hyperemesis and general unwellness...what can I do?

[pavlovthepregnantcat]

I am sick of feeling unwell. I feel really really unwell.

I have been signed off for 3 weeks with hyperemesis, this being my 3rd week, due back to work next week.

The sickness is improving somewhat at 13 weeks (today) This time 2 weeks ago, nothing was staying down. Now I keep down more than I sick up, but I am also eating less. I am fine for fluids now, much better than last week.

But overall, I do not feel better, I feel groggy most of the time, I sleep a lot, does not make a difference. I have an almost constant headache, most food makes me feel sick/be sick, bowels feel like I am going to have a tummy bug although I do not have a tummy bug. I am moody, grumpy, snappy, feel hot although no temperature. I do not feel pregnant, I feel unwell.

I have had 2 sessions of acupuncture but what with DH being out of work, can't really afford any more right now (£35 a session). I have acupuncture bands, am trying to eat as healthily as I can, but not eating very much.

I am quite sick of it right now, I want to feel just abit more human.

Any tips please?

i say more is staying down that coming up. today - not true. my lunch was not appreciated, but thepint of milk was liked

Hi Pavlov.
How is the tent/yurt situation by the way? Have you bought anything/been anywhere yet?

I'm a bit of a broken record on this one but I am a big believer in drugs for HG which at least help to keep stuff down.

I would worry more about eating what your body craves than about eating healthily - ie if you can keep down instant noodles (which was what I was into the first time I had HG), go for it. The more you can keep down the better you will feel.

Sometimes clawing your way back up from HG is an agonisingly slow process. I am back at work properly this week - am around 17 weeks now so I lost about 3 months - and still not feeling 100% though it's a huge huge improvement from 6 weeks ago. If you're keeping down fluids more then you're past the worst but sometimes it does feel like the improvement is painfully slow.

It will get better, honest. Good luck.

Poor you - - i was in your situation last year - in fact hospitalised for 6 weeks on a drip, and was\off work for 2 months, then part time for two more month.

I found I could keep down lemon ice lollies and tomato cup a soup, if I ate it slowly with a teaspoon. Crunching ice cubes helped too.

For me, it just went away one day, as suddenly as it came on.

Keeping down fluids is really good - at least you won't need to be on a drip.

Kathy - thanks for that. Dr won't prescribe unless I am suffering from dehydration to the point of hospitalisation. We had quite a long chat about it and he made his stance very clear. He actually said he would prefer to hospitalise than prescribe drugs!!!

I am eating porridge, mostly stays down in the morning, and the rest is hit and miss. Toast this morning no good. Main thing is cuppa soup and 2 slices of bread. I just feel so weak and no energy to do anything. Am I being unrealistic thinking I can go back to work next week? I spoke to my boss yesterday and said I was feeling loads better, which I was/am compared to when I last spoke to her, but today I am so less convinced as I considered if I would be ok at work today, and I clearly would not be. I am not even dressed .

Yurt - we went to it in the end, I had just had acupuncture which really helped for a few days, and it was in those days we went, although sadly an expensive lunch did was promptly returned to the wilderness from which it came, into some bushes!!! We decided we needed a break with no hassle and we would get the tent we want next year/borrow another tent for any other trips (not sure if the next bank holiday will happen). And then, DH talked to his mother, who asked what we wanted for our birthdays, (june and july). He said nothing, she was surprised we wanted nothing, and he said only a tent, but too expensive, and she is buying it for us as a joint present!!!! I love that woman!

Sorry you are so ill . I had bad hyperemesis twice and although the sickness did ease after 20 weeks, I was still sick right up until delivery. It is horrendous - seriously - get signed off for more time. I could manage a small ice cube sometimes. I was signed off work for the vast majority of the pg (not working when got pg 2nd time as had DS already who was 1). I managed to work a few odd days. You really must rest as HG is truly horrible. I only felt better when I delivered and then I felt fabulous. Please have a long rest - the whole of pg if necessary. I did use up my entire allocation of sick leave, but my employer was kind enough to still pay me when I was very ill.

Bike - god that was horrendous for you! 6 weeks in hosp! - when I first went to Gp as it go so bad, a few weeks ago, he was contemplating me going into hosp, he gave me a few days to see if acupuncture worked, which it did to an extent. Its been in the last 3 days that liquids are staying put and I found this morning for the first time that I had a full bladder when I woke, which I was mightily pleased about.
snap with the cuppa soup! Tomato one too! And the only liquid I can tolerate is either milk, or weak lemon or lime squash (organic, with no shit in it).

I am very slight as it is, have no reserves, so have been worried over the last few days about losing too much weight, as I have always had a healthy appetite and now I hardly eat a thing, Dr said it would be good to drink some build up shakes as milk is mostly staying down.

Dr would not consider hosp for weight loss if I lose to much will he? Just dehydration? I can really do without hospitals at this stage!

crokky - I am very lucky in that, should I need it, I get 6 months full pay, and I have 6 weeks leave that I have not yet touched, so worse case scenario would see me ok financially, but I am not sure I can bear being at home that long! DH is not working, DD is here much of the time, so its not entirely relaxing every moment! I am considering asking my boss for reduced hours, so I can do some work but not the full hours.

Would exercise help? I went swimming with DH and DD last friday, which although I vaguely felt like I would vomit and prepared myself for a bee-line to the loos, I felt pretty well for a short time afterwards? Maybe I should go a few times a week?

Oh I just want to feel normal again

Aargh, stupid doc. Drug treatment is meant to be the final line of defence to STOP you getting admitted to hospital. If you were hospitalised they would give you drugs there so I don't know what he thinks it would achieve to let that happen.
If exercise makes you feel better, try it again. I don't think it's a normal thing to suggest as a solution to HG but if it works for you, that's what matters. Reduced hours sound like not a bad idea if home is more stressful than work in any case. Otherwise if you need more time off work, get signed off. If doc won't co-operate with that try a different one.

Hiya hun,

I know exactly how u feel and i feel sooo sorry for u!!
This is my first and the sickness started almost right away 3 days before evan getting a positive result, i felt awfull struggled to keep anything down even sipping water became impossible as soon as it touched my stomach it wud cum straight back up!!
I know it wont help but mine carried on till i was 18 weeks despite everyone saying itl pass by 12 weeks, i kept hanging on thinking ohh not much longer now...but no it carried on i went to gp a number ov times to see if i cud be prescribed something to help stop the sickness but nope!!! I had my bloods ect checked i wasnt dehydrating so just was left to deal with it, it does get u down and no1 seems to understand just how bad and draining it makes u feel DO THEY?? The sickness did ease off but then i got it back at around 23 weeks up till now im now 39 weeks tomorrow, iv totally gone off certain foods and still cant stand the smell ov food cooking im just hoping once my little one is ere it will stop and i can start enjoying food again.
I would def have more time off work hun, until u feel ready going back too soon will make u feel worse and tired and mostly tiredness can make sickness worse!!
Gud luck hun xxxx

the thought of exercise would have horrified me when I had hyperemesis - I tried to stay as still as possible to try and control the nausea adn vomiting. But if it works for you, then go ahead - I'm sure it can't harm you!

Agree re:medication.I've been pregnant 4 times,and had severe Hyperemesis each time.I was hospitalised once.

When you next see a MW/Antenatal,ask if they can prescribe you something.It is totally safe and does help a little.

Alot of the problem of constantly feeling unwell,is the dehydration.As soon as they put a drip up I started to feel better.

Its a vicious circle,the more sick you feel the less you drink/eat,the more sick you feel.

I can guarantee that you will feel much better if you can drink a few mouthfuls or half a glass every half hour.Once you are rehydrated fully,you will cope with the sickness better.

See another GP in your practice,or speak to your MW as some of them can prescribe too.

I keep raving about this, but Vitamin B6 is brilliant for the groggy feeling. It doesn't stop you actually being sick, but it does help you feel better in between. It helps the energy levels stay more constant so you don't get the crashes in between meals and it's certainly helping with my nausea. I'm taking 10mg 3 times a day.

Hope you feel better soon, I had HG with both my girls so know how draining/depressing it is.

re the medication - I was desperate, but very afraid of it so ended up struggling badly without it.

however, re hospitalisation - kathy is right - I think a hospital would generally expect that you would have been put on medication by the GP before admitting you.

Some GPs are anti hyperemsis medication and some GPs are pro. Seems yours is anti so if you think meds would help you, you need to see a different GP.

I think if i kick up a fuss about the meds gp will prescribe, and he will most certainly have no objections to signing me off work for longer, he was the one telling to not even consider working like this. I get what you mean about the meds helping to reduce likelihood of hospitalisation - his view is that there has been no trials and therefore no guarantees of it being risk-free. He talked about thalidamide and the risks not being known for a while after it was first used and that while it is most likely that the anti-emetics are perfectly safe, there is nothing to prove it is so. I guess he is a very cautious Dr!

The sickness is improving, and I can drink much more liquids than a week ago, but the liquids make me feel/be sick if I drink too much, so I am pacing myself. I just don't feel any better for drinking more/being sick less. I guess I am feeling seriously sorry for myself. I guess I just thought I would wake up on the day of 12 weeks and it all be ok. And I just thought I guess that after a couple of days without being sick (end of last week), that I had turned a corner, but no signs of let up.

Even Dh says I look terrible, and he has done his best to be tactful about how I am presenting!

moosy thanks for the tip about b vits, I have heard this before. Is it ok to take b vit supplements? I will send DH out to get some if so...! The grogginess is as upsetting as the vomiting and nausea as I have no energy, not even energy to smile half the time.

re: exercise - the thought of it horrifies me too! But I had a couple of better days last week and felt so bad about not doing anything with DD, Dh agreed to come with me and I plodded about for half hour and it felt good. I am thinking if I actually drag myself there, once I am in, I might feel better. Or I could just have a bath!

It certainly sounds like I do not have it half as bad as many of you who are posting here.

DH got mine from Boots. I did speak to my GP first to ask about dosage as you can buy them 10mg in Boots, but 100mg in Holland and Barratt . The Dr said to take 30mg a day (spread out over the day) and it's certainly helping. It's allowing me to eat and do everyday things like have a shower without feeling like I need to sleep for a day to get over the effort.

Oh, and she said that if it didn't make much difference I could take more, but not to take more than 100mg per day.

Awww pavlov....know exactly what you mean about thinking you'd magically wake up one day and it would be over! It doesn't help that people constantly tell you 'oh, it should get better by 12/14 weeks'. I went to 21 weeks still being sick, had a few weeks respite, and start throwing up again at 24 weeks.

I flolloped on the sofa a lot. Ate ridiculous things with no nutritional value (the worse it was for me, the better it stayed down). Avoided the kitchen and cooking at all costs. Avoided movement. Took loads of time off work. Like you say, I didn't feel pregnant, I felt unwell.

I don't think the vomiting is completely over for me yet, but have noticed now (25 weeks) at least I can do it and get on with eating something or doing other things. Used to be I had to go lie down after.

Agree you need to see a different GP if yours is being silly about medication. Mine called some specialist place just to check what they gave pregnant women for nausea, and gave me cyclazine (sp?). Wish I could say it helped, but mostly made me sleepy.

The way I get through it is just trying to remember there is a time limit on this. This is not permanent. Every day that passes is one less day to feel like crap! I also console myself with stories of MNers who had rotten pregnancies, then found caring for a newborn a doddle in comparison. (Please be kind everyone, and do not disabuse me of that notion!)

Best of luck to you, I really hope you start to feel better soon.

"I also console myself with stories of MNers who had rotten pregnancies, then found caring for a newborn a doddle in comparison."

Yup. Getting up in the night to feed a lovely baby is heaven compared with getting up in the night to throw up

Agree so much about everyone saying 'You'll be better by ten weeks/twelve weeks/fourteen weeks.' The first time I had it I believed them and I kept telling work 'I'll definitely be back in a fortnight'. Then another fortnight. Then another.

This time I said to my line manager 'well the worst case scenario is, I'll be back some time next term' and we worked out strategies for other people to cover my work should I be off for months & months, so now I am here and people aren't having to cover it they're quite pleased.

Yank, I had cyclizine too and found the same, it stopped the puking but made me feel tired and groggy.

And with DD1 I had the worst sickness up until 19 weeks, but she was such an easy baby!

i had sickness with DD, and it lasted throughout the pregnancy, but i did not feel so rotten with it, it was not quite as severe as this time, I found strategies to cope with it, for example could not eat my evening meal later than 7pm, had to eat in bed before getting up, eating little and often, and food that consistently stayed down (fruit and yoghurt was my fave). This time, none of that works, my body decides whether it is going to tolerate the food I eat depending on whatever mood it is in at the time. One day, all I could eat was a spicey magnum so DH went a bought lots, the next day, the very sight of them made me heave!

DH is making me some fish and plain boiled potatoes for tea, which is what I want. I am thinking that if it comes back up, it will not be too unpleasant .

I might have a bath, I am looking awful and smelling not so great, I need to feel better, so some smellies and a soak might help. Maybe I can absorb some water that way too!

today i feel rotten again. wholemeal toast first thing, some weak squash it all came back up before 10am, and more besides.

Had macdonalds at the suggestion of midwife who i spoke to today. Well she actually said try to eat anything i can, ignore healthy options, a calorific macdonalds shake would be better right now. It was fucking disgusting but amazingly it stayed down. I cannot repeat the experience though.

Nothing else is staying down. Well, to be fair I only tried quiche, but it came straight up with some force along with what appeared to be all the days entire liquid consumption.

And, to top it off, DH is cooking himself something, he has used garlic in the kitchen, in the other end of the house, one measly clove and it has made me gag. I was physically sick the other day with it. And I was so upset that it made me gag just a minute ago I broke down, and now I can't stop crying. Which is a good sign i guess as at least it means I am not too dehydrated.

I am so fed up, its unreal. I want my mum to come and tuck me in, and stroke my hair and make it all better, instead, my DH is getting fed up and my DD is getting really bored.

oh pavlov I relate so much to how you feel.
Am 16 weeks and still feeling like shit and very down with it.
It is a vile vile thing and I am swearing I will NEVER go through this again.
Very lonely feeling too.

pavlov, it really is often the worst stuff that will stay down!

I also found that I couldn't eat anything before at least 11am, preferably noon. And I had to get loads of sleep (waking up no earlier than 9am). Maybe not the best suggestions when you have a DD, but that was what worked for me.

McDonald's vanilla shakes were great for a while. I know you hate the idea of it, and I did too (having completely judged my SIL for her terrible diet during pregnancy). But I've gotten to the point I just don't care anymore.

Last night barfed up pizza. That was nice. At least I made it home this time. Last attempt (2 months ago) I threw up in the restaurant toliets straight after. I call it progress, I might have actually digested something this time!

oh charlie I am sorry you are feeling horrid with it too. it is lonely isn;t it? No-one around me has experienced it. You mention morning sickness and as mentioned already on this thread, people say 'oh it will pass by 12 weeks'. Grrrrr.