Verified By Apollo Hospitals October 1, 2024
For some women, pregnancy is a beautiful journey. In comparison, others experience severe morning sickness. Morning sickness reduces or completely goes away within 12 weeks. However, when morning sickness becomes severe, the doctors refer to it as hyperemesis gravidarum.
The condition makes expectant mothers vomit more than four times daily, causing dehydration. Pregnant women may also experience constant dizziness, lightheadedness and weight loss.
This blog is a comprehensive understanding of hyperemesis gravidarum, its symptoms, causes, complications, risk factors, and treatment.
As mentioned above, hyperemesis gravidarum is an extreme form of morning sickness resulting in severe vomiting and nausea. Less than 3% of pregnant women experience the condition. The symptoms include constant vomiting that causes dehydration, weight loss, frequent dizziness and lightheadedness. However, the symptoms become extreme that the expectant mothers cannot retain any food. In such cases, doctors recommend hospitalization.
There is no need to worry as this condition is temporary, and there are different ways to manage the same.
Morning sickness often disappears by the end of the first trimester, but hyperemesis gravidarum generally lasts longer. Pregnant women start to experience this condition anytime between the 4th to 6th week; it may worsen between the 9th – 13th week of pregnancy. In this time frame, women experience severe vomiting that hinders their daily activities. However, for most women, the symptoms improve by the 20th week of pregnancy.
Doctors are unaware of the causes of hyperemesis gravidarum. However, they believe it is associated with a hormone level rise. Women who had hyperemesis gravidarum in their first pregnancy are at a greater risk of getting it again in their subsequent pregnancy.
It is vital to note that morning sickness and hyperemesis gravidarum are different conditions with distinct symptoms and complications. However, distinguishing both helps proper diagnosis.
The typical symptom of morning sickness is nausea, sometimes accompanied by vomiting. Close to 90% of women experience it. Morning sickness usually goes away after 12 weeks of pregnancy but may continue till 20 weeks or longer. However, vomiting due to nausea does not cause severe dehydration. The pregnant woman may also experience fatigue, lack of appetite, and disruption in daily activities, but this may not need hospitalization.
On the other hand, hyperemesis gravidarum only occurs in 0.5 to 2% of pregnancies. It begins with nausea and severe vomiting that may lead to severe dehydration, loss of appetite, and severe weight loss. Also, patients with this condition cannot retain food or fluid. In extreme cases, the patient may need to be hospitalized due to malnutrition and dehydration.
Typically, hyperemesis gravidarum starts in the first trimester of pregnancy. The symptoms can appear and disappear. Therefore, sometimes, women may require hospitalization to manage their symptoms, and at other times they may manage at home . Some of the most common symptoms of hyperemesis gravidarum include:
Women must contact the doctor if they are pregnant and have severe nausea and vomiting. They must also contact the doctor if they have the following symptoms:
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When women experience a rapid increase in serum levels of hormones, such as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and oestrogen, it causes hyperemesis gravidarum. Extreme nausea and vomiting during pregnancy can sometimes also suggest multiple pregnancies (women carry more than one baby) or hydatidiform mole (an abnormal tissue growth that is not a pregnancy).
The risk factors for hyperemesis gravidarum include:
The treatment for hyperemesis gravidarum depends on the severity of the woman’s symptoms. Some of the possible treatments might include:
Although doctors do not know how to prevent hyperemesis gravidarum completely. Women can try the following measures to prevent nausea and vomiting from becoming severe:
A pregnant woman experiences hyperemesis gravidarum, which can create complications for the mother and child. The following are the complications:
The symptoms of hyperemesis gravidarum disappear after the birth of the child. Treating this condition during pregnancy can lower the risk of complications for the woman and the baby. Women can deal with hyperemesis gravidarum by consulting the doctor .
Hyperemesis gravidarum is not fatal since it does not threaten the life of the woman or the baby.
The doctor will discuss the woman’s symptoms, evaluate their medical history and conduct a physical exam. Additionally, the doctor can ask for specific lab tests to make a diagnosis.
Generally, hyperemesis gravidarum affects women during the first trimester of their pregnancy.
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