hyperemesis gravidarum

[kereplussome]

I have a friend who just became pregnant again. She has had 4 children 6 miscarriages. With every pregnancy she suffers from hyperemesis gravidarum or at the least is just down and out for nearly the entire pregnancy from nausea and weakness. I don't think she follows a very healthy diet pre-pregnancy and doesn't have much energy during pregnancy to take care of herself either. She is not overweight though. Anyways, I am just trying to figure out what would be the best things to suggest to her to focus her limited energies on having the best pregnancy possible. Any input would be appreciated!

[lillymonster]

Honestly, pre-diet health doesn't really make a difference. First pregnancy ate like crap, had HG for 26 weeks, start with the day I got BFP. This pregnancy, I ate a diet free of packaged foods and fast food for 3 years before, hardly ate out, made all food myself from scratch due to my daughter's multiple food allergies (made foods with out diary, soy or eggs), gave up soda, drank mostly water. Well I got it again, worse than last time. I check the scale every day and it's seems I continue to lose weight and I am at 11 weeks. And I really shouldn't be losing any weight at all. I never lost weight the first time as long as I was on zofran.

Anyway, she might want to see a doctor and try drugs. I didn't want to do it this time, but after losing 5 pounds in a week, I decided it was better for me and the health of my baby (and to be a decent mom to my 3 year old) to be on drugs. She should discuss with her CP about options.

Aside from that, the "tips" most people suggest just don't work for me, and don't work for a lot of people with HG. I felt worse after I ate, so I have to take pepcid or zantac on top of zofran in order to keep food down. I also avoid high sugar foods and drinks and tomato based foods for now.

The best thing would probably be to offer to watch her kids while she is trying to deal with it because I know I feel guilty I can't be there for my daughter like I could before pre-pregnancy. I can't take her to the park, I can't play outside, I just don't have the energy.

Here are some tips from HER Foundation that may help
http://www.helpher.org/family/survival-tips.php

[angelpie545]

Yea, pre baby diet doesn't make much of a difference. With my daughters, I had horrible eating habits and normal morning sickness. With my son, I ate much better pre-pregnancy and developed HG two weeks after the BFP test. I couldn't stop vomiting (like, every hour or so) and was hospitalized with a suspected kidney infection, which I was treated for but the horrible nausea stayed, eventually being diagnosed as mild HG. My case was mild but I ended up dropping to 114 pounds before it finally resolved at 5 months pregnant. I ate everything I could get my hands on after that and gained 65 pounds, 45 of which I still have to lose. Honestly, despite the horrible constipation it causes Zofran was a life saver, as was B Natal lollipops.

[LittleBattleAxe]

I had HG with #1 (I have 3 now) and it was terrible. I needed IV fluids twice, and EVERYTHING made me ill. I remember The Simpsons came on TV one evening and I swear, the bright colors made me ill. I found that if I let myself get hungry, it was all over. Nothing made it better, and I tried everything -- but small, frequent meals did help me survive some days better than others. My prepreg diet was great, I was not overweight, and during preg I tried to eat healthy (but was guilty of eating whatever was handy because I had to eat RIGHT THEN or be very, very sick)

I agree with the PP that the best thing a person might do is offer to help -- you really do feel so bad that crawling into a dark, cool space until your water breaks sounds like the best option.

[JessieBird]

It is so different for everyone so it is hard to give advice without knowing more about her particular triggers and what she is struggling most with. My #1 piece of advice though is to take HG very, very seriously. It can cause serious complications, both physical and emotional. #2 piece of advice is DRUGS. Encourage your friend to try what's out there and to give it a chance as many women have had great success. I have gotten back to a near-normal life thanks to Diclectin, though I was very reluctant at first to take anything while pregnant. By "give it a chance" I mean that some drugs take a while to take effect and others cause crippling grogginess at first - but it goes away in 4-7 days if you stick with it.

I second pp's HER link: http://www.helpher.org/family/survival-tips.php
This site helped my family and I a lot as I went through brutal HG with this pregnancy, including a 10-day hospital stay and a range of complications.

Also there is Motherisk. The website has tons of fantastic information, and is especially comprehensive about drugs (though they use the Canadian brand names which may differ from US so you have to do some deducing) and they have a 1-800 number to call for help. http://www.motherisk.org/women/morningSickness.jsp

[sexysisam]

My SIL had it HORRIBLE with all 4 of her pregnancies. She would go in for fluids 3 times/week. On the second pregnancy they figured the best solution for her was an NG tube placed up her nose, down her throat, PAST her stomach, and far enough into her intestines so that absolutely nothing touched her stomach. Since she still swallowed her spit she would throw up about every hour still, but the tube kept her healthy enough to be able to nourish her babies.

They used to crush up Zofran tablets and put it down her tube with her liquid diet. But now I guess they have melt-aways that she used with her last preg and said is genius. They also have generic Zofran now which cuts the cost.

She said she tried EVERYTHING natural - coke syrup, sea bands, herbs, etc and nothing worked for her but the NG tube and the Zofran.