I Have Really Bad Heartburn

I took prevacid with my daughter. (They prescribed it for me) nothing helped but that! I hope you can get some relief!

I am 26 weeks pregnant with my 2nd and live on tums. If you can tolerate them try milk and also sleep with a wedge pillow it will help the acid. Good Luck!

I took Zantac 150. Between that and sleeping sitting up, I was fine. Good luck. I know how painful that is. And congratultions!

I suffered horribly with my first pregnancy because I wanted to do everything natural. With the second one I asked for help from my ob, she said to start with Zantac. I started on the lower dose and ended up taking the bigger dose about a month later. It was WONDERFUL. I took it every day for prevention. Tums, Rolaids, etc. did nothing for me. Good luck, talk to your ob and don't be afraid to take something stronger for it.

Ugh, I'm still dealing with this. I had terrible indigestion and heartburn during the first trimester and it came back hardcore during the third trimester. Tums/Pepcid/Maalox work ok sometimes, but milk or ice cream before bed seems to work the best. I've also had good results from limiting fried food and chocolate (sadly, those seem to be the two big triggers for me). Sleeping with your upper body raised should help, as well as staying upright or moving around after meals.

Also, water and juice tend to aggravate it, so I try to drink juice and water earlier in the day, but not before bed. I've also tried digestive enzymes and digestion teas -- a little relief, but I've been willing to try just about anything during this pregnancy!

Good luck -- hope it gets better for you.
Aimee

Congrats on you soon to be new addition. Try drinking a glass of milk..that really helped me in my first pregnancy...I had horrible heartburn. Also ask about Zantac... I was allowed to take it with my second pregnancy near the end becuase I had heartburn so bad I was vomiting in my sleep (yuck!!) I have no idea at which point in the pregnancy it is safe to take. With my first I was pretty much told to suffer by my old practitioner. My new practitioner was much more liberal. Well good luck.

First off congratulations on the pregnancy and hope everything works out healthy and well for you and the baby.Second off, I say this not directed to any of you mamas but rather in reference to your OB's or caretakers. Why in the world are your doctors prescribing meds for heartburn when there are much healthier ways of dealing with it????? D., have you tried drinking milk on the hour everyday? Have you reied altering your diet? Have you cut out grease, fat, salt and sugar? Those are the causes of heartburn. Meds just coat the problem but don't resolve it. If you do these things you will gaurantee not have heartburn anymore and you will be eating much better for the baby as well. The problem is that with the meds ppl. continue to eat things that are terribly unhealthy for the baby and they put on unnecessary weight from the pregnancy and regret it later. Try these things and see how they work and I vouch that you;ll begin to feel great. Good luck and hope things improve and you get better real quick!

Hi D.,

A cold glass of milk always worked for me. I hated Tums - so I stuck with this.

Good Luck!
T.

Drink plenty of water and sipping a teaspoon of apple cidar vinegar worked for me.
N.

Hi, I had it too my doctor said was before you get up from the bed bite two diet krakers. It helps and instead of drinking one glass water at one time just take sips from the bottle.

I had awful heartburn too. The only way to get it to go away was limit my carbs. Since carbs are sugar they tend to give heartburn, it always seems worse when your pregnant.
Good Luck!

MAALOX. MAALOX. MAALOX. They don't stick to your teeth and are safe for the baby. I lived on them when I was pregnant.
Also don't lie down right after you eat, and prop up some pillows so you don't lie flat.

Ah....what we go through for our babies right? I had bad indigestion, not so much heartburn I guess. But it was close enough to take some of the same things for heartburn. I have read that, get this, ICE CREAM may work. The milk will coat your stomach. I think I may have read this on Dr. William Sears (pediatrician) website and on WebMd. I would search out Dr. William Sears website and look on there. He's the best. He is known for being America's Fav. peditrician. Hope you feel better!

I feel your pain! I had horrible heartburn with my son, too. My doctor let me take Zantac 150 once a day, but I ended up getting the 75mg pills and taking them twice a day - it seemed to work a little better for me. And - this will sound weird - chewing bubblegum helped a lot! I don't know what it was about it, but it worked! Good luck!

Congratulations on the pregnancy! I remember how bad it was with my first one, it felt like pressure/pain going through my chest and out my back. Definitely eating smaller meals will help, but when you go to bed, elevate your pillow. I also would keep a can of Sprite or 7Up handy. It helps to bring up some of the gas. You can also drink that gassy water that they have now, it is usually fruit-flavored. I don't remember what it's called, but I know they have it at Wal-Mart pretty inexpensive. Light tapping on your chest area (where the pain is) and on the back will sometimes help too (like burping the baby)!!! It helps to release some of the trapped gas. And lastly, ask your doctor. Mine told me that if it got really bad, he could give me something (but I dont' remember exactly what, maybe Prevacid). Just ask.

Good luck and I hope you feel better soon!

Denise

I know this sound weird but try having a teaspoon of mustard. It helped me and although it is not very pleasant you will do almost anything to get it to go away. I did not want to take a lot of meds and I was glad this helped but if you have to get the pepsid. Hope you feel better.

Hi D.,

What helped me when i had wicked heartburn was pepcid AC. I know what you are going through, and besides pepcid and sitting upright after meals (which still didn't do much, but I had to try something) I just had to wait it out. No matter what I ate, I had the same, bad heartburn. There is an old wives tale that says that if you have really bad heartburn, your baby will have a lot of hair. When my little girl came out with enough hair for two more babies, I felt like the heartburn was kind of worth it. Good luck, and keep some pepcid AC handy.

S.

Pepcid AC worked wonders for me and all my pregnant mommy friends!
It's safe and saved me during my pregnancies. You might want to check with your doctor but you definitely need to take something, don't suffer with this!

Hi!
I had the same problem with both of my pregnancies and my doctor for my second finally prescribed Prevacid for me which worked. Hope that helps!

I haven't read any of the other posts, but when I was pregnant I had (and still do have) horrible heartburn and have a few "home" remedies that work great. The one that works the best is a quarter of a teaspoon of baking soda in a quarter of a cup of water, stir it well and drink all of it right away. It isn't the best tasting thing in the world but it works. I use it right before bed (a little dessert ;) ) and it usually works like a charm. Don't forget the old stand by of Mylanta also. When I went to the hospital one night while I was pregnant (heartburn turned into an asthma attack) the ER doc gave me Mylanta so it should be okay to take. Good luck and hope you find the right thing for you to take, I know it is NOT fun.

S.

I had the same problem when I was expecting our 2nd child. Rolaids worked better for me then and still do. Also eating crackers before each meal helped out. I will also tell you that when our 2nd son was born, he had a TON of hair! He had to have his first haircut at 2 weeks old! lol

God's Blessings to you and yours
D.

Doc had me on zantac

I drank the chalky stuff when I was pregnant, and then toward the end it got pretty bad, and I'm pretty sure my doctor said Prilosec was ok. This was 2 1/2 years ago, so my memory is a little fuzzy, but you can check it out.

Congratulations, and I hope you feel better!

Tell your OB. They can prescribe something safe.

I am pregnant with my 2nd and with my first pregnancy, i had horrible heartburn, especially near the end which was 33 1/2 weeks for me. While i was in the hospital before that, they started me on Pepcid twice a day because i was practically in tears because my heartburn was so bad. I never felt heartburn again. As for this pregnancy, i am 20 weeks now and it is just beginning and i started taking the Pepcid again and i haven't had any since! Try it!

Hi D. ,

I feel your pain ( heartburn ) Im expecting my third in early Dec and had heartburn with both my kids , it seemed nothing worked for me except Prevacid , talk to your dr and she should give you a script for it . My Dr has already giving me a script for it just in case . Im not sure what area you live in but Im from the Ohare area , send me a e-mail lets talk and share stories .

Congrats on the baby .

Just my 2 cents....but I just had twins and BAD heartburn.....my doctor had me take (hope I spell this right)Prilosec OTC and it worked great!!! He said it was almost as strong as a script but not as much $$$ it worked great and I started using it at about week 23 (before that I took Tums but it never helped) by the last month or so I was only taking the meds every other day and at times every 3 days since it builds up in your body....talk to your doctor....mine gave me a month supply after I asked him for something since Tums did not work....

Good Luck and Congrats on your baby!

Jen

Congratulations and boy do I feel your pain. I was going thru exactly the same thing earlier in my pregnancy. I spoke to my doctor about it and she suggested that before I try OTC or prescription stuff that I should try eating yogurt two or three times a day. I thought that she was crazy, but I have to tell you it worked like a charm. I starting having yogurt at breakfast lunch and for "dessert" and my heartburn reduced dramatically. I still get it everyonce in a while, but not nearly as bad and tums can usually take care of it. I have found that the Yogurt drink Kefir is wonderful too. Good Luck.

Hi D.!
Congratulations on your pregnancy! I feel your pain. I had awful, awful heartburn with my first pregnancy.

I had read somewhere that a natural cure for heartburn was potatoes. If you have a juicer, then juice a potato aand drink it. I had immediate relief. As a warning, this is not the best tasting drink by any stretch of the imagination, but it worked. Other friends that I have told this to, said that just eating potatoes really helped too.

The OTC things like Tums have so many adverse reactions, so those are often counterproductive.

Best of Luck,
B.

I took OTC Zantac during both pregnancies. I mostly took that in the morning to stave off daytime heartburn, and kept a container of Tums (smooth dissolve ones are best IMO, although I needed the sugar-free ones due to gestational diabetes) next to the bed for any that happened at night. Also, if you can sleep with your top half slightly elevated, and more on your left side than right - it will help for nighttime heartburn.

Good Luck!

I feel your pain! I had heartburn the whole way through. Zantac before a meal helped a lot. My doctor/midwife said zantac was fine during prenancy, but ask your doctor to be sure. Something to look forward to....The second my son was born the heart burn was gone and for the first time I could eat and it felt good! Good luck to you.

I had terrible heartburn on a daily basis and no matter what i did or ate it seemed to come anyways. I got so frustrated becuase none of teh advice worked for me. The only thing i could use that would even dampen the heartburn was Gaviscon. It's available in both chewable tablets and chalky liquids. I found that the tablets worked a little better. It's kinda gross cause it turns into a sort of foam in your mouth as you chew on them but its really the only thing that worked for me and i tried everything.

That whole hair things wasnt true in my case. My little girl couldnt have been more bald.

My doctor told me I could take Zantac. I was having insane heartburn and it did wonders. The old wives tale was totally true for me too...My daughter had so much hair on her head...now it's down her back at 6 months! So that's something to look forward to.

I had bad heartburn with my first pregnancy (not as bad this go round!) and finally got to the point where it sounds like you are- it was making me sick to my stomach and I wasn't able to eat well.

I was also taking TUMS for this and my midwife told me that TUMS will make it worse- something about how it helps indigestion, but not heartburn and actually makes the reflux and burning in your throat WORSE!!!

She prescribed Zantac and it eliminated it 100%!

Also, I've heard that peppermint can make it worse, so if you're eating peppermint or drinking peppermint tea for the nausea, beware that it's making the heartburn worse!

If you're looking for natural remedies, try:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/index.php
There are lots of great helpful moms on that site. I'm in the November Due Date Club as PixiesMom if you join :)

Congrats on your pregnancy! Sounds like we're at about the same place- I'm due Nov 13!

:)
M.