Amy Schumeris thrilled to be pregnant with her first child, but she isn’t lovingthe severe morning sickness that landed her in the hospital.
The actress and comedian, 37, was forced to cancel her the Dallas stop on her standup tour yesterday, explaining to fans that she hashyperemesis gravidarum, the same pregnancy side effect thatKate Middletonbattled with all three of her children.
Amy Schumer/Instagram
The condition typically comes on suddenly.
“It’s the body reaction to the pregnancy hormone,” Dr. Dagni Rajasingam, spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians, previously told PEOPLE. “Some women who are very sensitive to it can start feeling nauseated early on in pregnancy and it will provoke them to take the test.”
Treatment options include IVs for fluids and, in at least 20 percent of cases, feeding tubes for nutrition. Anti-nausea medications commonly used for chemotherapy patients are often prescribed off-label for women suffering with HG, but “it’s certainly not a cure,” Dr. Marlena Fejzo, a UCLA professor of research and leading expert on HG, previously told PEOPLE. Nor is there extensive research examining the potential effects of such medications on women and their babies.
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Although the cause is unknown, a family history of HG raises a woman’s risk. Women carrying multiples are also more likely to develop HG, as are women carrying girls. “The leading theory is that the cause is hormonal,” Dr. Fejzo said. “Obviously when you’re carrying twins those hormones are higher, so if you have a problem processing those hormones then you’re more likely to feel worse.”
Dr. Fejzo and others said that they hope that the princess’s struggle will shed a light on the disease to help boost research and funding for better treatment options. “It’s a horrible condition,” says Sarah Rosen, a Chicago-area mom who suffered from HG during her first pregnancy, “but at least maybe this will draw some attention to it.”
For more information on HG, visithelpher.org.
source: people.com
