Heartburn prescriptions

[hmyh23]

Hi,

I have suffered from heartburn throughout my pregnancy but at 30 weeks now it's unbearable, spending a fortune on gaviscon and it's not working as well as it was early on.

I have tried all the usual tips but nothing seems to make a difference and I'm getting it all day and throughout the night now no matter what.

The reason I am hesitating to go to the doctors is that the last time I asked my midwife she pretty much fobbed me off and said the doctor won't prescribe anything as it's too expensive and cheaper to buy gaviscon myself. I can't face all the hassle of getting an appointment in the first place and then rushing out of work if I'm just going to be refused any help.

Just wondered if anyone had had any luck and is there any specific medication I could ask for? I know it's not the end of the world but I'm just fed up of it now and dread whatever I eat as I know how uncomfortable I will feel afterwards!

It isn't cheaper to buy gaviscon yourself, that stuff is bloody expensive and you sound like I was...literally drinking it from the bottle like it was water?

You can get ranitidine from chemists/Tesco (just get the generic own brand one, Zantac is the branded version but more £££).

Or if that's not doing enough you can get omeprazole over the counter.
In the end I went to my GP and he gave me a prescription for omeprazole, I was in tears with the heartburn, it was making me sick and I couldn't function. Now with one omeprazole tablet a day, I don't even need the gaviscon!

It can take a couple of days to kick in, but when it does it really works, I'd have paid £10 a box for it if I had to!

Oh thank you! That's what I thought tbh. I've spent £50 on it this month already so I hardly feel like a drain on the NHS for asking for some help. I haven't had any other prescriptions during my pregnancy. Next hurdle is to get a bloody appointment 😵

Go and get ranitidine from your GP

It has saved my life. Water was giving me acid and heartburn now it's gone!!!

I hated the taste of gaviscon and found it didn't really work so made appointment at doctors and explained how painful it was, he prescribed me ranitidine and it's a life saver!! Good luck x

Definitely ask for ranitidine! It didn't cure mine completely but it made the biggest difference to my life. I was waking up 10+ times per night with it, but after starting ranitidine I hardly ever did. Still had some heartburn in the day but nothing like it had been. I would take the pill with a glass of milk and a biscuit before bed and that seemed to do the trick.

Also recommend Love Heart sweets!

Omeprazole is fantastic and the GP didn’t have any problems prescribing it once I explained how bad it was.

Go to the doctors. Let them decide, not some midwife who thinks she knows if all. I have a prescription.

I was prescribed ranitidine after first trying gaviscon and then being prescribed some other milky minty liquid that made me throw up. I phoned the doctors in tears and said I needed a pill because I could NOT keep the liquid stuff down (I still can't brush my teeth properly as the minty taste makes me gag!)

Now I buy a box of 12 from Poundland, they're 75mg per pill so I take 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. No more gaviscon EVER!

Another vote for ranitidine, it's amazing.

So I tried ranitidine and that didn't really seem to work so finally got to the docs today and got Omazeprole. Fingers crossed!