Heartburn During Pregnancy

You'e already gotten lots of great suggestions, but I want to mention that you should pay attention to what foods you've eaten that seem to trigger the heartburn for you. When I was pregnant, I found that some foods triggered heartburn for me that had never caused that problem when I wasn't pregnant. Perhaps keep a little food chart for a week or so to help you identify what things in your diet seem to always trigger the heartburn. I hate to say this one (because I love it), but chocolate is a very common trigger for heartburn, so you probably want to avoid it. You may find that making dietary changes will have a greater impact than any medications. I'd definitely recommend avoiding anything carbonated and anything tomato based - both big triggers for heartburn. Did you ask your doctor about your pre-natal vitamin at all? I remember with my first pregnancy, when I was often having heartburn and much sick to my stomach episodes, the doctor switch my pre-natal vitamin and the stomach symptoms improved majorly! Just a thought.

Good luck.

There are Mylanta caplets that I got when I was pregnant. The only place I could find them was CVS.

FYI...

over the counter zantac twice daily worked wonderful for me along with tums in between as needed.

best of luck

I had heartburn terribly during my second pregnancy, and would drink a glass of white milk to relieve it. Worked everytime for me! Hope it does for you too!

I took so many Tums when I was pregnant, I started getting kidney stones! My doc told me to take Zantac. I just used the 75, but it seemed to work for me.

You can get papaya supplements at a health food store which sort of help.

My kids are practically made out of Tums, so I feel your pain! Try sleeping on a couple of extra pillows to keep your head elevated.

A. @ http://prettybabies.blogspot.com

The only thing that seems o be helpimg me (at almost 28 weeks) is a combination/alternation of mint flavored Tums and lots of milk.

I had terrible heartburn. Zantac can be taken twice daily, and it does about as much good as the prescription stuff. Also, stay away from acidic foods like juices and fatty or fried foods. Do not ever eat until you're full - instead, eat multiple small meals. Milk provides some relief, although it actually makes heartburn worse in the long-run, so when I was pregnant, I only used milk right before bed, in the hopes the by the time the acid caused by the milk hit, I was in blissful dreamland. ^_^ One other solution you should talk to your doctor about is baking soda in water. I don't remember the exact dosage, but you should be able to find it by searching Google. This is scientifically proven to cause some instant relief (although it won't solve the issue), but because of the extra sodium, it can only be taken in moderation when pregnant. Good luck!

Though it has been years since I've been pregnant, I do have acid reflux disease which I have to watch because I have tested positive for Barret's Esophagus (precancerous cells). Anyway, the same kind of advice for acid reflux problems may be helpful to you for your heartburn issues. When I was pregnant, I kept a bottle of Maalox by the bed and drank right out of the bottle. But that's not a good solution.

First of all, certain foods are more likely to trigger heartburn, so avoid them. Then, several small meals are better than large meals which tend to put pressure on your stomach and cause more problems. Sleeping in a more upright position or elevated upper body helps keep the acid from moving upward in your body. If you do an internet search for acid reflux, you should be able to get a list of foods to avoid, etc. Good luck.

i just asked the same question! :) we're in the same boat.

two suggestions were banana and papaya... i would imagine pineapple would help too since it's similar.

anyway, hopefully we'll get some good responses! good luck!

i had terrible heartburn with my daughter, mylanta was ok, what really helped...this will sound odd...a tablespoon of applecider vinegar. good luck!

I found the liquid antacids worked better than the chewables or pills. Read somewhere they work better too. To help with taste, I would keep in the refrigerator. I noticed it also helped with constipation. Liquid Mylanta is what comes to mind, but it's been over 7 years since last baby, so could be wrong. I also had bad heartburn with my kids, sometimes even toast would do it.
Good luck!

Call your doc and explain the situation. Most drug companies are good at giving doctors samples so they may be able to give you some for free or see if there is a generic available. I had a problem a couple of years back and we were between insurances and I could not afford a perscription and my doc was able to get me enough samples until my new insurance kicked in.

I'm 38 weeks and have been experiancing this also. I drink milk or yogurt to help. I've found that salty foods (which is one of my cravings) for some reason make it worse and water (haven't figured that one out eather).
The good thing is I read that the same hormones that trigger heartburn also help babies hair grow. I'm thinking my babies going to have a full head of hair.

Sorry to hear about your heartburn (I had it real bad too). I am sure this isn't the answer you were wanting, but I have a high deductable plan too and had to pay the full amount for both my pregnancy. Again, before I say what I am about to say, I know this isn't the answer you are wanting, but just trying to give you a different angle at looking at your type of insurance you have. In the end of your pregnancy you are going to have to pay the full deductable - so whether you pay for some of it now with your prescription costs or in the end for the delivery - either way you are stuck paying the amount. So, with that, I say I would pay the $163 and get your prescription and at least feel better (instead of spending your money on other things that won't work as well) b/c at the end of your pregnancy you are still going to pay for the full deductable.

Otherwise, call your doc and see if he can give you samples.

Hope the heartburn goes away - I know it isn't fun. Good luck with your pregnancy.

Avoid fried foods and fatty stuff like Mayo and drink plenty of water after you eat.

Someone told me this when I was pregnant, and I thought they were nuts until I tried it. Eat Lemonheads candy, it helped me tons. I was taking Zantac 75mg otc 2 times a day.

Also, I never used this when pregnant, so you might want to research it, but get some good quality Apple Cider Vinegar, and drink a tablespoon or two daily. The taste is awful, straight, but you can mix it into a glass of water and it goes down much easier.

Good luck.
A.

I don't have any home remedies to help you out, but you might try asking your doctor for samples. My doctor gave me enough samples to last between visits so that I didn't have to fill the prescription.

Take a tablespoon of mustard and it will coat your heartburn. Trust me it works!

wife and mother of 4(4, 6, 9, 10).

I am a mother of 7 daughters and had terrible heartburn with all but with the last two I learned about apple cider vinegar. It was terrible to take but it worked like a charm and I wished I had learned about it earlier with the others! Tums never worked and you always had to keep taking them! I have had heartburn so bad that the acid from it have ruined my teeth, they have actually eroded away. So I definitely can speak from experience and I tried all things too! I did not want to take anything that would be bad for baby. I would recommend this highly, doesn't taste that great going down but so worth it! Hope this helps!

Dairy, Tums, and lying down helped me. Sugar, carbonation, and popcorn made it worse.

Is there a generic script you can get instead?

over-the-counter Pepcid AC

i know it is probably not the healthiest thing to eat but for both of my prgnancies i have always kept some chewy sprees with me. they always helped. good luck:)

The best way that I dealt with it, for both pregnancies, was Tums and lots of milk.