How much Gaviscon is too much Gaviscon?

[oopsandbabycoconut]

I am 25+ pg with DC2 and have the most horrible heatburn, I had it with DD and Gaviscon worked a treat after meals, now I can't even drink a glass of water without ending up with crippling heartburn. I could drink gaviscon, eat gaviscon dual tablets all day and still sit almost in tears after eating. I asked the MW and she said 'it's just part of pregnancy' and it will go away after I give birth. I can't live like this for the next 14.5 weeks. I avoid food to avoid the pain right now and I can't not eat until the baby arrives.

i had terrible hb with DS, this time I went to Doc and asked for some Omeprazole. I did research on here and it was recommended. MW had not heard of it. It has truly changed my life. I have one at lunchtime with food, and I normally have a bit of gaviscon before bed. There was also another drug that came up, you might want to look up.

I find MW's can be quite complacent with pregnancy complaints (which can sometimes be reassuring), when there are solutions to these problems. Good Luck.

I was interested to read sunshine's post. I too had horrendous hb with both my pregnancies. I literally used to glug back gaviscon like a drink, kept it by the bed at night & swigged it straight from the bottle. Dp said it was like sleeping with a lush!
I could not bring myself to avoid food as I was constantly revenous but did avoid water/drinks as I found it worse than food. Felt desperately thirsty!!
My dr said that there wasn't really an upper limit for gaviscon. However, if I do have another another pregnancy I would ask for the drug Sunshine mentioned as hb made it very hard to sleep & miserable in the day too. Hope u find something that helps.

oops I am pregnant with no 3. have suffered with heartburn with all 3. Am averaging about 1 large bottle gaviscon per week (am now 32 weeks). No comment from the doctor that it is too much. Just wish it would go away!!
I would ask for those tablets if I was you, just because like you said it makes you miserable!
The light at the end of the tunnel for me is that I know that the second this baby is born the heartburn will be gone and I can eat and drink what the hell i like again!!

I was given Omeprazol by GP this last pg. I suffered seriously from Hyperemesis, and towards the end, the acid would cause me to throw up and i ripped/burned the lining of my stomach. He gave me the Omeprazol to take for one week to reduce the acid produced by the stomach to enable the lining to repair itself. He said it needed to be used sparingly, but that once the stomach had a chance to sort itself out, the acid indigestion would die down, and from time to time, when it came back, he said it was fine to use until it died down again. I found it worked within a couple of hours, and each tablet lasts for 24hours. GP advised it is not recommended in early pg, not sure when it becomes ok to take, but think about 25/26weeks so worth asking (i was prescribed it at 30wks i think).

I started it ar about 28 weeks. The Doctor never said anything about using sparingly, once a day is fine, but do check!

If you're worried, you could try milk. I got through gallons of it when I was pregnant with DD and it worked a treat.

sunshine i think the reason not to take it for too long at a time is because it stops your stomach from producing acid, so, while that is good as it stops the excess acid, it also stops it completely, which is fine in the short term but not so great in the long term. But i agree yes you need to check how much to use and when with your gp. Whatever he says i definitely agree with sunshine that it saved me in the final weeks of pregnancy, as vomiting and acid was just absolutely horrendous. It gave me much needed respite.

Not eating doesn't work either. Mine is worse when it has been a while since I ate.

Much better than Gaviscon is ice cream. Is soothing delicious and seems to stop the acid for a while.

I've been on omeprazole since before I was pregnant due to extreme reflux and a hernia. It is perfectly safe to use during pregnancy as I checked with my doctor before TTC. I have recently had to have my dosage increased as at 29 weeks my symptoms were flaring up again. Without omaprazole I would be guzzling gaviscon. I would advise going to see your doctor rather than the midwife! Good luck hope you get it sorted.

I was about to ask this myself, only 14 weeks and I've got though nearly a whole bottle in 2 weeks. I had heartburn last time, and it's worse this time. Going to ask about omeprazole when it gets more intense. Thanks!

Thanks everyone. I have made an appointment for next Thursday and now know what to ask for.

If you to stick to just using the Gaviscon ask the doctor for a prescription for it. I spent a fortune before the chemist suggested that I ask doc for a script.

I came to the conclusion in my last pregnancy that Gaviscon made the heartburn worse in the end. So this pregnancy, any Gaviscon is too much Gaviscon.