OHSS Dos and Don'ts

Now that I've had a few weeks to slightly recover from my OHSS I want to put together a post to help all the other ladies out there who find themselves struck with this horrible syndrome! :(  I spent a lot of time laying around feeling miserable, googling OHSS, and finding very little practical advice out there. I definitely know that having OHSS, and being pregnant with twins, is no joke!



 Here is just a simple list of what I learned about OHSS recovery, things I heard from nurses, my doctor, read on forums, or learned mostly through my own experiences of guess & check: 


OHSS Dos and Don'ts 
-DO ask your clinic if they have any info or recommendations on what you eat
-DO increase your intake of sodium. Contrary to what some say about OHSS, it is not bloating from water. Increasing your sodium isn't bad. In fact, your sodium levels with OHSS are low. Increasing your sodium helps your body to metabolize the fluids you're leaking
 -DO drink gatorade, coconut water, smartwater and any other drinks with electrolytes
-DON'T drink plain water. At all. Also, DON'T drink water with lemon, which some people on forums are suggesting. This isn't a liver condition! It's a crazy blood vessel condition! Lemon and acidic levels HURTTTTT
-DO weigh yourself. Severe weight gain is a sign that you might need to have the fluid aspirated
-DO measure your stomach, morning and night - not only is it good to know if you're adding more bloat, but it will be SHOCKING to see how big you actually get
-DO increase your protein intake in whatever way your stomach allows. A nurse suggested Ensure shakes towards the end and I drank 3 a day. I managed to avoid another draining so perhaps that helped to do the trick!
-DO stay home and keep your feet up. It will get worse before it gets better! Even towards the end, after 4 weeks of it, I still wasn't able to walk long distances and had to use a scooter at Walmart!
-DO manage your pain. Night was the worst for me (kidneys are exhausted after a day of fighting gravity). Take tylenol or whatever else your doctor suggests to get through the pain!
-DON'T try to sleep in bed if it's uncomfortable. I lived in my recliner for 6 weeks after my initial diagnosis. Even after I was "recovered" my back and abdominal muscles were too weak to really support myself lying flat in bed. This also made it easier to get through the days.
-DO keep your feet up, because your chance of blood clots is higher with OHSS (my platelets were so high that I had to take Lovenox for a week)
-DO ask your doctor about alternate ways to take your hormone supplements. I was to take my estradiol orally but since I could hardly eat, on the days I had an empty stomach I would get really ill. Ask if it can be put in vaginally
-DO keep moving as much as you can. Walk around the house a couple times... keep your blood flowing and your muscles warm!

-DO keep a journal. One day, this misery will all be a memory :) I promise!


... I will add more as I think of them