Constant Sickness

[BCLass]

I am 7+6 and for the last 2 weeks or so I have been suffering with constant nausea. Only actually vomitting in the mornings (well dry retching I suppose - nothing to come up at that time of day) until today when I have been 'proper' sick in the day.

I have spent the two weeks sat at my desk desperately trying to contain the nausea being very unproductive, shuffling paper and hoping no one notices. I am in an important position, stressful job, and am paid well for what I do which makes me feel really guilty.

Anyway, went sick on Monday as just needed a bit of respite. I have to go back tomorrow, its the budget, highlight of the year in my job.

I am barely eating - it makes me want to be sick, and today when my dh cooked me a lovely lunch which I managed to eat most of (probably the most I have eaten in days) I just threw it back up again (sorry).

The only time I don't feel sick is when I am asleep and even then if I wake up in the night I feel sick.

I am trying to keep fluid intake up so I do not become dehydrated but even drinking makes me want to be sick.

What can I do? I haven't been to the doctors - don't think theres any point - don't want drugs - risk to foetus etc and am a bit of a lentil weaver - don't really do medication.

Just finding it really hard going at work. I have to tell my boss don't I?

Just after some sympathy and any coping mechanisms I guess (preferably those which do not involve cups of tea and/or biscuits )

[dizzydixies]

seabands - you can buy them in boots, wear them on your wrist, helped me with nausea
mux vom is a homeopathic nausea remedy too

lucozade and beans on toast was only thing I could keep down for weeks

sleep sleep and sleep when you can

hope you find something that works for you soon and it passes quickly

[Heffa]

Awww, I have lots of sympathy. I was like that until 16 weeks

I told my boss and she was amazingly sympathetic (as were all my colleagues, who figured it out) which did make it a lot easier.

The sickness bands helped me too, and so did drinking lots of Coca Cola. I did find that I felt loads better was when I was in the bath.

I hope you feel better soon!

[Heffa]

'felt loads better when I was in the bath'*

d'oh.

[BCLass]

Have been thinking about the bands - will pop in Boots tomorrow.

16 weeks - OMG that is another 8 weeks away. I will be skinny as a rake by then if I can't get anything down me - poor bean!

[Jane7]

I feel for you too. I'm 10 and a half weeks and am finding it so hard to keep going at work and generally keep functioning. I get paid on shift rate and freelance basis so when i don't work, i'm skint, which is horrible added pressure.
One thing I find is that sometimes dry retching, even if I'm not sick actually makes me feel better. I end up burping loads and then feel better!
I think I'm giong to try the bands as well.
At least you know it's a strong pregnancy, although I know all that is a bit controversial. But I can imagine that if I wasn't feeling sick at all, I'd probably be worrying like mad.

[gem1981]

hello
is this your first? i remember being just as you describe yourself to be when i was preggers with my first and ITS MISERABLE.
it sounds really stupid but i don't think people really understand MS until they go through it themselves - I certainly know I didn't.

At the time it really seems as though its going to last forever but you learn to cope and it does pass - pretty soon you wil have a babe and it will all seem like a distant memory.

find something you fancy to eat (if you can) and just stick with that in small quantities, remember to drink loads to keep your fluids up. If things get really bad doc can sign you off - this is what a friend of mine has had to do. I know that it may seem unrelaistic especially if you have an important job, but maybe its for the best?

Keep your chin up - it does pass, and its all worth it!!!

also:
keep your energy levels up Morning Sickness is linked to tiredness - maybe a nap after you come home from work?

if you can't tell your boss tell a close colleague - they can look out for you then.

xxxx

[BCLass]

This is my first and not yet the magical time I had expected!

Not sure how seriously boss will take this given the fact that 'morning sickness' is lasting all morning, afternoon and evening and he is a 55 year old bloke. But - I have worked my butt off for them for eight years and think I have a bank of some goodwill to draw on.

At this moment in time being signed off sounds like a great idea. Job may be important but ultimately the bean must come first. They will cope without me if they have to!

Thanks for the sympathy - much appreciated!

[BCLass]

bump

[RUMPEL]

Hi totally empathise. I was very sick up until 20 weeks with DD and have just hit 22 weeks this time and starting to feel better. I tried acubands, homeopathy, etc but the only thing that really helped is acupuncture. This time I went before TTC and right up until a month ago. Eating tiny amounts often - if you can, definitely helps. Ginger I usually love but makes me boak in pg. Never drink coke but the only thing that sttled my tum was diet coke, freezing cold every morning. Heat makes me worse too. Usually love a bath too .

If you fancy homeopathy try IPECAC 30c and NUX VOM 30c - you'll get them in Boots.

Really really hope it passes for you all soon. You really need to rest too as the more tired you are the sicker you feel. I was off work for 8 weeks with DD and went back to 1 colleague stating 'morning sickness is all in your mind' God I was soooo angry I wanted to punch her lights out! People who don't suffer form it should count themselves very very lucky. Good luck!

[addictedtoharibo]

I really sympathise. Last pregnancy i had sicknes all the way through but could manage to eat bits and pieces (but was sick). This pregnancy has been a lot worse - I couldnt eat and if I did force myself was sick but it was the constant horrible nausea that got to me. I was dizzy, unable to focus - felt truly awful. Somehow i managed to get through it without anyone noticing - but they did think i was ill as was so pale.

What worked to take the edge off it for me was going to see a homeopathist and having reflexology. Sea bands worked a little.

Diet coke really helped too - lucozade andharibo sweets.

It has now lifted considerably the last couple of weeks and i feel so much better (amd 14 weeks) so the hope is there.

Really sorry to hear how awful you are - illness has never bothered me again since that first pregnancy - it will never ever compare.

Rumpel - I would have actually killed that colleague

[calsworld]

Hi, I suffered all the way through my pg too, think it stopped in week 36?

Anyone that asked if I'd tried ginger biscuits by that point was lucky I couldn't move fast enough to swipe them!

The seabands really worked for me even though those around me were sceptical, and the only time I didn't feel sick was when I was either in the bath (can't believe how common that seems to be or if I had a preggie pop drop in my mouth! Raspberry sours were my saviour.

I also found snacks hidden in my handbag were great at work, esp when in meetings waiting desperately for the lunch break...I'd excuse myself for a 'natural' break and stuff a bar in the loo to tide myself over! Just remember to check you've no choclate on your teeth when you go back in!

Work weren't really interested until they closed the toilets on my floor for refurb so i threw up in the washing up bowl in the kitchen and took it to HR to ask how they expected me to cope !

I got relocated to an office much nearer to home with groundfloor office and toilet opposite! Luxury! In actual fact, I think it was the extra time at home not rushing about that made a huge difference in the last few weeks - I worked until 38 weeks.

[candyy]

Hey BCLass i totally sympathasise. You sound just like me a year and a half ago. I felt terrible from week 7 onwards. I remember thinking how can i feel so ill when there's nothing wrong with me??

I didn't find anything that really helped and felt sick all the time - day and night. I even had to cancel our holiday as i could barely stand up and walk around the flat, let alone get on an aeroplane. But now i've got my wonderful son and know how great it is to be a mum i would do it all again in a heartbeat.

It's true you may feel sick to an extent all the way through your pregnancy, but take it as a reminder that all is going well and you have high levels of pregnancy hormones. Once i got past the first trimester i realised i felt okay from 7am to 11ish, which meant i could get out the door and to work, or at the weekend fit as much as possible in to those hours.

The best ways to cope:
Take your pregnancy day by day. Lots of people start to feel better once they are through the first trimester. I know that seems like a long time away but you are halfway there already.

Read about what's was going on inside you www.babycentre.co.uk

Moan, moan, moan about how bad you feel, if it helps! But remember so many people who can't have kids would do anything to be pregnant and feel as bad as you right now.

Take a week or two off work and rest. If you explain to your doctor how bad you feel he should sign you off.

One great benefit to morning sickness - you won't have to diet once you've had the baby.

[meebles]

I survived on crisps, coke and ice-lollies for ages. I eventually resorted to medication to avoid hospital admission. It's horrible, horrible and I really feel for you. Once I stopped work it improved a little since I wasn't working shifts and spending eight hours at a time on my feet. I know it seems a long way off but half an hour after they finished stitching me up I was enjoying the first cup of tea for eight months, with a salmon sandwich and yoghurt covered raisins. Bliss!

[elkiedee]

I felt awful through most of my pregnancy, one of the few things that helped was icepops.

[babybump08]

I'm in week 13 and have started to feel a little better but I was really sick from week 6...visiting the bathroom at least 3 times a day. Not the most plesent experience of my life.

I tried those sea bands and they didn't work for me, just found them an extra irritating factor to deal with. I went to the doctor as I was quite worried about my weight and the foetus development. She prescribed my some form of tablets but said theye were normally given for sickness during the last few months of pregnancy so with that I didn't take them.

I lived on crackerbread for about 2weeks and found natural spring water quite good.

On a positive note though I had my first scan yesterday and the little terror was healthily doing somersaults with a good heart beat so keep your chin up. I hope you start to feel better soon.

[calsworld]

LO's are really tough little parasites and no matter how much you are being sick, its really really unlikely to have an effect on them, so please don't worry about this. Just try to keep the fluids going in and keep trying different things to see what helps best.

[BCLass]

thanks all - its nice to have some sympathy and suggestions from people who have been through this.

[Minkus]

BCLass I can sympathise too. It's horrid!

A really good website iswww.hyperemesis.org.uk, it's about the severe form of morning sickness hyperemesis gravidarum but the self help tips are worth a shot.

Agree with other posters about the resting thing, I have spent the last 17 weeks lying on my arse at home as am 23 weeks pg and still really sick, working makes it unbearable!

Good luck x

[AHLH]

BClass

I've been off work with Hyperemisis gravidarum for a month. A bit like you, I'm in a responsible post, end of financial year etc. I told my boss(50 year old bloke) at dinner time about 5 weeks ago, saw the Dr in the afternoon and was in hospital in the evening. I've spent 3 of the last 5 weeks in hospital. Still can barely keep anything down, and have lost a stone.

You really need to see a doc for a urine test. If there are ketones in your wee (from living off your body fat, I don't understand the biochemistry), then you need treatment, if only a saline drip.

I was a bit tactical when I told my boss, and got in a senior woman who I know loves babies in the room too. It went fine. I work in the public sector, so that may have made things easier.

Good luck and hope we both feel better soon.

[AHLH]

BClass

I've been off work with Hyperemisis gravidarum for a month. A bit like you, I'm in a responsible post, end of financial year etc. I told my boss(50 year old bloke) at dinner time about 5 weeks ago, saw the Dr in the afternoon and was in hospital in the evening. I've spent 3 of the last 5 weeks in hospital. Still can barely keep anything down, and have lost a stone.

You really need to see a doc for a urine test. If there are ketones in your wee (from living off your body fat, I don't understand the biochemistry), then you need treatment, if only a saline drip.

I was a bit tactical when I told my boss, and got in a senior woman who I know loves babies in the room too. It went fine. I work in the public sector, so that may have made things easier.

Good luck and hope we both feel better soon.

[beakysmum]

Really agree with another poster who said that until you have morning sickness yourself, you have no idea what it is really like. But it WILL pass! Have been all through this twice, so the end result IS worth it!

Can only say be nice to yourself and do whatever it takes to get through. Don't try and be superwoman. The tiredness is a big factor in how bad the nausea is. And an older male boss can often be more understanding than a younger female boss who didn't have morning sickness (ime).

Also, don't worry about what you eat. First time round I survived on cereals and toast and was so worried about how the baby would come out. He was/ is absolutely fine, so the second time I did exactly the same, worried less and was much happier for it.

Thiinking of you and hope it passes soon.

[madamez]

If you're this sick, it could be hyperemesis. My friend who is 12 wks has it, and the GP has given her some medication which has helped a lot (medication specially designed to help with hyperemesis and not harmful to the foetus). Because if you don't get some treatment, you do risk harming yourself and the foetus.

[graysongirl]

Really feel for you BClass, its horrendous and I totally agree with others who said people can't understand it unless you've been through it.
For me it started at 5 weeks and is still going strong at 16+4. Did get a bit better after 13 weeks, the main difference was that I felt better in between being sick and am now only sick 3/4 times a day rather than constantly day and night, during the worst of it I was sick 17 times in one day!!!
Hmm realised that my tale of woe might not be encouraging you very much.
It does get easier to cope with as the weeks progress.

Things that helped me were ice cold fizzy drinks, snacks rather than big meals and REST. Get yourself to docs and get signed off is my top advice though.
I have been signed off for 4 weeks with hypermesis although not all at once, I keep trying to go back and end up being sick for 2 hours and coming home. Have agreed to work reduced hours next week to see how it goes. Work being brill and I too have repsonsible job in a big secondary school... "Why have you gone green Miss?" is my fav quote of last week.

[bebejones]

Like some of the other posters I had been signed off work from about 6 weeks til 18 weeks. I couldnt keep anything down AT ALL and lost a stone and a half in 6 weeks!

All I can say is you should see your doctor if it is really bad. SSP is crap, but at least it is something, my doctor point blank refused to give me medication to stop sickness. I think I lived on ice lollies for about 4 weeks, anything I had had to be freezing cold! Lucozade was a godsend. And the seabands did sort of work, took the edge off the sick feeling but didnt completely stop it. Just find whatever works for you, and when you fancy something just have it! My doctor said he didnt care if all I could manage was MacDonalds so long as I got some calories!!

I'm 20 weeks now and still feel sick but at least I can eat without throwing up now! It will ease up even if it doesn't completely stop! You are not alone!!!!

[BCLass]

Thanks everyone.

Still feeling grim.

Told my bosses last week who were lovely and feel I can relax a bit now they know why I an currently so ineffective!

Just been sick again and all I can stomach is smoothie ice lollies - bizzare!

Seeing the midwife for the first time on Wednesday when I will be 9 weeks by dates. The only confort I have at the moment is that every day is a day closer to the sickness easing, hopefully.