Help me with heartburn/reflux?

[pixiesmommy]

This is driving me crazy. With dd, I had heartburn during my pregnancy and nothing helped except to finally take Zantac.... but in the meantime I tried to fight it without drugs and ended up eating tons of bland foods like potatoes, bread and other bland carbs that sent my weight gain through the roof AND had the added bonus of making me so severely anemic (because I was getting zero iron!) that I almost had to have a blood transfusion at her birth. UGH.

SO.... here I am with acid reflux or whatever you call this crappy burning in my throat that won't go away. The Zantac is not working. Pepsid and Mylanta aren't working (at midwives' recommendation.) I'm on Papaya enzymes and acidophilus and they aren't working!!!!!!

Anyone got any tried and true remedies? I'm going to start taking Ginger, as one of you in the bead exchange said it helped you.... and I'm sleeping (or trying to!) practically sitting up....

Advice? Remedies?


Manda

[Curlita]

I'm the one that was pushing the ginger, so I won't hammer you again with that one. There are a number of different kinds of drugs for heartburn and sometimes you have to experiment to find the best one. The two main families have names that either end in -idine or -azole. The -azole (Protonix, Prevacid, Nexium, Prilosec) tend to be more effective for me, but exacerbate my anxiety (no idea why) so I use cimetidine (Tagamet). If your doc is comfortable with it, you might try Prilosec or similar. They are pretty effective... though I don't know about during pregnancy.

How long have you been taking the zantac or pepcid? Sometimes it takes about 3-5 days before you feel the full effect.

Good luck -- I know that it is NOT FUN to have bad heartburn. It is the worst pain I have ever encountered.

[crunchywannabe]

ok-I can only use this for acid reflux-NOT heartburn
but I have had horrible acid reflux out of all 6 pregnancies.
The ONLY thing that helped me was some chocolate milk.
yes, chocolate milk. I know they say to avoid it for heartburn, but these are different symptoms - and it really did help.
Regular milk did not work for me, and it could not be the really heavy chocolate like Nestle Quick or whatever it is called (not that I would drink that anyway! LOL)
but the premixed in a jug that you can get, normally the generic store version is more mild and seems to work better.

anyway, it is worth a try for a non medicinal approach.

((hug))

[pixiesmommy]

I've actually been taking Zantac for about 2 months because it was dr recommended NOT for heartburn, ironically, but for my allergies and itching that I was having early on in the pregnancy. It is a level 2 antihistamine apparently!

The Pepcid I only tried for 1 day, but today I have been without any meds at all and am trying to alter my diet and take herbal things and see if I can't just avoid going back on any meds whatsoever.... but I'll take whatever works!!! :

I did send DH out to Walgreen's at midnight for some ginger and have taken 1 capsule already (which unfortunately I'm now belching the taste of... ick!) I also read that almonds can be helpful, so I chewed about a half cup of those a while ago and now I'm going to prop myself up in bed and see if I can't get a little sleep.

I'm trying to hang in there, but we are going out of town tomorrow and I'm anxious about the stress that will cause in addition to having to eat out... UGH. I printed out an alkaline diet, and plan to try that for the next couple of days, so hopefully that will help.

I have to get this one BIG thing cleared up so I can go back to complaining about all the other little multiple petty things! :

Manda

[monocyte]

I'm up to 2 zantac's a day...and sometimes wanting more. I swear this kid is just sitting on something causing a mess to me internally. Its weird, I feel like Im carrying low and this kid might fall out of me at any minute, but I'm suffering as well.

I'm also working on my diet (alkaline), taking papaya, and sleeping with at least 5 pillows. Not comfortable at all. I've been meaning to get a wedge to lift the top of our mattress as recommended by our chiro (he's not liking the outcome of the pillows on my neck) but havent done it yet. :

I have some protonixs also that I was taking at the beginning of the pregnancy, and might resort to going back to them...except they are so.freaking.expensive!! I did get a waiver from the insurance company at the time bc I was hospitalized and that was the safer option while pregnant. And zantac is costing me a bunch too (FYI - Sam's club has 96 pills for under $20)

Wish I could help...I really do feel your pain! s

[*Lindsey*]

Ugh. Mine's not as bad as yours sounds, but everytime I eat or drink anything, even water, it flares up.

So far, tums are giving me relief (not complete, but enough that I can deal with it). This having to lay down most of the day thing aggravates it a lot more, too.

I hope you find something that works for you, and soon!

[myjulybabes]

There's a new (or new to me anyway) "maximum strength" Tums. 800mg of calcium per 2 tablets. They aren't perfect because the results aren't long lasting, but they do seem to be working short term for me, and they work FAST which is nice vs waiting for the Pepcid to kick in.

[melissakc]

You can try lifting your arms up over your head, clasped at the wrists if you like, and breathe deeply and slowly for 10 breaths, focusing on relaxing the belly and the muscles of respiration. It doesn't work for long, but it provides temporary relief for me. I learned it in my prenatal yoga class.

[mittendrin]

Tums still do the trick for me, mostly. Chewing almonds helps for 2 minutes..
With my first ds1 the only thing that helped was drinking gallons of milk, since I did not want to take any meds. So I drank about 1/2 gal a day at least. My poor baby had bad eczema and all kinds of allergies, incl dairy allergy for his first 2 ys of his life. I blame it partially on my milk intake during my last trimester.
This time I know better. I try to avoid meds but will resort to it if the HB gets unbearable. And as someone sais - it can be baaaad pain. Not fun at all. I 'd rather have hip pain and lower back pain that heartburn.

[kathteach]

Chew gum like a maniac. The saliva you produce doing it helps with the acid.

[asyouwishdoula]

heartburn help

Hi,
I am new to this forum, my name I Jennifer, and I am a birth and postpartum doula. I have some advice on the heartburn issue, I had terrible heartburn with my pregnancies and for most of my adult life, along with acid reflux at night. It may sound unusual but I take a shot glass of aloe vera juice (it sounds gross, but this brand George's "always active" aloe 100% Aloe Vera is fractionally distilled and tastes indistinguishable from plain water) several times a day when the heartburn is really bad, otherwise I take a mainenance dose of once or twice a day, in addition I take liquid acidopholus, which is also called a probiotic, in the same dose as the aloe vera juice, you can get both of these in health food stores and they both have lot's going for them but for heartburn and acid reflux, they saved me. Hope this helps.

[maclolo]

I had it terribly in my last pregnancy, to the point of puking stomach acid, and just dealt with it (tried liquid calcium-magnesium, papaya enzymes, etc...nothing helped much) and have had it again this time. But ACUPUNCTURE has worked WONDERS!!!! I highly recommend it. I didn't go for about three and a half weeks (trying to be tough, hoping my body would just adapt--no such luck) and it got to be really bad again... I went last Friday and haven't felt any acid-y feelings since. It is amazing. I hope you find something that will work for you; it is really a miserable thing.

[crunchywannabe]

my step dad did the aloe vera drinking for his heartburn and it helped that, but not any reflux.

and for the heartburn ladies, you are just going to have a child with lots of hair!
yes, I know that is supposedly an old wives tale, but there was actually a study by one of the universities that showed in 80% of the women it was TRUE!
I can't find the actual study, but here is one reference
http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...tburn_can.html

[mittendrin]

Sorry, not for me. I am always the odd one....: Bald baby after 2 months of hb.

[Isaac'sMa]

Have you tried Papaya Enzyme? It's good for lots of digestive issues and I've used it successfully for heartburn before.
Sorry if someone already suggested it. I didn't read the whole thread

[monocyte]

for those tums taking mamas...do you worry about the calcium deposits that your placenta can get??

With ds I ate alot...not really thinking, and his placenta def had some calcification to it - was it because he was 3 weeks post or because of the tums. Never will know, but, just wondering what you think?

[kathteach]

Originally Posted by monocyte

for those tums taking mamas...do you worry about the calcium deposits that your placenta can get??

With ds I ate alot...not really thinking, and his placenta def had some calcification to it - was it because he was 3 weeks post or because of the tums. Never will know, but, just wondering what you think?

Kelli, I actually never thought about that. But I was worried that all the calcium intake would inhibit iron absorbtion. The doctors told me I was anemic after giving birth last time. How did you know your placenta was calcified?

[myjulybabes]

Originally Posted by monocyte

for those tums taking mamas...do you worry about the calcium deposits that your placenta can get??

With ds I ate alot...not really thinking, and his placenta def had some calcification to it - was it because he was 3 weeks post or because of the tums. Never will know, but, just wondering what you think?

I never really thought of that. I didn't know there was a direct correlation between dietary calcium intake and a calcified placenta. Off to Google I go! If there's a link, I'd like to know as the blood clotting disorder I have can also lead to earlier deterioration of the placenta!

[mittendrin]

Originally Posted by monocyte

for those tums taking mamas...do you worry about the calcium deposits that your placenta can get??

Nope, not really. At this point I can still sit it out most times w/o taking anything. there might be days when I take 6 Tums and then go a week without. I think that amount is safe.
Thanks for bringing it up, tho.
A lot of times I get hb when I haven't eaten in a few hrs. So I can keep it under control by making sure there's always something in my stomach. Gosh, I love being pregnant!

[monocyte]

Originally Posted by myjulybabes

I never really thought of that. I didn't know there was a direct correlation between dietary calcium intake and a calcified placenta. Off to Google I go! If there's a link, I'd like to know as the blood clotting disorder I have can also lead to earlier deterioration of the placenta!

Hmm, what disorder is that?? We should chat!