‘Morning sickness’ I’m struggling

[LKT1]

Hello,

Sorry for long rant...I ’m Now 15 weeks pregnant via ivf. Iv wanted this for so long, have gone through such emotional turmoil as well as financial strain to get to this point. However, whilst I’m still desperate for our baby I’m finding pregnancy very hard. Iv been throwing up everyday and throughout the day for 9 weeks. I’v been to hospital as got so dehydrated I could barely stand. Thankfully I was not put on a drip (although close to that point) but was given antisickness tablets instead. My body seams to keep adjusting to the meds as they don’t work for long (I’m on my third type now-cyclizine) and I’m throwing up several times a day even when taking the tablets.

I havnt been allowed to drive so I’m also isolated.

The smell of everything makes me heave particularly washing powder, shampoo and cleaning products.

I throw up if I move too much like going up and down the stairs so I’m getting motion sickness to.

My own saliva makes me feel so ill.

I struggle to keep down fluids. Every tiny sip triggers huge waves of nausea. If I accidentally take a double sip or a big sip I’ll throw up.

Luckily Iv not had aversions to food but everything I eat is like Russian roulette....some things may stay down other things won’t. By the way what stayed down yesterday is not guaranteed to stay down today😫

I have had 9 weeks of this and there is no sign of improvement. I’m beginning to lose my mind and get very down about it.

Has anyone experienced this? What have you found that helps? Iv tried all the obvious things including ginger, acupressure bands, fizzy drinks, hot drinks, cold drinks, room temperature drinks. Dry crackers and toast etc.

I guess I’m looking for a magic wand, better drugs or just an understanding Comrad.

Thanks for reading x

[MissSaoPaulo]

Hi hon, no advice beyond what you've already tried but I just wanted to say that, as a fellow IVFer, it's ok to acknowledge that you're not enjoying the pregnancy. You can still be hugely grateful that it was successful and want your baby more than anything but that doesn't mean you have to accept feeling like crap or put up with being so poorly for so long. I hope you start feeling better soon and you can get some advice and tips to make it more bearable in the meantime xxx

[LKT1 in reply to MissSaoPaulo]

Thank you. I’m seeing my midwife tomorrow so I’m hoping she will have some ideas xxx

[destiny121]

Ahhh firstly congratulations on your pregnancy. I was exactly the same and it felt as if it would last forever. I even had to carry a ‘spit bottle’ as my saliva would build up and the Taste was awful so had to spit so just spat I. My bottle... disgusting i know. No magic wand lovely... you’ll just have to get through day by day and trust that it will get better. I know it’s horrid and you also feel guilty complaining as you so wanted this pregnancy.... but we’re human and you’re allowed to moan... you’re pregnant. Mine eased up around 16 weeks.... and went completely!! Keep going lovely you’re doing amazing 😊😊😊

[LKT1 in reply to destiny121]

Ok thanks I’m hoping for week 16 to only one more week! Don’t worry I have a spit tub to 😂 so gross but so necessary x

[claire16c]

Hi, it sounds like you have hyperemesis gravidarum. I had the same and it’s awful. I couldn’t sleep at night with so much saliva coming out. What meds have you tried? You can drive on anti sickness meds unless you don’t feel safe of course. I didn’t feel well or safe enough to drive for about 2 months. I only left my house a handful of times in about 3 months because of al the vomiting and I would basically sleep and watch tv all day. My mum and husband were basically babysitting me! Cyclizine is usually a first line med so I’m wondering what else you’ve been given?

If it doesn’t work the next step is Odansetron or metaproclomide. The pregnancy sickness support website has good info. And also if you google green book guidelines for hyperemesis. There are also groups I joined for HG on Facebook x

[LKT1 in reply to claire16c]

I was afraid it might be HG but apparently you will only get diagnosed if you need to go on a drip 🤷🏻‍♀️ Iv very narrowly avoided it. Iv tried metroclopromide and cyclizine. I’ll ask to try Odansetron. My gp or pharmacist sadly printed on my label ‘Do not drive whilst taking these tablets’ although the instructions say don’t drive if drowsy so I was a bit confused. I threw up whilst going round a big round about which was scary so I know it wouldn’t be sensible. Thanks for the tips.X

[claire16c in reply to LKT1]

Who told you that lovely? You can have HG without going on a drip in my second pregnancy I got on tablets at 5 weeks becasue I knew how sick I would get, and avoided that- but I still had Hg! People with normal morning sickness don’t need anti sickness tablets for weeks or months on end.

Yeah for sure if you don’t feel safe then don’t drive. Yes usually they’d print if you feel drowsy - not a blanket no! I dd drive a few times when I needed to go to a midwife appt. the good thing about Ondansetron is it doesn’t make you feel as drowsy! It can make you really constipated though so ask for a prescription or buy some lactulose at the same time.

The pregnancy sickness support website is really good for help on Hg and the Spewing mummy website x

[LKT1 in reply to claire16c]

Thanks for your reply. I read online that women aren’t diagnosed unless needing hospital stay but can’t remember where. You were right though I do have HG And finally ended up in hospital on a drip after a whole night of projectile vomiting (not fun!) I was given another drug promethezine hydrochloride but that was awful so I’m temp back on cyclizine and going to ask gp about Odansetron. Thanks for your advice xx

[claire16c in reply to LKT1]

Oh no. I’m sorry it got so bad. It really did sound like you had it. The hospital really should have sent you home with a prescription! Anyway yes please see your GP. Mine used to do it over the phone for me because I couldn’t leave the house and then my husband or dad would collect it from the pharmacy x

[claire16c]

I would say the most important thing with hg is to get the meds right. Once I was on odansetron although it didn’t touch the nausea it did mean I could keep about 50% of my food and drink down. I was then sick maybe 5 times a day and at about 20 weeks I managed to half the dosage and then again at about 28 weeks I think I stopped taking it. For many women hg can last til you give birth, although the severity can lessen off for some. In my first pregnancy it stopped at 30 weeks but not in my second. So as you’re at 15 now you may have a while to go which I know is depressing but please don’t sit at home Thinking this could be gone next week I’ll be ok, get help! Demand better drugs and get an iv drip if you need to to get hydrated x

[LKT1 in reply to claire16c]

Yes I think I’ll ask for that Odansetron as a few people have recommended it now so must be worth a try. Thank you xx

[Rosey-petal]

Peppermint, mash potatoes, bread and rice helped my had sickness from 6 weeks till 15 weeks I feel your pain I was put on a drip and felt great after it and antibiotics as I had an infection too they said that’s what was causing it but I doubt that

[LKT1 in reply to Rosey-petal]

Thanks for the food tips. Fingers crossed I’ll be like you and sickness will improve soon! X

[Rosey-petal in reply to LKT1]

I hope you get some advil soon it sucks I know it does x

[Tiddly1984]

I’m 12 weeks and at my wits end so you have my complete sympathy. I feel nauseous throughout the day and have done since 6 weeks. I vomited for the first time yesterday, twice, and felt awful. All my food came up then I was dry heaving which was even worse. I honestly can’t imagine doing that multiple times a day as you have been. I’m really not enjoying being pregnant right now. I hope you start to feel better soon. x

[LKT1 in reply to Tiddly1984]

Sorry you are feeling rubbish to. It’s definitely not fun yet! X

[Baypony]

Hey! I was exactly the same. I lost a stone in the first 6 weeks of my pregnancy. I don’t know how it’s possible but I survived on cornflakes and ice cold milk and pasta with cheese until 19 weeks when it started to subside. EVERYTHING set me off, including the taste of tap water, the smell of my own car and the sight of white furniture (especially nursery furniture). I couldn’t eat fruit, veg or any meat either. I nearly murdered everyone that wanted to tell me to try ginger and flat lemonade. Found I got a good 1/2 to 1 hours relief from Gaviscon double action. I took it a lot, when I felt awful and before bed and in the middle of the night, not just after meals, and it helped stop the sickness. You might need some ranatiadine (sorry not sure how that is spelt) which is for excess stomach acid. As even though I was constantly sick it wasn’t from my stomach, more from the excess acid. Although it took me ages to work out what it was! I felt sick all the time but was surprised to find baby was perfectly healthy and not affected at all!

I can’t really offer much else other than eat whatever you can, regardless of whether it’s healthy or not and try a rehydration solution ( I had blackcurrant ORS from holland and barret) although I took about half the dose. It was gross though and I had to hold my nose whilst sipping it, but it helped me feel less awful. Hope you feel better soon. I’m 26 weeks now and still have the odd sicky day but nothing like as bad as I was.

[LKT1]

Sorry to hear you’ve suffered to. Glad you’re feeling much better now. I’ll try the rehydration solution to X

[glt01]

Hi I'm currently 10+4 with our first pregnancy, it was a 3rd attempt IVF with ICSI FET and I've been off work since about week 6 with severe nausea and vomiting. It's the absolute worse.

I'm now on regular cyclizine with metaclopromide as a rescue, I've also been given prochlorperizine as a third line back up. So I've got three anti-sickness drugs available to me at all times, I had surgery on my stomach a year ago and they're very keen to stop me vomiting as it could do long term damage hence the 3 drug attack.

If you're not getting any relief at all, please go back to your gp and ask for a combination of meds. You really need to be able to get fluid in. I was told by my gp that the food doesn't matter as much as the baby will take all the supplement it can get from you but it's the fluid levels that need to be maintained. Lots of rest and no need to feel guilty, I think this is a completely normal feeling to feel awful because of how much you've gone through to get to this point. Ive cried a number of times because of how guilty I felt at wanting the feeling of sickness to go away but wanting this pregnancy so much.

Also I've found eating and drinking what I want helps, theres absolutely no point trying to get my stomach to agree with my husbands plans for dinner as itll just come back up! I've got so many packets of opened food that I've wanted then the next day it turns my stomach.

I hope you get some relief soon x

[LKT1 in reply to glt01]

Sorry for delayed reply. I got severely worse and had a trip to a and e and finally had the dreaded drip. My heart rate was crazy too so also had ecg but my heart rate eased the more I rehydrates.

Once rehydrated I was given promethezine hydro chloride but after a few days of taking Iv switched back to cyclizine as it made me so fuzzy headed it added to the nausea.

Congratulations on BFP through IVF! It’s such a difficult journey but I feel like we have jumped from one difficult journey straight into another! It’s far from the glowing smiling clutching bump images I had in mind!

Thanks for your detailed reply. How do you use a combination of your tablets? Switch each day or can you actually overlap them? I now have a supply of cyclizine, metroclopromide and promethezine hydrochloride to work with x

[glt01 in reply to LKT1]

Sorry to hear you ended up in A&E, I think the main thing that has stopped me being admitted is the fact that the stomach surgery significantly reduces how much I can actually vomit so despite heaving and dry vomiting at regular intervals it's rare for me to bring anything up... sorry if that's TMI, hope it makes sense...

So I stopped taking the promethazine and metaclopromide and stuck to cyclizine but my doc added in an anti-acid which has done marvels. So now I'm on regular cyclizine and regular ranitidine which I still vomit on but the nausea is so much better.

When I was using all three, I would take the cyclizine three times a day and then the promethazine in between that three times a day and would only take the metaclopromide as a one off if I was having a continuous vomiting/retching/cannot move off the toilet floor attack.

If you take the metaclopromide reguarly you can only take it for a maximum of 5 days. So I personally would only use it as a rescue because one offs here and there will avoid those long term side effects which you really dont want.

I hope that all makes sense, and hope you're feeling better soon 🤞🏻x

[plp4]

Hi, I am 9 weeks and feel exactly the same.. can't keep down sips have developed UTI.Cylizine makes me so drowsy and promethazin makes me sick.. I am on prochlorperazine ( stemetil) it helps me have 2 meals a day.. rest all I still throw up especially the liquids in any form..

Hope you feel better xx

[LKT1 in reply to plp4]

Sorry you are experiencing this to. It’s like torture! Glad you’re keeping some food down but I know how stressful drinking is! It’s almost become a phobia now. Really hope your symptoms die down at 12 weeks 🤞🏻Xx

[MightyB]

Hey I came over here from the fertility support group to see how you are doing now?

After my BFP yesterday I have just started taking Cyclizine that I had left over from last time to try to avoid getting HG in this pregnancy, as I read I have 80% chance of getting it again and in this situation taking drugs before the symptoms start is advised. Last time, like you, I ended up in A&E on drips a couple of times.

I understand how exhausting and traumatising it is to be so ill. I felt like I was dying, it is a very scary disease even when everyone tells you it will pass and it won't put the baby at risk, it's still so upsetting to experience it. I have had to have therapy about it because I'm so scared of it happening again.

[LKT1 in reply to MightyB]

I agree entirely it is emotionally draining and i am so so grateful to be pregnant but I just really hope things work out as I don’t think I could be brave enough, like you, and do it all again. You really are a warrior! I recommend reading this book (link below) if you haven’t already X

amazon.co.uk/Hyperemesis-Gr...

[MightyB in reply to LKT1]

Oh thanks for the tip, I hadn't heard of that book, I've just ordered it.