feel the burn...

jseaton61

hey ladies! i've been lurking on the board for a while and just recently started posting. i had some weird symptoms over the weekend that turned out to severe acid reflux; i wanted to share in case anyone else experiences something similar so maybe you won't be as dumbfounded as i was. haha

friday evening i started having pain in my upper abdomen, directly under my boobs. i shrugged it off as being hungry and headed home. after eating the pain only got worse. again, i shrugged it off and thought "i'm just full. one good burp and i'll feel better." that didn't work either. after that, i thought it might be constipation. it had been a day or so since my last bm. after 30 minutes in the bathroom, i gave up. no sooner than i sat down on the couch i was up running to the kitchen, throwing up in the sink. i never got nauseous or felt sick to my stomach. it just hit me out of nowhere.

after throwing up a few different times and no relief from the pain, i called my doctor's office. the on call doctor told me if a bm didn't relieve the pain, the vomiting continues, or the pain got worse to go to the ER. by 11pm i couldn't keep even water down and the pain was only getting worse. the registration nurse tried to pacify me and tell me it was just morning sickness, but luckily a PA was in the office and heard my symptoms and told her to bring me straight back. (i was more than annoyed at her for suggesting it was just ms. i was 10 weeks, i hadn't any ms so far, and this was definitely not just an upset stomach)

after blood work, an ultrasound which showed the baby was perfect & super active, they decided to admit me to at least give me fluids. they scheduled an ultrasound of my gallbladder for the next morning. by 5am i was still in horrendous pain and hadn't gotten any sleep.. they gave me a dose of morphine & zofran and moved me up to the maternity floor. my gallbladder ultrasound the next morning was normal. all the nurses were dumbfounded.

my obgyn happened to be the doctor on call at the hospital and stopped in to check on me. after seeing my gallbladder u/s results she said it was a severe case of acid reflux. my mouth just dropped. acid reflux?? really?? i had been getting a dose of morphine every 3-4 hours because as it wore off the pain was just as unbearable as before. my doctor prescribed a GI cocktail & a dose of prilosec. it helped almost immediately. 6 hours after the GI cocktail & prilosec i still felt fine.

i followed up monday with my obgyn and the baby checked out great again and she told me to keep taking the prilosec.. so far, so good! i was so shocked that something like acid reflux could cause so many different & intense symptoms.

Mom2Cinderella

I am sorry you had to suffer.  I had horrible heartburn when I was pregnant with DD.  I have already had a little bit of it already this time.  I almost felt like I was having a heart attack.  I found certain things made it worse than others.  For me dairy flares it up.  Try to eat small amounts at a time.  Not only do the hormones play a role, but as the baby gets bigger and pushes up, the heartburn will likely get worse.  Just take your medicine, limit meal size and avoid things that are a trigger.

jseaton61

thank you! so far, i have no idea what my triggers are because i haven't really eaten anything out of the ordinary lately. when i found out i was pregnant the only way i could keep myself going was to eat small meals throughout the day and i've continued to do that. so far, the prilosec has been a life saver!

 

p.s.- my obgyn thought her husband was having a heart attack last fall because he was having horrible chest pains one night. turns out.. it was acid reflux!