Hyperemesis Gravidarum (Morning Sickness X’s 100)
Tara Carpenter, NC, CPES.
Nutrition Consultant for people on Body Ecology Diet & Certified Placenta Encapsulation Specialist for new mothers in Vermont.
Originally published on February 24, 2017.
Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is a rare, serious condition affecting 0.5–2.0% of pregnant women and when broken down means hyper=over-excessive/severe, emesis=vomiting, gravidarum=pregnancy; or simply put Hyperemesis Gravidarum is severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.
If you have not experienced HG, consider yourself lucky. I had this three times. When people ask how that felt, I say “having HG is like having morning sickness multiplied by 100”. I could not drink more than a teaspoon of water at a time. I would wait three or more days to visualize and accept any food in my mouth. Without going to the Emergency Room for hydration and nutrition I would curl up on the bathroom floor to be near a toilet. No food could be cooked in our home for the duration of my sickness and t.v. made me feel on a ship in the ocean. If I craved a lobster roll I could eat three. The one food I could near always eat was hot chicken soup; I felt strong two days straight, yet had to be freshly made (not frozen or canned) with squeeze of lemon. That is how picky my body became. I had never experienced anything so difficult to endure and my heart goes out to any woman in the midst of this horrible feeling.
Minutes after the birth of my youngest son; whom I had HG for a total of 40 weeks.
Hyperemesis gravidarum is NOT morning sickness. Nor is it the normal, mild, temporary vomiting some moms have in early pregnancy. If you have HG, you are in bed, on floor, over toilet, anywhere other than head up and eyes open. If you have HG like I did then you do not read, drive, or move. More than a teaspoon of water makes you throw up, lifting your head and opening your eyes is a momentous occasion that takes momentous pre-thought and effort. You are in a place with a long way ahead to getting to where you are going, seeing only speck of light at end of a long tunnel.
If you know someone with HG, help them. They need it. Consider them an invalid and do not downplay their feelings – they feel awful and don’t need the added pressure to buck up and act normal. Left untreated, HG can cause anemia, severe malnutrition, dehydration, hypoglycemia, and serious complications like fluid/electrolyte imbalances. Depression is often a secondary complication of HG.
You are not alone.
If you have HG, you are not alone no matter how alone you may feel. You can do this. You have what it takes. But you need help and all you can get. Ask for it. Pay for it if you can. I know it feels like you are 10 feet under (or that you’d like to be) but this too shall pass. For now, do all you can to find food you will eat and keep down. Go to ER as much as you are allowed to for hydration treatments, seek support from Facebook forums, get an “HG buddy” to trade woes with, try everything you have not tried.
Rick Simpson Oil
When I was pregnant, marijuana was taboo, let alone sold at recreational dispensaries. Now I hear how it helps HG women feel better enough to eat and drink. Research Rick Simpson Oil (RSO). Keep seeking. Here is a video I made on RSO. Whilst this prenatal condition is not cancer in and of itself, many women -including myself- sign a release form to take a medication meant for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy to stay hydrated and nourished. Had I known of RSO, I would have taken that.
When you can’t
If you can’t keep being pregnant know many of women in your boots have made the same decision. This is an important decision of the hardest kind. Having been in HG shoes, I understand. Find your goal. Set your eyes on that child and keep in the ring is what I did because that was my goal.
Support
After experiencing hyperemesis gravidarum three times, I have lived and learned it inside and out and devote myself to helping others with this awful condition. Sometimes I do this by writing; other times by phone or email support. One time I helped a woman in Vermont by dropping food and peppermint tea and helping her in various ways. There is a death kind of quiet in the home with a mom suffering HG. Please share this post because there is not enough help for women with HG.
If you know a woman in the throes of severe morning sickness – please help her. By doing so, you can stop a condition which, left to itself, can require hospitalization. Dehydration and becoming malnourished can occur after only 1-2 days of persistent vomiting. Watch for this and notify doctor. There can be underlying physical causes for severe vomiting during pregnancy. Please do not believe her vomiting is psychically based.
What I Ate With Severe Morning Sickness
Food That Helped My Hyperemesis Gravidarum
References
Bland, J. S., Costarella, L., Jones, D. S., Lerman, R. H., Levin, B., Liska, D., & Schmidt, M. (2004). Clinical Nutrition: A Functional Approach (2nd ed., pp.163-164). Gig Harbor, WA: Institute for Functional Medicine.
Campbell-McBride, N. MD. (2011). Gut and Psychology Syndrome. Soham, Cambridge; Medinform Publishing.
Davis, A. (1981). Let’s Have Healthy Children
Morell-Fallon, S. and Cowan, T. MD. (2013). The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care. Washington DC: New Trends Publishing, Inc.
Murray, M. N.D. (2005). Healing Foods. New York, NY.: Atria Books.
Rothenberg, A. MD. Homeopathic Remedies During Labor & Delivery: Lecture 9 Notes
Shaw, W. (2013). The Morning Sickness Handbook.
Sister Zeus (1998). Wild Yam: An Herbal Contraceptive. Retrieved at https://www.sisterzeus.com/wildyam.htm
Wikipedia (2014). Retrieved at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperemesis_gravidarum
MommyPotamous (2012). The REAL Cause of Morning Sickness. Retrieved at https://www.mommypotamus.com/the-real-cause-of-morning-sickness/
