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?

audrey you are not moaning at all! Well, you are but allowed, this is what this thread is for! Like you, even though I am not sick much, I feel just unwell. i felt sick and tired with DD, but I felt pregnant not ill. This time, I feel like I just cannot do anything. I am so tired, like you. I have soooooooo much to do in prep for the loft being done, and I have been just sat here, not able to even put the washing away in the bedroom. It is upsetting me as I would normally be a whirling dervish driving DH mad trying to get it all sorted, and despite how he wants it done, I would usually have had it sorted by now. I get a bee in my bonnet and cannot stop til its done no matter how tired I feel. But now, I just cannot muster the energy to do anything. Coupled with horrible headache and neusea

So we can moan together about it, even though we are not puking 24/7 anymore.

audrey, am totally with you on that 'where the hell is my surge?!' I will be 28 weeks in a few days, and am somewhat disappointed that the last few weeks are supposedly the best I'm going to feel. Glowing, my arse! Even the midwife said I looked really tired and pasty, and I was feeling pretty decent that day.

Pin-prick rash from throwing up is sort of fading, but I didn't help by getting some unexpected sun yesterday, so my face just looks rough, like I've spent the last week in the sun with no cream. I think I've got some hyperpigmentation going on around my eyes now. Had been congratulating myself on escaping that one up until now....

lol and your midwife yank. everyone tells me i'm glowing. i know they're lying, but at least they try better than commenting on the size of my bump.
isn't it depressing it's meant to get worse from here. frankly for me, it can only get better each day that is closer to the birth. i do have the odd day where i enjoy my pregnancy (though i normally have to pay for that with a day in bed after!)

pavlov, i am normally a 'bee in my bonnet' kind of gal too. but at the moment it is pretty good going if i put on a load of washing or have a shower that doesn't require a post-shower lie down

I have had a right ol day at work. I sort of lost it in my supervision .

Some stupid fucking women been gossiping about me, saying why is it she can come in late, leave early, take weeks off at a time. She's only pregnant for fuck sake, milking it, etc etc. Oh and because I put one line on facebook about going camping a colleague who I thought was a semi friend said to those gossiping, well she's alright to go camping in cornwall isn't she, I saw her facebook message, but not ok to come to work, alright for some. blah blah that kind of stuff. Funny if she had ready any of my other lines she would see how ill I have been, but she only read what she wanted. So. I have removed all my work colleagues from facebook . I also mentioned it to my boss, did not name names, not at this stage, but said we need to get my hours sorted so I can tell my colleagues what hours I am working, and fuck sod em if they don't like it. Luckily the person who told me about it is a friend, and stood up for me, but more importantly she will be my ears from now on!!! It would explain why other people who are off sick get get-well cards, and I don't even get a 'congratulations, we hear you are pregnant when i return to work after 5 weeks off', they think I am a slackass. Well you know what...if the cap fits, I shall be a slackass.

Grrrr. Anyway, I said to my boss that this was endemic in this office, not surprising as bullying and unacceptable behaviour has always been left unchallenged, its impossible to start now. I also said to her, when she put down on the OH form 'sickness' no, it is called hyperemesis - h.y.p.e.r.e.m.s.i.s, and went on the explains in detail what it means, again, and said to her 'yes, I know most people think its morning sickness, and associate morning sickness with a bit of neasea and the odd vomiting, perhaps now is a good time to dispell the myth eh, starting with you as my boss? . She was very humble indeed.

On a more positive note, someone at work came up to me and asked when I was due, and then told me she was due exactly the same date, and has also been off work for the last 4 weeks with hyperemesis, she has had it really bad and has it controlled by acupuncture, which her midwife fast tracked her onto..cue me calling midwife !!!

Sorry for the ultra long post, not sure you will even read it all but I had to rant about my stupid stupid work. Grrrrrr

oh and on reduced hours. normally work 8-6 mon, wed, thurs, 8-12:30pm on tues. Now working 10-4 mon, wed, thurs, and 10-1pm on tues. Review in 2 weeks or when OH referral is responded to, whatever is first.

pavlov - that is awful. So for you.

It's good that you have a colleague who can at least understand a bit of what you are going through.

There are always some people who think you just have morning sickness and are milking it - it drives you crazy. Well done for telling your boss!

stumblebum - i did not actually intend on saying anything to my boss, not yet, as my friend was a bit nervous mentioning it and I coaxed it out of her by promising not to mention her name, and she was the only other person present so would only have come from her. I was just so angry when my boss had said 'sickness' that a sort of rant came out about the shit attitudes at work! I told her I would not name names, but if it became an issue again, I would firstly attempt to address it face to face, if someone has something to say, say it to my face, and if it was not resolved I would take it further as I do not come to work to be made to feel uncomfortable by my colleagues.

It goes against everything we allegedly stand for, respect, diversity, openness and honesty. bullshit

Poor you Pavlov, that sounds awful. You've really had a lot of hassle with work haven't you? Good for you for setting your boss straight.

I've been sick a couple of times today, I think that having to be out of the door early seems to trigger me, if I can get a lie in or lounge around all morning then I seem to cope with the rest of the day far better. I'm going back to work next week... here's hoping it goes OK. I've had a fair bit of time off myself and my sickness record wasn't great anyway.

The sunshine seems to be helping though, I seem to have more energy recently. Long may it continue!

pavlov i'm so angry that you have to suffer the hyperemesis AND suffer people's ignorant attitudes. could you vomit on all their desks? then they would be pleading you to take sick leave.

it's hard, people just don't understand that it's a whole lot more than a queasy feeling that can be fixed with a ginger ale.

tigerfeet - my work is crap, that is the problem in part. But also, in part is my inability to let things lie. I work in an environment where for me, the way we treat people, with respect and dignity is key, we work with some very very vulnerable people and imo, this respect and dignity should manifest itself throughout the entire organisation, including the way we treat our staff. If we do not afford our staff with that, how can we expect it to be passed over to those with try to help? The managers have no clue, and I challenge. So I am a 'trouble maker'. So many people at work would just let things go for peace and quiet, don't like making waves. They feel i 'get away' with things I guess, because I know my rights and I assert them fully, I don't make a huge public fuss though so they often only see that I am, for example coming in late when I am sick. They do not realise, if this applies to them, they can do the same.

The problem with the the respect and dignity not being afforded to staff, is they all look out for themselves, there is fierce competition between people, they don't like people getting things they do not have even though they will not fight for their rights. And it means there is a strong culture of bullying in the office, an undercurrent of anyone being different, or not fitting the school playground image of acceptable being at risk of petty comments.

Sorry, that again was long. If i got my head down, did my job, I would not have trouble at all. But I would also feel trodden on, downbeaten and like I had no control over anything I did. Most importantly, if someone died and I could have done something about it but did not because I was too afraid, of making waves, of people thinking I was causing trouble, in case I was wrong, I could never live with myself. So I do something about it. I challenge.

My DH calls me Machavellian , not sure if that is a compliment or not

I have quite bad indigestion, but not sick yesterday, although had a stinking headache.

I am going in to work at the time agreed by my manager, and I am going to smile and be very polite and friendly to all, including the bitches, but I shall not discuss my pregnancy or my private life to any but the minor handful who I know I can trust. I will not be rude about it, but where i usually talk a hind leg of a donkey, I will reserve comments until asked, and just do my work.

Can I ask - when did you all start feeling sick?

Will be 6 weeks pg tomorrow and am not feeling sick yet. Am getting worried

With ds I had morning sickness as normal, but with dd I had hyperemesis and I'm sure I was feeling sick by now. I obviously don't want to be sick, but it would be reassuring in a way as I'm worried that something has happened.

hey stumblebum, i think it was about 6 weeks that i did get sick.
but just remember every pregnancy is so different. with ds i didn't have morning sickness at all. only nausea if i smelled red wine or balsamic vinegar, that was seriously it. and this time, i had mega-weight-losing type vomiting.
i'm sure everything will be fine. can understand you waiting for the vomiting+ nausea to set in though! hopefully though you'll avoid it and have a super fine enjoyable pregnancy

It's crazy isn't it?! Really don't want the hyperemesis like last time, but without it I can't quite believe I'm pregnant! Will wait and see...

How are you feeling now audreyraines ? How many weeks are you?

know what you mean. i had bad bad vomiting and still couldn't quite believe i was pregnant until i saw the thing on the 12 week scan. dh thought i was crazy because i was really vomiting my guts up, but i said i wouldn't be surprised if they told me at the scan "i'm sorry, but you've just got a stomach bug!"

i'm 26 weeks now, and not vomiting much in the past week or so, just the odd cough/gag kind of feeling. even so, i feel excruciatingly tired and not up for much i'm afraid.

i so hope that you have one of those fab blooming pregnancies that everyone raves about (actually with ds it was like that).

If it's any consolation I found life with a newborn a doddle after 35 weeks of feeling sick! After I delivered her in the morning I was still being sick and was panicking that I would never stop. I had a sleep though and that afternoon I woke up feeling amazing.

Hopefully the sickness stays away for you

Stumblebum, I was sick from a week after I conceived , according to the LMP dates, 3 weeks pg. I was sick for about a week solid, stopped/eased for about 2 weeks or so, then back for good, steadily getting worse and worse, rather than getting better and better.

With DD, I was sick from 6 weeks, I recall the first time, i was due a scan the next morning as I had had some bleeding, and was feeling nervous, and started to be sick, and it never stopped!!!

But as audrey says, it is so different for every person, for every baby so I would not worry that there is a problem. Fingers crossed this means a nice relaxing pregnancy .

I feel much better the last 2 days, apart from headache I just cannot shift. I am eating more, holding down more. But still desperately tired. Its quite upsetting as I walked up a flight of stairs and half way up felt like I really needed to sit down, I walked slowly, like I was 36 weeks pg, not 16!

stumblebum, I was first sick at exactly 6 weeks, then only mild nausea till 7 weeks, then nausea in increasing severity and lots of false alarm runs to the toilet till 8.5 weeks, and then the vomming started in earnest, getting worse and worse until peaking between 15-19 weeks. So you've still got time to be sick. . .

Phew!

Thank you - I feel SO much better now

Yep - be thankful for every day when it leaves you alone

First time I started vomiting at 7 weeks, went on to 13 weeks, second time vomiting at 3 weeks (was the first sign I was pg - I got a whiff of beer and was violently ill on the spot) to 12 weeks, and this time I started retching at 5+4.

The worst is definitely in the morning this time - I have to balance the thought that I might feel a bit better if I eat something before heading out on the school run with my other dcs with whether it's best to stay on an empty stomach till I get home so I don't traumatise an entire primary school by projectile vomiting across the playground.

So many choices, all of them crap!

I'm SO not helpful, am I....

Had just a little sickness incident today, but I blame myself for a strange breakfast of onion houmous and grapefruit juice. Might have been ok, but I got a scare when the meter reader decided to just open my front door rather than wait for me to get out of the toilet. Scared the life out of me, then I was angry, which always equals barfing for me.

sounds like a sensible breakfast to me

what!>! can't believe the meter reader. do they have a key?

Nope! He knocked while I was on the toilet, then opened the door! Whole story here. As is usual when I get upset, I got sick. Very annoying.

Yank - cheeky bastard! I would have lamped him one, blamed pregnancy hormones, sorry your worships don't know what came over me, I felt all irrational at this twat entering my home while I was taking a pee.

I have just been sick, the most almighty vomiting session since last week . I also broke some capillaries, but luckily they sit right near where my glasses sit, so are disguised, there are few under that too but I think I can get away with it for now.

It was my own fault. We have done some clearing out of stuff and 1) i did too much and 2) we got a chinese. I had sooooo much more energy today, should have just enjoyed it, but I thought, a little won't hurt, and we were buying chinese for some friends who helped us this evening (DHs great idea!). I really don't know why I thought it would be good. All I had was 3 chicken balls, bit of S&S sauce, but hardly any as it was gross, and a little bit of chicken chow mien, like two small spoonfuls.

It all came up, and then some. I was talking to god through the great white telephone for at least 20 minutes .

Lession learnt: stay away from MSG.