I’m currently in my 16th week of my second pregnancy. With my first child, I was nauseous during the first trimester, but hadn’t thrown up at all. I wasn’t surprised to find a few weeks in that I was getting nauseous this time around. I wasn’t even surprised the first few times I threw up, about 8 weeks along. I figured every pregnancy is different and this time my morning sickness was a little worse (not to mention it was usually dinner I was throwing up, so I liked to refer to it as “evening” sickness).
By week 10, I was throwing up pretty much every lunch and had stopped eating dinner. I was trying all the home remedies against nausea I could find. I made a super strong ginger syrup for making homemade ginger ale. I tried meditation, blackberry juice, yoga, cumin seeds, peppermint tea, chamomile tea, pressure point therapy, apple cider vinegar, rice water. Nothing helped.
Within a few days, I was throwing everything up. Previously, I could at least count on keeping breakfast down, but that time was over. I was even throwing up black tea and mineral water. I was getting weaker and weaker, and soon I couldn’t leave the house except to visit the doctor and split my time between the bed and sofa. I relied on the television to babysit my two year old. I just didn’t have the energy to care for him. He got microwave lunches and lots of educational videos.
My husband would take off half or full days whenever he could, and the neighbors would take my son Oliver whenever they could, but it was tough being an expat and living so far from family. It was lonely being stuck in the house, not having contact with friends, and I struggled with depression and homesickness.
My doctor suggested I check into the hospital for a few days, but I hate hospitals and couldn’t bring myself to consider it yet. She prescribed dimenhydrinate suppositories (the active ingredient in Dramamine), they helped me keep down food better, but I had problems with the side effects. The doctor switched me to Nausema, a high dose tablet of vitamins B6, B1 and B12. It didn’t have any side effects, but was also hardly effective.
Things got worse and worse. I was losing about 3 pounds a week. A pound is 3,500 calories, so if you think about it, I was undereating by over 10,000 calories a week. I was looking towards the end of the first trimester as an endpoint, things would get better then, and I had planned a trip to go home to my family in the states at week 13 of my pregnancy. I thought that things had to improve soon.
Then I discovered the H.E.R. Foundation website (Hyperemesis Education & Research). It confirmed what I suspected, that common nausea remedies don’t generally work for HG (Hyperemesis Gravidarum - excessive nausea in pregnancy). It also said that HG usually doesn’t stop at the end of the first trimester, it usually lasts into week 20 and can last the entire pregnancy. I decided to check into the hospital. Before going in, at week 12, I was 18 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight.
This was the first time I’d been in the hospital that it felt good to be there. I’ve lost my hatred of being hospitalized. I was on an IV drip with dimenhydrinate and electrolytes. I still felt lousy the first 2 days in, but by he third day I was feeling a little better, although I still threw up several times during my stay. I was in for 4 days, until the day before flying to the US. The doctors at the hospital didn’t really want to let me out, I think the doctors would have kept me there for weeks if I didn’t insist. I lost 2 more pound while I was in hospital.
I requested dimenhydrinate capsules for the trip, the only side effect of the capsules was that I’d get tired, avoiding the problems I had with the suppositories (you don’t want to know about those, but if you use your imagination, I’m sure you could figure out what might have been the problem). I was prescribed the equivalent of 8 Dramamine a day. If anyone has taken 1 or even 2 Dramamine for motion sickness, you know how even that small a dosage can knock you out.
The trip to the US was torturous. I was in tears by the time we made it to the gate of our second plane in Amsterdam. I threw up during the transatlantic flight, despite massive doses of anti-nausea medicine. But things have been improving in the US. I’m surrounded by family, who help with my son and let me get all the rest that I need. I’ve managed to gain back 8 pounds in the half month I’ve been home, although the calories haven’t been the most healthy. I find myself mostly craving comfort foods, like hamburgers, ribs, Reese’s cereal, and Baskin Robbins ice cream. I’m not worrying too much about eating right anymore. I’m still nauseous, although I’m throwing up much less frequently. I just eat whatever I have desire to eat. Some days I’ll look at an apple and think “Yum!” sometimes I think “NO!!!” I don’t force the issue. Whatever looks appetizing goes.
Because of the dosage of medication, I spend most of my time sleeping, or zoning out on the couch. I’ve managed to leave the house twice since arriving. I went to the supermarket on Christmas Eve, and that was fine, although it took me 3 days to recover. Yesterday I went to Target to try on some maternity clothes (I got a really cute dress), but it was too much and I ended up making two rushed, extremely uncomfortable trips to the restroom, which was full of moms and kids, and was just not a place I would ever want to be sick in again.
I’m waiting desperately for the nausea to ease up. I try avoiding doses when I can, just because I feel more with it when I’m not on the medicine, but I also know I need to keep eating and I need to break the nausea cycle.
I have a few good days in between the bad. The first few days after a good day are the worst. The good day makes you think things are getting better, then it all comes crashing back. The day or two after a good day, I often find myself in tears at the slightest provocation.
My husband and I canceled our vacation next week in New York. My husband goes back to Germany on the 7th and my brother goes back to work after New Years. I’m a little nervous about how the month of January here is going to go. I wasn’t expecting to still be ill. If I’m not better, I don’t know how I can manage the flight back alone with my 2 year old at the end of January. I just hope I’m one of the women who feels better by week 20.
For more information on HG, I recommend the HER Foundation website. If you have a friend or family member suffering from HG, there is a great section on what you can do to help them.
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Wow, Christina, that’s got to be so tough. I’m sorry you are going through this. I will keep my fingers crossed that you feel better at week 20 (or sooner!). I know several people who took Zofran and it helped a lot, but I know there are downsides to that as well, and not everything works for everyone.
That sounds miserable! I hope it passes soon.
Have you thought of- http://www.mothering.com/pregnancy-birth/medical-marijuana
Welcome home!
That sounds so tough Christina. I hope, for your sake, that it passes soon too so that you can travel home OK. I am sure Oliver is being good though as children tend to recognise what they need to do when it’s really important. At least, for now, you have your family around you and can take it easy. It will be over before you know it. Can you get extra assistance from the airline for the return journey? I hope so. Take care.
Hi Christina. I’m sorry to hear about your illness. I was very sick during my 2nd pregnancy but I opted for the Zofran after a few home remedies didn’t work. I hate throwing up and just couldn’t deal with it, and once I was on the Zofran life was so much better. Around week 25 or so I decided to go off the Zofran as I was feeling better and better all the time. I was nervous of course and didn’t want to throw up again. Thankfully the nausea didn’t come back and the rest of my pregnancy was great (gained all the weight back and then some
). I did get constipated on the Zofran but to me that was okay. I drank lots of water with fiber and used a prescription laxative every 2 to 3 days to keep things flowing. When I read your blog I was reminded of what I went through prior to taking the Zofran, and I know that you have to do what is best for yourself and your unborn baby but I tell ya that for me this was my saving grace (along with many many prayers by me, family and friends). I wish you all the best and hope that you feel better soon. I’ll pray for you! Happy New Year! XOXO — JH
Thanks, everyone, for your comments. I know there are other drugs that might work better, but I’m away from my doctor now, and the dimenhydrinate works pretty well and I can live with the side effects. I don’t want to start messing with things and end up with something less effective. I think things are slowly getting better. We went out for breakfast this morning and it was okay, except that I went back to bed for the rest of the day, but I ate well (I had been craving country fried steak for weeks now and that just doesn’t taste good as take out!) and I kept it down, so that is sure to add at least another pound or two!
I’d be depressed, moody, etc. if everything I ate had a good chance of coming back up and I was housebound! Shheeesh! I also did not realize you were in DC until end of Jan! It was so good to see you, even if brief and interrupted by our parenting — “referee-ing” over the toys. Hang in there!!!
Avid Reader, but my first time commenting! Congrats on your pregnancy and hang in there. It’ll be over before you know it. Meanwhile, enjoy your time in the States – I just got back from a visit (nothing like the States
and with your family. It’s so great that you have them around you and to help you with the little one. Love reading your post – American in Deutschland; take care over there!
i know exactly how you feel. my mother had hg with me the entire 9 months and was in th hospital with iv fluids every few days the entire pregnancy.
i also had hg. my first son i lost 20 lbs by 12 weeks,but after 16 weeks i was fine. still had tons of food adversions but i gained the weight back. it was so horrible for me, i stayed on the bathroom floor curled in a ball.
with my second son i lost 20 lbs again. i was soo tired i couldnt do anything and like you said the tv became a babysitter. but by 16 weeks again all was better.
with both babys i couldnt eat at all, as soon as i did, i would throw it up, so you keeping breakfast down is huge!
I’m so sorry that you’re going through this. I also spent time in the hospital getting fluids during my first pregnancy. I ended up taking 6 tablets of diclectin (http://www.diclectin.com/) every day and while it didn’t stop all the vomiting it brought it down to about twice a day. I took it until the day before I delivered as the nausea never went away. Luckily my second pregnancy was a bit better and I only had to take the diclectin until the end of my second trimester.
I found that throwing up first thing in the morning before eating would calm my stomach for just long enough to keep some breakfast down (and puking bile is MUCH nicer than puking food!). Have you tried sucking on tums? I found this helped when I needed to go out and it gave me some extra calcium.
I hope you feel better soon!
I too have been suffering with Hyperemesis. I am now in my 18th week and am finally having days where I can make it out of the house for 2 or 3 hours at a time without heaving or vomiting. I have also been gaining back some of the weight I lost. I am so much better than I was, but still not where I would like to be. The nausea is no longer every day, all day long, but instead in spurts. I have terrible guilt at having to leave my job at week 6 and while I would like to go back, I know that right now I can’t. At times I felt so desperate and hopeless, like it would never end. I am so grateful to be doing better.
I have a wonderful mom and husband who support me and I am thankful you have people who support you. The misunderstanding that comes along with Hyperemesis is a terrible complication to this sickness.
Thank you for writing and posting your experience. It is comforting to know I am not alone. I send you healthy, happy thoughts.
hi christina,im sure all going through all this must be awful for you. i know how you feel because i had HG up until 18 weeks during which time i was hospitalised 6 times.the doctors in my area are not that good and everyone was saying HG was normal!!actually they didn’t even refer to it as HG but referred to it as morning sickness. this is my first pregnancy and it made things worse for me that everyone else around me was saying that none of them had gone through “all day sickness” as i was going through it.
after things started to get better i changed my hospital and the doctor i was referring to. i am in my 31st week now and still feel a bit of morning sickness but rarely.and even though my previous doctors did not know much about my condition, i am thankful that they did give me a lot of IV fluids which helped me since i wasnt able to eat anything.i lost 6kg’s during my first trimester but have gained them back now.
i hope things would be getting better for you sooner. good luck with your trip and the rest of your pregnancy:)
Thanks for sharing your stories. I was doing better, and hadn’t thrown up between New Years and a couple days ago, but then the nausea started getting worse again and I threw up a few times. That was 2 days ago and now I seem to be getting back on my feet. (Oh, and I have tried chewing Tums in the past and they would make me immediately vomit).
I’m back at my pre-pregnancy weight. I want to write an update on how I’ve been doing and include some stuff I forgot to in this post, but I still get nauseous looking at the computer screen for longer than a few minutes, so that will have to wait till I feel a little better.
I hope you moms suffering through HG with me are doing better, or will be doing better soon. Support is the most important thing anyone can do I think. It’s sad that there are people out there who think moms with HG are exagerating or that throwing everything up and losing significant amounts of weight is somehow “normal”. Hang in there!
Thanks for talking about this important issue. I had HG, which made me want to end my pregnancy or my life, it was horrible and I dread getting pregnant again in case it happens again.
It infuriates me to hear that some women are still being told that it is normal and they should stop complaining.
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