What does heartburn feel like? Does this sound like it?

[spilttheteaagain]

Since eating lunch I have had a painful chest all afternoon. It feels sort of sharp, much like trapped wind does but higher up, fairly central and up to my throat. Not especially burpy or gassy. Stretching out a bit seemed to give a bit of relief but nothing helped much until it disappeared about 2 hours ago.

20 weeks.

If so, it's Gaviscon that will be my new friend isn't it?!

my heartburn is like that, i prefer to called it acid throat! burning sensation that sits at the bottom of my neck in my throat.....and yes gaviscon or antacid relief tablets!

get the double strength mint liquid gaviscon, large bottles, they are about to become your best friend

I have just run out of my gaviscon and am in such pain this evening. Got another prescription ordered from my GP so will pick up tomorrow. Do remember that you can get it on prescription so no need to buy it, I saw the price of it today in Waitrose and nearly fainted!

Yes really do go to GP for a prescription, it's so expensive to buy in the supermarket - even own brand is about £4.50 for a big bottle and that will last me about 2 weeks at the most!

Also, hot water and cold milk help to ease the discomfort.

Seperatley not together i.e. a cup of hot water or a glass or cold milk :)

you can get on prescription?! i need to enquire about this as my dr never even mentioned it when i said how much i was drinking!

Yes theonlyhb2! So many of my friends didn't realise that either and have spent a fortune on the stuff. My GP prescribed it for me without even seeing me, I just asked the receptionist to ask him to do it and he did!!

yes, sounds like indigestion to me,,,, I have suffered terribly since very early in pg!!

Thanks ladies, you are stars. So useful to be able to identify all these annoying side effects! I shall try the gaviscon

Ah what a good reminder...I just phoned my doctor to get a prescription :o Until then strawberry milk will have to do - it's a hard life :)

I too have had heart burn. Its like acid in my throat and gets much worse when I lie down at night. My consultant prescribed me 'ranitidine' which is a tablet and I couldn't have got this far without it (34 wks). I recommend to talk to your doctor if the gaviscon stops being effective, especially as time moves on and it gets increasingly squished in there!

You don't even have to see your GP to get Gaviscon on prescription. I just took my NHS maternity exemption card to the prescription counter at Boots and they filled in a form and gave me a bottle for free. I suppose that they can do it without a GP signature because I only get it on prescription to save money, not because my GP needs to control how much I have access to like other drugs which you would get prescribed.

So, if you're suffering don't wait to get a GP appointment, just go straight to the nearest chemist

It depends how nice they are at your local chemist though! I had a leaflet for the minor ailments scheme which says that you can get certain medicines for free without having to get a prescription and they were reluctant to give me gaviscon without seeing the doctor as I needed it so often.

Mine's the same and I had it last pregnancy too. Horrible. It's so lovely when the baby's born as it goes away. I found I had to eat an early dinner, no snacks in the evening, a slug of Gaviscon before bed.