heartburn - gaviscon tablets - URGH!

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3rd pregnancy and 1st time sufferer of heartburn. I'm not one for taking drugs normally - not that I'm a total earth mother type, I just tend to not even think about it and suffer through without unless it's really bad! Anyway, heartburn has started - and I have ended up throwing up a few times, which takes the heartburn away and helps me get to sleep, but isn't exactly pleasant or good! I bought gaviscon cool tablets and have just about managed to chew through 2 of them. They haven't had an effect yet, but just taking them was making me retch and I now have bit stuck in my throat! What to do? Is there anything better?

The gaviscon tablets are foul. I didn't even manage to get through one! Try Renee chewable ones instead - I've found them much better, and the chewy ones are much less chalky then the standard ones.

Yuck. Hate Gaviscon tablets. They taste foul and dont work for me. I take Gaviscon liquid a lot - though not for pregnancny heartburn obviously. It really works and the aniseed one tastes good.

I second Rennie chewables. They're actually really pleasant. A bit like Pacers mint chews - is that what they were called?? Showing my age now.

I took rennie throughout my first pg and they were good. This time around, heartburn has been twice as bad and the doctor prescribed gaviscon advance tablets because I find the medicine makes me want to vomit before it even gets near my mouth (it's the texture - I don't do slime) and they taste weird and get stuck in your teeth but they are fantastic. Whatever you choose to use, I would recommend getting the doctor to prescribe as prescriptions are free during pg and I eat my way through a lot of tablets whilst pg!

i would agree with all the others, the chewable gaviscon tablets make me feel physically sick, the renee ones are better. if you can find fruit falvoured ones instead of the mint ones it might be worth trying, i completely went off mint flavoured thigns in my first pregnnacy and havent been able to have anything since, that was 5 yrs ago!

I think you can take Zantac in a preventative way to stop it even coming. Just check it is OK in pregnancy, I think it is.

I would rather keep the heart burn than chew gaviscon tablets, and I had it BAD! Rennie are much nicer.

I always use gavison liquid in peppermint it cools instantly. Ive got bottles of it everywhere plus you can get it on prescription. It has to be the advance for to be suitable for pregnancy.

Rennies work, up to a point. Lovehearts too, although that gets a bit sugary after a while. If it's bad the only thing that really helps is Gaviscon liquid, but it's like drinking snot/ Sorry. If you really want to avoid heartburn it means not eating the stuff that causes it, which varies I suppose from person to person, but for me it was things like chocolate, a sip of wine, spicy food - all the fun stuff, basically!

I argee with vicbar. The liquid Gaviscon in peppermint - nice and cool, quite a pleasant taste actually. I had a bottle in every handbag when I was pg.

I agree too, I hate the Gaviscon tablets but the liquid works well. You can buy it in single dose sachets too by the box so you don't have to lug a big glass bottle around with you. I asked my doctor to prescribe it for me and got 6 boxes of the stuff on one prescription. I usually have to take 2 sachets to work properly but it really helps.

I have been using gaviscon cool liquid and it works instantly ( peppermint though i hat the aniseed!)
I hate the taste and the texture but once I've taken iut the relief is instant

I keep the tablets in my bag but they are nowhere near as effective.
Alaos the things that cause my heartburn are fresh pineapple,cucmber,icecream.
Junk food does not macdonalds cheeseburgers are fine as are crisps think uit really varies from person to person

Have you tried drinking milk? I sip a glass through the day and use gaviscon liquid only when it is really bad as it also makes me retch (think its the goopy consistancy).

I'm counting down now, 11 days to go, I've had heartburn sice 8 weeks!

Thank you all so much! I was wondering if it was just me and my aversion to all tablets - glad it's not! I'm off to Tesco to look for some Rennie chewables. I have no idea what causes it, although I suspect that tomatoes may have something to do with it sometimes - nightmare as we eat a lot of tomatoey based sauces with pasta and rice etc...! I thought about milk woollyjo but I have a mild dairy allergy (which used to be much worse) and so haven't drunk milk for about 15 years - that might make me retch just as much as the tablets! (and if I drank too much I'd end up with allergy symptoms too)

Yeah go for rennies. I was surprised at how disgusting gaviscon tablets are! I chucked the box away after one or two despite the fact I'd spent about £3 on the damn things.

don't know if this is normal or not, but I find that every time I have a drink I can feel it immediately afterwards. I don't drink tea or coffee (or any hot drinks actually), and only very rarely would have coke or orange & lemonade or something. Most of the time it's plain old Robinsons Orange & Pineapple squash - and to be honest I make it so weak, it like "tinted water" as my husband calls it! I'm so thirsty, but don't want to drink anything - esp after dinner because I know it'll stop me getting to sleep later.

Bought some Rennie chews anyway, so will give them a go later when symptoms start up again.

i never tried the tabs ones but i lived off on the liquid one for the last 2 months as bad heartburn.

frutin tablets from the health store were the only things that helped my with ds and i had heartburn from hell! i got it from waking up in the mornings to just drinking water but after rennies and gaviscon from the doctors i discovered these! i woke up with heartburn this am so expect i will need to invest in these again soon.

chew 2 and drink a large glass of water and if you feel it coming back sip at the water and it should stay away if not chew another tablet. good luck

I remember taking my first and only Gaviscon tablet as I was driving, last pregnancy. I was so disgusted I nearly swerved off the road! It tasted like something you'd use to clean the loo. (This was the lemon 'flavour' which may have made me think of Cilit Bang. ) Liquid gaviscon is vile but infinitely preferable, and works. Avoid the aniseed one though...

In all my pregnancies I've had bad heartburn and have ended up keeping gaviscon in business! The first few spoonfulls of the liquid are vile but by te end of the pregnancy I usually resorted to swigging from the bottle

Starting to wonder why I want to gt pregnant again!!

Rennie Dual Action seems to work quite well for me. Take after food if needed but most importantly a few minutes before you lie down at bedtime. They taste quite OK and doctor approves. I can't get them on prescription (only Gaviscon) but I'm sure Gaviscon made my heartburn worse last time so I'm not touching the stuff.

I had Gastrocote on prescription when I was pregnant - couldn't stomach Gaviscon or Peptac, and eventually Rennie stopped working. Gastrocote tastes a bit like Werthers Original/Everton Mints. Yummy!

You have my every sympathy!