ANyone seriously contemplated or had a termination due to awful hyperemisis?

[nickytwotimes]

Please do not have a go at me.
I am looking for a bit of support tbh. I am totally unable to function atm and spend most days unable to get my head off the pillow.
I am seriously feeling unable to go on with this pregnancy especially not knowing when / if it will go or not.

I'm 13 weeks and have had 8 weeks not of HE but "normal" MS and it has been utter hell, I am totally fed up with feeling like this so totally understand how you feel, try to count it off in days, each night you go to bed mentally cross off that day another day you won't have to suffer, beginning of each morning just think of getting through that day.

Agree with the others get back to the GP, there's no other illness where you would be allowed to starve like this, no wonder you are feeling so low.

Hope it goes away soon

Great post@Chicken. I echo most of it.

I ad hyperemesis with my second pregnancy. Worst thing I have ever experienced in my life. I was hospitalised and put on a drip for it several times and survived (somehow) on the occasional sip of coke and a spoon or two of mush every few days for the entire nine months. Truly the most horrendous period of my life. I even developed liver failure and blood sugar problems towards the end of my pregnancy due to my body going into starvation mode . However, my DD was born beautifully healthy (induced at 37 weeks as I literally could not survive any longer being pregnant) and is now a chub-tastic, happy, and calm little 1 yr old. I also recovered really quickly after she was born and was back to a blissful feeling of normality within days.

Hang on in there. God, it's bad, but it will come to an end. It will.

Definitely kick up merry hell with your GP. Some doctor's still don't take HG seriously. If you can't fight yourself, get your OH or a friend to do it for you. There are drugs that work, but they're expensive.

I had severe Hyperemesis for 4 pregnancies.I lost 2 stone in 2 weeks with first,and couldn't get out of bed,luckily my Mum looked after me.
The second pregnancy I went into hospital for 3 days,had a drip and felt fantastic,once the dehydration was treated,the sickness was much easier to bear.

The 3rd pregnancy never developed past 12 weeks,but I was just as ill,but managed to cope at home.

The fourth pregnancy was the same,but I just kept sipping tiny bits of water,and drank litle sips of my mums home-made chicken soup(yes,she has jewish origins!!),and that kept me going.

But i can sympathise.I was so depressed during those weeks,I felt so ill I couldn't enjoy being pregnant until it started to ease up.I used to cry all the time.

I have 3 lovely DC's and would do it all again in an instant if I could.

Wow!
Thanks for all the replies.
Have been crying at most of them (in a good way though).
Had a good cry with dh last night. I couldn't actually go through with a termination in reality, but when I feel really bad I do feel desperate for any escape
I will try to speak to my GP today, though she does seem pretty useless about it which is why I was waiting for the mw. If I speak to the mw then she usually chivvies the gp for me, iyswim.
Thanks so much again. I will be letting dh read this tonight. Hope he might really get it. Some beautifully written things.

So sorry you are going through this - looks like several of us have. With my DS2 I remember standing at the top of the stairs and thinking 'if I throw myself down then this will all be over and I won't feel like this anymore'. I didn't tell anyone at the time how I felt - mainly because talking made me sicker!

So it is good to write down how you are feeling - even if it's just on paper to burn at home. Write down how much you are hating this, how much you resent the baby for taking over your body and making you feel so shit etc. It is good to get it out, and if you feel brave enough take it to the GP and show him how you are feeling. There ARE drugs that will help - but you may need to try different combinations to get there. You need drugs to stop the nausea not just the sickness (only found out when DS was born and was more 'with-it' that I had been on anti-emetics throughout my pregnancy when for most of the time the nausea was more of a problem than the vomiting).

I expect you are sick of people suggesting things that may help - I was ready to thump anyone who suggested ginger biscuits again - but I found constantly chewing gum a real life line for the nausea - it is something to do with saliva production that helps apparently. Also I used to go against all advice re sipping drinks as that just prolonged the horror - I would down a glass of squash and then accept I would be sick but would manage to keep some down and stay hydrated that way.

Good luck - keep coming on here to rant about how crap and dreadful you feel, be kind to yourself and keep on at the GP until you get the help you need.

Oh poor you.
My third (and last) hyperemesis pregnancy finished a month ago with the birth of my lovely baby.

Right.
Before you need to terminate, there are lots of different drugs you can try. Someone below mentioned ondansetron (Zofran) - this is expensive so they don't like prescribing it but a lot of people have said it works where everything else has failed.

GPs almost all know nothing about HG. Get referred to a consultant who will have seen more cases and be able to prescribe better drugs.

And look at the support group website to get real info and help you stay sane.

Good luck. This too will pass.

Firstly, wanted to say poor you and send you a big hug.
Secondly, I take steroids and have done throughout the pg for a medical condition. When I was asking the MW if it was safe she said they give high dose steroids to mums to be with hyperemesis to help. Would this be worth asking about.
Thirdly, a friend of mine gave birth three months ago after 9 months of hyperemesis. She said the pg was awful but she's now got a beautiful and healthy girl and wouldn't change her for the world.

I'd def seek help from MW, GP and hospital. Do a bit of shouting, you sound like you need a bit of TLC.
Hope this is a little helpful. Take care.

Oh, I too remember feeling homicidal towards anyone who suggested ginger biscuits! When you literally can't keep anything down, when you just wretch 'til you bleed, when the act of turning your head takes more effort than you would ever have thought possible and then results in more agonising wretching (the pain in your back and throat is indescribable), there is no way a fucking biscuit will help!!!!
Seriously, insist that you are referred. If your GP still won't help, take yourself to a&e and refuse to leave until you are seen. So few women suffer with severe hyperemesis, that it tends to be treated by many medical professionals as morning sickness. It isn't. You are not 'just pregnant', you are ill.

Nicky,
So sorry for you that you're going through this. I'm currently on my 4th pregnancy and had HG with the first and third (just severe morning sickness with 2 & this one - it's bad but it is in a different league).

People are right when they say that treating the dehydration is the best thing - the endless sickness is tricky to stop for some cases, I think, but being rehydrated makes a big difference. With my third that meant going in/out hospital right up to about 30 weeks when it was manageable. The first time I went in, I was so weak I called the dr to make a home visit and he took a (tiny) urine sample to check for ketones (sic??). Once he got a reading he rang for an ambulance! After that, every time I felt lousy I went straight in to A & E (Cheslea & Westminster), and after they tested the urine, got put back on a drip in the antenatal ward (again & again!!). They were great there.

If you've got someone to look after your little one, get hydrated - it doesn't stop the sickness but you do feel as if you can cope with it then.

Good luck - it 's truly foul.

you poor thing. It certainly crossed my mind that i just could not carry on with this pregnancy and i googled/mn'd for what seemed like forever. It wasnt something i felt i could verbalise to any friends, although DH knew how desperate i was.

I ended up going to stay with my mum and dad so they could look after DS1, but they didnt understand the hell i was going through and thought i was being lazy. I blamed my foetus entirely, and was not happy at all about being pregnant (a very wanted second child) and i was very worried that should all proceed according to plan that i would never want it anyway.

However - the GP was pretty good and gave me anti-emetics (a few of which i kept down )and 'allowing' me back on my antidepressants and i managed to avoid hospitilisation by drinking coke.

As if by magic, the HE vanished at 16 wks, and i am now getting attached to my 'tummy baby' as DS calls it. Im going for a private scan on Saturday to try to help me get over the psychological barrier i erected against caring about this child, and i am almost looking forward to it.

I hope your Dr can help you - maybe your DH can go with you to help strengthen your case and be forceful about you needing more help and a referral to a consultant. With a bit of luck it will bugger off of its own accord like mine did. But you are certainly not on your own with these unbidden thoughts of termination. xx

Not much advice to add, but I really do feel for you. I had a mmc with first pg, was devastated and it took 3 years to get pregnant again. Even though the road to that pregagnancy was so long and difficult I prayed every day during the first 12 weeks that I would miscarry again because I would at least feel better. I spent 4 weeks on the sofa unable to do anything. It was the worst time of my life. It got a bit more bareable at 16 weeks.

But on the plus side the day I had my daughter was truely the best day ever, the immense relief of getting my body back was amazing. Hospital food tasted good.

I know it feels like you have an eternity of feeling awful ahead of you. I would go to the GP and push for Zofran, I didn't have it but was on a US site where they swore by it. My GP was v. good, bit of an expert (suprising in a male GP) I found getting up after eating made it worse, so he suggested antacid, I had to try a few different ones to find one that I could stomach but it did get a little better when I started taking chewable rennies

I'm in the same boat though it is beginning to settle - I'm on 3 different drugs including zofran, maxolon which speeds any food and more importantly fluids out of the stomach more quickly - so annoying when you drink something and it reappears an hour later after deep breathing and not moving in the hope it will stay down and omeprazole to treat the agonising pain in my gullet from all the vomiting.

It is better but I still vomit and wretch often and I have to be very careful about what I eat or drink. I always feel thirsty but if I drink too much up it comes so small sips frequently. I keep running out of foods I can try as once I've vomited something up undigested more than a couple of times it loses its appeal.

I am managing just to stay on the right side of dehydration and out of hospital but its a challenge.

I have hoped for a miscarriage, fantasised about a termination and hated this baby for weeks but I knew a girl who terminated a HG pregnancy and it destroyed her marriage and she is still devestated with guilt and regret years on so I haven't acted on it.

I am completely unable to look forward to a baby which seems nothing to do with all this.

My GP has been great and so has DH, DS and DD (I had milder HG with her and said similar things according to DH although I don't remember - she is amazing so hopefully it will be worth it.) My Irish with no Jewish connections Mum has been plying me with homemade soup too which is some help too.

You are not alone.

I'm late coming to this thread but also wanted to add some support. It's truly horrible - I'm nearly 29 weeks with a HG pregnancy following a 'normal' morning sickness one with DS.

After 3 rehydration sessions in hospital at 10 weeks I broke down on my GP and he was fantastic, and has been since. He tried out several different meds and finally we found the highest dose of Promethezine Teoclate (Avomine) did the trick - and it's an anti-nausea drug so now I can live my days mostly nausea free with the odd random vomit. But cracking the nausea meant I could at first take fluids for long enough to rehydrate, and now eat fairly normally (although it has to be a tiny amount and very frequently). I am now down to half the full dose of Avomine but it's been creeping back up again the last few weeks. In hindsight I can't believe I was released from hospital repeatedly without a management plan as I think I would have entirely lost the plot - it seems just when you haven't the ability to fight for treatment, fight is what you need to do.

If you don't feel up to it can your DH speak to the GP and get them to take you seriously?

When I started managing a little fluids Vimto was fab - it doesn't taste too bad coming back up!

Really hope you get some relief soon.

Hyperemesis is horrific..I had it with ds2 after 2 normal ms pregnancies..I was bedridden for 6 weeks and hospitalised for re hydration, it stopped at 14 weeks although the vague feeling of nausea never went away, but I could at least start living again..my beautiful ds is now 8.
With dd2 the hyperemsis started almost straight away..at 7 weeks..DH found me looking through yellow pages at private clinics because I couldnt bear to carry on another day..I was then prescribed cyclizine and stemetil which lessened the effect so at least I wasnt throwing up as much..it stopped at about 16 weeks..DD2 is now 5.
with this pregnancy..I actually really did consider a termination when I was about 6 weeks and I feel terrible that I felt that way..GP put me straight onto cyclizine..which helped a bit..at one point I was even throwing up water..the smell of everything and anything made me hurl and Ive lost a stone..however Im now 14 weeks and have just been shopping for the first time since it started, ive more or less spent the last 7 weeks lying on the sofa..and it has subsided a lot..im no longer throwing up, just feel mildly naueas and am eatig proper evening meals now...but please dont suffer i silence..if Zofran works for you..then insist on it..if your doctors think that the alternative for you would be to terminate then they should prescibe it

Nicky, I don't have experience of proper morning sickness but just want to send you huge amounts of hugs and sympathy.

Thalks for more messages guys.
It does really help.

I saw my GP this morning who will not even contemplate Zofran. I have got cyclizine to combine with stemitil but neither of them have made the least bit of difference alone so don't hold out much hope.

I said I seriously wanted a termination and that althought there may be side effects with Zofan or whatever, I felt that was the lesser of 2 evils. Surely a small risk is preferable to termination? She wouldn't budge.

I see the consultant 2 weeks tomorrow so maybe he will ehlp, but I don't see me lasting that lng tbh. I will go back to the gp next week if no joy. She wanted me to go in for rehydration again, but I am not willing to as the hospital here is the most uncomfortable place and I spent 10 hours sitting in a chair in pain lawst time then couldn't walk for 3 days afterwards. I need to llie down and they do not have the facilities.

Fucking useless. I feel medical people are not really getting the seriousness of this. I said this and she said she does take me seriously, but it doesn't feel it.

Grr - third time I've tried posting this

Your GP is out of her depth - try to see a consultant asap - can you see one privately as a one off - if they say to try other drugs GP will have to do so. Or is there a different GP in the practice you could see. Or go to hospital tonight - bring someone with you who can fight your corner.

Give combo 48h maximum - next step would be maxolon and either ranitidine/omeprazole for excess stomach acid. Make sure you're taking multivits including vitamin B6. Zofran tends to be next step after that and it is safe just causes dreadful constipation.

This is manageable x

nicky wish I could say something to make you feel better. But can only think of sending you a gentle .

I have experienced HG throughout this pg, not as bad as you, but bad enough to be medicated and it was horrendous. So sorry you are experiencing this.

Sorry, not read other posts, have you been offered acupuncture or alternative/combined medications?

Please go to another doctor. Even call out the emergency doctor if you need to. Zofran is the brand name of odanestron, and the reason she won't give it to you is because a)it is very expensive (around twenty pounds a tablet), b) she doesn't think it's that serious and c) she has no experience. Not all GP's are familiar with HG. Insist on a second opinion. Keep going until you get the drug you need. Nothing is guaranteed in pregnancy, but I had odanestron from 11 weeks for around a month, and my DS is running around the lounge right now scoffing an apple. If you meet resistance, get stroppy. No one should have to terminate a healthy, wanted pregnancy because a GP won't listen.

Yes please don't give up, don't let this GP be your last hope. That's awful about the hospital as well - are you sure they weren't just short of beds last time, maybe it would be better now? I'd phone them and see if you can talk it over with someone there and try again to get through to them how bad it is.

I've had 2 HG pregnancies, been in a terrible state both times, basically collapsed in a heap in bed/on floor for majority of pregnancy, unable to move (too weak and would cause another vomit anyway). Both times, I have had to go and live with my mum because I was so ill. The 2nd time, she looked after my DS for me because I was unable to. I know how bad it is, I felt like I was dying and I thought alot about euthanasia (for myself), rather than terminating the pregnancy. I got so thin with weightloss that it hurt my bones to even try to sit down. Even breathing was uncomfortable because my throat was permanently burnt due to vomiting. Both times, it was absoultely horrendous - I wanted to tell you so that you know that lots of others have been through it, although you don't tend to meet them in RL because it is quite rare. I would say that it started to subside around 25 weeks, although I was frequently sick until delivery with DD and well into 3rd trimester with DS. Although it subsided a bit, I still felt extremely ill, but I could get through the day without wanting to die.

The illness that is pregnancy will start to subside the minute you give birth. The homones go very quickly and I felt amazing after both births, despite neither being "easy". Your baby will be absolutely lovely and it WILL be worth it.

I am not having any more children, HG is a major factor in this decision. I do feel happy that I am not going to suffer with it again though.

Nicky, I've just remembered that the writer Naomi Wolf mentions in her book 'Misconceptions' that she sought the advice of a homeopath for what sounded like hyperemesis. They detailed different types of sickness and identified which one she had - then prescribed a drug which worked within a short space of time. I'm actually very sceptical of homeop but she swore by it.

Also I recall in my maternity pack from the doctor that there was a description of diff types of sickness and was amazed to find my own type described in detail. I'll hunt it out tomorrow and see if there's anything in there that might help you.

Oh God, Nicky and all you girls that went through it , how horrible! Hugs and that you get the help you bloody well should have to not have to terminate.

NTT - Please consider acupuncture . If you are open to it book in tomorrow. I went out of my mind with the sickness to the point that I was crying down the phpone to my mum as I hit my head on my desk in the middle of my clinic. Acupuncture solved the problem in 24-48 hours in both my pregnancies.