Anonymous
03/26/2014 08:25
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
OP here - took my first Zantac this morning and will try for smaller meals. I'll report back in a few days.
Anonymous
03/26/2014 08:20
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sparkling water helps too -- the gas bubbles kill the burn...
NO!!! I think your experience is atypical. Carbonation does not help.
I'm the OP. I drink soda stream water with lime juice everyday. Once the heartburn sets in, I think all water is equally awful for making it worse. Those creamy Odwalla shakes or really thick Naked brand mango juice help a little. Anything "coating" - similar to Mylanta or Pepto, but likely less effective.
OP listen very carefully. You do not want to end up like me. NO NO NO NO to the soda stream. I had horrible heartburn during both pregnancies. I was trying to lay flat on my back (or sides) and would start coughing - I now know it is the GERD cough. I mentioned it to my O.B. who basically blew me off but said tums was OK, nothing else was permissible (this is some time ago). By the third trimester I was in agony and bought a very comfy Lay-Z-boy and slept in the recliner for the remainder of the pregnancy. After I stopped nursing I mentioned the cough to the internist and he stupidly sent me to an allergist who decided I needed some shots. So I did allergy shots for 3 years, which did nothing.
Back to internist. I finally get a referral to a gastroenterologist and had an upper scope done. By then I had done so much damage to my esophagus that I was was diagnosed as having stage four erosive esophagitis. I immediately did everything he said (listed below) and got rid of much of the burning, but the scar tissue remains. The next scope was worse, I now have short-stem Barratt's esophagus, which means I am at 50/50 risk of getting esophageal cancer - which no one wants to get. The surgery available to tighten the sphincter muscle between the stomach and my esophagus is very difficult and often unsuccessful (the surgeon wraps part of the stomach around the lower end of the esophagus to tighten it to keep food down).
Please ask your O.B. for an O.B. friendly gastroenterologist immediately.
Here is what they will tell you:
*no alcohol
* no coffee
* no diet colas
*no carbonated drinks - that means no soda stream
*no alka seltzer (same reason)
*no fatty or spicy food
*eat small meals (your stomach is the size of your fist)
*eat your last meal at least 3 hours before you go to bed (or else the food comes up and that's what starts the coughing)
*walk after a meal - that helps settle the stomach
* if you have a heartburn attack try an apple. There's a lot of google pages out there on exactly what type of apple to buy. Google heartburn or GERD and apple.
* Don't drink too much water before bedtime (it will just slosh everything back up your esophagus)
* for some reason milk does help me sometimes, although my gastro says it shouldn't since it has some fat in it. Lowfat milk sometimes seems to calm it down
* sleep upright - go buy a Lay-Z-Boy and sleep propped up.
* no citrus - anything acidic like orange juice or grapefruit juice is a no-no
* no peppermint
* no chocolate
Go buy GERD/Barrett's Esophagus, etc. for Dummies and read it so you understand physically what is happening. I wish someone had told me this when I was pregnant. I now have to do all the things above (plus lose weight) for the rest of my life and be scoped annually to check for cancer. Also, buy a tempurpedic adjustable bed so you can sleep propped up (helps with nursing too). Yes, it is expensive but well well worth it. Good luck!
Best of luck - but cut out the carbonation and excess water now.
Jesus were you symptomatic the whole time? Like when getting those allergy shots? Did you have symptoms daily?
Anonymous
03/26/2014 08:16
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think there are multiple people recommending Prevacid, but I have been taking the 15 mg capsules of the 24 HR for a couple weeks now. I am probably three weeks in?
3 weeks pregnant or 3 weeks on prevacid?
I don't think I'd take any meds in first tri if I could avoid it except maybe Tums.
Love when people ask advice/questions and pass judgement in one breath!!! But 3 weeks on Prevacid. Over 38 weeks pregnant.
Anonymous
03/26/2014 00:51
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
Warm milk with honey helps me
Anonymous
03/25/2014 23:20
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
And for God's sake, no lime! no lemon! nothing acidic.
Anonymous
03/25/2014 23:17
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
Long-winded mom back - also no tight garments around the waist. I take omeprazole in the morning and wait an hour before eating. I take ranitidine in the evening before going to bed and will have to do so the rest of my life.
Anonymous
03/25/2014 23:11
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sparkling water helps too -- the gas bubbles kill the burn...
NO!!! I think your experience is atypical. Carbonation does not help.
I'm the OP. I drink soda stream water with lime juice everyday. Once the heartburn sets in, I think all water is equally awful for making it worse. Those creamy Odwalla shakes or really thick Naked brand mango juice help a little. Anything "coating" - similar to Mylanta or Pepto, but likely less effective.
OP listen very carefully. You do not want to end up like me. NO NO NO NO to the soda stream. I had horrible heartburn during both pregnancies. I was trying to lay flat on my back (or sides) and would start coughing - I now know it is the GERD cough. I mentioned it to my O.B. who basically blew me off but said tums was OK, nothing else was permissible (this is some time ago). By the third trimester I was in agony and bought a very comfy Lay-Z-boy and slept in the recliner for the remainder of the pregnancy. After I stopped nursing I mentioned the cough to the internist and he stupidly sent me to an allergist who decided I needed some shots. So I did allergy shots for 3 years, which did nothing.
Back to internist. I finally get a referral to a gastroenterologist and had an upper scope done. By then I had done so much damage to my esophagus that I was was diagnosed as having stage four erosive esophagitis. I immediately did everything he said (listed below) and got rid of much of the burning, but the scar tissue remains. The next scope was worse, I now have short-stem Barratt's esophagus, which means I am at 50/50 risk of getting esophageal cancer - which no one wants to get. The surgery available to tighten the sphincter muscle between the stomach and my esophagus is very difficult and often unsuccessful (the surgeon wraps part of the stomach around the lower end of the esophagus to tighten it to keep food down).
Please ask your O.B. for an O.B. friendly gastroenterologist immediately.
Here is what they will tell you:
*no alcohol
* no coffee
* no diet colas
*no carbonated drinks - that means no soda stream
*no alka seltzer (same reason)
*no fatty or spicy food
*eat small meals (your stomach is the size of your fist)
*eat your last meal at least 3 hours before you go to bed (or else the food comes up and that's what starts the coughing)
*walk after a meal - that helps settle the stomach
* if you have a heartburn attack try an apple. There's a lot of google pages out there on exactly what type of apple to buy. Google heartburn or GERD and apple.
* Don't drink too much water before bedtime (it will just slosh everything back up your esophagus)
* for some reason milk does help me sometimes, although my gastro says it shouldn't since it has some fat in it. Lowfat milk sometimes seems to calm it down
* sleep upright - go buy a Lay-Z-Boy and sleep propped up.
* no citrus - anything acidic like orange juice or grapefruit juice is a no-no
* no peppermint
* no chocolate
Go buy GERD/Barrett's Esophagus, etc. for Dummies and read it so you understand physically what is happening. I wish someone had told me this when I was pregnant. I now have to do all the things above (plus lose weight) for the rest of my life and be scoped annually to check for cancer. Also, buy a tempurpedic adjustable bed so you can sleep propped up (helps with nursing too). Yes, it is expensive but well well worth it. Good luck!
Best of luck - but cut out the carbonation and excess water now.
Anonymous
03/25/2014 22:51
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
Anonymous wrote:I think there are multiple people recommending Prevacid, but I have been taking the 15 mg capsules of the 24 HR for a couple weeks now. I am probably three weeks in?
3 weeks pregnant or 3 weeks on prevacid?
I don't think I'd take any meds in first tri if I could avoid it except maybe Tums.
Anonymous
03/25/2014 20:27
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
Giving birth... I had severe severe heartburn my entire preg. Nothing helped but delivering my DS. Good luck and know there is an end in sight.
Anonymous
03/25/2014 16:16
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sparkling water helps too -- the gas bubbles kill the burn...
NO!!! I think your experience is atypical. Carbonation does not help.
Actually, seltzer water helped me too..the burping it caused seemed to stop the heartburn...
Also eating smaller portions helped and chewing tums with everything.
Last, I realized I get it bad when I try to eat a full meal. As you get further there is less and less room for stomach so everything really presses and comes back up. Smaller frequent bites and meals helped to avoid the feeling. If I ate until I was no longer hungry, I overstuff my limits, and then heartburn and indigestion sets in plus literally feeling like I am going to pop. Like the girl veronica in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory...
Anonymous
03/25/2014 16:11
Subject: Re:Crippling heartburn - what helps?
Anonymous wrote:I am suffering soooo much with this! I was suffering during the 1st trimester and one of the obs at the practice I go to told me to take zantac 150mg in the morning and 150mg at night time before going to bed. I helped a little bit and by week 19-26 I felt GREAT! I even gained weight.
Now at week 28 I am felling pretty awful again. Zantac is not longer working, not even tums! I feel PAIN in my stomach, so much so that I have to make myself throw up to alleviate it. And it only alleviates it mildly.
I talked to my usual ob last week about it but he only said to avoid the trigger foods (??) - everything triggers it! He also told me to try NEXUM otc, but I am not really hopeful.
Darn it.. I was felling so great lately. It was wonderful to be able to eat again.
Anyway, WHY is cantaloupe good?
I'm the canteloupe PP and I have no idea. I don't usually buy off season fruit, but I was at a relative's house and ate some, my throat felt instantly soothed. Ate some more, and cut down on one round of TUMS that night. No idea, and it was just chance that I discovered it.
Anonymous
03/25/2014 15:52
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
I think there are multiple people recommending Prevacid, but I have been taking the 15 mg capsules of the 24 HR for a couple weeks now. I am probably three weeks in?
Anonymous
03/25/2014 15:43
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sparkling water helps too -- the gas bubbles kill the burn...
NO!!! I think your experience is atypical. Carbonation does not help.
I'm the OP. I drink soda stream water with lime juice everyday. Once the heartburn sets in, I think all water is equally awful for making it worse. Those creamy Odwalla shakes or really thick Naked brand mango juice help a little. Anything "coating" - similar to Mylanta or Pepto, but likely less effective.
Anonymous
03/25/2014 15:31
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
Anonymous wrote:Sparkling water helps too -- the gas bubbles kill the burn...
NO!!! I think your experience is atypical. Carbonation does not help.
Anonymous
03/25/2014 15:11
Subject: Crippling heartburn - what helps?
Sparkling water helps too -- the gas bubbles kill the burn...