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Any Suggestion For A Pregnant Having Lupus And Rheumatoid Arthritis Suffering From Severe Heart Burn?
I am almost 19 weeks into a high risk pregnancy as I have lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. I have been suffering severe heart burn for almost 2 weeks now to the point that I cannot sleep. even lying down with 2 pillows under my head is not enough and I have to sleep sitting up, which is impossible. Antacids do not really help. It starts late afternoon and gets terrible after taking my prenatal vitamin and lasts until about 5 or 6 in the morning. I had upper right quadrant pain at the end of the year but the blood work and ultrasound were fine. No fever and no vomiting although I can taste stomach acid in my throat. I do have a headache but figure that is due to the fact I am not getting more than 3 hours of very interrupted sleep a night
posted on
Thu, 16 Jan 2014
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Thu, 16 Jan 2014
Answered on
Fri, 17 Jan 2014
Last reviewed on
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Heartburn is common in pregnancy. It is due to both the pressure of the enlarging womb on the gastointestinal tract and also due to relaxation of the sphincters that normally prevent acid from re entering the esophagus .
This relaxation occurs as a result of the effect of certain hormones released in pregnancy.
There are medications such as pepcid that can normally be safely used in pregnancy to help with reflux but you would need to speak to your doctors to make sure that it does not interact with any other medications you may be using.
I hope this helps
Heartburn is common in pregnancy. It is due to both the pressure of the enlarging womb on the gastointestinal tract and also due to relaxation of the sphincters that normally prevent acid from re entering the esophagus .
This relaxation occurs as a result of the effect of certain hormones released in pregnancy.
There are medications such as pepcid that can normally be safely used in pregnancy to help with reflux but you would need to speak to your doctors to make sure that it does not interact with any other medications you may be using.
I hope this helps
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