Heartburn / Indigestion HELL

[GaaaaarlicBread]

AIBU to ask you for your cures for indigestion / heartburn . Currently 20 weeks pregnant and I’ve never felt discomfort like this. I can feel baby girl moving round I think she’s probably pressing on something but it started last night and hasn’t gone away, struggling to eat as I feel full etc the pain is just awful. I’m not keeled over in pain and it’s not worrying me baby wise but it really is making me feel sick. Any tips on how I can manage it ? If it’s still bad tomorrow I might ring my midwife at the GP practice tomorrow if I can’t get on top of it .
First time mum and thankful I’ve never had this pain before pregnancy but my god please help !

Rennies or liquid gaviscon. I find spicy foods or salt and vinegar crisps or fizzy drink etc make it even worse. Water or milk, or yoghurt I can cope with. I'm 26 weeks and going to see if the GP can source me a ginormous bottle of gaviscon

@EnglishRain oh bless you it’s so bad I completely sympathise !
I have gaviscon so I’ll give that a shot tonight (literally !) , I’ve had some salt crisps today and fizzy drink so that’s evidently aggravated it. I hate any kind of pain in pregnancy as it’s worrying but as it’s higher up I’m not anxious about baby but I’m close to crying it’s that nasty!

Oh I remember this feeling so well! It was the worst! I used to drink Gaviscon Advance...it's behind the counter at the pharmacy. Literally had a bottle in every handbag, car, office

Mine got so bad in pregnancy I was prescribed ranitidine(sp)? It's amazing stuff....worth asking your midwife

Oh sorry to hear that OP!
I know you haven’t got any at the moment but try and pick up a packet Rennies (or ask whoever goes shopping for you) when you can from the supermarket - they’re the only thing that’s ever helped me and the relief is generally instant. Know that doesn’t help you right now but I hope it does down the line!

Ask your doctor to prescribe you ranitidine.
I have it too, it's truly awful

Not sure about pregnancy heartburn (though agree with drinking milk/eating yoghurt) but sleeping on your left hand side definitely helps with normal heartburn.

Only thing that worked for me was peptobismal [sic]

I got quite addicted to it.

When dd came out she had a full head of thick hair, it looked like she had a wig on. Not sure if it's an old wives tale about heartburn an hairy babies, but it was true in my case!

Fizzy drinks, like coke and pepsi, are really bad at causing heartburn, so it's best to avoid them.

Gaviscon Advance is far more effective than other versions.

Try to sleep on your left hand side, as that minimises reflux.

It's awful, but it will be worth every minute once your baby arrives!

A lot of ranitidine (if not all) was recalled within the last few months based on contamination issues. Not sure if that's back on shelves yet.

Sadly everywhere near me seems to be out of stock of gaviscon. Luckily I've got another 340 spearmint rennies, but would really like to give the gaviscon a whirl as I did find that more effective in earlier pregnancy. I got nearly 400 rennies for £17 from Amazon the other week, but I am choosy and not keen on the peppermint variety. Spearmint are more yummy and like sweets.

It's the needing to burp and then inadvertently being sick that I really hate. How I long for the relief and space in the digestive tract that a normal burp gives

Tums

Sorry to say the only way I coped, was big lunch followed by no fizzy etc and then plain salad for dinner. Otherwise up all night with indigestion. Good news it disappeared the moment I gave birth.

Thank you everyone I’ll try your tips , anything is better than this pain !
She seems to have turned round, DH and I saw a huge bit of movement when I said I could feel her moving , we lifted my top up and she looked like she’d done a full turn around and the pressure seems to have been relieved slightly in my upper abdo , the pain is still there but not as bad now that the pressure is relieved !

Indigestion was a big issue for me also during both my pregnancies. I took omeprazole prescribed by my GP and it literally caused the indigestion to just disappear after just 1 tablet a day in the morning. Amazing stuff and Gaviscon didn't help me and I despised the taste of it.

I had awful heartburn and reflux in pregnancy, I would wake up choking on acid every night. Gaviscon did nothing, Ranitidine did nothing, GP prescribed me Omeprazole it was like magic. Heartburn and reflux disappeared.

Not sure if this ok in pregnancy but I put a hot water bottle on the area where the pain is, take a paracetamol and it dulls it a lot. Also drinking hot water as it helps you burp.

Omperazole - doctor prescribed them for me this time - it's an absolute miracle! They gave me peptac liquid in my last pregnancy and it barely touched it

Omeprazole. Sorted it within a day for me. Isn't there a medication that contains Esomeprazole available OTC? I've seen it advertised on telly. Might be worth a chat with your local pharmacist.

Apples and/or apple cider vinegar help

Eating dry crackers was the only thing that helped me, all 3 of mine had lots of hair!

Ah, Gaviscon. The pink, chalky, minty taste of pregnancy #2.

Marginally better than the 32 week long diet of two gingernut biscuits a day and a sip of water followed by copious vomiting with the flame haired #1.

Try to prop up the head of your bed, no laying flat. No spicy, acidy, fatty, stinky or flavourful foods for the time being. No bland ones, either (I still feel nauseous at overcooked vegetables 28 years later - exMIL was shit at cooking - and when DP bought vegetable grills a couple of months ago, I genuinely puked at the smell).

Heartburn does often stop, around the 26-28 week mark, IIRC. I would warn you that it can go and then come back in the last few weeks, though.

Like PPs, nothing touched mine but omeprazole. I used to almost cry when it started late at night, wanting so much to sleep but knowing I would be up pacing for hours.

When I have heartburn so bad I think I might be dying, I take off my bra, drink a coca-cola and lay down. Aside from removing the bra, it is the exact opposite of what doctors recommend. It always works for me. The soda is essential. If I can’t lay down I at least have that.

Although it was 45 years ago, I remember the absolute misery of indigestion when pregnant.
My GP prescribed Asilone Gel and it really worked.
It may be quite expensive as I recall my prescription running out over a bank holiday (actually it was Easter 1975) and I bought some from a local chemist for THREE POUNDS It was more than my weeks maternity allowance, but so worth it.
Sorry about the trip down memory lane and I hope that you can get some relief as indigestion is horrible. more so when pregnant.
Best wishes Mx. for you for your baby.

I had terrible heartburn and reflux during pregnancy and ended up sleeping sitting up from about 30 weeks. I couldn’t bend over to pick anything up that I dropped either. I was prescribed ranitidine which really helped and also had gaviscon everywhere but it had to be aniseed as mint (one of my favourite sweets) made me feel sick.

The other things that really helped were refreshers sweets as they’re quite chalky. I read online that love hearts are supposed to help, but I found refreshers better.

Hope it improves for you soon. Mine disappeared as soon as DD arrived.