Hellish Heartburn / Agonising Acid feeling - any advice?!

[iamwhaticallpregnant]

Hi ladies - I am 29 weeks and for the last week have experienced the worst heartburn / acid in my throat in the world. It is so bad in the evening that it makes me physically sick. It starts at about lunchtime every day and is agonising.
My midwife told me to eat bland foods - so i ate toast and butter.. ..and still got it!
I have tried Gaviscon and Rennies but no luck.
I also try milk at night which helps a tiny bit.
Does anyone have any good products they can recommend or any advice food wise?
I'm desperate.

[LittleAbruzzenBear]

Hi, I ended up seeing my GP when I was pregnant with DS2. It kept me awake at night so I was prescribed some anti-nausea tablets, sorry can't remember the name. See your GP because you need to look after yourself up to the birth and need to eat and sleep.

[mummytobe1990]

i find peppermint can help sometimes, ive constantly got a packet of mints on me in case it hits! the only down side ive found is that it only seems to work if you catch the heartburn before it gets too bad so i tend to have a couple of mints after each meal aswell, xx

[Marmiteisyummy]

Gaviscon peppermint advance. Take after every meal and before bed, don't wait til it's really bad. If it fails ask gp for ranitidine. Avoid spicy food.

Had heartburn this time from 12 weeks, it's only saving grace is that it's not as bad as the horrific nausea I had til 18 weeks. Pregnancy is such fun.....!

Hope you feel better soon

[iamwhaticallpregnant]

Thanks all. I try not to eat spicy food but it seems to be happening even if i have cornflakes now. It's really unbearable. The peppermint Gaviscon is so yuk! And i was sick yesterday after it but i will battle through :-(

[Splatt34]

Get some ranitidine from gp. it was my saving grace last time & am not far off getting some again this time. works wonders

[rockinhippy]

Spearmint & chamomile tea with manuka honey was my saviour with pregnancy heartburn, graviton etc didn't help at all.

Since then I've discovered liquorice is a great rememedy for heartburn - I often get it still & this is working for me now, though be careful eating too much if there's any high BP problems

HTH

[rockinhippy]

Gaveston! iPad fail again

[MadameCastafiore]

Yogurt - little indian doctor found me hunched over toilet naked but for a vest sitting on a pile of cushions bringing up acid and coughing (pissing myself each time I coughed) and sounding like a man due to the fact that my vocal chords were singed from being coated so often in acid!! Yogurt yogurt yogurt he said and it worked - ate as much of the bloody stuff as I could stomach and supped Gaviscon and managed to get through to the birth without ending up sounding like Barry White!

[gemdrop84]

Feel for you, I've had the same since about 26wks, not been to the gp as it's hard to get appointment, tried gaviscon, works for all of 5 minutes and can't stand the taste. I've had it from the minute I get up til bedtime. Found making a proper milkshake with ice cream and slowly sipping through a straw relieves it for a few hours! Also been eating little fromage frais for desert/snack as they seem to help slightly. Avoiding spicy or rich food, fizzy drinks and some fruit as that made it even worse. I'm now 32 wks+2 and it seems to have eased up!

[Splatt34]

You can buy ranitidine over the counter, trade name is zantac, but obviously on presecription it's free

[FunnysInLaJardin]

I was prescribed double strength Ranitidine when I was pregnant with DS2 from about 14 weeks. It just about kept on top of it. It was awful

[coffeeinbed]

Zantac is your friend.

[Splatt34]

Oh & gavison advanced is a million times better than gaviscon

[bonzo77]

See your gp. I've had this from BFP this time. Started with gaviscon but after a few weeks I was getting through over a litre a week. Then went to ranitidine but still needed some gaviscon. Have been on omeprazole 20mg 2x a day since about 20 weeks and have been completely acid free since then.

[PickleSarnie]

I second omeprazole. It was a miracle worker.

[rockinhippy]

Personally I'd be very wary of Omeprazole, or the sister drug Lanzerapole ( or similar name) I had an extremely bad reaction to both of those & I wasn't pregnant then, so I'd be extra wary if I was pregnant, knowing what I know now as regards how strong they can be. I'd try and stay clear of them all, but if you must I've found Pantroprazole to be the lesser evil.

[bonzo77]

my obstetrician said to take omeprazole over lansoprazole because more evidence for its safety in pregnancy. They are not "strong" they just have a different mode of action from ranitidine, which also works differently from gaviscon. Different people react differently to different drugs. Take penicillin for example. Proven to be the safest antibiotic in pregnancy, the first choice in the vast majority of cases. But lethal to a few unfortunate people who are genuinely allergic.

[Wishfulmakeupping]

Rice pudding- seriously I was being sick with it too- my midwife suggested rice pudding and it's been my cure :)

[rockinhippy]

Honestly bonzo I ended up strapped to the ECG machine in my GPs surgery for most of the day, that was after I'd been up all night hallucinating, I've paid for drugs in my misspent youth that weren't as strong an effect as that, it was very very scary, GP wanted to ave me admitted to hospital as my BP & heart were going mental - it's listed in the side effects, even so I didn't expect it to be that bad a reaction, but it was

[bonzo77]

rockin I'm not doubting for one moment that you had a truly horrible scary reaction. Just saying that we all potentially react differently. Some people will have what you did, others will be lucky like me and get on well with most drugs.

[rockinhippy]

You are right of course Bonzo, but the reaction I had makes me cringe at the idea of anyone taking it whilst pregnant.

[kipsy]

Things that worked for me:
Cold milk
Cold yoghurt diluted with water, beaten till smooth; or buttermilk
Apples

Avoid all acidic fruit and vegetables and anything spicy. Chocolates can give you terrible heartburn.

Try to not sleep flat - use a couple of pillows or more.
Do not drink water on empty stomach! If it's the middle of the night and you're awake please have a little something to eat and THEN have water.

It must be terrible for you, hope you feel better. I was fortunate enough to escape heartburn in pregnancy, but do get it when I take ibuprofen for pain relief.

[kipsy]

And bread is not good for heartburn! At least, plain bread makes it worse for me. Fatty foods can also exacerbate it.
So toast + butter is not probably a good combo for this.
Try plain cereal with cold milk and see if that's better.

[Kickarsequeen]

I know lots of people will recommend milk and as a fast relief hit its great, but!!!! Milk is not an alkali, it is an acid and long term it can make things worse. Yogurt is much, much better. Prop your bed up (not extra pillows, books/ Bricks under the legs), go see your GP.

[iamwhaticallpregnant]

Thanks everyone - I will try lots of your suggestions. Esp the peppermint tea, rice pudding and yogurt as they sound lovely. Now have a major craving for rice pudding! Wonder if custard works too - mmm....
On a lighter note - I didn't have it all day yesterday for the first time in a week and I am trying to figure out why! As I basically ate anything I wanted as I was so fed up f#cked off with it. Really odd. Maybe my heartburn read this thread and decided to give me a day off.
Thanks for all your advice - I am very very grateful.