real life HYPEREMESIS: THE FACTS
Symptoms • prolonged and severe nausea and vomiting – some women report being sick up to 50 times a day
• dehydration – if you're drinking less than 500ml a day, you need to seek help
“Kerrie is a beautiful baby and I've always wanted more than one child but,
when I think back to those nine months, I know that I just couldn't face that experience again!”
> given urine tests, which showed up a urinary tract infection and ketosis (a serious condition that results in the build-up of acidic chemicals in the blood and urine). I was immediately admitted to the hospital, where I was put on a drip and that was the start of the nine months of sheer hell. ‘Because I hadn’t told anyone I was
pregnant - and because I obviously didn’t look pregnant - I had to lie to everyone as to why I was sick. Te hospital gave me antihistamines and I must admit that I did feel a bit better because I was rehydrated over the course of my stay, but once I got out, I was as bad as ever and couldn’t eat, so I ended up back in hospital. ‘Tis time I had to have the
antihistamines injected because I couldn’t even keep the medication down. I was also given ondansetron, which is usually given to chemo patients for nausea and, again, this had to be injected. ‘Once again I was sent home but wasn’t
given any ondansetron and by this time it was becoming very apparent to everyone how sick I was. I remember people talking to me about my baby coming and my dad, who was very concerned, saying to people, ‘this is my baby and she’s not well’. ‘By this time I had lost about two stones
in weight so the doctors started to talk about giving me steroids, but they were still insisting that it would pass. I doubted that very much.' By November 2014, Laura had been
admitted to hospital for the fourth time and this time she was to spend a longer period as
6MODERNMUM Summer 2016
a patient, only able to leave the hospital on Christmas Eve. By now, Laura was experiencing severe pain in her hips because of the numerous injections she'd had to have, and her hips and thighs were covered in bruises. 'Te heartburn had also kicked in really
badly,' Laura continues, 'mainly as a result of the fact that, due to the constant medication, there was a build up of acid, which had severely damaged the lining of my stomach. 'By this time I'd also lost a lot of weight
and people around me were becoming very alarmed. I spent the whole month of January in bed and, to be honest, I don't remember seeing anything during this period other than my bed and a bucket. I had absolutely no resistance to anything!' By now, the doctors had given Laura a
form of ondansetron which she was able to place on her tongue. Tis helped to alleviate some of the sickness, allowing Laura to return to her work as a music teacher, although she was only able to operate on a part-time basis. Nevertheless, the sickness was to continue right up to the end of her pregnancy when, in July last year, she gave birth to her daughter, Kerrie. While Kerrie was a beautiful and healthy baby, Laura's experience of pregnancy has, for the moment at least, put her off the idea of having another baby. 'When I think back to the whole
experience, it just brings it all back,' she says despondently. 'People just think
• ketosis – a serious condition that results in the build-up of acidic chemicals in the blood and urine; ketones are produced when your body breaks down fat, rather than glucose, for energy
• weight loss
• low blood pressure (hypotension) when standing
• extremely heightened sense of smell
• excessive saliva production, known as ptyalism
• headaches and constipation from dehydration
• pressure sores from long periods of time in bed
Treatment Medications that can be used in pregnancy, including the first twelve weeks, to help improve the symptoms of HG include anti-sickness (anti- emetic) drugs, vitamins (B6 and B12) and steroids, or combinations of these. Evidence suggests that the earlier you start treatment, the more effective it will be.
you're having a bit of 'morning sickness' and, in fact, some people were very kindly trying to give me advice like 'have you tried a ginger biscuit?', but hyperemesis is a whole different ball game to normal morning sickness. 'I was never depressed but I was most
certainly isolated - physically and emotionally. Even when I tried using my phone, the blue light would make me so sick that I couldn't stand the light so I wouldn't contact people. Tis heightened the boredom and isolation. Te whole experience also put a lot of pressure on my partner because, on top of the fact that I was so demanding and virtually helpless, he was effectively on his own a lot of the time because I was stuck in bed. 'Kerrie is a beautiful baby and I've
always wanted more than one child but, when I think back to those nine months, I just know that I couldn't face that experience again!' „
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