Acid Reflux & Hearburn at 20 weeks

Hi

I've never had a problem with acid reflux or heartburn. Last night, I had some pasta with tomato meat sauce. For the rest of the night (until 7am this morning) I felt so sick and barely slept. I could not stop burping, my stomach acid was sitting in my throat burning it all night, and I even vomited at one point. It's definitely not food poisoning as my husband had the same and was fine and I didn't have any food poisoning symptoms.

Is this "normal"? I've already decided no more tomato-based sauces (which I love) but what can I take if something like this happens again?

buliej

Tums or mylanta.
I was also fine up until week20 when the heart burn got terrible and I couldn't keep much down. Try stay away from citrus too. It was just as bad as tomatoes for me!

I had terrible reflux while pregnant so I sympathise! My midwife put me onto Slippery Elm, it's in a capsule & available where ever you can buy vitamins.
It really helped me, I noticed more heartburn when I forgot to take it.
Other than that, are you sleeping propped up? Even just an extra pillow under your shoulders will help.

i had really severe acid reflux with both my pregnancies, to the point that i couldn't breathe, and my stomach felt like it was burning and eating itself. i ended up being medicated from 16 weeks with ds, and 12 weeks with dd, i took somac which helped sooo much. mine wasn't anything to do with food though, when i was 20, i burnt a hole through my stomach lining by drinking straight absinthe, and it played up severly through my pregnancies...

Thanks for the suggestions...I guess it didn't help that I had 2 glasses of lemonade before I ate dinner...I've been having cravings for very sour/tart things - another thing I'll have to cut out. Sleeping positions is a whole other issue for me - I can try an extra pillow but I'm having trouble getting comfortable at all as I'm a belly sleeper and changing to my side has been difficult.

i had shocking reflux and heartburn when i was pregnant. the only thing that helped was zantac. you can buy it over the counter at any chemist. it is perfectly safe to use whilst you are pregnant. plus you can take it any time during the day and can have up to 2 tablets twice a day 12 hours apart!!!

I found fruit tingle lollies helped when it was mild and Mylanta towards the end. I had to cut out citrus foods, tomatoes and other triggers. Milk helped lots.

Rennie for me! They taste like chalk but the relief is instant...

Also, try small frequent meals instead of large servings.

It's caused by your growing baby placing pressure on your stomach and forcing open the valve between your stomach and your oesophagus. This valve usually prevents anything from heading up and keeps everything down. Once it is forced open, those lovely gastric juices and digestive acids are free to play where ever they like! Not very pleasant, but very normal.

Just purchased Rennie during lunch - seems to be working although I'm still a bit uncomfortable and haven't eaten much today.

Not sure if it's 'normal' but I've been feeling at bit 'refluxy' over the past couple of weeks. Your post has helped me realise what it is.

I had it really bad at the start and now only occasionally will I get it but the Quickeze chewy ones were the best for me cause they weren't powdery like all the others (powdery ones made me feel so sick!) And I got forrest berry too not mint which also made me feel sick!

I find that bread, peanut butter and a couple of other things make it really bad... which sucks cause I love bread right now!

i lived off mylanta my whole pregnancy. even then it was awful. had it all day everyday.

so glad to be rid of it

Sympathy! I have banished tomatoes from my life, which is particularly difficult, as we've got the most lovely crop growing in our garden! Spicy and fatty foods also make it worse, and definitely nothing fried!

I find sitting upright after meals is pretty helpful, and I sleep propped up on a latex pillow. So far I haven't gone down any pharmaceutical relief paths, but I think it's but a matter of time...

Hope the Rennie helps you out!

Sucks doesn't it :hug:

I'm another one that found fruit tingles to help when it was mild and then was swigging mylanta from the bottle by the end. For me, pretty much everything gave me heartburn at the end. But as soon as DD was born, it was gone.

I had it bad with my first pregnancy, and it started early with this one. I've discovered mylanta now do effervescent tabs which are great, they are my new nightcap!

And quickeze chewies in my handbag at all times. No eating late, sit up until it settles and hang in there. Don't be afraid to see the dog.

I started my labour still unable to drink anything but milk - literally as soon as the placenta delivered, I was able to drink lemonade, and eat spicy food!!!! Good luck!

Ah Kazbah you reminded me - milk! I had a glass with every meal, sipped it slowly & it always gave me relief. I would get quite panicy if I didn't have any milk with my meal! I even asked for it at restaurants, felt silly but it was either that or suffer!

I'll have to remember milk as a fix. Last night I ate blandly and slowly and did OK. I also slept on an additional pillow which really seemed to help - great suggestion. In fact, my husband said it was also the first time I haven't snored since being pregnant (pre-pregnancy I didn't snore) - so all around, everyone was happy.

Good to hear it's easing a bit. It really is the worst, but it will disappear as soon a bub is out!

buliej have u tried Zantac??

I'm 20wks (almost 21wks) pregnant and have suffered servere acid indigestion/heartburn for the last 3wks and nothing has worked until my midwife suggested the Zantac and surprise surprise it actually helped me, my heartburn was that bad i was vomitting and couldnt sleep of a night time

Goodluck and hope it eases for you :hug:

Thanks

I'll keep that in mind for the future. Things have improved - it seems like it was just a really bad night - the rest of the time it's manageable with the Remmie (?) tablets.

im glad it was only one night for you, i had tried the rennie but didnt seem to do anything, i had also tried mylanta but nothing worked for me except a numbing stuff from a Dr but as mentioned at my midwife appointment yesturday she suggested the Zantac and it worked wonders :)

Hi Buliej,

Great you're feeling better and really wonderful to see your pregnancy is going well. I am 21 weeks now and also have a problem with reflux which started when I was on a high carb diet because of the GD test. I've eaten pickles and olives as I read somewhere to fight like with like and it helps, my doula also recommended slippery elm but I haven't tried it yet, since I am eating less carbs things have improved, I alao make sure I am sitting upright for a few hours after I've eaten.

Sara