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Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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

362 replies

pavlovthepregnantcat · 13/05/2009 15:09

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?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
jambutty · 16/05/2009 08:57

sorry - "isn't going to change".

yappybluedog · 16/05/2009 10:50

yes, that's what I meant - you feel so helpless

dirtygertiefromnumber30 · 16/05/2009 11:17

yappy - sorry, was agreeing with you but when i re-read it sounded condecending - sorry

macaco · 16/05/2009 11:34

OMG I sympathise sooooo much with you ladies. I had MS/HG with DS and lost a stone in weight and was signed off for three weeks. It eased at about 14 weeks and stopped by about 16 weeks. Used to drive me mad when people seemed to think it would magically disappear on the morning of 12 weeks. Really depressed me when it didn't.
Funnily enough, the one thing I could stomach was pineapple, as a few people have said here. Also carbs like plain pasta and dry crackers.
Some things are sooo horrible to throw up again as well, aren't they? I used to avoid some things as I just couldn't bear the sensation of them coming back up!
The tiredness though is even worse. I wonder if it's a pregnancy thing or related to the sickness/malnutrition? I used to have to have a rest after my shower, holding my arms up to wash my hair wore me out!

pavlovthepregnantcat · 16/05/2009 12:03

Wow lots of posts. I will read them all in a minute.... This is going to be long as I just been to gp, so bear with me. I like a good rant.

Firstly, apparantly I am 'fine^. No ketones, not dehydrated, clearly a drama queen. Been given some drugs. Will get to that in a minute...this is how the morning went. Woke up, peed into a tester pot. Dark and cloudy. Drank some liquid, some of which stayed down I think. Had some porridge - was delicious. Until it came back up 10 mins later with such force I almost chocked on it. And then continued being sick, again. And again.

I had during this time called the midwife advice line, they were concerned, said I should call out of hours gp. Called them, go straight in. I go in, promptly go to the loo to hurl, get called immediately to see a gp who is my age or even younger. He is clearly not experienced. He could not find anything to test my wee, gave me an emergency sick bucket by disposing of some needles stored in a cardboard holder.

After some discussion, he checks my wee (for something, not specified) 'thats fine' he said. Checks my skin, my blood pressure etc etc. Its all fine. He said don't look too bad. We talk about medication. And he says - you got to listen to this bit (paraphrased as I don't have recall memory) 'the thing with morning sickness, if it is not treated quickly, it could become something called hyperemesis gravidava, and if this happens you could end up going into hospital for intravenous fluids. I think you should consider medication. We weigh up the risks versus the wellbeing of you and your pregnancy. Your morning sickness might become HG if you don't take medication'. . You mean I do not as yet have HG afterall . Well darn me!

So, then while talking quietly, nervously, unsure, he flicks through a medical book to see what anti-sickness I can take while pg 'mmm, nope, not that one, hmm, hmm, hmm, oh hang on, this one should be ok, i will just call a colleague'. I wanted to just take the book from him and say 'shall I find it for you?'. He called a colleague and they recommended 2 drugs, citrizine and another one (will find it in a moment) which is a melt under the tongue one, in case I don't keep the citrizine down. His colleague asks him about ketones 'no, she has no ketones'. Then he gets off the phone and goes back to my urine sample and says 'i am just going to check for ketones, to see if you are, well, starving!' 'er, er, er, er, yes thats fine'. (what was he testing the first time then?)

As we leave to collect prescription he says 'oh I think i should probably examine you first'. Prods about a bit, tells me if I don;t keep anything down over weekend I could always pop along to EPU to get baby checked and they can check ketones there too, the consultant there will do it.

I asked him about weight loss - he said, you look fine to me (i swear he was looking at my breasts when he said it!). How woud you know. He said, have you lost much then? 'i don't know' I said 'no scales but I can now pull me jeans down without undoing them'- 'you need to go to see your midwife to get your weight checked'

He never looked at my notes once, or updated them. So on that basis, how would he know if my blood pressure was normal? (my blood pressure is normally on the low side of normal 100-110/50). If he did not know my weight, how would he know what normal was for me?, if he has never seen me before, how would he bloody well know if I look fine!!!!

I mean don't get me wrong. I am pleased that I am not dehydrated, that I am abosrbing more fluid and food than i thought. Really. But this man did not inspire me with confidence. It was like he was reading it all out of a text book. I have learnt more from here than from him, and now I feel, well like I am exagerating it all. So, one hand, great I am not too ill, on the other hand fed up that its been dismissed so out of hand as just bloody morning sickness.

I went to pharmacy for drugs. Pharmacist called me over - had the dosage been explained to me? What was I told about taking them? I told him what I was told. He said 'but you do know that you cannot take these constantly? Only if you really need to? At this stage in your pregnancy medication is not recommended because of the risks, so you need to limit the dose. And I am surprised he has given you this one, and I am really surprised he is expecting you to take maximun dose citrizine for an entire month without seeing your gp again. If you need this much for this long, you need to be seeing your gp before this long.

So, I have been given a cure for a made up fucking illness and I am now too afraid to take it.

If you made it to the end, I applaud you. I am just going to go and throw up the seeds and nuts DH has just made me eat.

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pavlovthepregnantcat · 16/05/2009 12:12

Oh and now my DH thinks its nothing more serious than fucking morning sickness. Well lucky fucking me eh, I can go back to work on monday now, try some poxy fucking ginger.

I just said to my DH 'I wonder why he referred to it as morning sickness?' and he said 'well its you who doesn't, you call it hyperemesis'. So not the medical certs then. Not the hyperemesis website, checklist of symptoms then, not that fact it has not passed at 13 weeks then. 'ok dear, its not morning sickness then. Marvelous.

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saramoon · 16/05/2009 12:43

Sympathise greatly - was terribly sick with both of my dds. I was teaching in Oman when i got pregnant with my lst and the constant sickness plus the heat was too much for me and i was put on a drip twice at the local doctors. Was working full time and managed - with a fight - to get 1 yes 1 day off as over there, they just don't give you time off for stuff like that. Remember feeling so bad, one of my students actually came into class one day and said that i looked horrible - think she meant awful. Used to go into the clinic they had on the site i was working and sleep for an hour in my lunch break. From my experience nothing really worked - i sometimes felt ok when i was actually eating but as soon as i stopped........hope you get lots of rest, think that is the best thing.

saramoon · 16/05/2009 12:46

OMG just read dirtygerties post and mine sounds positively lame in comparison.

audreyraines · 16/05/2009 12:48

hi pavlov, not much advice here, but plenty of sympathy! i had bad HG for about 19 weeks, and now have occassional nausea and vomiting, but not inhibiting like it was. it was sooo depressing and all i wanted to do was sleep because i had no energy. i lived in bits of toast and clementines for ages. If I tried to cook anything, the sight of it would send me running to the bathroom. I hope it will ease for you at some point. Demand some drugs if you feel like trying it. I tried stemetil but just vomited them up before they could do anything

audreyraines · 16/05/2009 12:59

just read the post about the doctors. god, how dismal. can you find another dr? try taking the drugs, you need something to get you through my dear, otherwise it's going to be a loooong long pregnancy. sigh. i wish there was a magic cure for us.

people are shocked when i say i still vomit twice a day mostly. they say "i thought you said you were better". I am better. I can eat, I actually enjoy eating most of the time. I can put on weight. I can put on a load of washing without having to lie down afterwards.

these lo's are going to be such fantastic little people after all the misery they've put us through before they're even born. xx

pavlovthepregnantcat · 16/05/2009 13:38

dirtygertie omg, your poor poor woman! I think I should stop moaning, at least I can get about and do some things, how absolutely horrible for you , glad you found something that worked eventually, but how awful to be so ill and have it dismissed as morning sickness!

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pavlovthepregnantcat · 16/05/2009 13:40

audrey - the gp I saw today, he was a duty Dr on call. He was straight out of med school clearly, I could have told him what he told me.

I should have just gone in and said 'here is the deal, you need to take my blood pressure, check my urine to make sure I am not dehydrated/no ketones present, check my belly make sure baby is ok, read my notes, prescribe me some xyz drugs, write in my notes ok?' It was like he had a mental checklist and forgot a few things and then went back. Reminded me of Holby City med students !

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pavlovthepregnantcat · 16/05/2009 13:55

So the meds I have been given are: cyclizine 1 x 50mg tabs 3x daily. This is the preferred drug. If I cannot keep this down, then I have: buccastem dissolved behing upper lip as required up to 3x daily.

As yet I have taken neither, just sort of stared at them with the pharmacists look of horror that I had been prescribed them implanted in my brain.

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dirtygertiefromnumber30 · 16/05/2009 14:12

god pavlov, it must be sooo frustrating to get so much conflicting advice and information from the professionals. It is because HG isnt fully understood so noobody really knows for sure how to diagnose or treat it. I think once your sickness gets to the point where your'e having difficulty performing your normal daily activities, youre losing weight and producing ketones you need help. You are definately showing signs of two of these and you only need to dehydrate for ONE DAY to produce ketones. Personally i would err on the side of treating your sickness as it can spiral out of control once you become dehydrated. The only concern I have is that you have been prescribed citrizine as i volunteer on a HG website and i have never heard of this medication for HG. It's not cyclizine is it?

pavlovthepregnantcat · 16/05/2009 14:17

dirtygertie - you got it right, I spelt it wrong as it was not in front of me. It is indeed cyclizine.

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pavlovthepregnantcat · 16/05/2009 14:22

OK this is stupid I know. You have ALL told me to take the drugs. I now have the drugs. And I am now really rather scared of taking it. I have decided not to take the bucastem, I don't like what I read (although not much) but I am still nervous of the other one too.

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YanknCock · 16/05/2009 14:23

pavlov, that's exactly what I was prescribed (the cyclizine), same doseage. Mine said up to 3x a day, and I was told to start off with one if I could and only take them if I really needed to. I've got gobs left as I didn't find them helpful. GP phoned specialists to make sure he was doing the right thing.

On my sick notes it does say HG, but you could argue that I don't have it either because I didn't lose tons of weight or produce ketones. However, I was too nauseous to function, couldn't work, vomited every day and usually several times a day, vomited bile, and continued like this into the 2nd trimester. I don't think you have to have every symptom to 'qualify'.

Regardless of what it's being labeled, you are having a miserable time, and your DH and GP should not try to minimise or dismiss that. Only you know how you feel!

pavlovthepregnantcat · 16/05/2009 14:27

so, if I just take one, that will be ok? I can't see how they will work, they are for inner ear imbalance! But hey, wtf do I know, clearly.

Yank, its crap is it not, that we seem to have to explain how awful we feel to every single person (apart from on here of course!) and that it seems if we are not in hospital, we are not ill .

I think I might take some time out of it all, its doing my head in, I will just take a pill, see what happens, just keep eating and chucking and try to think of something other than food/vomiting.

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YanknCock · 16/05/2009 14:34

yeah, go for the one and see how you do. Be warned, it might make you sleepy (which of course you already are due to feeling sick). I figured at least if I was passed out on the sofa, I wasn't throwing up.

Do consider the McDonalds or some other rubbish again. My mantra is, 'whatever stays down'. Baby will suck out whatever nutrients it needs from you and anything you manage to digest, doesn't matter what it is.

dirtygertiefromnumber30 · 16/05/2009 14:38

ah whoops - x posts! cyclazine is commonly used in pregnancy and research shows that there is no increased risk of abnormalites to the foetus. That said of course there is always a small risk when taking any type of drug in pregnancy. What is boils down to is risk assessment. Your current state (not eating or fuctioning well) will be having a dterimental effect to you mentally and physically and you need to take care of yourself too.

If your sickness becomes worse, HG can be dangerous so I would try and treat it early.

(Did you know charlotte bronte died of HG??!!)

ps, i'll dig some info out for you to give your DH to read

pavlovthepregnantcat · 16/05/2009 14:45

Thanks Dirty, appreciate that. He won't read it though. He told me I could sort out any dehydration by drinking a glass of water. And when I reminded him it was DDs lunch time, he chucked down the computer mouse and stomped off in a huff 'well evidently you are not going to make it then [2 mins after I told him I just chucked up]. I think the best thing is to just let him get on with it and I will just do what I need to do.

That said - I just took one cyclizine. Lets see how that works.

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dirtygertiefromnumber30 · 16/05/2009 14:51

at your DH. My DH was great at the start but soon ran out of patience too! Can you IMAGINE if they had it???!!!

Hope the meds kick in and work for you. IME it took a couple of days. If they dont work there are others you can try. Keep strong!

audreyraines · 16/05/2009 15:29

i don't think dh's can get it. at very least though, they should pretend to be understanding and sympathetic and take over all food duties. even thinking about cooking used to make me gag/vomit. i make dh change ds' nappy wherever possible, as that is still a guaranteed vomit inducer for me.

i hope the cyclizine does something (other than make you pass out, but then again maybe that's not a bad thing!) my favourite pass time is counting down the days to my due date, mabye a few days passed out would help a lot ...

NorkyButNice · 16/05/2009 15:41

My DH was incredibly supportive last time when I spent 6 weeks in bed (or hunched over the toilet bowl). I don't think he'll be quite so understanding if it happens again now we have a toddler to deal with.

Definitely take the meds, without mine I wouldn't have been able to get back to work at all during pregnancy (even though I was still puking 3 times a day in the office - nice!).

Hope things improve soon

audreyraines · 16/05/2009 15:49

Norky, I'm so glad I didn't have it first time round, or I don't think there would be a second on the way!

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