Severe heartburn getting me down :(

[first_time_mummy]

Hi ladies, I may sound like the biggest winger, but this isnt just a little bit of heartburn/intergestion.
I have it that bad, i cant sleep at night, and wake up in tears with stomach cramps, and headspins from it.

I eat dinner at about 6.30-7, and usually go to bed at about 9.30.
But always wake up about 12 midnight-2am, with a burning acid feeling coming up my throat...it so bad, not like normal heartburn i had early in the pregnancy, but severe mouthfuls of it, that cause my eyes to water and i feel like im going to throw up.

I even get it when i just swallow a mouthful of water, or even my own saliva!!
I have tried everything the midwife suggested, mylanta, tums, gaviscon, milk, zantec...everything...but nothing works, and i just find the tablets come burning back up even if i try...

I was so over it last night, i was in tears, and ready to drive into my local hospital and tell them to induce me and get the baby out....seriously...

What do i do? Im that scared to eat now, cause im petrified it will come burning back up my throat again...

[Doing my best]

hun,it really sux!

With my DS, it got so bad, my ob prescribed Ranitide, and it worked. None of the other stuff was coming close to working, but this was like a gift from above!!

Hope you can find something that works, cause it isn't nice, and I totally sympathise with you..

[Stevie]

i know where your coming from it sucks so bit for you
i had it really bad for awhile, and couldnt work out why, it turns out fruit juice (any kind) and oranges give it to me SUPER bad. The juice i was drinking EVERY day and night and then once i figured out that was one of the causes it eased up. i still get it almost every night, but no where near that bad.
Im just saying maybe something sets you off?
its an aweful aweful feeling but its not long now... you're almost there

[Rhia]

I got it quite bad to the point it was causing me to wake up in the night too. I just kept eating quikeze! But as Stevie pointed out, maybe something is setting it off? A girl I know had to eliminate foods/drinks with high acidity and Im pretty sure that worked for her.
It does suck and I really feel for you, its one thing I definitely do not miss from pregnancy!! good luck

[first_time_mummy]

i know where your coming from it sucks so bit for you
i had it really bad for awhile, and couldnt work out why, it turns out fruit juice (any kind) and oranges give it to me SUPER bad. The juice i was drinking EVERY day and night and then once i figured out that was one of the causes it eased up. i still get it almost every night, but no where near that bad.
Im just saying maybe something sets you off?
its an aweful aweful feeling but its not long now... you're almost there

I was eating a lot of oranges at one point, i was having like 3 a day to try keep my vitamin c up, but i ended up doing more damage than good, and i got severe stomach cramps from them. I stopped eating them about a week and a half ago, but its been since then that my heartburn is getting bad.

I thought it may be eating dinner and going to bed a few hours after, but im sure 2 hours is long enough to let the food go down??

I also usually lay down straight away after dinner, and watch tv. so maybe that isnt helping..??

I tried a glass of milk after dinner last night, and i had some antacid tablets, and sat up straight for about a half hour afterward, and i didnt get it last night....so i might stick to that little plan, and see how i go

[Olive]

i found gaviscon liquid the best out of the antacids, but what helped me the most was accupunture!! id go for treatment with bad reflux and within 15 or so mins of starting i could feel the acid go back down, was such a relief, i was also taking herbs from my accupunturist so he tailored them to my needs, so drinking the tea helped in between visits

[~Kim~]

Heartburn sucks doesn't it? babe I know.
I had it 24/7 both pregs.
Have you tried fruit tingles? Sounds dumb but worked for a while for me.
Otherwise go to your GP or ask to see the Ob at the hossy and tell them you want something prescribed. They'll probably offer Zantac (generic ranitidine) but that didn't do much for me. THere are stronger tablets you can take that really do help.
Good luck babe. I was going through 3litres of milk a day on my own.

[lyra stardust]

The ONLY thing that worked for me was the ranitidine- but I have to take it religiously 150mg twice a day at about 9am and 5-6 pm. If I;m a bit late then the symptoms all come back. I don't think I could have survived the last few weeks without it! Have you tried taking this twice a day? It didn't work for me once a day and I had to get over the whole "I don't think I should be taking tablets- what if it;s not good for the baby" thing, but eventually I figured that drinking half a bottle of gaviscon every day probably wasn;t good for him either!

Hope you find something that works!! I would go back to your doctor and get something stronger.

Good luck

[Rumpleteaser]

Ranitidine also come in a once per day tab, go and ask your chemist. I use to take mine about 3pm which would cover me during the worst part of the day and night. I also found tomato based foods, fizzy drinks, citrus and curries made it worse for me. I also suffered alot when waking for a drink of water at night, I would follow that with a slug of mylanta.

Hope you find some relief.

[~Hestia~]

It's awful isn't it? I had bad reflux when I was pregnant too. I used Slippery Elm which my midwife recommended to me. It comes in a capsule form & can be bought anywhere that sells vitamns etc. I also used 3 pillows - 2 under my head & another directly below that my shoulders lay on top of. If that makes sense!!

[first_time_mummy]

yeah midwife keeps suggesting zantac, but it just doesnt do the trick...and tums taste good, but give me no relief.
i found the milk helped the other night, but last night i tried the milk again, and it didnt work, i was up all ours with it bad again.

Im pretty sure i tried gaviscon when i was at a friends place, but i might give it a shot again. Its safe to take during pregnancy isnt it?

[MamaPan]

def dont lie down straight after eating...
spk to your dr about it if you think you need something stronger. i had an ulcer when i was preg and there are some stong antacid type drugs that are safe if you need them. i took pariet for the ulcer and it helped a lot.

[Kazbah]

I had this as well - the good news is that as soon as I had the 3rd stage of labour I could drink water, lemonade or anything again!

Have you tried raising the head of your bed with a couple of bricks or summat? Also raising shoulders & head really helps. Otherwise, try to keep away from spicy foods or drink.

good luck!