Morning sickness or Hyperemesis gravidarum?

[Kitty1987]

Hi, I am looking for some help. I’m 7.5 weeks pregnant and I found out 2 weeks ago I’m carrying twins. Things are progressing however for the last 2+ weeks I have had nausea all day long, even waking me in the night, along with sickness after most things I eat. I’ve lost around 5lbs and some days have struggled to eat. I have major food aversions and generally struggling with day to day activities. The GP prescribed me anti sickness tablets but told me to try not to take them! I was so ill one day, after speaking to a pregnancy support line, I started taking the tablets. I’m still experiencing the nausea and sickness/retching and am wondering if this is normal?

I don’t know what normal is, but I know with twins it’s heightened due to a higher hcg. My friend is in her third trimester and I remember her saying how bad she was in the first trimester.

I only have a singleton pregnancy and I’m now 8.5 weeks. I have nausea all day long. It only goes briefly if I eat something like biscuits and even then it’s brief. I have been sick three times this morning but not since. Mostly due to sitting here, I have been close a few times.

If you can’t eat anything then I would say it’s quite severe. If you feel worried then go back to your gp and see if there are any other types of tablets you could try or if there’s a line to call your local midwife and ask for their advice? You don’t want to become dehydrated or malnourished.

Firstly congrats on your twins! This definitely sounds like hyperemesis, especially the food aversions and weight loss. The GP advice is not right- studies have shown the sooner you take antisickness tablets then the better it is. There are also different ones, I think Xonvea is meant to be first line but often is not prescribed as it’s expensive! It’s supposed to be very good though (I never took it but I heard this from multiple sources). If your current tablet isn’t working for you then go back to your GP and ask for a different one
also check out the pregnancy sickness support thread on MN- it’s really helpful with a lot of supportive advice!

hope you feel better soon

Which pills are they? Cyclizine did nothing for me. I didn’t have HG but horrific 24/7 nausea plus aversions to almost everything including water which became untenable. They put me on Xonvea which lessened the nausea slightly but more importantly enabled me to drink. I believe most of the medications are cumulative so you need to keep taking them to build up the affect. If cyclizine doesn’t help push for something stronger and don’t listen to them about not taking it - if men were pregnant they would never be treated with the kind of disdain and contempt women are.

My HG kicked off around the 7 week mark. My suggestion is to make sure you keep on at your gp if you are starting to not be able to eat and drink. You'll find certain foods that you can manage (toast and cereal biscuits were a godsend for me!) so keep eating little amounts of those often and keep sipping a lot of water.
At 12 weeks the consultant put me on Ondansetron which was the only thing that helped symptoms but they weren't keen to do it before 12 weeks.

Are you able to keep liquids down? Your body will cope well without much food but if you can’t keep down any water you need to call your maternity advice line and get booked in for regular IV fluids.

Take the medication and ask your go to swap them if they don’t work.

Hey! Congratulations on the twins! I’m 18 weeks with twins!
First trimester from 6 weeks up to 14 weeks I had constant nausea and sickness all day. I was prescribed Xonvea and it really works for me. I was taking 4 per days on first trimester, now I take one per morning. Now I’m able to eat one meal or so per day with lots of snacks. During the first trimester I could barely eat anything. Please try to take the antisicknesss. If they don’t work call your GP and they will prescribed a different brand. I was on something else, before being given Xonvea

Thanks everyone. I’ve been prescribed Cyclazine and have been taking it for 5 days continuously. Some days I manage to keep fluid down better than others but have been having ice lollies to help with hydration. I’m worried things will only get worse though as the weeks go on? I didn’t have any sickness with my first pregnancy but I am a lot older now and it’s twins so maybe that’s why? Who makes the diagnosis of HG? It is really impacting on my day to day now and worried about work x

@Kitty1987 If you literally cannot keep anything down & become hydrated you need to visit the hospital! Xx

@Kitty1987 i really recommend the Pregnancy Sickness Support website / charity: they have loads of evidence and data based information. Lots of GPs are not up to date with the latest on pregnancy sickness / HG but PSS can advise you on conversations to have with them, medications you can try.

I’ve had sickness for both my pregnancies and was medicated early on this one. It’s a MUCH better experience (though still awful!) but the right medicine can make a difference. Don’t suffer in silence! :)

I had hyperemisis .. i went for my 20 week scan .. I was kept in for a week trying to rehydrate me ..

if you are struggling with fluids still go back to the gp .

It's awful, I'm really struggling too, I'm 6 weeks tomorrow and I've lost 3kg in a week and have been sick every day regardless of time. I'm going to try to get a doctor appointment tomorrow for anti sickness meds.
I really hope you get better soon. Life is so tough when you're constantly sick and exhausted. Xxx

Twins does make sickness more likely unfortunately. The diagnosis for me came from the hospital when I had to go in for dehydration. I think they are often reluctant to diagnose it really

I was diagnosed when I was sent to A&E a few weeks into pregnancy as I was so dehydrated.
I didn't really know what was happening and thought it was just very bad morning sickness except I wasn't really being sick too often, I was just horrendously nauseous 24/7. As soon as I found out what was really going on I then went through different meds as different combinations work for different people. Cyclazine for example just made me incredibly dizzy all the time!
In hindsight we shouldn't have left it as long as we did before going to the doctors.
If you feel symptoms are getting worse then get straight onto your gp and make sure they, your midwife, your family all know how you're feeling so they can support you. I also found that treating acid reflux/indigestion helped ease the nausea too.
I hope things improve for you over the next few weeks and it subsides at least a bit.

Oh yeah that's HG all right!
When you are losing weight and ketones are high then you are dehydrated. If you are vomiting even water then you need a drip.

The tablets are to help you not limit and get some food and drink in you.

Get some ketones testing sticks from a pharmacy. Do a wee test and they will tell you if you are dehydrated.

There are a few different meds to take. They are safe. They always start you with cyclizine as it is the cheapest.

I suggest you Google HG support as there is a charity now with proper info & advice to navigate the meds.

I had HG and after I gave birth I weighed less than pre pregnancy. Basically malnutrition. Not ideal. Get help now so you can keep eating.

Oh and only eat what is acceptable to meet again when you vomit. Yuk but practical.

Please go back to your GP armed with info from pregnancy sickness website, and get some different medication (and take it). If you aren’t tolerating fluids and are losing weight then you are suffering and need help!

there’s a good tool here to assess too www.hyperemesis.org/tools/help-score/

Thank you. This was really helpful. I scored within the severe HG range. Waiting for a prescription to try another tablet alongside cyclazine. Have been sick numerous times today after trying to eat something small and have a drink. Thanks for your help.

Thank you. I’ll get the tests to check.

Yes, they won’t change to anything else until I’ve tried an additional tablet to have with the cyclazine!

If you have any questions you think I might be able to help with or just need some sympathy feel free to dm me, I remember how scary it can be at the start. Good luck.

Exactly this! It was still horrible second time round but much more bearable with proper meds. The PSS website is brilliant and volunteers can go through how to word things so your GP listens.

Give the new tablets 2-3 days and if no improvement go back and ask for something different.

Glad you’ve been taken seriously and are getting the help.

i thought it was just morning sickness and everyone was the same - not right! So many people keep going even though it’s not ok. Well meaning advice about eating ginger biscuits - there are no words.

awful tips - eat food that is feels ok coming back up again but might give you some nutrients while it’s down, I survived on porridge with fruit and mashed potato. Nothing fizzy it’s awful. If you have to go places, take Tupperware - I used a lot of takeaway boxes. It gets better eventually. Tiny sips of water add up.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/pregnancy/4851480-hyperemesis-support?page=6&reply=138314798

This chat and the previous threads are full of amazing advice. It's not as active as it once was but if you post there hopefully you'll get some more support

Blimey is LucindaE still running a support thread! An amazing woman. My baby is 11 and I still remember her support