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Pregnancy

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

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Original poster

Hyperemesis / HG drugs - do they work?

23 replies

realmum · 12/04/2010 12:52

Hi all, especially to those on the last HG thread.
I am asking anyone who has had HG / hyperemesis and taken medication throughout, what effect this really has. Can you lead anything like a normal life...?
I had DD 6 years ago and had HG for 18 weeks which stopped me working and the loss of income was disastrous. Thinking of TTC again (!), and want to know what are the chances of getting through HG with medication, which I was not offered the first time but would FIGHT for this time.
Any thoughts or advice on this please.

OP posts:

Seeline · 12/04/2010 16:17

I fought for drugs on 2nd pg as I too was off work for the first 18 weeks of pg1. I felt continuously nauseous and was sick many times each day 24/7. I knew I wouldn't be able to survive this with a 2 yo running around as well! When it started 2nd time round I was lucky with a very understanding female GP who eventually prescribed me phenegan. I took it for about 15 weeks and whilst I was still sick a few times is was nowhere near as bad as before, and I didn't feel sick all the time. I was however very dozy! PG2 is now 51/2 yo and doesn't seem to have suffered any adverse effects!! Go for it.

ConnorTraceptive · 12/04/2010 16:21

Nothing worked in my first pregancy. In my second pregnancy I fought tooth and nail for ondansetron (zofran) and that stopped it completely. It's an expensive drug though so a gp won't prescibe it. I got it after my fourth week in hospital on a drip.

SethStarkaddersMum · 12/04/2010 16:21

phenergan didn't work for me.
Cyclizine took the sickness from 12+ times a day down to 6, which made it manageable, but didn't touch the nausea.
People who aren't helped by Cyclizine occasionally get Zofran which apparently is very effective but very very expensive so hard to get it prescribed unless you are at death's door/have private healthcare.
There are other ones too.

NorkyButNice · 12/04/2010 16:22

I had metaclopromide for a month which did nothing, then after losing over a stone in 3 weeks I was given odansetron (Zofran) which eventually got things under control.

I was able to return to work at 6 months PG, having been off since 10 weeks - I still had frequent trips to the toilet in the office to be ill but could manage the 15 minute journey and then sit upright which I was previously unable to do.

Have to say that I was in America though, and I think getting Zofran prescribed is harder over here.

SmilerJane · 12/04/2010 17:05

hiya sweetie..

i understand how you must be feeling. it all depends on the docs/mw you have and where you live..

go speak to ur gp b4 you try or before the sickness kicks in and explain your concerns. i wish i had persisted more as my 2 DC suffered because i was so ill.

Cyclazine didnt work for me at all in the beginning so i was sick 10-15x a day but from approx 20wks it has helped n the longer i go in my preg the better i feel (still on cyclazine now) fingers crossed i stay as i am and not go backwards n start bein sick again. i'm 25+4 wks now and have the occasional bouts but nothing near as bad as i was

i have a DD 3yo and a DS 8yo and it has been the worst preg yet. however i have heard of other mums who didnt get it 2nd time round so it all depends on if you get it next time and wether u have an understanding employer who will let you have time off if needed.

the only reason i spent so long suffering is i had a useless mw.. who i may add i have reported and i see my new one 2mo (thanks goodness)

so good luck whatever you decide.. but 1 thing i do know if ur employer and gp are understanding n helpful Go For It.. totally worth it even tho i have felt so rotten b4.

t care

Weegle · 12/04/2010 17:09

I tried metaclopromide - didn't work. I ended up taking promethezine teoclate from about 8 weeks to term (at varying doses depending on how sick I was) and it REALLY helped. I still had some random vomits but generally it controlled it.

Hevster · 12/04/2010 17:19

I had metaclopromide 1st and it did nothing for me, however cyclizine stops both my sickness and my nausea, but makes me drousy as you like however drousy is preferable to puking!

karney · 12/04/2010 21:26

I was prescribed phenergen which didn't work then buccastem and finally Cylizine. Really nothing stopped the constant nausea but I think the Cyclizine was the most effective for me in keeping the sickness at bay. HG is totally horrendous and I,m now 37weeks and counting the days til this pg is over and I don't feel sick anymore. I suppose the downside of these drugs are they do tend to make you really drowsy.

meebles · 12/04/2010 21:37

I took metoclopromide for a bit, and then prochlorperazine (stemitil) for the rest of the pregnancy. It made the difference between me managing to get to work and not. I still felt dreadful, and lost a lot of weight overall though. Not sure what would have happened without.

Original poster

realmum · 12/04/2010 22:48

Am I being really naive, has anyone else ever thought of buying these things online - I am desperate? My last doctor made me feel I had failed by asking to go into hospital. I'm definitely going to speak to my new doctor before we go for it. Not sure how my employer will react, there's no-one else who can do my job - they barely get by when I have a weeks holiday. God knows how I will do it drowsy, but I know I can't even make it out of bed without meds.
Thanks for all your posts :-)

OP posts:

mollybob · 13/04/2010 00:28

Zofran would cost a LOT online - I'm still taking it most days at nearly 35 weeks - started when I was about 9 weeks as nothing else helped at all. I was prescribed it previously during/after a complicated miscarriage last year and had some left so tried it after giving up on stemetil, cyclizine, metoclopramide etc. It doesn't get rid of the vomiting completely for me but it does help.

NorkyButNice · 13/04/2010 07:04

Agreed - a 30 day supply of Zofran cost me (my health insurance company paid thankfully) 1500 dollars.

Ouch!

SethStarkaddersMum · 13/04/2010 09:56

bloody hell, I would have happily paid £1500 for a month's relief from HG hell!
Why didn't I think of that?
(answer: because it may not be legal to buy online, you may spend loads of money and get a fake and who would take that risk when they were pregnant?)

Diege · 13/04/2010 10:21

I'll be watching this thread with interest, as after 3 hg pregnancies (had a respite with dd2, just 'normal' ms)it's the only thing that's putting me off ttc-ing no.5 this summer. Was prescribed stemital last time, but the bitterness of the tablet under my lip made me heave, and never actually tolerated it well enough to see any difference. Am interested in hearing about cyclazine though. Really difficult to get anything at all here - in the end it was only when I started vomiting blood clots that anyone started to listen .

Original poster

realmum · 13/04/2010 11:21

One of the really annoying things about HG (apart from how unfair it is) is that sometimes you hear about someone like Diege there who didn't get it for one pregnancy. HOW?????!!!
Has anyone ever seen anything about preventing it - diet etc - in the first place? Its so odd how they don't really know what causes it.
Anyone know how to buy online legally? What about a private prescription - I don't know what one is, but I keep coming across them...

OP posts:

Diege · 13/04/2010 11:52

Yes it's odd isn't it REALMUM? The only thing I can think was a little different about my pregnancy with dd2 was that it was just 6 months after dd1 was born - still felt very sick, and was sick, but could function (ie, go to work) and for me that's the difference between sickness and hg...Sort of think I tricked my body and it couldn't get it's act into gear . I have read that hg can get worse with each subsequent pregnancy, but obviously not a hard and fast rule. Also the girl thing, but after 3 dds, my worst hg pregnancy was def dc no. 4 ( a boy). I've heard anecdotal accounts of high doses of vit B6 working, but again, the info isn;t 'out there', you really have to dig..you know I'm sure if men suffered like this research would know no limits

SethStarkaddersMum · 13/04/2010 12:40

I know there's going to be an academic conference on HG later this year.... I suspect research is in its infancy but they could probably make some big strides in a short time if they put their minds to it!
Do you know about the correlation with having bright children? How weird is that?

Diege · 13/04/2010 13:02

Ooh thaat's interesting SETH. Do you know where it is/who organsied by? I'm a medical sociologist so could probaly wing my way in...unless I have HG of course..

Original poster

realmum · 13/04/2010 13:07

Did not know that SETH - my DD is "Gifted & Talented", so she fits in there (not many places she does fit in

OP posts:

SethStarkaddersMum · 13/04/2010 13:22

here you are Diege - Warwick but organised by a group based at Lincoln it seems.

Diege · 13/04/2010 13:26

Thanks SETH, will have a look now
Interesting too about intelligence thing...having said that, my dd who is gifted and talented in art is the one I didn't have the hg pregnancy with

SethStarkaddersMum · 13/04/2010 13:31

realmum - study reported briefly in Telegraph

Slippers101 · 13/04/2010 16:20

Hi All,

Am 18 weeks pg and have been through all the usual culprits over the last 13 weeks - stemetil, cyclazine and metochlopromide. I've just returned home after my fourth hospital admission and am now on cyclazine and metachlopromide and the combination of the two does seem to be helping a little. But, as everyone else has said, it leaves me completely exhausted and good for nothing! Having been really fit before, walking upstairs now leaves me exhausted and needing a sit down.

Fascinating to hear that there's a possible correlation between HG - at last a silver lining!

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