Kate Halim
32-year-old Joy Bassey was nine weeks into her second pregnancy when she felt like dying because of extreme morning sickness. She almost terminated her pregnancy.
The morning sickness was so severe it made her vomit more than 6 times a day, and left her unable to care for her toddler. Bassey told Saturday Sun that she was diagnosed with extreme morning sickness also known as hyperemesis gravidarum and was unable to keep food down for weeks which made her lose weight drastically.
Hyperemesis gravidarum at a glance
This condition is a complication of pregnancy that is characterized by severe nausea and vomiting such that weight loss and dehydration occur. Signs and symptoms may include vomiting several times a day and feeling faint. It is far more severe than morning sickness.
In rare cases, women suffering from Hyperemesis gravidarum might be admitted in the hospital. Most women get an IV to rehydrate their bodies.
Sometimes the IV will contain anti nausea medications. These prescription drugs can be taken orally, but patients with HG often can’t keep them or anything down. For women like Bassey the term morning sickness is an ironic misnomer. While she was pregnant, Bassey couldn’t get out of bed. She was in and out of hospital. She was nauseous and vomiting all day. At one stage, during her second pregnancy, her little boy even asked her whether she was going to die.
Statistics
Dr. Ayodele Lawal stated that this condition is not just a morning problem – for a lot of women, it’s a morning, noon and night problem. He noted that calling it morning sickness has totally trivialized what can be a very serious health risk.
Around seven in 10 pregnant women have episodes of nausea during pregnancy; but a smaller number, around one in 50, suffers the kind of extreme sickness, or hyperemesis gravidarum.
And for one in 100, the symptoms are bad enough to require hospital treatment, usually because they have become so dehydrated that they need intravenous fluids.
Causes of hyperemesis gravidarum
Morning sickness and hyperemesis gravidarum seem to have a connection to human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This is a hormone created during pregnancy by the placenta. Your body produces a large amount of this hormone at a rapid rate early in pregnancy. These levels can continue to rise throughout pregnancy.
One theory is that evolution has pre-programmed pregnant women to reject food because it could contain substances that are harmful to the embryo.
In early pregnancy, when sickness is more common, women don’t need a lot of extra calories, so going off food because they are feeling sick could be a protective mechanism. And there’s a new theory that pregnancy sickness is linked to protein deficiency. If more women with pregnancy sickness were treated early on, sometimes with drugs, they would not have to spend such important times in their lives on hospital beds.
How is hyperemesis gravidarum diagnosed?
Your doctor will ask you about your medical history and your symptoms. A standard physical exam is enough to diagnose most cases. Your doctor will look for common signs of HG, such as abnormally low blood pressure or a fast pulse.
Blood and urine samples may also be necessary to check for signs of dehydration. Your doctor might also order additional tests to rule out gastrointestinal problems as a cause of your nausea or vomiting. An ultrasound might be necessary to find out if you are pregnant with twins or if there are any problems. This test uses sound waves to create an image of the inside of your body.
Who’s at risk for hyperemesis gravidarum?
Some factors that could increase your risk of getting hyperemesis gravidarum are having a history of the condition in your family, being pregnant with more than one baby, being overweight and being a first-time mother Trophoblastic disease can also cause hyperemesis gravidarum. Trophoblastic disease occurs when there’s an abnormal growth of cells inside the uterus.
How to survive hyperemesis gravidarum
Keep a diary of when you feel sick, when you actually are sick, when you are fine etc. A pattern will emerge, and you will realize there are times in the day when you don’t feel as bad.
The important thing is to be ready for those windows, so you can eat and drink when you are able to. Keeping your fluid levels up is extremely important – dehydration is the main reason for hospital admission.
Eat cold foods. Odours are the hardest thing to deal with for women with pregnancy sickness, and they often trigger nausea. Cold food tends to be much less odorous than hot food, and that can make all the difference when it comes to whether you can manage to eat it and keep it down or not.
Talk to your doctor to prescribe some drugs for you to reduce pregnancy nausea. Some doctors are often resistant to this because they fear some of these drugs could be harmful to fetuses. However, it is not recommended that you take these drugs without prescription.
Manage the triggers
When you have hyperemesis gravidarum, the most mundane things such as a blast of sunlight, a sip of water—can leave you sprinting for the nearest bathroom. For some women, driving to and from the market can make them empty everything in their stomach in a flash. For others, sitting in the car make them vomit instantly and the sight and smell of food can set off their vomiting spree.
Don’t lose hope
It is a known fact that hyperemesis is difficult, but it isn’t permanent. Women with this condition should remember that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and it will absolutely be worth the struggle. They probably won’t feel grateful every moment of their journey, and that’s okay. Mind-blowing nausea has a funny way of sucking away their gratitude for being pregnant. But they should trust that in the end, having a difficult pregnancy will probably make them appreciate motherhood and not being pregnant even more.
Ask for help
Even the most independent woman will need some assistance during this most challenging period of her pregnancy, especially if she has other children. So don’t be shy or feel guilty about calling in favors from family, friends and neighbors. You will find that everyday tasks become impossible when you are hovered over a toilet all day. An offer from a friend or neighbor to do your laundry or go to the market for you can be a huge help.