Hi all

I am 26 weeks and suffering with extreme heartburn. I was taking mylanta- maybe about 2 per day every day for a while. I recently went to the chemist and was told that too much use of antacids can cause calcification of the placenta.
I have never heard of this and it was my midwife who said to use the mylanta, so thinking she would have said if there was a reason to take with caution.
Anyway, I am currently not using anything and just suffering through it.

I want to know if people have heard of this, can suggest alternatives if not using antacids or have any anecdotes about their own experiences.

Hmmm not sure about the calcification but after much research when I was pregnant with Jenna I decided on taking the peppermint chewy Quickies - they go down a treat and seemed to be the most harmless as I recall.

I think if you're suffering then you should go to the Dr and not play around with the pharmacist. Mylanta is fine for pregnancy, I agree with you midwife.

My specialist gave me medication rather than using heaps of the supermarket stuff.

I feel ya with the heart burn suffered bad with them all to the point of having to sleep sitting up!even after taking meds

I lived on chewable quickies until they,well,tmi, bound me up so midwife prescribed mylanta,then I still couldn't eat for the heart burn so went on losec!

good luck heartburn sux

So losec is safe in pregnancy? I have it on script but i havnt been taking any cos i wasnt sure

I'd go to your doctor and talk it through with them. That way they can work out a plan of attack.

The first thing they'll probably suggest is avoiding foods that cause the reflux/heartburn... then try anti-acids and then there is other medication. Its that balance between your wellbeing and that of the baby. Your doc can let you know where it is on the safety scale and there are lesser drugs that might be able to treat it.

Obviously with your diabetes its probably a bit more complicated as I imagine your diet has to be pretty strict at times so eliminating foods could be harder.

In my personal experience pharmacists are VERY conservative with their recommendations so while they might be experts on various medications they are not experts at managing illnesses or symptoms. So they're going to go for the most conservative recommendations whereas a doctor and particularly a obstetrician can probably give you more specific recommendations based on their experience working with women who are pregnant.

I had a pharmacist refuse to sell me codeine in case my baby got addicted whereas my doctor said later that she would have happily prescribed me some short term and I had two friends prescribed it by their obs...

I was prescribed mylanta by my dr for my heart burn, I went back as it wasn't helping and was prescribed losec which has made this pregnancy a breeze. The last two I suffered really badly. I'm sure my dr would not have prescribed them if they were harmful to my baby.

I researched Losec a while back and there is just as much info against as there is for during pregnancy, so I chose not to use it.

I have been using Mylanta, but now use Gaviscon which is 100x's better. The chewable tablets are really good.

A natural remedy is lemon juice (which is a surprise), in my early days I drank a lot of hot lemon drinks (no sugar) it helps, but only with mild cases.
Milk is good too, again for mild cases.

I have been trying to have bland food and have a glass of milk when I eat my dinner, as well as sleeping propped up a bit to help- it does a wee bit but I think mine is more than just a mild case.
I will take your guys advice and go and see my GP. There is so much conflicting info out there I think it is best to talk to a professional. I agree that pharmacists err on the side of caution.

yup you can be prescribed Losec if your indigestion is bad enough. just make sure your MW knows etc tho of course. pregnancy heartburn/indigestion is the WORST!!! drink lots of water (room temp or warm/hot water i found the best), milk helps etc. there are mixed opinions on antacids and pregnancy. personally, i lived on them- like a packet every day of quickeze my heartburn was SO bad but i was never told about being able to have losec in pregnancy- next time that is the first thing id do personally, after the last experience.. anyways, my DD came out fine and dandy 2 weeks overdue and the placenta was healthy as can be.. but if i could turn back the clock i would have taken the losec route, with how much quickeze i consumed.. tho once i discovered it, i did find Gaviscon liquid really good and only needed it a few times a day- much less than the constant munching on tablets! lol. (even tho it tastes like minty snot..ew!) so thats worth a try? a natural alternative is "DigestEzyme"tablets by the "Radiance" brand- get them from the health shop. a bit pricey, but 100% natural and safe for pregnancy. they have papaya melon, digestive enzymes, peppermint and chlorophyll in them and i found they were quite good (until my heartburn got SO bad they didnt cut it anymore..) but you can chew on them all day (and they are yum too!bonus!) and they are safe at the end of the day its what you are most comfy with, but if you are suffering there is no point in being miserable if there is a safe remedy


ETA: oh yeah, and pharmacists do tend to be ultra-careful with pregnant women. my pharmacist wouldnt let me buy iron supplements without a letter from my MW stating i needed them!!! so go by what your MW says, they are the ones experienced and specialising in pregnancy i found that so many health professionals actually seemed scared and avoided talking to me when i walked into their shop while i was pregnant! (gee- didnt think i was that awful looking! )

I didn't research Losec online, but did do a lit search along with my gastroenterologist about 7 years ago and it has been proven to be safe in pregnancy. I confirmed this with my OB last year when I got pg with my daughter. I took 40 mg every day of my pregnancy and never had a problem and my daughter is completely fne. If I couldn't take Losec, I would have need surgery so we looked into it very carefully knowing that it would be something that I'd need to take during pregnancy, and if I couldn't, then I'd need the surgery before trying to get pg,