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?

yank - you know I have been wondering about not eating when I first get up. I have been doing the whole 'must eat immediately' thing suggested by everyone and its not working. The days when I have waited it is more likely to have stayed down, thinking about it.

Problem with 9am, is work (along with a DD who wakes at 6:30am and a DH who cannot pull himself out of sleep before 7am) I am meant to start work at 8am. Right now I can barely get myself dressed before 10am (unlike yesterday, when I just did not bother). I have emailed my boss today though and asked her if i can temporarily adjust my hours in order to have me return to work at all. Otherwise I just cannot see it happening.

Poor you not holding down pizza, that must have not been pleasant on the return journey. And well done for making it home! I was almost sick in front of the Big Issue guy today, over his designer trousers and shoes but I managed to keep it in until I got to a loo. Just.

oh and charlie, feel free to come and moan with me. We can hold hands through it together (in a very macho pat on the back MN type of manner though, ahem ), you too yank.

Yep, I just think that 'nibble a biscuit as soon as you wake up' thing doesn't work for everyone. My stomach is just not ready for anything early on.

The other thing everyone says is 'have you tried ginger?' It's become a big joke with me and DH. I know people are trying to be helpful, but when I got to around 20 weeks and people were still saying it, I had to bite my tongue to keep from replying 'GINGER? Really? No one's ever suggested that before! And I certainly haven't tried it already, because I'm clearly an idiot who hasn't tried everything on offer!' Throwing up makes me grumpy and sarcastic, that's all I can say in my defense.

You react well when people mention ginger. When people mention it I tend to want to rip their fucking heads off now...

Yes, I know its meant to help, no I don't like it AT ALL, it makes me vomit on its very own, and no it does not work. Not even in tea. Not even in biscuits, not EVEN grated into hot steaming water with a twist of lemon. Especially NOT GINGER FUCKING ALE!!!! phew, thats better. Clearly I needed to vent there! .

Pavlov, have you tried the vit b6 yet? I keep nagging about it but it's worth a try! If you can't get out I'll post you some!

One more thing to try if you haven't already is pineapple (tinned or fresh), it's really good for if your mouth is feeling yucky and you can't face food and is really juicy too so will help slightly with the hydration. Also it has enzymes in which help to break down protein so if you eat it with other food it might help you digest a bit.

i had some pineapple the other day actually and it did stay down. i forgot about that! My midwife told me not to take vit b6, but to restart the pregnacare tablets which i stopped taking. She said this would have the same dose. BUT lots of people have told me about taking vit b6 now so i might just ignore her advice!

I have found a cure. I have not got out of bed all day so far. and so far, I have not been sick. Not entirely sure this is long term solution, but its what i am doing for today.

although dd wants a tea party and is getting quite upset as dh is putting her off with 'in a minute, in a minute' and she wont bring in to me. Poor thing, she is getting so bored and frustrated . i might have to get up at some point and share some 'food' with her. She needs some complete and undivided attention and she is just not getting it.

Pregnacare does have 10mg in so that's a good start, you could take a bit more if you wanted to though.

Oooh yes, pineapple did stay down for me as well.

Staying horizontal is a great strategy, even if it's one you can't use all the time.

at your ginger rant. Shall we team up and be the 'Anti-Ginger Avengers'? Go around slapping people who mention the G word to pregnant ladies?

Can just see it now. . .

'Oh I've been so sick. . .'
'Have you tried gin--'

SLAP 'Begone with you, molest this lady no more! Oooh, I think I need to be sick in those bushes over there, will you hold my hair?'

Jeez, am with you on the ginger deviants. Can you believe that even women who have been pregnant offer this gem. I know it's been said before but the annoying thing is how the ginger advice is always given with the air of imparting some amazing secret. Even the word makes me start to retch.

Does anyone else start retching at horrible words?

I fantasize about waking up in a different body and experiencing a day of non sickness.

Pavlov- how old is dd? I am having similar problem with ds (2.5). When I am at home with him, he gets so annoyed at my 'Mummy wants a little rest now' as I try and get on the sofa. I don't feel up to playing at all. He has started biting dp which I think is frustration because I am so absent.

I LOVE the idea of the anti-ginger avengers. The trouble is, you try to take it when you are feeling sick so it gets associated in your mind with sickness so even after the HG has more or less gone away thevery thought of the stuff still makes you retch.
I was round at a friend's house when I'd just finished having HG the first time round and she'd ordered a Chinese, having thoughtfully got lots of dishes with ginger in just for me
I hope she didn't think it was too pointed when I confined myself to the beef in black bean sauce.

Charlie - the funniest thing is that I will retch when someone says 'orange juice' but can deal with pooey nappies or watch an episode of Life of Grime about environmental health officers and bins with equanimity.

pavlov - I am SHOCKED at your GP starting to talk about thalidomide. There is no comparison at all between the rudimentary and very fast "testing" that happened with that drug in the 60's, and the criteria now for deciding that medication is safe in pregnancy. I always read the US guidance and make up my own mind from there - they are the most litigious nation over these kind of issues, and the medications have all been used there for 10-20 years so plenty of time for any issues to have been flagged.

I am pregnant with my 4th, I've had HG with each. My first was medically mis-managed I now know, and sounds much like yours, with GP's fobbing me off. I researched before getting pg again, and immediately demanded to be under a consultant - who are the only ones who can prescribe the best drugs in most cases anyway.

Also, you're doing the right thing Pavlov by taking cues from your body about when to eat. I am often not sick if I wait until past mid-day to eat, but if I have anything before that I'm very sick all day. This pg my HG has been the least bad, which is apparently because i started all the meds at 5 weeks, after the first time I vomitted, and because I know what I can and can't eat/drink, and when.

Subsequent pregnancies I've taken;
B6
Ranitidine (as soon as heartburn starts)
Ondansetron (which totally shuts down vomitting reflex and is amazing - but very expensive so NHS loath to provide and and you can usually only get it through a consultant).

I've also tried metoclopromide, stemetil and cyclizine, which didn't work for me.

I've been prescribed ketostix to test for ketones in my urine everyday. If they show I'm dehydrated, I go to hospital for a quick top-up, rather than getting worse and worse at home.

Obviously, if a woman can cope without the meds then I can understand her wanting to do so. But I urge those of you suffering from hyperemesis and feeling torn between looking after your other DC and work commitments to ask to be referred to a consultant, as early in pregnancy as possible. Some GP's just don't have the knowledge to be able to deal with HG effectively.

I just want to recommend the site
www.hyperemesis.org
which has all the latest research and advice on HG.
For those of you who are feeling like ginger bashing (!) , they have a section on their forum called "I've been Crackered" where women can rant about the irritating things that have been told to them, such as "Try dry crackers"... Its very amusing!

I haven't been on there this pg but have found it very helpful in the past.

kathy- my last pregnancy, dp was banned from saying 'black pepper' and had to say 'b.p' (don't ask me why she didn't learn to just not talk about food, condiments etc, very frustrating).

This time my retch word is 'Abel and Cole' (shudder, boak).

ROFL Charlie. Is 'Riverford' ok?

hedgiemum - dh went out and bought me crackers yesterday after insisting i try them!!!!! it was like eating cardboard, but funnily enough stayed down, although i think it has more to do with staying in bed all day! You are brave doing it so many times with such bad hg [respect emoticon]. I am hoping I am over the worst of it. Not been sick at all today, but again, have only moved once - to pee (only pee'd twice, once at 6:30am and once at 2:30pm, thats not too bad though is it?). I have eaten 1 cracker on pain of death by DH! 1 strawberry smoothie (home made), handful of peanuts and small tin of pineapple (just recently, which seems undecided as yet).

I am actually consultant led, but not due to see them until 21 weeks. My gp is sympathetic enough, but just not forward thinking it appears.

charlie DD is a similar age, 2.11. She is a very active soul, with a rather sedantry father or so it appears! He seems to have energy when I do, and if I am having a lazy day like today, he sees it as some cue to do the same . But i finally kicked them out at 2pm, told them not to come home before tea time, then realised we got the architect coming around with our loft drawings at 5pm and the house is a shit hole! Add to this, the neighbours teenage son is playing Emminem very loudly.

Words that make me sick - garlic. Just saying it conjures up the smell and I heave/vomit.

There used to be a convention on the hyperemesis.org bulletin boards where if you were going to mention food you put a 'foodment' warning.

There used to be a UK site, bloomingawful.com, which was great EXCEPT that for some reason they insisted on having a cartoon of a woman retching at a fried breakfast on the front page

I would definitely recommend seeing another GP and trying to find one who does 'get' HG. It's such a terrific relief when you find one who actually says sensible things.

I started a thread a while back about 'ridiculous things that set off your morning sickness'. Mine was hearing my DH having a poo. Not smelling, just hearing. Had to run for the sink (thankfully toilet is separate).

hedgie, thanks for the link.

Amazed and in awe of all of you that have to look after other DCs while dealing with this.

'Amazed and in awe of all of you that have to look after other DCs while dealing with this'...

...or not, as the case may be with some of us at the moment

oh god yank I remember clicking on your thread and retching. Thanks for making me relive the experience!

I usually never click on the morning sickness threads because of food talk.

Have had decent day so far-dp and ds have gone to Norfolk and I am on the train, going to join them. As soon as they left I felt better. If I can control when I move, how fast/slow, what I eat and when, without negotiating and discussion I feel a lot better. I think isolation and privacy for the whole morning sickness period is what I need.

kathy 'riverford' is fine-no association to me with green and fibrous things!

charlie - completely agree!

Sorry charlie! I promise not to mention it again!

I've been off work since January, and agree with the wish for isolation and privacy. Have antenatal depression along with the sickness, and find that the slightest emotional upset triggers sickness. Feel better avoiding people (in RL anyway).

I'm sure the ante natal depression is bound up with the sickness. I mean, how can you not feel depressed dealing with these awful feelings day after miserable day? I'm usually very chirpy but the only part of the day I find bearable at the moment is when am about to fall asleep (lying there with my mouth filling with saliva, gross).
Dont worry, having a baby is nothing to this- you have such joy ahead of you.