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So my reflux at night when i am laid down is now getting really bad. I have woken up twice having a choking fit, because i have started to aspirate on my stomach contents... :cry: It is really scary when u are fast asleep. I am taking mylanta at night and trying to sleep propped up on pillows. nothing seems to be working. I don't want to take ranitadine.... probably i just want to have a good moan!
So has anyone have this happen and what did you do about it??
I had shocking heartburn with DS1. I bought a big wedge pillow that propped me up at night. I also took Schuessler Tissue salts - acid neutralizer, Nat Phos. You get them at a health food store or from a naturopath.
The problem with mylanta is that it leaches calcium from the body.
I had a lot of heartburn last pg, and this pg it's been there too, but not as bad ... so I sympathise! there is only so much acid you can throw up before it turns you into Ms Crankypants ...
ok, so my tips:
1. lie ONLY on your left hand side. the way your stomach and oesophagus fit together, to keep the top of your stomach bag lower than the opening of your oesophagus, you need to lie on your left side. On your back, tummy or right side, if there's lots of acid/food, it bathes the bottom of your oesophagus and is much more likely to burn or come back up.
2. milk. lots of milk during the day. and I mean lots.
3. find a good balance of zantac and mylanta. on my Dr's advice, I just ended up having one zantac morning and night every day for most of my pg ... and then when it was particularly bad, mylanta on top of it. see what your Dr says.
4. if zantac isn't enough, ask your Dr about Periot (sp??) it's this medicine they can prescribe which makes your stomach produce less acid, and so there's less heartburn. your Dr will assumedly be able to tell you if it's something which can help you. they prescribed that for me quite a ways towards the end of my pg, and it helped.
5. avoid any standard triggers ... anything fatty, anything acidic, anything spicy, bulb things (onion, garlic, etc) ... anything else you've noticed might set you off. if you're not sure, I strongly recommend keeping an absolutely exhaustive food diary, with space for you to write down times and foods and drinks, and with a column on the side for you to write in when you've had heartburn, with a rating out of 10 ... that way, you can go over it every few days, and see if there's any triggers you haven't been aware of.
6. people always say plenty of water, but I actually found that clear fluids could make my heartburn worse - I don't know why ... but obviously, if water/broth/etc upset you, find other things which you can keep hydrated with, which don't upset you! for me, it was just more milk ... but as long as you know what fluids you can flush your system out with to keep everything running properly without exaccerbating the reflux, go for gold ...
big hugs, and good luck ...
sorry if all of the above is stuff you already know :hug:
ohh Bella you poor thing :(
I had a few bouts of awful reflux/heartburn and woke up a couple of times with stomach acid racing up my throat :S
The only things I found helpful were avoiding anything oily, no food or drink a few hours before bed (my cut off was 8pm for an 11pm bedtime), sleeping propped up on a mountain of pillows, and aniseed tea (DH used to boil a few teaspoons of aniseeds in about half a litre of water for 5 minutes and I'd drink that either hot or cold).
My m/w also suggested alfalfa tea but by the time I got my bum to the healthfood shop to buy some, the reflux had settled.
Goodluck!! x
Thanks for the suggestions and understanding girls, means a lot! I will definitely be trying a few of those suggestions.
Eutra- thanks for the sympathy. I think i needed that as much as anything. Must be having a pregnant "poor me" day.
Oh I can empathise with you. I have had it for weeks and have only started to really look after myself, all of Peanutter's advice is really good.
One wrong mouthfull of food and I am throwing up, stay away from anything acidiky, orange juice, tomato, orange gatorade .. blah
Oh its horrid isn't it!!
I have actually had upchuck days because of the reflux.
I live on Quickeze and Milk at the moment. I have very small meals and am meant to have more meals but I forget to eat the extra food LOL.
I try to avoid spicy food (but Tom Yum Soup is sooooo goood) and Chocolate (as if).
I have started drinking more fruit smoothieslike banana,mango, strawberries etc through the day and at night I sleep semi propped on my left side.
My Midwife suggested I try a teaspoon of Chia Seeds (in the health food section of supermarket) you MUST drink a bit of water afterwards though apparently :dunno:
GoodLuck Hun x x x
I've only just started to get this the last three days... It's hideous!! Another joy of pregnancy.....
I've only tried the chalky mylanta..
But I'm finding hard to find foods that don't set me off.
Very hard I've had a lot of toast n milk... Not what bub needs at all but I tried to eat dinner last night & it didn't end well.