Acid Reflux and Pregnant

I've had acid reflux for years, and pregnancy just made it worse. I took generic Pepcid and Tums. As long as you stay under the amount on the label, I think you're okay. They can give you other GI problems if you take too many, so you're probably right to limit how much you take:) Maybe some of the other suggestions will help too -- this tamed mine, but didn't completely take care of it!

I had this with both my pregnancies and my doc gave me meds! Real meds! I was shocked I could take perscription meds, but she assured me they were safe and I was sad I didn't go to her earlier! What a life saver!
Call your OB and they will give you something that is safe AND works.

I have never heard to not take a lot of tums. I took 4 at a time, 3 or 4 times a day, during the last three months of both of my pregnancies. However, I used the generic Target brand, which is a lot cheaper, and seem to work just as well. Also, I used the extra strength. Honestly, it's the only thing that works for me...and really, I have never heard not to take them. In fact, I think it's kind've a bonus source of calcium.

I am 90% pro-natural-everything, and the conflicting reports about Tums has always weighed heavily on me, but there was no way I was getting through pregnancy without them. So my completely unprofessional and flame-worthy opinion is to keep popping them if that's the only thing working for you! I have felt your pain, momma!

Hi,
Ask your OB about a proton pump inhibitor like Nexium. It is category B in pregnancy and works wonders!

I try not to take an medications unless totally warranted, especially while pregnant, but I would not have survived pregnancy without Zantac. During my first pregnancy, Zantac hadn't been around long enough to be proven safe so it was just Tums and a diet of mostly water and saltines and super bland foods for many, many months. Not good! During my last 3 pregnancies, Zantac helped a lot but I still needed to take Tums. Pregnancy for me = heartburn from day 1. It was always my tell-tale sign that I was pregnant and wouldn't go away until delivery, then I could immediately eat anything and everything right after. So talk to your OB about what he or she recommends - really, I feel your pain and it's only going to get worse. I remember not being able to sleep, or sleeping sitting up because the pain was so bad. Hope you get some relief soon!

I had this problem with my second pregnancy too. If you reduce your carb intake -- especially before you are going to bed -- it might help. It helped me a lot. Good luck to you, and congratulations. You can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel!

There are ginger chews at the health food store that are great for acid reflux. I also take apple cider vinegar pills. The doctor gave me a prescription when I was pregnant and it worked great and had no side effects.

I had a horrible time w/ acid during pregnancy too.
Maybe this will help:

http://www.webmd.com/baby/tc/gastroesophageal-reflux-dise...

Hope you feel better soon! :)

I was going to recommend the vinegar, lol. Don't know how you took it but it should be right before you start a meal. You can eat dill pickles as well. This will always help. You don't have too much acid in your stomach. The problem is you don't have enough to break down and digest your food and it is actually sitting in your stomach rotting. Have you ever left something in your fridge too long and when you opened the tupperware lid it spit at you? That's what is happening with your digestion. It is pushing on the esophageal valve and coming up because it won't go down.

Tums just causes more to rot and the problem is exacerbated. It may give you temporary relief but the heart burn/reflux will come back with a vengence. Your little one is also not absorbing enough nutrition and your prenatal is probably not disolving enough to do any good either.

Hope this helps. Congratulations on the little one!!!

M.

PS You can actually purchase stomach acid (Betaine HCl) at the health store if it gets too bad....Ginger can be used for comfort...

I was reading up on this online (I am 37 weeks prego) for the same reason and one site said almonds (raw almonds) help. So, try a handful of them if you get a chance. I can't have nuts in my house because they all have peanut warnings on them and we have an allergic child. Good luck! By the way - I ate Tums with all 3 of my pregnancies and the first two are perfect :) (almost 4 and 2.5 yo) I never went over the max daily dose on the bottle and took regular instead of extra strength.

I slept with a bottle of Tums under my pillow and literally would pop them into my mouth throughout the night. I did this for the last 4-6 weeks. I've never heard of them being bad for you... even while pregnant? Not sure where that's coming from.

I've also been reading about PH diets and one blogger said that he ate watermelon and even onions and it would stop reflux in it's tracks. Never tried it myself. Good luck!!

My OB prescribed 40 mg of Pepcid once a day during my pregnancy. (I actually just bought the 20 mg OTC tablets and took two. I also bought generic.) She said, when that didn't work, pop those tums! She told me not to worry about tums at all and that the calcium was good for me. I don't know how I would have survived without it.

I am also 33 weeks and pregnant with my 3rd. I have had heartburn with all of them. I also try the natural route but had to do the tums. Eating smaller meals and not eating 2hrs before bedtime but really when it hits there is nothing you could do. The only tums that help me are the Ultra 1000. All the onthers do nothing. Also I was written a RX with my 2 pregnancies before and opted not to take it. Thank Goodness because now I see commercials for lawsuits against the drugs I was perscribed causing birth defects and other health problems. Good Luck! I know how you feel.

I had horrible heartburn during both pregnancies and was given a prescription towards the end, after 30 weeks. It was a total godsend, one pill a day at night and I felt so much better.
Both kids are healthy and the doctors said it was fine.
I also ate a bowl of ice cream at night when it was bad and the dairy seemed to soothe it. Glass of milk helped too, but not as nice as ice cream!
Good luck! It goes away after delivery, thankfully.