Heartburn Help

[mrscompgeek]

Ok ladies, I just slept a total of 3 hours last night thanks to unbelievable heartburn. The worst yet. I dont even know what caused it. Yesterday I ate Cherries, Peach, Cinnamon bread (breakfast), McChicken from McDonalds, Fries, Coke (lunch), chicken salad sandwich, plain lays chips, carrots, peach ice cream & more cherries (supper). Any ideas what could have given me such horrible heartburn?
Also I downed like 20 papaya tablets during the evening/night and still struggled.Any other suggestions on what I cant take? I would prefer not to be on something constantly that I have to take everyday to prevent it. I would rather just take something when it happens. Im not normally one to reach for a medicine, I usually try natural remedies first but at this point Im ready for the medicine bottle! So natural or something from the pharmacy/store- give me your recs!

[belltree]

Papaya Enzyme can make your heartburn worse, if you have too much acidity already; at least that's what happens to me. I cannot take them.

Also, you seemed to have had a day full of sweets and fatty-fried things. All of which can make heartburn worse.

Sometimes some yogurt can help, but you can also take over the counter things, they have been on the market for many years and are probably safer than some prenatal vitamin mixtures you can find out there. I have something at home, which I take if I am in need. I forgot the name, and I am right now, though.

[Farore]

This may sound odd, but have you tried chewing gum? My heartburn was unbearable when I was pregnant with DS2, to the extent that I was sometimes getting up sick with it, and the only thing that helped was chewing Wrigley's Spearmint (I'm not sure about other flavors--it just happens to be my favorite gum). I often just left the gum in overnight. Not sure how that worked ...

[boobs4milk]

Unfortunately the only thing that helps me now is zantac. Mine is horrible because of the bedrest and the slow digestion. I can't take other things because of interaction with my ptl meds. But the zantac was 15 min and RELIEF. I was feeling so full and my tummy was actually putting pressure on everything from being so bloated. I passed all the gas and the burning fullness stopped. And then I could eat again! WOOHOO. I ate McD's last week and got horribly sick. Even their 'healthy' stuff isn't good for you!

Feel better!

[bajamergrrl]

The fried food could've caused the heartburn. What sometimes causes me heartburn (whether pregnant or not) is if I go to bed on a really full stomach. So waiting a few hours between eating and going to bed does help. Not sure how big your serving sizes were but eating smaller meals might help too. My natural remedies book does suggest eating foods with probiotics, such as yogurt like a pp said. It has some other recommendations but I've tried none of them so I won't post them here.

[belltree]

Originally Posted by boobs4milk

Unfortunately the only thing that helps me now is zantac.

That's the name! It has helped me a great deal as well!

[MittensKittens]

Try baking soda for heartburn, it has helped me tremendously during pregnancy!

[mrscompgeek]

I thought maybe it was the fried/sweet foods I ate but its not unusual for me to eat fried or sweet foods. We arent the healthiest eaters although I try not to eat too much fast food or fried foods and try to limit it to once or twice a week. It hasnt bothered me at all this pregnancy until now though. I also wondered if it was the coke I drank? I read that pop can make heartburn worse although my husband drinks it for heartburn and says it works?? Im not a big pop drinker, maybe 1 or 2 a week so maybe that was it?

[GoldmanBaby09]

I haven't had terrible heartburn this pregnancy, but fruit will do it to me (like said peaches and cherries). I think it is the acidity. I've found that a glass of chocolate milk really seems to help. Yogurt can help, too.

[AlbertaJes]

Everything in that list except the cherries and peaches would've had me up all night. I've found that drinking a glass of plain almond milk works the best for me at this point.

[geekgolightly]

you're late enough in the pregnancy game that foods which might not have bothered you in the past will now give rise to heartburn. and eventually it might not matter what you eat. i have severe heart burn - GERD - even when not pregnant, and i have some ideas i'll just throw out there.

foam wedge bed pillow http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._ya_oh_product that is the one i have and it does work really well. much better than propped pillows which can squish your tummy and make it worse.

do not eat at least three hours before bedtime

no more carbonation, juices, especially citrus, high fat foods (chips, crisps, anything fried), or super spicy foods

limit citrus fruits to am only

papaya enzymes never helped me, honestly.

2 tums in the evening (helps you get some of your calcium for the day, too)

and if all else fails, do not be scared to take an h-2 blocker or proton pump inhibitor. talk to your doc about which one is safest in pregnancy. i use omeprazole but i have GERD. it's not a first line drug, by any means.

[pastrygirl]

Originally Posted by AlbertaJes

Everything in that list except the cherries and peaches would've had me up all night.

Me, too. Especially the cinnamon bread -- that would be the worst culprit for me! Ice cream and potato chips are right up there, too. Zantac isn't helping me much these days, sadly.

[ShwarmaQueen]

Ugh I knew someone else must be suffering like me! My heartburn just kicked into full gear, I was looking for some relief, but I see there aren't many natural-remedies out there! Guess I'm stuck with the refrigerated Maalox for now.

Coincidently, isn't the hair growth picking up in the second trimester? Maybe it means I'm getting another hairy baby!

[Farore]

Originally Posted by ShwarmaQueen

Coincidently, isn't the hair growth picking up in the second trimester? Maybe it means I'm getting another hairy baby!

If you really want a hairy baby, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, but I had horrible heartburn last time, and DS is 19 months and just now growing peach fuzz. I stand by the chewing gum thing. It works better than Tums for me anyway ...

[Youngfrankenstein]

geekgolightly is right. I would only add that my doc said that caffiene can weaken the upper esophogeal sphincter in some people so that may be another thing to avoid.

[Julia'sMom]

The trick for me is to drink a tall (16 oz) glass of milk right before bed. When I do that, the heartburn seems to stay away. Otherwise, I do pop tums as needed to get thru the night.

[mrscompgeek]

Thanks ladies. Its weird because I tried now the rest of this week to eat one of those items at a time that i ate that day to try to find the culprit to my heartburn and so far none of the items have given me heartburn. I havent ate any more McDonalds since though so maybe that was it?? Or the combination of all those items. I dont know.
I cant drink milk because I have a milk allergy but thats a good suggestion. DH gets heartburn and thats what he does.
Has anyone tried the Mamas Bliss Heartburn tablets? So far all my research on it has said that most mamas that tried them said they worked much better for them than papaya or tums. Just curious if anyone else tried them. Tums are so chalky I cant stand them! I might have to see if I can find some smoothy ones when I get groceries this week and see if those go down a bit better than regular tums.

[sunshynbaby]

Tums and small meals help me. Fried and spicy foods are triggers for my heartburn, but it can really strick at any time

[mrscompgeek]

Bump

[Norasmomma]

I have to say that if I ate the exact same items as you I would have had atrocious heartburn and probably nausea too. I love french fries, but when I was pg with DD I couldn't eat fried food, it would make me sick. Plus have you ever seen what a Coke can do to a nail? I'm another vote for Zantac, plus cherries make me really acidic, I'd be avoiding them.

Oh also cinnamon is notorious for heartburn.