Desperate for advice

[nerdymom]

Anyone else having HORRIBLE regurgitation issues? Everytime I even recline, not even fully laying down, I have a feeling of fullness in my throat, quickly followed by burning acid pain, and either the need to throw up (if I've just eaten) or the need to throw up (because there is nothing but acid in my stomach). Even standing it's pretty bad, and as you can clearly see in my belly pics post, this baby is darn low, and bouncing off my cervix like crazy. I'm chewing papaya enzyme like candy, but it's only temporary (think 15-20 minutes) relief. Please tell me someone else had this problem and they fixed it.

I had heartburn really bad before the baby dropped, but it wasn't this bad. I managed it ok with the papaya and being careful about what I was eating. Now nothing helps. I've slept 3 of the past 30 hours, and I do NOT want to be exausted when my baby decides to come.

[two bricks shy]

s

I really don't have any tricks...but I'm dealing with near constant nausea and gagging/dry heaves. I am just praying this baby hangs on until my tub arrives on Tuesday. I'm swilling a magnesium suppliment that dissolves in water... it helps the acid pain immensely.

TMI alert... I used that supplement trying to settle my tummy when I got the stomach bug a few weeks ago...when I lost my stomach after drinking it it didn't burn that bad on the way back up. Yeah that's gross.

The good news is that this icky heartburn nasty goes away pretty much immediately after birth. My midwives promised me this last time and sure enough...had the baby, no more burn. WOOO!

[nerdymom]

Oye. That's bad. It better go away when Muffin comes! I had never experienced the horror or heartburn until this pregnancy. I thought I was managing it so well. :'(

[peainthepod]

Yes! The last two nights I've actually had to sleep in a semi-sitting position because the acid has been so bad. The only thing that helps me is eating four or five almonds and waiting a few minutes before lying down. And even then it's not great.

I don't know why this is happening. The baby is SO low and yet once in a while it's like my stomach turns into a volcano. I'm sorry you're going through it too.

[GreenFlower]

yes! mine started a few days ago. It hurts so bad! I finally called the mw yesterday because the papaya pills only work for a short amt of time. She gave these suggestions:

try eating/drinking something WITH acid (lemons, pickles, apple cider vinegar, etc.) because for many people, adding acid to the system sends the signal to your body that there's already enough there and it will shut down acid production. worth a try I guess

cut out all fruits and sugars

drink milk

try tums (although she said they would probably only help as long as the papaya does)

sleep sitting up (as if sleeping weren't already incredibly uncomfortable )

I tried various combinations and what seems to work the longest for me is tums with a glass of milk. We'll see how many days this solution will work for me. Here's hoping baby comes out like ummm...tonight...!!!!!!!

[selena_ski]

I have been batteling this as well, I finally gave in to Zantac. but the mint ones work the best.

[OkiMom]

Ive been battling this problem for the past month or so and its driving me batty. I had the same problem with DD and nothing really worked (Sorry, wish I had better news). I joke around though that it made it feel as if I slept better after DD came than before so I never went through the "Im exhausted with a newborn" problem. Good news though, it went away almost immediately after DD was born. Within an hour I felt 100% better and for the first time in months with her I didn't think my thoat was on fire.

The only thing that helps a little for me is milk. Tums doens't do anything, nothing the doctors suggested did anything, however milk lessens it for about half an hour which is long enough for me to go to sleep. Maybe Ill try the acid suggestion and see if that works.

[emc03]

mw suggested fresh squeezed lime juice (which totally works for me, dh puts it in his juice he makes for us).

she also suggested chewing fennel seed

[ambotchka]

I've had heartburn every day since March, and the only thing that helps is Zantac 75 (although I get the store brand b/c it's cheaper). Tums work faster, but zantac keeps it down. I'm so thirsty at night and each time I take a sip of water and lie down, the heartburn revives, so that's when I take the tums.

I'd try papaya for heartburn but I can't stand it.

Maybe the zantac will work for you?

[luckysam]

Reflux with pg can get really bad,with our first, I would wake up throwing up, it was awful. By our fourth, I just threw up during the day, too. Finally in the 7th month my NP looked it up in from of my and found out I could take my prevacid, that it was class B, as safe as a prenatal. I had had my OB, and my pulmonologist tell me it wasn't safe the whole time, I was so mad. I missed alot of work and was generally miserable for all that time for nothing!

So, if you aren't opposed to it, I would ask about prevacid, or something similar, to get some relief. Otherwise all I can reccomend is mint tea. to you all, and I hope you get some relief soon.

[guestmama9904]

no advice whatsoever here as i have tried it all and to no avail. i woke up last pm to a cough that turned into vomit, gross, and it hurts! i literally have vommitted from reflux every other night or more since July. and before that i had hyperemesis and wanted to die. i keep having this horrible thought of what if the reflux stays afetr the baby comes???

[semomama]

I haven't had it anywhere near that badly. (hugs!) But, what has helped was apple cider vinegar (Braggs Raw). I made a "punch" to drink before bedtime. In about 8 oz. of water, add 2 tsp acv. and then honey to taste. You might warm it a little to help the honey incorporate. Really isn't too bad. Just tastes like a sour cider.

[BundleFishMama]

I get absolutely horrible heartburn with all my pregnancies, so I know what you mean!! For me, what works best is Maalox. The one called Maalox Advanced, mint flavor. My mw first suggested it, she said it's better than Tums because Tums can increase swelling/water retention & cause constipation. Don't take Maalox Max though - that one has something harmful in it (related to aspirin). Anyway, Maalox helps a LOT for me, especially with sleeping because the liquid kind of coats your esophagus all the way down so the acid doesn't burn as much while you're lying down.

I also take Zantac (the 75 mg ones 2x per day) when it's bad. In my first pregnancy it was Rx only, but for years now it's been OTC.

[magpiedee]

You know what works best for me? Silk Chocolate soymilk. Really cold. It just coats me all the way down, like those old Pepto Bismol commercials. I even use it to take my vitamins and fish oil capsules, because that's the only way to avoid fish burps.

Hope it gets better!

[nerdymom]

Thanks everyone for the ideas. Since I can't do dairy, the milk is out. But I tried ACV in warm water before meals. That seemed to work wonders! Still sleeping sitting up, but it's much more tolerable now that I'm not popping papaya every 30 minutes.

:

This be over for all of us soon enough. We just gotta keep on remembering that.

[slinginhipmama]

ohh, I know how you feel! Actually Friday night I threw up 4 times due to heartburn, it was awful. I have been waking up 2 times(atleast) a night because of it and it seems to just be getting worse. So, no advice here, but wanted to let you know that you are not alone

[p.s]

when I had it earlier, EMAB heartburn tea helped.
another option is carafate, which is basically a big chalk pill to coat the esophagus.