When is Morning Sickness Severe Enough to Worry About?

When is Morning Sickness Severe Enough to Worry About

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A lot of people believe that morning sickness is something that comes naturally with pregnancy. Perhaps they are right. But a lot of women suffer from severe morning sickness that isn't as normal as everyone would like think. There is such a condition referred to as severe morning sickness. It is called Hyperemisis Gravidarum (HG).

HG is typically characterized the loss of at least 5% of a woman's pre-pregnancy body weight. The mere idea of losing weight during a pregnancy should cue one into thinking that there must be something wrong with the mother-to-be. HG is a condition that affects as much as 1 in 300 pregnant women. It is not a condition to be taken lightly since its complications, if left untreated, can be fatal.

HG is hard to diagnose because its manifestations are very similar to your run-of-the-mill morning sickness. Most diagnoses of HG occur in the emergency room where doctors have to administer emergency treatment before the complications like dehydration and malnutrition worsen. The cause of HG though, remains unknown.

The most promising theory suggests that HG is the body's adverse reaction to the drastic change of hormonal levels during pregnancy, especially the level of the hormone HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin). This would explain why HG is most commonly observed during the first trimester, about 8-12 weeks, of pregnancy where the levels of HCG shoot up. Some of the symptoms of HG usually include loss of at least 5% of pre-pregnancy body weight, dehydration, malnutrion, lack of appetite, constipation, excessive vomiting, broken blood vessels in the eyes and even hallucinations. Pregnant women should be wary of these symptoms so as not to mistake HG from typical morning sickness and thus avoid further complications.

Treatments for HG are usually efforts to correct chemical and nutritional imbalances that the symptoms cause to the body. These involve IV hydration and supplementation of the nutrients that are missing in the body. Because of the risk to the fetus, drug administration is usually not a good idea. Although there are a number of drugs that are believed to be safe enough to treat HG, most doctors tend to just correct the nutritional and chemical imbalances and to make the patient as comfortable as possible.

It is important that the people around the patient understand that Hyperemisis Gravidarum is so much more than just severe morning sickness. Patients who suffer from HG may also suffer from depression, so it is essential that her family and friends support her throughout the pregnancy.

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