Stupid men doctors!

[caleighbelle47]

Okay, I really don't have anything against men as doctors, but when it comes to a complicated pregnancy I do. Face men have a hard enough time understand a normal pregnancy, how are they supposed to understand a bad one.

But my doctor is so stupid. And I know everyone is going to say get a new doctor, it's not an option. Okay so here's the problem. I'm sick, but not vomiting much, just unbarable nausea. So I can't eat. I try so hard to eat, but I can't get much in. So I've lost a bunch of weight so the doctors first words are of course, "how much are you vomiting?" I say not much. So now he thinks the whole problem is I just need to eat more.

He told me to force the food down, even if it makes me puke. If I throw up that's okay, just keep eating. I don't think so. I told him eating was painful, and he said that just doesn't make since. Is he dumb or am I? It seems reasonable to me that eating when you sick would be painful.

This guy is all confused that my urine and blood don't show that I'm starving, but I'm still losing weight. So he said if I don't start gaining then I'd have to get a PICC line.

I'm really trying to eat, I eat more than I think I can or should everytime. I'm just too sick to eat a normal diet. And I really have a feeling he thinks the answer is as simple as just eating more.

He also insisted that I take Zofran (which he got the insurance to cover) of course I see now that it's a really small dose. Now from what I've heard here it mostly just helps with vomiting and not the nausea. I told the doctor this and he said, no it helps the nausea and not the vomiting. A question though, can I take the Zofran and phenergan together? He didn't say anything about and the phenergan works.

Anyway, I'm done complaining now. Until next week when I have to go back again. I'd love to be normal and only have to go every 4 weeks.

[Gail]

Angela - I'm sorry that you Dr. doesn't understand hg. But you can take the zofran and the phenergan. I would try to stagger them, so you are covered all day. Hopefully between the two, you'll get some relief from the nausea. Good luck!

[rjdecker]

Angela,
I don't know if this will help, but I take vistaril and it takes care of the nausea and the vomiting, without the icky side effect of constipation. It also makes you hungry so that you can eat. It is also a lot cheaper than zofran. i tried zofran and it did not help. See what he says. it may make a difference.
Jenny

[Marie]

Angela,

I have been wondering how you were doing. I had not seen a post from you since the announcement of your Pregnancy. I am glad that you are not vomiting, but in my mind the nausea is just as bad if not worse in some respects. Yes you can take the phenergan and the Zofran together. Try staggering your doses for maxium relief. Sorry switching docs is not an option for you. Was this the same doc that took care of you with your dd?

Take care of yourself and your lil ones,
Best Wishes,
Marie

[IslandDreamer]

Hi Angela,

Glad to see you.

Sheesh, sorry you're dealing with that. As you say, doc is a ding-dong.
One needn't puke a lot to have HG. I'm an example. One needn't ONLY lose weight. I'm an example of getting fat on IVs. I still had HG. So doc needs to broaden his learning.

That being said, and very unhelpful to your situation, except to say that I agree doc is a ding-dong...oh did I say that already?

Like the gals say, phen and Zofran are usually fine together.

Suzanne

[freesgirl]

sorry about the situation you are in and i hope you start feeling better

[Jenny]

caleighbelle47,

There is one small helper I found when I was pregnant. I have three friends on medical diets for losing weight. It is a weird plan one of the carb ones. But they cut the carbs and to make up nutritian they have specially designed foods that taste VERY good. The thing that makes them special is that they have high calories, and very high protein. When I was very sick, I tried the jello and the chicken noodle soups and some very tasty fizzy drinks. my friends got them for their diets and gave them to me, I do not remember off of the top of my head the name of them, but you could find out from a nutritionist, or if you want, I could ask my friends. They are easy to prepare and healthy and they help you to get the vitamins, protein, and calories you need. You could probably find them at stores where dieters eat. I gained weight on jello alone when I was throwing up every else I tried. Jello gave me five pounds in about three weeks. Anyway, if you like I could research it to find out the name of the stuff where to buy it. It was very good.

[caleighbelle47]

Jenny, I really appreciate the offer. However, I honestly think I'm okay. I think my doctor's just full of crap. He clearly doesn't have a clue. Yes, I'm losing weight, but I'm not losing that much and I'm not losing it too fast either.

I am eating, and not really throwing up what I eat either. Plus what I eat seems to be relatively healthy. Like my doc admitted, I'm losing weight but my body isn't in starvation mode. It's still getting what it needs. And I'm not underweight for my size either. I still had an extra 20 lbs. left over from my last pregnancy. I have complete faith in my body and this doctor obviously hasn't seen really bad HG. He put severe HG on my chart, it might be bad, but I certainly wouldn't classify me as severe.

And most importantly I'm feeling great emotionally. I'm not sure how or why, but I just feel so happy and in a great mood. Here I am, on bedrest, sick and totally drugged, but my spirits feel great. With my last pregnancy I was so depressed and in a horrible mood, this time is so different.

I really appreciate all of the responses. You guys are so great here.

[freesgirl]

girl i just noticed you have a 6 month old and are pregnant again with hg i hope you are getting help from dh and family

[caleighbelle47]

Well I had another appointment today, and he's still stupid. I don't know why I even bother to go. I've been eating more, and feeling MUCH worse. And I'm losing weight at a faster rate now. I can't stand going to the doctor, he just keeps saying to eat more and eat ALL day long. And then he sits there telling me things to eat. He even makes these stupid eating hand gestures while he talks. All the while I'm about to gag as he mentions all of these nasty foods. He's recommending food I wouldn't be able to eat even if I wasn't pregnant.

And then he flat out asks me AGAIN, if I've had an eating disorder in the past. I was SO mad. He must really think that this is all in my head. Like I'm just sitting at home saying, "oh I'd like to lose some weight, I think I'll just not eat anything today."

As it is now, I'm eating a lot more than I think I can stomach. I eat until I feel stuffed, but it's doesn't take much to get to that point. But I'm still losing the weight. So I figure that I'm going to have to listen to him every week or two until the baby's born.

How does everyone deal with dumb doctors. I know ignoring them is best, but what about when they go on and on and on.....

Oh, and the Zofran didn't do anything except make me constipated. So I stopped taking it. It's unbelieveable how fast that stuff can cause consitpation.

[Marie]

Sorry you are getting repeatedly crackered!! The only suggestion I can come up with is to send him to HG island. The man is obviously set in his ways, and lacking common sense. Also you could purchase one of those "I'm not listening t-shirts" and wear it to your next appointment.

Take Care,
Marie

[caty]

!!!!!Lots of hugs for you!!!!!!! I know how it is to not be able to switch doctors... our insurance covers 1 ob/gyn within 30 some miles of us. Luckily my doctor is somewhat compassionate to our grief. (Although he's still telling me that it'll get better in a couple of weeks!!) The best advice I have for you (which is REALLY hard on the budget) is that when something sounds good, eat it. **Foodment: in one three day period I had the ONLY thing I kept down was fried mushrooms and horseradish sauce: End Foodment** And remember: it takes extra calories to make a baby, and you're getting less calories than usual...weight loss is imminent (sp?) at this point. I've also found that Boost/Ensure sometimes work. This website is helpful, as are all the wonderful people here, a frustration is that you won't find much helpful stuff in any of your "expecting" books or from the nurses at the hospital. But it sounds like you're being proactive in your healthcare, and keep that mind set and make them listen as best you can. (I personally like to fantisize about smacking people in the head with boxes of crackers!)
~Caty

[Christi]

All I can recommend is dont hold back on the nausea when he starts with what to eat. Throw up on him! Maybe then he will send you to the ER or do something other than talk. A doctor with a great perspective could just be an ER trip away. Even if it is just for an ER trip, you might find there is someone there who has a clue, wont belittle you and can prescribe something that will work for you!

[Lil7Deb]

I'm sorry your dr is being such a jerk. That is awful. I had the same problem this pregnancy. VERY VERY little vomiting. Just major dryheaving when I ate, and around the clock for long periods of time. While some women only see relief from zofran for vomiting I saw amazing relief from the nausea and the urge to dryheave.

I don't know if that helps you any, but don't be afraid to try the zofran at different doses to see what works for you. I made it up to 24mg a day just to keep the nausea at bay.

I'm sorry he's being such a turd about you not being able to eat.

Have you been back to talk to him? Have you found anything that works for you yet? Hang in there. ((((HUGS))))

[IslandDreamer]

My new doc, whom I love and thought understood HG, actually asked me how many times I puked on Monday. Seems spilling ketones and bursting blood vessels around my eyes isn't sufficient.

But your doc takes the proverbial all expenses paid trip to HG Island for the eating disorder thing. Hell yes, I have HG....that's the same as bulimia, isn't it .

[helen-l-a]

Hello

Do you think your doctor was a pig in a past life? He seems almost obsessed with food! Unfortunately it is not just men doctors who don't seem to understand HG there are a lot of female doctors. Dare I say it, some even struggle to comprehend the normal difficulties of pregnancy without added complications (and that in my experience covers the midwives as well!)

Hope you get somewhere soon, perhaps he will go on holiday for a few months and you can have someone else... heres hopingxx

Helenxxx

[Ivydragon]

Angela,

Are you on B6 and Unisom? This usually helps a great deal with nausea. Another thing that helps is powdered ginger root capsules. How much Zofran did he put you on, and how far along are you?

I think that somewhere there was a list of how to deal with an HGer. Your Dr. needs to read it. Simple suggestions of specifics of foods can turn a woman off of eating! True, he doesn't get it, but it sounds like he's at his wit's end, and wants to help. He did afterall get the insurance to approve the Zofran. Zofran doesn't work well when women are dehydrated. How much are you drinking in oz. per day? How many days did you try the Zofran? I think that he might be receptive to some HG education. Perhaps he will turn his nose up, but he might just be trying to treat you from what he knows - and some Drs. just don't know enough. I'll do some digging. See if there's something you could print up and take to him.

HuGS and hang in there - don't worry about nutritional value, caloric intake is more important and eating what sounds good will be easier to stomach. Zofran for me helped with nausea AND vomiting. Nausea is a completely different clinical diagnoses from vomiting and both affect the severity of HG. I know how difficult it is to force oneself to eat. Most husbands and Drs. who recommend doing so are practically sick with worry.

Hugs, Andy
HER forums administrator

[Ivydragon]

Perhaps you could provide your Dr. with the www.helpher.org website. On the home page there is a link for Health Professionals. It is great information that may help your OB get the right slant on understanding your HG. In that information it lists that a 1.5 lb weight loss per week is serious, and should be taken seriously. Even if you "had a few pounds to loose", you could still be suffering dehydration and malnutrition. More could certainly be done to ensure the health and safety of both you and your baby.

Andy
Forum Administrator

[Tracey]

Angela,

I forgot to put my e-mail address in my last reply so here it is in case you would like to talk more. From yet another pregnant with HG mom . I e-mailed a reply to you before this one.

traceyzclean@yahoo.com

Sincerely,
Tracey Conover