and they'd give it me straight away. So make sure your friend (or someone who can advocate or talk for her if she is throwing up too often/too out of it to speak herself)knows she can speak up and ask them about trying something else.

4 Sweets
I'm now 27 weeks and just about to go back to work as the vomiting is almost completely gone. What stops me throwing up now is a combination of the methods above and chewing gum constantly. For a good 6 weeks though it wasn't sugar free gum it was Murray Mints and I must have got through nearly a packet a day. As long as I had a mint on the go I wasn't sick! Weird but desperate times call for desparate measures and all that!

Sorry this is such an essay- but would do anything to try and stop someone getting so ill and depressed as I was!

Really good luck for your friend, she's lucky to have a fiend like you, you sound v supportive and nice! Tell her to take it easy- stress can make the sickness worse so not to try to return to "normal" too soon, sleep as much as she can (not easy I know with another one to look after already) and good luck for the rest of her pg. x

5 SEA BANDS!!!!!
Can't believe I forgot them- those little travel bands you wear round your wrists with a plastic button that presses on an acupressure point- I wore these from week 10 until week 26 non stop apart from showering. Really did help- didn't think so until I forgot to put them back on after a shower one morning and was throwing up much more frequently than normal by lunchtime...

I agree with Minkus about the sea bands, mints and the psychadelic effects of Cyclizine!

Also, those Ribena lollies were good.

Sea bands were a waste of a fiver for me.

I have just started going back to work. Two half days last week, 3 half days this week etc.I am very fortunate that it was my boss's idea! Apart from anything else, I am really weak from being in bed for 6 weeks! If your friend can negotiate flexible/part time working or working at home, when she is able to face work again, I'd highly recommend it.

Mints work a treat, or rhubarb and custards (don't know why).
I was given Buccastem at first- bit of a bad joke, they made me feel worse if anything. I've heard Zofran is the best thing, but cyclizine worked for me- even if just because it knocked me out for a few hours.
Hope she has an understanding boss. I lost my job with pg. number 2.

fortunately she isn't working, no way she could do that at the moment. Her other child is not at school but old enough to be a handful.

I'm going to print out comments and send to her. I've sent her a print out from the website. I'm too far away to be much use .

She'll probably need people to come and entertain her dc. I felt really bad I couldn't do much with ds, but he had the life of riley with grannie, grandad, and supportive friends.

Chilled water

Suck on ice cube, sniff lemon peel

Chilled tiny portions of bland stuff - a tablespoon of mashed banana or potato or yoghurt

Murray mints (couldn't cope with them until later - after about 18 weeks)

Find your window - there will be a bit of the 24 hours when you are less sick (for me it was early evening) - and make sure you always eat something then

Forget veg - starch is more tolerable. The baby will be ok.

Oh and getting in the bath helped.

And sleep

Oh your poor friend I had this too and I really feel for her. I had the rounds of tablets and diarrolyte from gp, then cheapy stuff in hosp on drip then the injections, was just a constant cycle which for me wore off at about 7 months.

I felt really upset that I wasn't enjoying my pregnancy as a colleague was also pg with very close due date and was blooming, also worried about baby.

The only thing I could stomach were ice lollies, only a certain brand and flavour though, and lots of rest. At one point got out of bed in hosp and my legs went as I was so weak!

I didn't discover mumsnet until after ds was born, wish I had had the reassurance that I wasn't alone.

looks like some common themes emerging - ice cold drinks or lollies, murray mints and lots of rest/sleep!

Rest.
Cyclizine worked for me, luckily (though I didn't have the fun side effects Minkus had )

Minkus's number 3 - being firm with drs - is a really good point. Most gps don't actually know a lot about HG and don't like prescribing in pregnancy, so you have to be a bit assertive to get the treatment you need, BUT studies have shown that the worse it is allowed to get, the worse it can be eventually (ie early treatment can ward off a worse experience). So it is worth not letting them fob you off.

I agree with that, Kathy. My DH couldn't get anyone at me Gp's practice to listen to him, so we ended up at A&E which is not ideal because they have this 4 hour monitoring protocol for pregnancy, and the A&E doctor didn't want to prescribe so early on in pg. A simple referral to obs and gynae from the practice nurse would've saved my wasting all those NHS resources and got me the treatment quicker. Can't fault the hospital though, they were great.

did anyone try the morningwell CD? Wondering if its worth buying when its more than just morning sickness?

Ohh, just re read what I've written and I contradicted myself. What I meant to say - Seabands - no good for me.

My GP was pretty good actually, although he'd only had 2 cases of HG before me (it is a pretty rural practice). He admitted me straight to Obs&gynae by phone, I never had to hand around in A&E.

nothing but acupuncture worked for me and it worked immediately and amazingly.

Not comfortable but definitely worth it

I went through 2 pregnancys with serve HG and for me nothing really worked. Things did reduce it

Accupuncture
Reflexology
Small meals and often
Ice cream
What ever I could face drinking
laying still

I was admitted into holspital loads of times and in the end DH learnt hopw to administer the anti-emetis by injection in my bub

SO I have cylerzine three times a day in bum and buccastem (stemotil) melts 3 times a day.

Odanzatron didnt work for me.

In the end things got so bad that I also had steriods and an induction with DS1 at 38 weeks

With DS2 (15 month gap - not planned) I started the injections as soon as I started to be sick and again in and out of hospital for rehydration on a drip and steriods. DS2 born at 37 weeks by section.

One thing I would say is that it is worth all the pain and heartache. My boys are wonderful and although we were definatly stopping at one I am glad I fell with DS2 [ smile]

TMH what a dreadful experience for you. Your boys are beautiful- just took a peek at your profile!

When I was last in hospital one poor lady across the ward from me was having a termination at 13 weeks because the vomiting was so severe she couldn't cope at all. Her mum was so unsympathetic I just wanted to give the poor woman a big hug. (no privacy in a communal ward, everyone can hear conversations with visitors or medical staff) So sad for her . An old man visiting his sick wife in the same ward (we were in womens health not on antenatal ward) said "I don't know what all the fuss is about, in my day they just used to give women lucozade and tell them to get on with it." Made me really angry even in my cyclizine dreamworld! I think it is easy to underestimate how awful hg can be by medical professionals/ folks who've never come across it before.

Sounds like you had a really babd time,TMH.
I agree, Minkus. At toddler groups, I'd get people saying oh yes I had ms, I just tried not to think about it. People often get weary of you being ill for so long, too. It is really hard. The hyperemesis blooming awful website has a printable handout to give to family and friends explaining what HG is, I found that useful.

The classic one is where you say 'It's been awful, I literally haven't been able to keep down anything, even sips of water, for days' and they say 'Have you tried ginger biscuits?'

really useful reading, i had HG in my first (and only so far!) pg but only til about 5 months (feel like a lightweight compared to some of you poor souls..).
Really i don't know that i found anything that helped but know next time I (or dh) will be much firmer with doctors to get some proper treatment. I was so scared of harming the baby with anything that i didn't persist when i should have done, not that i had the energy!

All the best to your friend, its hard to believe (esp with your 1st pg) that it is worth it but it sooooo is and of course the memory does fade, i never thought it would but here i am contemplating dc2!