My Hyperemesis (with Residual Postpartum Nausea)

Anna's Story (That's Me.)

2011-12-18T18:06:00.000-08:00

“Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is a severe form of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. It is generally described as unrelenting, excessive pregnancy-related nausea and/or vomiting that prevents adequate intake of food and fluids. If severe and/or inadequately treated, it is typically associated with loss of greater than 5% of pre-pregnancy body weight (usually over 10%), dehydration and production of ketones, nutritional deficiencies, metabolic imbalances, and difficulty with daily activities. HG usually extends beyond the first trimester and may resolve by 21 weeks; however, it can last the entire pregnancy in less than half of these women. Complications of vomiting (e.g. gastric ulcers, esophageal bleeding, malnutrition, etc.) may also contribute to and worsen ongoing nausea.” –Help HER website http://www.hyperemesis.org/index.php

Before I even begin, I want to preface this by saying, my story, by far, is not the worst HG story I’ve heard. It is different, though, as you’ll read. I also just felt like it was time to write it!

THRILLED
In April of 2007, I found out I was pregnant after 9 months of trying. We were thrilled! I suspected I was pregnant approximately 2-3 weeks post conception (around the time my period was due) because I was a little queasy. I took a test, and it was negative. My hormone levels weren’t high enough to register on the pregnancy test, but I was already nauseated- I guess that should have warned me, but I had never heard of HG. When I was about 4 ½ weeks along, it was Mother’s day. I remember lying around at my grandmother’s house all day feeling awful. I could eat a little, but it made me feel worse. Smells were awful. I knew I was pregnant, then, but I hadn’t told anyone yet. I was going to the doctor the next day to confirm the pregnancy before I told my family. I was excited to feel nauseated- believe it or not. It just made me feel more pregnant- plus, I thought it was just normal morning sickness! I’m a teacher, and I worked the rest of the school year, which was only about 7 more days.

NOT NORMAL
By the last day of post planning, I felt like I was going to vomit every second of the day. I had NEVER felt so awful in my entire life! Just a note- I only vomited 3 times during my entire pregnancy. I just had that feeling (the one right before you vomit) 24 hours a day. Within a day or two, I couldn’t eat a thing. I stayed in “puke purgatory” 24 hours a day. (I read that in a Jenny McCarthy book.) I called the doctor, and she told me to try B6 and Unisom. (I had already tried every natural/herbal remedy I knew!) Nothing! I called the doctor again. This time she prescribed Phenergen…nothing! …Reglan…nothing! Zofran…FINALLY, some relief! However, Zofran is SO expensive. My insurance company would only pay for me to have 1 pill per day. I was taking a 4mg pill every 4-6 hours- even through the night! I remember spending a few hundred dollars out of my pocket to go buy one or two pills at the time. I was desperate for relief! I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t drink. I couldn’t STAND the smell of ANYTHING. My poor husband had to eat before he got home so he wouldn’t bring any food in the house. He also had to shower with scentless products. Shampoo/soap smells were the worst! After a few days of getting some relief from the Zofran and then plummeting again when it would wear off, my doctor decided to call in home health care (Alere- see link) and give me in-home IV fluids and hook me up to a Reglan pump. I tried the pump for one day and had NO change in the nausea. (By this point, I had lost 7 pounds from my already thin frame. I would have lost much more, I’m sure, if I was vomiting.) The next day, the nurse came out and changed my pump to Zofran. She also gave me a Zofran shot to give me a boost. I felt much better that night. I ate a few bland foods…also, I lived on soft drinks. The carbonation was helpful- once I had the pump and could swallow again! Thank God for the Zofran pump! It saved me, and I was/am so grateful. I don’t say this to complain, but only to explain the process of the pump. The tubing goes into a fatty part of the body. (Usually the thigh) I had to stick myself everyday with the needle for the new site. Zofran is very caustic to the skin, so my legs would become very bruised and swollen. I looked like someone had beaten me! Part of the Alere (It was called Matria at the time.) care is talking to a nurse every other day or so. I had to weigh myself, check for ketones in my urine (with test strips), and keep track of my supplies. I reported all of this information to the nurse when she called. It was all quite a process! Around this time, I ended my first trimester and waited impatiently for the nausea to end.

THE SECOND TRIMESTER
12 weeks passed, still sick…14 weeks…16 weeks…somewhere around this time (still had the pump), I started to feel better. I was able to work (school was starting). I felt yucky everyday at work, but I could work. I ate or drank constantly- little snacks to keep my stomach settled. The students knew all about my nausea because of my pump. They helped me do everything. I could not stay on my feet for long. Everyday was a struggle. We had planning time at the end of the day, so I was able to go home early most days. I remember getting home and lying down immediately. I would stay that way until my husband got home with dinner (I had a small list of things that I could eat.) This might not seem like a big deal, but I am NOT the type of person to come home and go to bed. I am busy, busy, busy all the time! I always have something to do, and I enjoy it, so having to go to bed everyday was foreign and frustrating for me.

BACK WITH A VENGANCE
On November 1, 2007, I went in to work. I was so sick when I got there, I turned around and went home. That was the beginning of a huge downward spiral. The HG had returned in full force. (not that it ever left.) I still had my pump- on the highest dosage of Zofran I could take- but it just wasn’t working. I think it was keeping me from vomiting, but the nausea was relentless! I was scared of the nausea getting even worse without it, so I didn’t dare get rid of it! On November 7 (I was 30 weeks by this point.), I took my first visit to OB triage. The in-home IV and pump weren’t cutting it. They gave me two bags of fluid and 8 mg of IV Zofran and 25 mg of IV Phenergen. I felt better when I left. I hung on through most of November. I cried almost every day. I was just SO miserable. My due date was January 19th, and it just seemed so far away! I knew the nausea would end when the baby came, so I just tried to stick it out. I was on medical leave- I hadn’t worked since I left on Nov. 1. (And would end up not working anymore at all) I spent my days in front of the TV, feeling awful. I had every program and channel memorized. I knew what came on each day at what time- not normal for me- I was not previously a big TV watcher. I would sit and watch the minutes tick by until I could take my next dose of Phenergen (which I was taking by mouth still- not that it helped.) I could have one extra dose of Zofran on my pump every 24 hr. I used it everyday! Thanksgiving was bleak. I look back at the pictures and I can see the paleness in my face. (and my Zofran pump strapped across my shoulder.) The week before Christmas (I was going on 36 weeks), I got as sick as I was in my first trimester. I couldn’t get a sip of anything down my throat. The nausea was unbearable. It’s really impossible to explain the misery of constant suffering over which you have no control. It was really taking a toll on me! I took two trips to OB triage that week. The second trip was on December 23. (That made a total of 5 trips to OB triage since November 1.) My family was at our annual Christmas gathering, and I was in the hospital. So sad! The doctor on call that night came in and talked to me. She said I was starting to contract a little, and I was dilated 1 cm. She offered to break my water and induce labor….YES…FINALLY!

FREEDOM!!!...right?!
I was so excited! I had an epidural almost immediately. I slept through the night as I labored. (Side note: the doctor’s gave me Ambien to sleep and it made me hallucinate- that had NEVER happened to me before- scary!) Anyway, I woke up the next morning throwing up! I threw up so many times, I lost count. My OB told me that the body does the same thing when it’s throwing up as when it’s pushing. She said, “At least something good comes out of feeling like ass.” (Funny girl!) I dilated quickly (from 4 cm to 10 cm in 45 min.) and was ready to push. I only pushed for 15 minutes! At 11:24 am, on Christmas Eve 2007, my sweet baby boy was born 4 weeks early weighing 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 20 in. long. He was healthy and perfect. He did NOT suffer from my lack of nutrition or the medication I took. He was beautiful…what a sweet and amazing moment…the nausea will go away any minute now, and my baby is here…an hour passed…the nausea was still severe...the day passed…still nauseated! What?!

“AFTER” HG
On Christmas, I was planning for my family to “bring Christmas to me” and meet baby Jacob…no such luck. I was sicker that day than I had been the entire pregnancy. I don’t know how to put the nausea into words. It was so severe that I started shaking. I was truly afraid that I might go into shock. I didn’t know how much my body could take! This continued for 48 hours. The doctors tried everything to stop the nausea: antibiotics, steroids, antiemetics, etc. I was so sick, I don’t even remember everything they tried. Oh, and the heartbreak of my new baby’s first Christmas when I couldn’t even raise my head to look at him! It was the hardest time of my life! My heart is heavy just thinking about it. Finally, the doctor’s gave me something to sleep since they couldn’t ease the nausea. Sleep was my only relief. They ran a few tests while I was there. I remember a CT scan of my stomach and my brain. Everything was normal. The nausea went up and down, and 10 days after Jacob was born, they sent me home (still sick) telling me the nausea would just continue to fade on its own.

HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL…for now
I went home from the hospital feeling confused and a little scared. I couldn’t understand why I was still nauseated! I felt better for a few days and even had my family over. (I was still hooked up to my Zofran pump, believe it or not, but the company that loaned it to me quickly came to pick it up!) I spiraled downward and by January 12, I was so nauseated, I started shaking again. (I called it “that scary nausea.”) I called the on-call doctor, and she told me to go the ER. She said, “This is definitely NOT pregnancy related!”

BACK TO THE HOSPITAL
I waited in the ER for 8 hours. There was a woman with the stomach flu there who kept throwing up. It was awful! FINALLY, I saw a doctor. He decided to admit me to the hospital. First, though, he gave me Compazine because I had never tried it before. I had a reaction to it. I can’t explain it very well- I remember feeling shaky and like the lights were too bright and like I was going to fall of the stretcher. It was really strange and didn’t help the nausea…surprise. I was grateful when it wore off! This hospital stay would prove to be the longest!! I was there for two weeks. The doctors tried everything they could think of. I had a gallbladder ultrasound, gallbladder emptying test, stomach emptying test (where I had to eat radioactive beef stew at 8 in the morning- yeah, really helpful for the nausea!), multiple CT scans, multiple MRI’s, more blood work than you can imagine. Everything came back normal. This is when things “got ugly.” Since my GI doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with me physically, he decided to call in a psychiatrist. I met with him for about 10 minutes, and his final statement was, “I’m so sorry I can’t help you, but this is clearly not a psychiatric issue.” (Uh, no joke! Could you please tell the GI doctor that?!) Also, sometime during this hospital stay, they tried giving me Thorazine. I also reacted to it. It made me “sleep” in a weird way. I could hear everyone around me, but I just couldn’t open my eyes and communicate. It was awful! The doctors told me that they sometimes use Thorazine in small doses to stop perpetual hiccups. It somehow triggers the brain to “reset”- at least that’s how I understood it at the time. They were hoping to “reset” the part of my brain that was allowing/causing the nausea. No luck! One day, after all of the testing was done, my GI doctor came in and said, “All of your results are normal.” I started to cry because I was so sick, and they could not find a cause. He told me, “Look on the bright side. Nothing serious is wrong with you.” Then he quickly left the room. He then went out and prescribed anti-depressants for me. I refused them. I was not depressed! I was nauseous! Any fool could see that- not to mention the psychiatrist that was called in said that my problem was clearly NOT psychiatric. This was SO frustrating!!! His attitude seemed to be, “Well, if I can’t cure you, you must be crazy.” Ugh!

MY FAITH IS NOT IN MAN
Thankfully, the LORD is my ROCK, and I leaned heavily on Him. The doctor’s were not my answer- HE was! Only my trust in the Lord and my precious family got me through this horrible time in my life. (Another side note: In the hospital, I was admitted to the women’s center, so my baby could still room in with me- what a blessing in the midst of a nightmare!) A dear friend brought a CD to the hospital for me during this time. She told me that it had helped her through a time of suffering. The song that really ministered to me was “Regardless of the Circumstance,” by Katherine Barnes. These are they lyrics:

VERSE
Who knows what tomorrow brings, what joy or tragedy
May be around the corner in this life of faith I lead?
Will a love be found so dear and pure to fill the deepest parts?
Will a cloud of desperation settle in my heart?
CHORUS
Regardless of the circumstance that tries to cloud my soul,
These trials are for a purpose and a time for me to grow.
That the testing of my faith will produce a greater love,
More genuine to glorify my Father up above.
VERSE
Dreams may seem forgotten or lost along the way,
Sacrificed and broken down and traded for dismay,
And a heavy heart grows weary of enduring through the flames,
Oh, but only through the fire are we worthy of HIS name.
REPEAT CHORUS
BRIDGE
Though for a little while, I may suffer grief and trials,
This I know. This I know…
REPEAT CHORUS

I know without a doubt the Lord sent this song through my friend. It spoke directly to my circumstances and served to remind me that I serve a God that does not let anything go to waste. He uses all things for His purpose…and He’s bigger than HG! Well, on January 26, I was sent home again. Again, the doctors told me that my nausea should resolve on its own. (I was also still on several anti-emetics.) I did feel better off and on.

THE FLU
On February 2, 2008, my 8 week old son caught the flu, and we had to spend 4 nights at Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital. While we were there, he got better quickly (praise the Lord!) but I started to decline again. The pediatricians said I looked like I should be the one hooked up to an IV instead of the baby!

MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME
By February 15th, after a hellish night of torturous nausea that is truly beyond words, I was admitted to the hospital again. (I should note, though I only threw up 3 times during my pregnancy, I threw up a lot postpartum.) I remember the first day of being back at the hospital. I was so dehydrated that, my lips were cracked and bleeding. My mom kept rubbing my feet for me- it somehow helped to SLIGHTLY distract me from the incessant nausea. The doctor’s gave me medication to sleep, and I slept most of the day. By that night, my sister came and helped me take a shower. She dried my hair for me. I remember having my hair dried being somehow therapeutic. Bless their hearts, my mom and sister would spend hours blow drying my already-dry hair for me. It just felt good, and I was feeling so awful at the time, it brought me some peace. After drying my hair for nearly an hour that day (it was probably dry after 15 minutes), my sweet sister rubbed my feet until I fell asleep. She’ll never know how much that meant to me! During this hospital stay, they did a few more tests and repeated my blood work. Everything was still normal. My GI doctor (whose name feels like a 4-letter word to me now) called in another psychiatrist. This one was awful. She kept asking me, “Why do you think you’re sick?” Then she asked my mom (who stayed at the hospital with me through all of this- night and day- since my husband had to work) “What do you think is causing your daughter to be so sick?” Well, obviously, if I knew the answer to that question, I wouldn’t need to be in the hospital!!! UNBELIEVABLE! Look "Doctor," I’m not crazy; I’m nauseous. I mean, really. REALLY?!! When she left, we just stared at each other in shock…WOW…there were no words for our frustration and disgust! Anyway, this time, I was sent home with a PICC line and in home care. I could give myself IV fluids, IV Phergen, and IV Zofran. This kept me out of the hospital. I still felt horrible most days, but I could care for my own medical needs now. I didn’t need the hospital anymore. During that time, we measured my nausea on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the worst- as in, IV fluids, no food or drink intake, IV meds, AWFUL nausea). Most of my days were between 7 and 10 at this time. 7 was a good day to me then. During the next couple of months, my nausea fluctuated. It never left. From March 16 (which was Easter) to March 21, I had all “9 and 10” days. I was throwing up and felt horrible, but I never had to go to the hospital because of my picc line. Also during this time, I was seeing a naturopathic doctor- despite tons of money spent and supplements taken, I never improved under his care.

THE SCARIEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE
One day, near the end of April, I started to feel worse…weird worse. I was light headed, extremely nauseous (I know, I was already nauseous, but this was different in a way I can’t explain.) I started throwing up, and I got a fever. All of a sudden, I started shivering. I thought I was cold. Quickly, the shivering turned to horrible shaking, almost convulsing. I was terrified. So was my family. After about 10 minutes, it subsided. I threw up again, but then I began to feel a little better. (This was “real” throwing up- like when you have the flu. HG/postpartum throwing up is often dry heaves or throwing up body fluids.... also very real, just different.) The next day, I felt the weird nausea still, and I was still light headed. That night, my fever spiked very high. My family put me in a cold bath, and eventually the fever came down. The next morning, I had no fever, so while I thought it was weird, I wasn’t sure what to do. That night, the scariest night of my life, I was about to go to bed. My sister was staying with me to help me. All of a sudden, the convulsing shakes started, and my fever started climbing. I also started throwing up. My family got me in cold bath, gave me ice chips, put a cold rag on my head, gave me ibuprofen but my fever persisted. I felt like I would faint any second, though I never actually did. My fever spiked at 107.1 degrees…don’t people get brain damage from that?! I was terrified. At the time, I didn’t know what was causing the relentless nausea, and I assumed these new symptoms were somehow related. It was the only time in my life that I truly thought I might die. We called an ambulance. Even the EMT’s were shocked at my temperature. I remember praying aloud the whole way to the hospital. My mom rode in the front of the ambulance; my husband followed behind in our car, and my sister kept my baby at home. In the ambulance, the EMT asked me my phone number, and I couldn’t think of it. I was coherent, and I remember being disturbed by the fact that I couldn’t remember my own phone number. It was all so strange. I remember in the ER being asked to sign my name at one point, and I couldn’t. I literally couldn’t control my fingers. They told me that wasn’t uncommon with such a high fever. Sometime during all of this, the doctors decided that my picc line was probably infected, and they pulled it out to culture it. They gave me meds, and eventually my fever broke, and I started to go back to feeling my normal kind of terrible instead of this ultra- terrifying terrible. After a couple of days (waiting for the culture to grow), while I was stuck in a semi-private room from hell, the infectious disease doctor came and told me that my picc was infected and started me on the necessary antibiotics. Before I left the hospital, they put in a new picc since I was still so nauseated. Okay, anyone who’s had a picc infection knows these are textbook symptoms. My issue was that no one ever told me that I should look out for these symptoms, not the IV tech who put it in, not my in-home nurses who cared for it, and not my GI doctor (who I called and told that I was having these symptoms!). This was such a nightmare! About my semi-private room, (which was not in the women’s center, which meant my baby couldn’t room-in with me) the girl in the room with me was diagnosed with diverticulitis (I think.) She kept running to the bathroom (which was on her side of the curtain) with diarrhea and vomiting…AND…she didn’t close the door. NOT helpful when you’re extremely nauseated. Her girlfriend also stayed with her the whole time, and she had a cold, so she kept snorting and hacking and snotting. So GROSS! To top it all off, I had the most pathetic excuse for nurses I’ve ever had. One refused to call the doctor and ask if I could have some crackers! I was there for 4 days, and, praise the Lord, this would turn out to be my last hospital stay! (We later figured out why the picc infection symptoms were worse at night- that was the time of day that I gave myself my IV meds, so each night I was pushing the infection through my picc line, into my bloodstream…nice.)

MAYO CLINIC
After gathering stacks of medical records and referrals from my doctors, in May 2008, I got an appointment with the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida to see if we could get to the bottom of the intractable nausea. The day before we (me, my mom, my sister, and my baby- my husband had to work) left, my nausea was at a 10. I alternated between packing and hooking up to my IV fluids. In hindsight, this would be the last “10” day that I had. We left for the Mayo Clinic (from Kennesaw, GA) on May 4, 2008. We were there for 2 weeks, and I saw so many different doctors, I’ve lost track. The Mayo Clinic experience was amazing. It is completely outpatient, so I went in to the hospital for my tests, then back to the hotel to stay and wait for my next appointment. After so many in-hospital stays, this was a welcome relief! LONG story short…after running many tests and reviewing my medical records, the doctor in charge of my case told me that, other than the nausea, I was in perfect health. He could find nothing “wrong.” He said he had seen this type of thing before, but it was extremely rare. He had seen patients who contracted nausea through different means (pregnancy, food poisoning, flu, etc) and for some reason, when the cause for the nausea was gone, the nausea didn’t leave. He said, “I assure you, this in NOT in your head. This is a real physical symptom. The nausea started in your pregnancy, and your body is just ‘out of whack.’ I expect it to be gone in a YEAR.” Wow! Believe it or not, that was actually good news to me- I thought I was going to be this way forever. This doctor also told me that he used to work in a hyperemesis clinic, but he quit because it was too depressing. He said, “Just so little is known about pregnancy nausea and hyperemesis.” (And this was from a doctor at a leading research hospital!)

TODAY
After we left the Mayo Clinic, I SLOWLY began to improve. After a month of not needing my picc line, it finally came out! This was a huge relief. I no longer lived in fear of another picc infection! It is December 2008 now. My son will turn one on Christmas Eve. I am still nauseated daily. However, most days are around a 1 or 2 on the nausea scale. Today is a yucky day…it’s more like a 4 or 5. These days are rarer now. I usually feel pretty okay. I still take 4 antiemetic drugs, including Zofran and Phenergen. I have started to back off on the amount of Zofran I take, and my body seems to be tolerating it pretty well. I still see my OB doctor every 3 months for check ups and prescription refills. (My OB was/is INCREDIBLE- she never doubted me, was incredibly proactive, and took- and is still taking- amazing care of me! If you happen to live around the Marietta, GA area and are looking for an OB group, just e-mail me!) I have become a stay-at-home Mommy and am able to do everything that I need to do to care for my baby and my home. Nausea is my constant companion, but over the many months that I’ve been sick, I’ve developed a tolerance. (One thing I forgot to mention earlier- the Mayo doctors suggested acupuncture, which I tried with no results.) I am still improving…just very slowly. My son is my joy, and I love every second with him. He’s SO WORTH IT! (If I’m still nauseated when he’s 13, I may reevaluate that feeling! Kidding!) It’s interesting to me that the worst year of my life has also been filled with the most joy. I will not, however, be having anymore children unless we decided to adopt one day. While my HG experience was not by far the worst experience I’ve heard of, it is the longest. If you have experienced post HG nausea, I would love to hear from you. Please e-mail me.

MY CONSTANT COMPANION
Like I said, “nausea is my constant companion,” but it’s not my only companion. I serve a God who will never leave or forsake me. He is constant when my health is not. He is strong when I am weak. He understands when I feel confused. He has carried me through every step of this awful time in my life. He is restoring what the enemy tried to take from me. HE is my Rock, my Strong Tower, my Strength, and my Peace! He is my HEALER, and He’s healing me daily!

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4: 6-7 NIV

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 NIV

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18 NIV

Update: 7/14/2010

AND... DONE.

So, my son is 2 1/2 now, and I'm still taking an anti-emetic. I'm not constantly nauseated anymore, and when I am it's minimal by comparison. After all this time, there's no doubt in our (my husband's and my) minds that we don't want to do this again, soooo tomorrow I'm having surgery to make our decision permanent if you get my drift. :) I'm so glad to know that the possibility of another HG nightmare will be behind me! I have no doubts about this decision. I really do admire women who are willing to do this more than once, (I may question your sanity, but I admire you just the same.) but I know I can't do it again. So, with much prayer and consideration, the support of my family, and my one precious boy, I'm putting a period at the end of this way too long sentence. Goodbye, HG... glad to see you go. :)

HG Tips

2010-09-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

Loved these! These things also helped me when I experienced HG. Check out Natalie's tips...

http://natalie-livingwithhyperemesis.blogspot.com/2010/05/week-37.html

Update

2010-07-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

I've updated the end of my HG story... http://myhyperemesis.blogspot.com/search/label/My%20Story

Nausea-Prone???

2010-05-05T06:43:00.000-07:00

So, as you know from the title of my blog, I've experienced postpartum nausea following an HG pregnancy. A fellow sister-in-puke :) has posted a question about women who have experienced any post-pregnancy nausea. Or have you been "nausea-prone" post pregnancy? Check out the link, and leave her a comment if you have experienced this RARE condition...as if the HG wasn't rare enough for ya. :) I'm 2 1/2 years postpartum, and I am still nausea-prone- unlike pre-pregnancy. All kinds of things are nausea-inducing now that never were before. Anyway, read her post and see if you can relate, then let us know!!

http://whiningpuker.blogspot.com/2010/04/hyperemesis-and-residual-nausea-part.html

New HG Blog!!

2010-02-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

Go check out the latest HG blog: Baby, You're Making Me Sick!

HG Article

2010-01-23T18:48:00.000-08:00

Found this link on Diana's blog (thanks!!!). This article is amazing- a perfectly articulated story of the hell of HG. Please take the time to read it and share it. Most people truly do not understand...

http://womanuncensored.blogspot.com/2010/01/living-dead-girl-surviving-hg.html

Dr. Phil Discusses HG

2009-12-13T20:10:00.000-08:00

http://drphil.com/shows/show/881/?preview=&versionID=

Preliminary Research findings for HG

2009-11-06T06:40:00.000-08:00

I got an e-mail today from the Help HER website asking me to make sure my contact info. was up to date. (Because I've participated in their research study.) In the e-mail there was a link to their research page, and one that I read (while posted Nov. 2008) was interesting. If you haven't read it, there's what it said:

Here's the link to the research results: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18752885?dopt=Citation

Here's the link the the HER foundations Research page: http://www.helpher.org/HER-Research/

I thought the conclusion was a little hopeful. Maybe they'll figure this out one day, after all.

" CONCLUSION: There is a high prevalence of severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy/hyperemesis gravidarum among relatives of hyperemesis gravidarum cases in this study population. Because the incidence of hyperemesis gravidarum is most commonly reported to be 0.5%, this study provides strong but preliminary evidence for a genetic component to extreme nausea and vomiting of pregnancy."

What Happens in the Delivery Room stays in the Delivery Room

2009-09-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

...unless you post it on your blog for the world to see. ha! That was what I kept telling everyone who came in. "What Happens in the Delivery Room, stays in the Delivery Room." Many funny things happened, but here's one that was super funny- at least it was to me. :)

Okay, due to the HG, I was OB triage 4 weeks before my baby was due- I was starting to contract, and I was dilating, so they decided to induce me...THANK GOD! Well, this was late in the evening, so I labored (with an epidural) through the night. My doctor wanted me to sleep, so she prescribed Ambien. I didn't know anything about the drug then. Well, my sister and brother-in-law were in the room with me (my husband was too, but he fell asleep) and they listened to me talk as the Ambien took affect. Luckily, my sister decided to write down everything I said while under the influence of Ambien. She recently found the notepad she had written on and reminded me of the crazy night. This is what she wrote. Enjoy.

Hospital Crazies: Stuff Anna Said in the Hospital When She was High

-Okay, I see. It’s really weird. I’m just gonna wrap my mind around it. It’s kinda like a candy cane forest, but as they get closer to me they’re all red. The white just dips away.

-Yo veo negro y blanco y moreno? Is that brown? No. Café. I just see colors. Now, I see towers.

-Now, it’s white with those insects. Not grasshoppers, but what are those things with the long legs that walk around?

-Ok. I’m done. I’m tired of seeing weird things.

-Now, all I see is darkness, but it’s very organized.

-I definitely see things that I can’t describe. They’re marching. Now, they look something (actually, she said "thumthing") like soldiers. This is truly bizarre that I can close my eyes and see this world. Like toys, but they’re very clean.

-I see plastic things crawling toward me, like Leggos. They’re very clean.

NOT IN YOUR HEAD!

2009-08-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

Diana is a fellow HGer who is FAR more articulate than I! Please go read her post for today... it is super encouaging!

http://whiningpuker.blogspot.com/2009/08/its-all-in-your-head-myths-of.html

Raise Money for HG Research

2009-03-15T07:16:00.000-07:00

If you go to http://hyperemesis.org (the Help HER) website, there is a link to "iGive." If you register through iGive, a portion of your online shopping will be donated to the HelpHER foundation. Different stores donated different percentages of you purchase. It's wonderful! You can raise money for HG research by doing your regular online shopping from your home computer. Check it out!

Please read...

2009-03-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

Please go to my friend Diana's blog and read her entry for today!
http://whiningpuker.blogspot.com/

Matria

2009-03-07T06:31:00.000-08:00

Matria is the home healthcare company that helps manage HG- IV fluids, Zofran/Reglan Pumps, etc. They have changed their name, so if you are looking for them, they are still at http://matria.com, but the company name is "Alere."

Zofran Pump

2009-03-07T06:27:00.000-08:00

I used a 24/7 Zofran pump throughout my entire pregnancy. I found some pictures online of the pump, needle and process...

A family's Blog:

http://kymberandjohn.blogspot.com/2007/07/morning-sickness-hyperemesis.html

Super Nanny :)

2009-03-06T20:42:00.000-08:00

I was searching around on google for some HG info. and found a personal story on the "Super Nanny" site. Here's the link:

http://www.supernanny.co.uk/Advice/-/Pregnancy-and-Birth/-/Pregnancy-by-trimester/Hyperemesis-Gravidarum-a-personal-story-.aspx

Also, the woman who wrote her story has a website called "Blooming Awful." (There's a link on the page with her story.) I couldn't get the link to connect, but if anyone has any luck let me know.

I just thought it was interesting that Super Nanny had info. on HG! :)

Ashli McCall's Book

2009-02-21T06:34:00.000-08:00

READ THIS BOOK!

If you have HG, had HG, care for someone with HG, are an OB-GYN, or even KNOW someone with HG, you MUST read this book! Beyond Morning Sickness: Battling Hyperemesis Gravidarum

Go to Ashli's website to find it!

http://beyondmorningsickness.com/

Response from Ashli

2009-02-20T16:53:00.000-08:00

As I had mentioned before, Ashli McCall has a place on her site where you can post your personal stories. I posted mine a while back. Here is her response:

"Anna, your story is AMAZING. In 12 years I have neither read about nor heard of anyone who continued to have HG symptoms past the first month or so. To hear that you went through a whole year and are still suffering is just heartbreaking. Hang in there. You have the right attitude, that's for sure. Please let us know if you ever find out more re: why this has gone on so long.God bless you and sustain you."

It really touched my heart to hear from her, and I just wanted to share.

Follow this link to post your story on her site:

http://beyondmorningsickness.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=2

Michelle's Story

2009-02-20T16:41:00.000-08:00

With permission from Michelle...

I fell pregnant the first month of trying for my first baby. I had wanted to be pregnant so badly for about a year, but we had a lot of work to do to our house and waited til that was finished, so it was the best news I could ever have when I got the positive test. I knew even before my period was due that I was pregnant. I felt so queasy and my sense of smell went through the roof, even before I did the test. I just put up with the nausea thinking it was normal, until the vomiting started two weeks later (at about 8 weeks) Again, I just put it down to normal morning sickness, and so began the cycle of ginger, acupressure bands and any other remedy people recommended, to try to ease it. I finally got desperate at 11 weeks when I couldnt even keep really bland food down and went to the doctor. He prescribed me some travel sickness pills. I asked him about the risk to the baby and he said he couldnt guarantee there was no risk, so I decided I would try to wait until after 16 weeks when the baby should have formed most of it's main body parts (I had an aunt who had hyperemesis and was given Thalidomide so I was very wary of drugs) I tried to cope for another three weeks, then admitted defeat and tried the tablets but they were jsut being vomitted back up with everything else so I went back to the doctor. He found out I had only just started taking them and called me 'a stupid girl' saying I had probably harmed myself and the baby. He admitted me to hospital, saying I had high levels of ketones, meaning my body had started to break down muscle stores and I was at risk of liver and kidney damage. When I got to the hospital, they told me they would need to insert a drip, but they struggled to get a vein, because I had lost nearly two stone in weight and have very thin veins anyway. I spent four days on the drip and was given vitamin B6 and iron to try to build up my strength. I got discharged the day before my sister's wedding, which was lucky because I was her bridesmaid, but it was such a struggle because the drugs they sent me out with did not stop the vomiting and I was sick four times after the ceremony. (Incidently I dared not eat before the church in case I was sick and ruined the ceremony) When I got back to work I was called into the managers office and told I was unreliable, that his opinion was that I had used morning sickness as an excuse to get time off and told I would not be welcome back after the baby was born. I was so angry I burst into tears. I had shown him my discharge notes so he could see I had been in hospital but it didnt seem to matter. I put up with the sickness and just tried to rest as much as I could when I was at home but work became a cycle of trying to hide the vomiting by running to the toilet every half an hour or so. Luckily I managed to cope without further intervention and my daughter was born a healthy 8lb 8oz.The second and third pregnancies were progressively worse. By this time, we were having problems with my daughter at school and I was constantly being told by the teachers that she was wilful and we would have to pull her into line. I was so exhausted, my husband worked long shifts and I had to cope with the housework, school run and cooking pretty much alone, although when he wasn't at work my husband would try to do it all. I remember feeling suicidal and guilty because (with all three pregnancies) I had considered abortion. But I told myself that those babies could not help what was happening to me, and they were very much wanted (contrary to what some medical studies would have you believe I was not subconsiously rejecting my babies and felt very angry that some medical professionals held this as a possible theory to why hyperemesis happened) I was hospitalised twice for severe dehydration and ended up with a kidney infection, but thankfully still managed to give birth to my second daughter normally at a weight of 8lb 10oz. My son's pregnancy was hardest. I had two young kids to get to school and nursery and my husband shifts were longer and I became so depressed and disconnected. Our relationship was hit hard and it is only now that we are recovering from that. I hope there is a way to get more help for this, because it is something which takes a long time to fully recover from, emotionally and physically, although you can recover and lead a normal life.

Diana's Story

2009-02-20T15:11:00.001-08:00

With permission from Diana...

For any HG mums out there, I have already said this before, but it bears repeating: Compared to many of you, my version of HG was very minor. No hospital visits, etc. So if you're looking at for the dramatic stuff, you'll have to search elsewhere! But anywhere, this should hopefully give non-HG people a nice glimpse of this oh-so-yummy condition. Here it is! ............We decided to try to have a baby in March of 2005, so I went off the pill and we were pregnant almost immediately. Having little to no knowledge of pregnancy, I missed the signs that I was carrying a pregnancy doomed to miscarriage (a “blighted ovum”) – a lack of pregnancy symptoms and a weak positive test. I miscarried at eight weeks.One warning sign which I completely missed until it was revealed by hindsight was the fact that although I had no other pregnancy symptoms, I did have nausea – almost to the point of throwing up. With a should-be-symptomless blighted ovum pregnancy, this should not have happened. Preview of coming attractions….We decided to try again, and I only had one period before testing positive. It was a strong positive test with immediate pregnancy symptoms, so we were much more hopeful. We were very, very excited. We told everyone right away (with our first baby, we had waited to tell everyone, and had ended up telling our family the night before I miscarried, and didn’t get around to telling our church family until it was too late).Everything went swimmingly for a week or two. I called around excitedly looking for a childbirth preparation class. When I spoke to one teacher, she asked me if I had had any morning sickness. I replied that I had not. She said, “Well, don’t worry – it’s mostly in women’s heads anyway!” I agreed oh-so-cheerfully.My morning sickness came on gradually – a slow, surging tide. At first it was so slight as to seem imaginary. Then it got worse, but it didn’t stop getting worse – it just kept going. At first I tried to follow all the unhelpful advice they give – eat what you can, eat often, eat dry crackers, etc. The week when we knew something was definitely wrong was somewhere around week 6. I dragged myself in to work on Tuesday and Wednesday (I work 10 hours a week at our church) and sat staring blearily at the computer screen, dutifully nibbling dry crackers. I threw up for the first time at work. By Thursday, I was almost too sick to move. I was supposed to do a two-day training at a Crisis Pregnancy Center, but I just couldn’t do it. I called the coordinator and told her that I didn’t think I could even make it out to my car without collapsing, let alone do an all-day training. I went back to bed and stayed there (except for long bouts of lying on the bathroom floor throwing up and begging God for relief). By this time I wasn’t throwing anything up – just dry heaving. I had stopped eating and drinking for several days because it only came right back up, and the smell and thought of food was overwhelmingly repugnant.By Friday night we both knew that (a) this wasn’t normal, and (b) something was seriously wrong. By then I had lost somewhere between 10 and 15 pounds. Joe called our midwife and told her what was going on. Her advice was direct – Give up all solid foods, try liquids-only for 24 hours, and after that head to the hospital. Joe headed to the store and bought Ensure and Gatorade, and I held my breath and forced them down.Thank God, that did the trick for at least getting it under control. I didn’t feel better – in fact, I continued to feel worse. But the vicious cycle of uncontrollable vomiting was stopped, and I only threw up a reasonable amount of times per day.After a week on the liquid diet, I decided that I must be better by then, and decided to try the “eat what sounds good” theory (food was oddly attractive, even though it was revolting at the same time – kind of a weird combination). So I spent a day eating whatever I wanted (fried fish, 7-layer burrito). It took me about a week to recover!!! I was horribly, horribly sick. After that, I had learned my lesson – I didn’t try solid food again. (And incidentally, I have never again eaten either fried fish or a 7-layer-burrito! Ugh.) I did try a bite or two of something once or twice, but each time I was overwhelmingly sick for at least 48 hours afterwards, so I soon learned to stay away from solid foods.From then on, my diet consisted of Ensure, Boost, Slimfast, and Jell-O. Once an hour, on the hour, I would go over to the fridge, hold my nose, and quickly gulp down half a Boost and a couple spoonfuls of Jell-O. If I didn’t watch the clock carefully, I would start throwing up when my stomach got empty. It was revolting, but it did bring a measure of relief. I also had to get up in the middle of the night to eat – I couldn’t get through the night without it. A couple of times when I got up I fainted, which was definitely an interesting experience – I’d wake up on the floor with an aching head and ringing ears thinking, “How on earth did I get here?” LOL I much preferred fainting to throwing up – much more romantic, much less unpleasant.Extreme fatigue was a huge issue. For the first trimester or so, I just slept. The most I could manage was a shower most days and brushing my teeth once a day. Those two activities were absolutely exhausting. I did manage (somehow, I’ll never know how) to keep attending church and to keep working my 10 hours at the church. However, my “work” was basically just staring at the computer screen trying not to throw up. Had I had a normal job, I would have had to quit, and had I had a strict boss, I probably would have been fired. (Thank you, Pastor Jon!) As I started to feel a bit better, I spent some of the time in bed reading. A dear friend, C., lent me all of her Agatha Christie books that I didn’t have, and I read them endlessly.Our life pretty much fell apart during this time. We didn’t participate in any church or social activities, have friends over, or go places. We had to back out of all social commitments. Our life consisted of sitting around at night watching endless movies (in between my trips to the bathroom) and even-more-endless episodes of Sherlock Holmes (we had a complete set, and boy, were they boring – and that’s coming from a big Sherlock Holmes fan).Joe had to do all of the laundry, errands, and shopping. Housework didn’t get done at all – I didn’t vacuum, dust, wash, or do anything else for over six months. Yuck!! Joe pretty much ate junk food and TV dinners, since he’s not one to cook on his own. He had to make his coffee in the bathroom with the door closed and the fan on, and I went into the bedroom and shut the door whenever he put anything in the microwave or oven. Oh, food smells! How they can drive one up a wall!! I had to avoid my beloved cooking magazines, too, as reading about food made me nauseous. (And I’ve never been able to enjoy coffee properly since!)The memory of almost anything connected with that time still has the ability to make me mildly nauseated – things like the thought of our apartment, things we had around, etc. We bought a CD during my sickest time that we had on a lot, and listening to that CD is still unpleasant to this day because it brings back memories of nausea! Weird!We expected the nausea to disappear magically after the first trimester. Needless to say, it didn’t. The real point where it finally started to improve was around 20 weeks. Somewhere around then I also started to eat. By then I was ravenously hungry, and my biological need to chew things was driving me insane. I could have chewed on our cat at that point – and enjoyed it! I think I ate more my third trimester than I ever have since! I had an especial fascination for hamburgers (which had never interested me before).The list of things that I could tolerate grew slowly. Firstly it was (oddly enough) white bread and spiced pork products (especially barbecue). We spent a fortune on Tom’s Barbecue (which, again, I have never wanted since, and I have to hold my nose when Joe gets it!). Then bagels, ice cream, scrambled eggs – I was eating like it was going out of style. If you’ve ever been on a liquid diet, you know the feeling!!By the time I started to come out of it, I was extremely weak. I couldn’t even walk slowly over level ground without gasping for breath, since I’d basically been on body-mandated bed rest for months. Also, my body was just worn out. I didn’t actually feel completely better until our baby was about 15 months old.A real God-send at this time was a work trip for Joe to Virginia on which I was able to accompany him. We were gone for two and a half weeks, and I was able to leave my normal responsibilities behind and truly rest, in beautiful surroundings with lots of wildlife and time for walking and getting back to normal. The difference in my body between the time we left and the time we came back was night and day – I felt like I could face life and was much healthier than when we left.Our baby was born at home, healthy and at normal weight, three days after my estimated due date. I was still a mess, physically, but he came out of the whole experience swimmingly – never better.The nausea and occasional vomiting lasted until birth, and then rapidly decreased during the first week postpartum. However, it took a good year for it to completely dissipate (occasional spurts of mild nausea would appear randomly) and now (2 years postpartum) I am not sure that it is even yet completely gone. I seem to be much more prone to nausea than I was pre-conception (when hungry, etc.).In a lot of ways, writing a story about HG for anyone who has not experienced it is an exercise in futility. For one, there is just no way to communicate the feeling of HG - the unstoppable, unremitting nausea that just overwhelms one to the point of desperation. Although I never, never, condone abortion, HG is one situation for which I can say, "I understand." (Not encourage or approve, but understand.) I've been there. Also, it is simply impossible to communicate the utter despair and hopelessness that come with this condition. There's just no way. Until someone's been down this dark path, communicating the depths to which it can take one is largely hopeless - even to one's much-loved friends and family.I have read HG stories that absolutely make my hair curl, and I am so thankful that I do not personally know the depths to which HG can take a person. In terms of HG, I was lucky. I stayed out of the hospital and off of anti-emetics. I didn’t have to deal with IV’s, PICC lines, TPN, or any of that jazz. But even so, HG was the worst experience of my life, physically and spiritually, and the thought of it occurring again fills me with overwhelming, sickening fear and panic. I am still trying to sort myself out afterwards and come to grips with the possibility of recurrence.

Diana also has an HG blog. Go check it out at: http://http://whiningpuker.blogspot.com/

Share Personal Stories

2009-02-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

Please send me your personal HG story. I would LOVE to post it here. Also, Ashli McCall has a site where personal stories are requested. Here is the site:

http://beyondmorningsickness.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=2

Ashli McCall's HG Interview

2009-02-20T07:16:00.000-08:00

News Story

2009-02-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

HG Clip from the Today Show

2009-02-17T11:24:00.000-08:00

The Today Show does a spot on HG- great video:

If the video doesn't show, go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGOqqbBCWg8

Research Opportunity

2009-02-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that I sent in my saliva sample to the DNA study today. If you are particpating, I'm just reminding everyone to go ahead and take the next step...whether it's your survey, sample, phone call, etc. Let's all do our part! :)

Update...sort-of

2009-01-29T15:20:00.001-08:00

I went to see my OB-GYN today for our 3 month "check-in." She was disappointed to hear that my nausea has not improved since 3 months ago, but glad to know that it hasn't worsened either. Somewhere between our last visit and today, I caught the stomach flu, so I feel like that set me back for a while. She refilled my prescriptions and wants to see me in 4 months. Hopefully, I'll have something to actually report by then.

An interesting thing happened a couple of weeks ago. The GI doctor who saw me during my worst post partum months sent me a letter explaining that he would no longer be able to be my doctor because of my current medical condition. (The same condition I had when he took me on, the same condition that was diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic that HE referred me to...) I quit seeing this doctor back in May, so it's not a great loss. It's just kind-of unbelievable to me that he would "dump me" for the reason he stated. I showed the letter to my OB and her nurse and they were not pleased. I called the GI doctor's office to ask for an explanation, but no one will call me back. Surprise! It just goes to show that doctor's don't know everything. They (in large majority, I believe) don't understand HG and are unwilling to help if they can't "cure" you. (This is NOT the case with my OB- she's AMAZING!)

So, that's that. I'll update when there's a little more to say. :)

WANTED: HG sufferers AND non-sufferers...search for a cause!

2009-01-09T13:55:00.001-08:00

There is a genetic study being conducted right now in an attempt to find a cause for hyperemesis!!! YOU CAN HELP! If you are an HG sufferer OR if you're NOT...let me explain...HG sufferers are eligible to participate. They also need women to act as "controls." A control person has had at least two non-HG pregnancies that went past 27 weeks and it between the ages of 18 and 50. ALL PARTICIPANTS will answer a survey, set up a phone call to sign consent forms, and send in a saliva sample...THAT'S IT! PLEASE participate. If you've suffered from HG you KNOW we MUST find a cause/cure for this dibilitating pregnancy illness! PLEASE do your part to help!!!

Go to: http://www.hyperemesis.org/HER-Research/opportunities.php

THANK YOU FOR HELPING!!

Research Opportunity

2008-12-17T15:19:00.000-08:00

HG sufferers, you have a chance to participate in a research study that is searching for the cause of HG! Go to: http://www.hyperemesis.org/HER-Research/opportunities.php to participate!

Research Video

2008-12-16T06:56:00.000-08:00

The link below is to a video that explains the HG research opportunity. Please watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92NFOwvAXcI

Residual Nausea

2007-12-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

Residual Nausea, post HG, is nearly unheard of. Just ask your OB. I, however, am one of very few women who have had this experience. If you currently have HG, don't worry- this isn't going to happen to you! If you have had post-HG nausea, you're not alone- no matter what the doctor says! If you have had a similar experience to mine, please contact me. I would love to hear from you!