Extreme vomiting during pregnancy

[Kim]

I was just wondering if anyone else out there had experienced Hyperemisis gravid(extreme morning sickness) during the pregnacy that PPCM was diagnosed. I was extremely sick ( I vomited 30 to 50 times a day the first 3 months) I was hospitalized with dehydration and malnutrition from having this. I lost 35lbs during my pregnancy. I literally couldn't eat even with major medicines to help. This got some better but I was on medicine my whole pregnancy (phenegren and zofram) around the clock and I still threw up every day. I spent a total of 30 days in the hospital before having my son. The Dr.s wanted me to get a pic line but I was terified I would bleed to death because we live so far from a hospital. My Dr told me that it was like being allergic to pregnancy. THat the baby's cells passed back through the placenta to me and my body was reacting to the invasion. I also got PUPPS. This lovely illness causes you to break out in hives all over your body. Then I got PPCM. I was just curious if anyone else had experienced these problems during their pregnacy and if so do your DR.'s think that this would contribute to PPCM. The baby is fine.

Kim
EF at DX 15%
EF at 5mths. 30%

[heartfulloflove]

Yes. I had hyperemesis also with my pregnancy that produced my enlarged heart and slight decrease in function. During my previous pregnancy, I did not have hyperemesis and my heart was fine.

I was going to ask this very question of the PPCMers here, so thank you!

[doloresmc]

No, no vomiting here..not even once, I'm serious NEVER!! But I did break out in hives even before I had a missing period..It was horrible, I was horrible!!. I also had the worse seasonal allergies ever. I swear I was allergic to that baby..He is also a very allergic kid. When he was an infant he had severe exzema, that was bad even with breast milk, also GERD.
Dolores

[SusanD]

I've never heard of a link established between vomiting and enlarging the heart. I threw up maybe once and got PPCM. On the other hand, I had a friend who had to be hospitalized throughout and was on home health with a PICC line for rehydration...and she was fine after she delivered with absolutely no signs and symptoms of PPCM.

It is an interesting question though.

[tabs]

Never vomitted with any pregnancy. I certainly felt nauseated at times, but then I also have Crohn's Disease. In fact I spent my third pregnancy on prednisone.

Twilah

[Tammy]

I had normal nasuea and vomiting with both pregnancies. Only from about 6-12 weeks. With my first (PPCM baby) it was a little worse, only because I was working in a day care center and my first trimester was in the winter. So I had a combination of morning sickness and getting the flu. Yuck!

[SerenaWelsh]

I vomited 24/7 with all of my pregnancies, right up to the day I delivered.
Despite that, I was able to have a mostly normal life. I didn't walk around nauseated all the time - it would just hit me out of the blue ever hour or two.

And this is reason # 473 I've found to be greatful that I won't be pregnant again.

[Kim]

I was just curious. My OB said that the all of the throwing up and the pupps were an autoimmune reaction. I just wondered if the PPCM was related.

Kim
EF at dx15%
current EF 30%

[heartfulloflove]

I had rashes with both pregnancies, worst with Rachel. I kept breaking out in a raised red prickly rash. It didn't itch, it just looked awful. OB never saw it, basically it never happened when I was scheduled to be seen, and would vanish before I could get in!

I had it with Gavin, but much milder. I also had a major psoriasis flare while pregnant with Gavin (which is definitely autoimmune) which is only now beginning to subside. Even the standard cortisone treatments did NOTHING this time (8 months of treating!). I finally just had to sand the spots with a nail file and put salicylic acid on them. So something went nuts with me, that's the worst psoriasis flare I ever had in the 18 years since I was diagnosed with it.

Interestingly, when pregnant with Rachel, I not only had NO hyperemesis, it also temporarily cured my psoriasis...and I stayed free of it until I became pregnant with Gavin. The flare began at the same time my hyperemesis did, and I always wondered if the two were connected - though I was thinking hormones. I am curious about an autoimmune connection if there is one.

[Sam]

I also had a flare-up twice during my pregnancy of a rash I had never had before. It was a raised patch of skin that was a bit flakey and would itch when it first appeared and then the patch of skin would become a bit discolored. It had a very weird texture to it. I never had this before or since my pregnancy and always found it odd. But like you, Shannon, it never appeared around the times of any doctor visits, so I never got a chance to find out what it was.

[heartfulloflove]

Hmm. It sounds like psoriasis (the flaking and itching) but it also could have been eczema if you're allergy prone and it was fairly mild. Ever have allergies? Being pregnant can certainly cause allergies to flare up (or go away in some...). I was allergic to seafood while pregnant, but fine with it in a matter of weeks of giving birth. Weird, right?

Was it just in one small spot? Psoriasis tends to affect elbows, knees, angles, etc. as long as it isn't severe, then it kind of goes anywhere it wants. Eczema can show up in a patch pretty much anywhere.

[Sam]

Hi Shannon ~

No, I'm not prone to allergies of any kind. When I had the rash, I was curious about it, so I looked up pictures of all the common rashes, like eczema and psoriasis, and it didn't appear to look like any of the common ones, though I'm sure it still could have been one of those. I'm certainly no dermatologist :-) It was the brown - almost blackish discoloration that really had me puzzled. It came back both times in the exact same spot (on my upper belly), and it was a pretty big rash.

This rash was the ONLY inconvenience I had through my whole pregnancy. I had not one smidge of nausea or vomiting the entire 9 months. I really lucked out.

~ Sonja

[mikeyandBellesmommy]

The ONLY time I have ever seen a relation was a girl that I spoke to through one of the PPCM sites awhile ago who after having severe hypermemis with every pregnancy, she had 4 children, I believe she developed heart failure, kidney failure and liver failure they believe it was the hypermemis not PPCM

[mikeyandBellesmommy]

The ONLY time I have ever seen a relation was a girl that I spoke to through one of the PPCM sites awhile ago who after having severe hypermemis with every pregnancy, she had 4 children, I believe she developed heart failure, kidney failure and liver failure they believe it was the hypermemis not PPCM

[tbarton]

I had hyperemesis with each of my 4 pregnancies without a hint of any heart problems after the first three. I was hospitalized several times during each pregancy and had home healthcare nurses come give me IVs. That's partly why I thought something was wrong with me. I *never* gained hardly any weight with the first three. When I started retaining water and my weight went up despite the fact that I wasn't able to keep anything down, they kept telling me it was normal to gain weight and I just wasn't used to that. Grrrr!

[heartfulloflove]

Hi Shannon ~

No, I'm not prone to allergies of any kind. When I had the rash, I was curious about it, so I looked up pictures of all the common rashes, like eczema and psoriasis, and it didn't appear to look like any of the common ones, though I'm sure it still could have been one of those. I'm certainly no dermatologist :-) It was the brown - almost blackish discoloration that really had me puzzled. It came back both times in the exact same spot (on my upper belly), and it was a pretty big rash.

This rash was the ONLY inconvenience I had through my whole pregnancy. I had not one smidge of nausea or vomiting the entire 9 months. I really lucked out.

~ Sonja

Funny thing about psoriasis and eczema, they can be the exact same thing and look entirely different on two people. It really does take an experienced dermatologist to puzzle it out. The dark coloring sounds as if it could have been that mask of pregnancy "rash" that many women get. Often it happens on the face, but it can happen elsewhere too.

My skin, aside from the psoriasis, was nice with Gavin. With Rachel, I got all these dark freckle spots and none of them went away.

[MiasMom]

I was nauseated on and off during the first trimester, but never threw up. Other than that, my pregnancy was very uneventful - except for all the swelling... I just knew I hadn't eaten enough food to end up gaining 70 pounds!!!!:eek:

[heartfulloflove]

Yeah, I carried fluid with Gavin. I was eating less (a LOT less) than my pregnancy with Rachel and gaining more the whole time. I was so frustrated, and I couldn't understand it. About 11 1/2 weeks postpartum, I went on a peeing spree and literally lost several pounds overnight (the night between my echo and my MUGA, to be exact). I would get so darn mad when my OB would say, "You did so well the first time, try doing what you did then." :eek: :mad: I was. Plus I was exercising! It was fluid.