Horrendous Heartburn

[Stars23]

Hoping some of you lovely people could share some tips for heartburn. I am currently 16+3 and feel like I'm carrying round a stomach full of acid which definitely doesn't help with the nausea. I have tried gaviscon from the gp and cut out all spicy foods but not really helping. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda dissolved in a little water. It tastes vile so knock it back quickly. Far better than any OTC remedy IME.

Omeprazole from the GP was the only thing that worked for me. Some don’t seem happy to prescribe it, but I have always got it eventually and it is the only thing that has ever worked for me.

Omeprazole! I had awful heartburn when pregnant with DD1, and omeprazole was the only thing that helped. My GP said it was fine to take!

It's not necessarily spicy foods that will aggravate it, for me it was tomatoes & chocolate.
Standard tips:

• rennies/gaviscon
• food diary to see if anything specific aggravates it
• eating very small meals & not past 6pm
• sleeping with head propped up or on only on left side

However I tried all the usual advice & was getting no better so also went onto omeprazole, which was amazingly effective. I took it for a week solidly & then weaned myself off & now only take it if I have a flare up with has only happened twice in the last month. Really recommend if the standard tips aren't working for you because I'm not convinced it's totally due to digestion/what you eat, I think the hormones must play a part & it's difficult to avoid those in pregnancy! That's just my opinion based on my experience though (idk if there's any medical fact to that!) I was really strict with how/what I was eating & had no improvement without omeprazole.

I was the same and got Omeprazole from the doctor. Heartburn was off the scale horrendous! It wasn’t even the usual triggers for me, I’d get it after a glass of water!! I’m 32 weeks now and whilst omeprazole has been amazing I still get the odd niggle. Deffo don’t eat after 6pm and for me carbs didn’t help nor cheese. My baby is breech too. I’ve been told severe heartburn is a side effect of that sometimes. You’re only 16 weeks so your baby is probably all over the place moving but it’s something to bear in mind. Best of luck x

Omeprazole ftom the GP.
My reflux has been absolutely horrendous and this is the only thing that has helped me. Gaviscon worked for a while but since being on prescription meds, i havent had an issue.
Give your GP a call and see if they will prescribe it over a phone consult.

Another vote for omeprazole. I am the same at 31wks! So uncomfortable isn’t it. My friend told me today there’s an old wives tale saying if you gave heartburn, baby has hair! Lots of speculation on Google if you need a distraction from the inevitable burn 😄 xo

Sympathies OP! I had horrendous heartburn with both of mine. The first time I drank Gaviscon from the bottle until I couldn't take it any longer and went to the GP, around 28-30wks. Second time it was already bad at 17wks, I went to the GP pretty much straight away and he didn't believe it was possible "so early on" (dickhead!). I assured him that it was possible, that I was waking up in the night gasping because it burned so much I couldn't breathe, and eventually he gave me some meds. It really helped both times.

Definitely push for some medicine, it's just awful without it and in my experience it only got worse the further along I was. In the meantime, Love Hearts sweets can sometimes help take the edge off!

Yep, get on the omeprazole, you’ll be v glad you did.

Another vote for bicarbonate of soda! I did half a teaspoon in a small glass of sparkling water and chug while it’s still fizzing. Avoided spicy and fatty foods like the plague. You have my sympathy!!

Thank you all for the advise it looks like I may need to contact GP for some omeprozole as it has worked for so many of you. I will also give the bicarbonate of soda a try over the weekend whilst waiting to speak with GP.

Poor you, it’s just horrific - I always hated calling it heartburn as that sounds like a minor irritant, it felt more akin to being poisoned. And one of my bloody children had no hair at all!

Omoprezole and Ginger nut biscuits to much on. X

Another vote for omeprazole! When bad it also make me sick as well so tell the GP that and they should give you some anti sickness tablets as well that are very handy to have as and when needed. I've tried rennies and gaviscon but for me personally I find a small glass of milk is about the only thing that works straight away. Also sleep on your left side, not sure if the science behind it but it really does help and sometimes when I feel it's not I'll roll onto my right side realise my heart burn is twice as bad so move back haha.

If you don't want to go down the drug route then there's always the old fashioned remedy of charcoal tablets. They always worked for me.