Odd Question--Excessive Spit?

[shockels]

This is my first pregnancy and I wonder if I'm just reading too much into this.

For the past few weeks I've slowly noticed that I seem to have extra spit in my mouth all the time. It's like my mouth has been watering over chocolate cake but it hasn't. To complicate things a little more, I also seem to have a big gob of mucus in the back of my throat. I'll swallow to try and get rid of it but it just reappears lickety-split. I can't seem to huck it up either. I know this is all kinda gross, but it's really beginning to bug me. I'm not sick at all.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Any suggestions?

TIA,
Sandra

[nabigus]

Hi, Sandra.

Hey, me too! In fact, a couple times I've gotten pretty dramatic coughing fits because I'm not paying attention and accidently inhale spit. (They've all happened, of course, at very quiet, very embarrassing moments.)

[CandyR]

I just read about this at http://www.askdrsears.com/html/1/T010200.asp

MOUTH WATERING - The composition and volume of saliva change during pregnancy. You may notice that your saliva tastes different and that there is more of it. Some women experience an annoying relationship between morning sickness and saliva production. For some, the increase in saliva triggers the nausea; for others, the nausea triggers the saliva. This excess salivation usually subsides by the end of the third month. If the taste bothers you, try sucking on a mint.
I've got lots of saliva and it has a metallic taste. Yuck!

[rainbowmoon]

I've experienced this..ackk! sucking on hard candy helps!

[homemademomma]

its called ptyalism! its not common but its not unheard of. a friend of mine had it with all her pregnancies. she said she had to carry a cup with her all the time to spit in, b/c she had so much saliva and it was thick and yucky tasting and made her naseaus (sp?) to swallow it.

[Mama Coltrane]

I haven't had that with either pregnancy, but my friend had it. She carried around a hankie all day and had to spit into it. I think it got a bit better as the pregnancy progressed though.

[shockels]

Thanks for all the replys! It's nice to know I'm not imagining things. It's easy enough to manage at home, but when you're out in public it gets a little tricky. Fingers crossed that this goes away over the next few weeks.

~sandra

[Little Cluck]

Pregnancy is the only time I drool in my sleep. :blush

[Mayapapaya]

I have tons of saliva. I am always looking for a way to surreptitiously spit when I'm walking along the street. Yuck! It's especially bad with my nausea.

[lisarussell]

:thumb Hello- I ALWAYS get this when pregnant. Here's what has helped me

Rosemary tea- horrible taste but since it works you will grow to love it! I sweetened mine wiht honey and molasses and it still tasted like shit. I have learned that you can make it VERY WEAK and it still works.

have salty snack- although I try to avoid too much sodium because it isn't really healthy

sipping chamomile tea- chamomile alwyas dries my mouth out, so sipping iced chamomile tea helps, but my midwife with baby #2 freaked out saying I couldn't have chamomile because it's "too relaxing" I didn't listen to her becuase it sounded stupid and I have nejoyed chamomile tea profusely throughout FOUR healthy pregnancies so I think she was WRONG.

then there's always spitting. I keep a cup with a lid and straw in my car for that purpose. No one knows you're spitting when you bring the straw to your lips, they think you're taking a sip. This works if you're out shopping, too. Sometimes those "food court" smells really make your mouth water, then your healhty snack doesn't seem very appealing at all.