Acid Reflux During Pregnancy

My sister is pregnant and due in November and she is constantly complaining to me about having acid reflux and heartburn. It brings back memories for myself when I was pregnant with my now 2 1/2 year old. I had acid reflux throughout most of my pregnancy. I learned many ways to ease the pain and I'd like to share a few....

1. Don't drink liquids containing caffeine, such as coffee, tea, cola, etc. These relax the LES(lower esophageal sphincter) which allows acid to reflux back into the esophagus.

2. Do not eat large meals. Eat small meals throughout the day.

3. Don't eat quickly. Take your time and eat slowly.

4. Wait at least 3 hours after you eat before going to bed.

5. Drinking too much fluid can put pressure on the LES, forcing it to open when it shouldn't. So, sip fluids throughout the day instead of just at meals.

Please share any tips you may have!

Walmart and Acid Reflux Prescriptions 4$

Well as many of us have heard. Wal mart.com plans on selling a variety of generic drugs for 4$. This will obviously help those mostly without health care prescription benefits, like me! I've been trying to see which generics Walmar.com will be offering and I stumbled upon an acid reflux prescription comparison chart. On the chart the only drug that offered a generic solution was Prilosec OTC which goes by the name of Omeprazole. I've use Prilosec OTC in the past for my acid reflux as I've discussed in other posts. Can't wait for Prevacid to come out in a generic! Has anyone used Protonix? Please post here if you have on how effective it is and how the side effects are for you! I'd also like to congratulate on Walmart on this strategy. Not only will it help its current clients out, but it will most likely cause people like me to move their prescriptions to Walmart and shop more while we wait for those acid reflux prescriptions to be filled! Great Job!

Acid Reflux: Dont Eat Large, Late At Night

Well friends, once again I didnt follow my doctors advice about eating large meals! A friend of mine came home from Texas yesterday so of course we all had to get together at his mothers house last night. His mom is a former cooking instructor so needless to say it was worth the pain! We didn't sit down to eat until 9pm. I had some of everthing which of course in total made for a rather full stomach of beef, garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli, peas, pop-overs, ice cream cake for dessert and of course all the pre-meal apps like nachos!! So as you can figure by now, my ride home was uncomfortable and I didnt sleep very well. I popped a few Tums to help and by morning I was doing better.

Just rememeber Eating large meals anytime would cause the stomach to grow and put pressure on your lower esophageal sphincter causing you guessed it, acid reflux. Laying down after eating a large meal late at night is a double whammy since the stomach contents are more likely to flow into the esophagus and stay for a while.

Lesson learned...no more late night feasts!!

Acid Reflux Scare

Just read an interesting article about how acid reflux can really feel like a serious heart problem. Marcus Giles, 26 year old second baseman of the Braves had a big scare this past Saturday. He started to feel a tightness in his chest and abdominal area after drinking a soda on Saturday morning. He was evaluated by Braves trainer Jeff Porter who sent him to a Philadelphia hospital for additional evaluation. The hospital told him he may need to undergo heart surgery where a valve in his heart would need to be stapled shut. He was then sent to a cardiologist to be evaluated further. He went through a series of stress tests on Sunday, which determined that the chest discomfort was simply a result of acid reflux.