Support Thread for Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) Sufferers

[Sagres]

Welcome CaseyM!
I am not sure what suggest on the ob front as I am not in Perth. With obs in general I find asking friends and family is a good way to find some one who people have been happy with. Of course HG isn't something that people really know enough about to know if a specific ob is understanding of it or not, so I'm not sure if word or mouth is helpful this time. You could always try posting a thread in the section for WA members?
Do you you have a good GP who will help you out with treatment and/or referrals to obs they think will help you? If you don't that might be the first step.

[CaseyM]

Hi Sagres,
Thanks for your reply. We are new to WA, only been here 6 months so don't even have a good GP. When I was pregnant, my GP just told me to eat saos first thing in the morning and said it was best to have no medication when you are pregnant. A week later I felt like dying. I would just have to move from lying on one side to the other to throw up. Couldn't sit, couldn't stand, couldn't talk, the smell of EVERYTHING made me throw up. My dogs, my shampoo, my laundry powder on my clothes, walking past my kitchen, in the end even my bed... I'm not large, but in 3 days I lost 3kgs. I could smell someone smoking 6 houses away - and throw up, couldn't go into coles near the meat section - I would throw up. I would eat, it would come up. I would eat more, it would come up. I just can't do that again with two kids to look after. But I just looooong for another little person giggling and running around. There are lots of recommendations for good Obs, just wondering if anyone in WA who has/had HG found a good one that understands and will help ease the crap with medicine if needed. I would travel an hour to see a good one that would help. So, seeing a GP for referral is the first step - even though I'm not pregnant now and just want to talk??

xx

PS. Congrats on your magical news!!

[Sagres]

No I don't think you could get a referral for an ob now (you would need to be pregnant to get that referral) but I thought if you explained the situation to a good GP they might be able to give you a few names of obs that they consider good that you could contact and have a chat with?
So did you see an Ob with your first 2 pregnancies? I am not really sure but from what I know of obs that I and my friends have used, I would have thought all of them would (and have) prescribed maxalon or other meds to some one in your situation. The search may not be as hard as your think, I think the number of obs who would help you would be fairly high? Some of the others in this thread might have more information on this?
BTW did you ever go to hospital due to dehydration when you were pregnant? I would think (hope?) that if all else failed and you went to hospital they would give you something to help ease the vomiting?

[CaseyM]

Hi Sagres,
No, we lived in the country 3 hours from the regional hospital, so no obs for the previous pregnancies. One time when we were in town for my checkup at the doctors I asked for help about the vomitting, but at the time I "wasn't sick enough" and "it should settle down". It did settle down - when I was 7 months pregnant, but I was nausious up until a week AFTER my daughter was born. I was told "this is what it feels like to be pregnant" so didn't know any different. I lived on hydralite and gaviscon. That's the hard bit about living in the bush, when you are sick, you just have yourself to look after yourself, there is none of this "lets just check it out at the ED". There was no way I could drive - let alone drive for 3 hours each way to get checked out. Just lucky enough that I could resign from my job and stay home while my husband worked.
I looked up one of the recommended obs on this site, and he has an office about 25 minutes away, so might just call and see what the receptionist says about just having a chat with the ob. It is a scary thought to go through all that again - it is the sickest and loneliest I've ever felt. But the desire for a little one is so strong.

[Lily Dust]

No, we lived in the country 3 hours from the regional hospital, so no obs for the previous pregnancies. One time when we were in town for my checkup at the doctors I asked for help about the vomitting, but at the time I "wasn't sick enough" and "it should settle down". It did settle down - when I was 7 months pregnant, but I was nausious up until a week AFTER my daughter was born. I was told "this is what it feels like to be pregnant"

Yep, unfortunately I was in a similar predicament, small country town and no one had even heard of HG!! I was also told 'welcome to pregnancy' as well as 'pregnancys the easy part, wait till labour starts' and that was by a midwife pffft, laughed at her, labour was a piece of cake compared to HG and IVF!!! Which brings me to my next point...I was lucky (if you can call it that) my IVF clinic which was in the city knew of HG and spoke to my local GPs urging them to provide me with Zofran, had they refused, the IVF clinic would have sent me the scripts. I even struggled as the local GPs were reluctant to hand out more then 1 script telling me I probably had some kind of bug and they treated me like some contagious leppa (sp?), 1 script (10 tablets) lasted me 3 days- fat lot of good that was!!! CaseyM, Im so sorry that this is where you are at, you are right it is such a scary thought to entertain having to be that sick for that long again no advice really jsut

[CaseyM]

Lily Dust

THANK YOU!!

It is nice to feel not so alone. I'm not the most confident person, so can't handle being told by doctors just to "deal with it - you want a baby, this is what you have to put up with". So I don't want to be really sick, travelling around with two tired/hungry kids, looking like a homeless lady asking for help from a doctor who doesn't care either way, only to be told to put up with it. I think I would just cry. (mmm... maybe that would work...)!! HA!! Sounds like you must have had the same doctors as me!! I hope your IVF clinic were good to you. Must have some really nice nurses.

I just want to feel that someone will help me if I need help, so I don't want to get pregnant until I KNOW someone will help. Mind you, I have learnt alot from others on this site. I have vitamin B6 and ginger root powder tablets in my cupboard, so when I am ready, I will start taking these before TTC!! Phenergen just knocks me out - so too scared to try that!! LOL!!

Thanks for the hug.
xx

[Sagres]

That sounds really bad CaseyM it is just beyond belief that doctors would treat you like that.
But looking forward you are closer to better medical resources now and you have us here so it WILL be better next time.

[melsa31]

Hello, I feel a bit like I'm not allowed to post here as I don't have HG but severe morning sickness. So I hope you all don't mind.

I just need a little advice on how to deal with being so sick and still getting on with life. I work two days a week and have a two year old at home. Most days I vomit but even when I don't feel so awful that I still can't manage the housework or cooking and I've lost weight. We have spent so much time at home I feel like a bad mother as my DS isn't getting the activities and socialising that we normally do. I have avoided having anyone visit except for close family as I'm embarrassed by the state of my house
My other issue is my DH. I had morning sickness til 35 weeks in my first pg which was almost ignorable after 20 weeks and my DH was amazing. He was so supportive, emotionally and with household chores and cooking but this time around it's like he's ignoring the fact that I'm not well. He helps a lot with DS but nothing else and it makes me feel really alone and guilty for not being on top of things when he works all day. Not that he says that but it's how I feel.
So, I guess I just needed to get that out and wonder what strategies you've used to get through the days?

Thanks for reading

[Diamond Girl]

Firstly to you. M/s is awful and you are most welcome to post here.

The main piece of advice I can give is that you really need to listen to your body. Dont force yourself to do anything you dont feel well enough to do, because most likely it will make you feel worse. Try to get as much sleep as you can because tiredness exacerbates m/s. If you can stomach smaller meals then try that because an empty stomach makes m/s worse. Your DH might go to work all day but I bet he would have a ton more energy at the end of the day than you do right now, so he should do more housework/cooking than he normally does and you could remind him that m/s doesnt last forever, and that you really are unwell at the moment. Unfortunately, I was too sick for any strategy to really help me get through the day so I was miserable the entire first half of both pg's and my DH had no choice but to do everything.

Most of all though, dont allow yourself to feel guilty about not doing enough. Its not your fault that you feel so sick. I felt very guilty that I couldnt care for DS1 at all which meant that my mum had to take him every day and this caused me to get very depressed. You have to realise that you will go back to normal eventually and you will be able to do everything again.

I hope this helps you. You are doing the best you can under difficult circumstances.

[Lily Dust]

Hi melsa31
Another big from me and as DG said you are very welcome in here!
I dont have a lot to offer because I couldnt get on with life and I didnt have another child that I had to chase. This may sound odd but try some peeled green apples, chew them up ALOT and it may help to ease your stomach a little. A few ideas I was given (although didnt work) were the sea sickness bands and eating protein ie a piece of cheese, its meant to combat the nausea.
Please do not feel guilty, you will get back on top of it all and there is no point trying while you are sick because, well be exhausted is only gonna make you feel worse.
Sorry not much help