About Hyperemesis

I was pregnant and was diagnosed with severe Hyperemesis.  I threw up all day and night, I couldn't even keep down water.  I had a bad reaction to all meds given to me (Phenergan, Zofran and Reglan).  I tried at home IV fluids but my veins kept collapsing from dehydration.  This went on from week 6 to week 10.  I was passing out constantly and became severely depressed.  I felt like I was going insane.  I wound up miscarrying but am afraid to try to conceive again.  I have two boys that I also got sick with but not this severe.  Anyone have any information or advice?

[nurse12hr]

What was the nature of the bad reaction to the big 3 (Phen, Zofran and Reglan)?

In extreme cases they can implant a semi permanent type of IV access called a PICC line that goes to a major vein in your chest.  I have seen it used in a few VERY severe cases of hyperemesis.

I hope you don't have the same problem with the next pregnancy; it is awful.

[joci]

Thanks for writing back Christie!  With Phenergan, my body began to shake uncontrollably.  With Zofran and Reglan, I became very hyper, didn't sleep for 3 nights straight and began having heart palpatations and high heart rate.  The Dr. did mention the PICC line which petrified me because my father-in-law had that and got an infection from it.  Can they still do a PICC line if your veins are collapsed from dehydration?  Does the PICC line give you fluids or liquid food?

[nurse12hr]

The PICC line can give you both.  It is usually inserted in a hospital, though the home IV team I worked for a few years back did them in the home, then sent you to a hospital for an xray for placement verification.

Yes, they can do it even if your veins are collapsed.  Sometimes, though, they have to implant them directly into your chest through a minor surgical procedure.

Infection is a risk; no doubt about it, but the vast majority do fine.

[maria12345]

Dear Friends
I am happy for all of those who had healthy babies.  Mine was born with a very unusual heart defects. If someone had problems with zofran please contact me mwmexx @ gmail.com  Let me tell you my story:
I was feeling nausea, my husband took me to the E.R. The drug they gave me in the E.R.  is Ondansetron (Zofran) . Ondansetron a serotonin 5-HT3 receptor antagonist used mainly to treat nausea and vomiting following chemotherapy and after surgery.  There is little information about their effect on the pregnancy and therefore the standard advice is to avoid unless absolutely necessary. Evidence on the safety of 5HT3 inhibitors (such as ondansetron) in pregnancy is limited.
The doctor that treated me at my 7 weeks of pregnancy did not give me any information about this drug before using it on me, He only said that it was an “unbelievable expensive antinausea medication”.  Before I left the E.R. My husband questioned him about the drug.  The assured him that this drug was not dangerous to my baby.  
I am very sad because they injected me zofran without warning me about the lack of studies about the effects of this medication in pregnant women, especially in the first trimester. I am also sad because there are many mild and proven medications for treating nausea in pregnant women and they gave me a medication that is mainly prescribed for nausea and vomiting following chemotherapy and after surgery.
We came to the hospital looking for relief and we trusted the doctors to make the right decisions.  
Some of the known side effects of Ondansetron include:
· Slow heart rate (bradycardia)
· Abnormal heart beats (arrhythmias)
· Seizures
I did not presente any of those symptoms after the injection.  However, I have no doubt that this medication affected my baby’s heart.  The heart is developing its structures within the first 8 weeks and they injected me with Zofran at 7 weeks . It seems likely that a medication that has exhibited electrophysiological effects on the cardiac muscle in children and adults would affect the forming structures of my baby’s heart. My baby was born with a collection of very unusual heart problems. That unusual collection of heart defects cannot be probability only!!!!. Those problems according with medical literature are associated with an event happening in the first 8 weeks of pregnancy.  Zofran was the only medication I took in my entire pregnancy.

I waited to have a baby until I felt it was the right time in my life, so that I could give that child all of my love and care.  During my pregnancy I was very careful to eat properly, and not to take any medication.  During my 7th week I was experiencing nausea.  My husband and I went to the hospital trusting to give me some relief, but mainly to make sure that there was no danger to our child.  

Can any of them prove to me that their medication did not harm the forming structures of my baby’s heart and that this medication was not responsible for the numerous and rare heart defects that my baby now suffers from?  If they cannot make this guarantee this, then why is it allowed for Doctors to give this drug to pregnant women.  My research indicates that this drug has mainly been studied for its effects on pregnancy in rats. Those studies sustain Ondansetron does not harm the fetus of pregnant rats and what about the fetus of pregnant women?  There are articles that warns cardiac impaired patients about the use 5-HT3s for nausea & vomiting because they are more vulnerable to adverse reactions.  

We learned about our baby’s birth heart defect at 14 weeks, and my husband and I chose to give our baby a chance at life, and not to have an abortion.  I was very careful about taking care of my self throughout my pregnancy.  I chose to give birth with a C-section because while this increased my risk, it lowered the risk to my child.  I made many sacrifices to give my daughter her best chance at life. I would ever knowingly allow the doctors to give me this unproven medication if I had known how little was known about its effect on pregnant women.
I hope the Law can help to stop these situations from happening. Do not allow that embryonic human life to be exposed to substances that might harm them and obstruct their normal development. Why whether this medication warns its use in children does not warn its use in pregnant women who carry little childs inside them?  Why a package of cigarrets warns about its possible effects in pregnant women and an antinausea medication does not?   This might not be of your concern, but my tears don't stop since then, and everytime I take my baby to the hospital.  She had a heart surgery already and some more comming.