How Many Tums Can You Take While Pregnant
So, how often can you take Tums while pregnant and how many?
Whatever Tum product is used during pregnancy, whether it is Tum Naturals, sugar-free, or extra strength, pregnant women should strictly stick to the dosage instructions and never exceed the 24-hour maximum dose that is stated for pregnant women.
Suppose indigestion and pregnancy heartburn is still an issue after taking Tums. In that case, further medical advice should be sought as to whether prescription-only antacids can safely be taken until the symptoms pass.
What Causes Heartburn During Pregnancy
When you’re pregnant, your bodys hormone levels experience changes. Some may act as a muscle relaxant that helps to prepare your body for childbirth. The downside? The increase of some hormones may also relax the lower esophageal sphincter, or LES. That’s the valve responsible for keeping stomach acid from moving up into the esophagus, where it doesn’t belong. If the acid moves into that area, it can irritate the esophagus and cause heartburn.2
As your pregnancy progresses and your baby grows, there may be more pressure on your stomach. This too can push the acid in your stomach past the LES and back into the esophagus, causing heartburn.
The good news is that heartburn will likely stop for most women after they give birth. If you have heartburn while pregnant, however, you may be at an increased risk of having heartburn later in life.
Can You Take Tums While Pregnant What You Need To Know
byThea Bloyce – Last updated on November 26, 2022
Heartburn is the burning pain in your chest that keeps you awake at night. Its often accompanied by burping up acid and food. Unfortunately, this is one of the most common problems during pregnancy. It happens because of the shift in hormone levels and the increased pressure from the uterus as it expands. It usually begins during the first trimester and only gets worse. Its no wonder that Google is all too familiar with questions like Can you take TUMS while pregnant?
So, what can you take for heartburn while pregnant? What antacids are safe during pregnancy? Lets find out.
Contents
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What Can Help With Pregnancy Heartburn
So what can I take for heartburn while pregnant besides TUMS?
Here are a few other things you can try if the TUMS arent cutting it:
- Avoid spicy or greasy foods, which can cause or exacerbate heartburn.
- Eat smaller meals more often not big meals less often.
- Take your time to eat, chewing thoroughly.
- Try not to lie down after meals or drinks.
- Chewing gum can help treat heartburn pangs and nausea .
- Try a ginger-based tea dont forget to stay sitting or standing upright for a while afterward.
Is It Safe To Take Tums While Pregnant
Before there were how-to guides like “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” women had other ways of passing down information about pregnancy and childbirth to their daughters. Despite being dismissed as old wives’ tales today, folklore and oral tradition have provided some of the most essential material for the study of reproduction, both historically and presently .
One of these common adages, which claims that women who suffer heartburn during pregnancy will have babies with full heads of hair, was recently proven to have some truth behind it. A 2006 study published in Birth, found that about 82% of women who complained of moderate heartburn during pregnancy gave birth to babies with average or above average amounts of hair. Conversely, a little over 83% of women who experienced no heartburn gave birth to bald babies.
Keep in mind, more than half of all pregnant women experience severe heartburn during pregnancy in the third trimester . That’s a lot of hairy babies. Heartburn is uncomfortable, and pregnant women seeking relief may be wondering if it’s safe to take Tums while bearing a child. Let’s find out.
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How Many Tums Are Safe While Pregnant
Can you take Tums extra strength while pregnant? Yes, you sure can. The maximum daily dosage for Extra Strength TUMS is 6 tablets in 24 hours. There are very good reasons to not go over this amount and well get to those in a moment.
If you take Ultra Strength TUMS, the maximum is 5 tablets in 24 hours. Thats because it has more of the active ingredient.
But before we go any further, please ask your doctor if TUMS or other antacids are appropriate for you.
How Do I Treat Heartburn During Pregnancy
When youre growing a human being, you dont have time for that yucky acid reflux. But your usual go-to methods for treating it may not be safe for your unborn baby.
Instead, here are some of the safest and best ways to get rid of heartburn when youre pregnant:
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Can I Take Alka Seltzer While Pregnant
Congratulations! Youre having a baby! There are many things to be excited about while expecting. However, pregnancy can also come with symptoms that are not so fun, like heartburn. It is reported that 17% to 47% of pregnant patients experience heartburn. Some studies show that heartburn increases from 22% in the first trimester to 39% in the second trimester to between 60% and 72% in the third trimester.
If you suffer from heartburn during pregnancy, you may be wondering if you can take medication like Alka Seltzer to help soothe the symptoms. Here is what you need to know about taking heartburn medication during pregnancy.
What heartburn medications can I take during pregnancy?
First and foremost, its important to note that it can be hard to know what medications are safe for your baby as most treatments are not studied on pregnant women. However, some medicines that women have been taking for long enough that doctors can be sure of the level of safety associated with their usage. With that being said, you should always consult with your doctor before taking any over-the-counter medication or starting or stopping a prescription medication.
Is Alka Seltzer safe to take while pregnant?
Some Alka Seltzer products, such as Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold and Alka-Seltzer Plus Day, contain chlorpheniramine, phenylephrine and pseudoephedrine, which are ingredients used to help treat cold and allergy symptoms. Pregnant patients should avoid these ingredients.
What Happens If You Take Tums While Pregnant
If you take Tums for heartburn when youre pregnant, youll feel a lot better in just a few minutes. Chew a tablet and stay sitting up for at least 5 to 10 minutes. The active ingredients descend to the esophagus and stomach where they start neutralizing the acid thats causing the pain and burning sensation.
Tums provide rapid relief when used for treating heartburn occasionally. In fact, its often recommended by OB/GYNs.
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You’ve Got I Need To Lie Down Right Now Level Fatigue
Feeling tired all the time is one of the most common early pregnancy symptoms, and I’m not talking about feeling a little run down. It’s more like suddenly needing to nap in the middle of the day or being so exhausted that you can barely keep your eyes open.
Once again, this can be chalked up to pregnancy hormones . As pregnancy goes on, it can also be caused by the simple fact that your body is working overtime to support your pregnancy.
Blood volume doubles during pregnancy, so your heart works double time to pump all that extra blood. On top of that, your body is also working hard to support the growing placenta and fetus.
All this extra work can leave you feeling exhausted, even if you’re getting a full night’s sleep. Fortunately, this fatigue usually goes away in the second trimester.
If you do feel extremely tired, it is worth discussing with your doctor because depending on other symptoms, it could be pointing towards iron deficiency anemia or thyroid disease.
Its Really Commonand Can Happen At Any Point During Pregnancy
Anecdotally, its something probably all of my patients experience at some point during pregnancy, Dana Elborno, MD, ob-gyn at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital, tells SELF. Interestingly, she says that heartburn may actually contribute to a lot of the nausea many people feel in the beginning of pregnancy. One of the reasons nausea is poorly treated is that there is a component of it that is reflux that is undertreated, she says.
The main reason that everything you consume comes back up to your throat is because of those good ol pregnancy hormones coursing through your body. When youre pregnant, your body produces more progesterone and relaxin, which are two hormones that have a relaxing effect on smooth muscle in the body, Dr. Elborno says. This causes the muscles in the digestive tract to loosen, slowing digestion and increasing bloating and heartburn.
It also affects the esophagus. The esophageal sphincter is a smooth muscle that plays a role in keeping acid in your stomach, Dr. Elborno says. Its at the bottom of the esophagus and works kind of like a flap that opens to let food down and then closes so that stomach acid doesnt come back up as its churning away to digest the food you just ate. The muscle is supposed to do that job, but with the effects of hormones in pregnancy that are relaxing all of your smooth muscle, it becomes less effective, Dr. Elborno explains.
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Eat Smaller Meals Throughout The Day
If you’re suffering from morning sickness, eating just a little at a time is probably no problem for you. But if your appetite is healthy, be sure to avoid eating so much that you feel full.
Just as it does when you’re not pregnant, an overly stuffed stomach can contribute to heartburn. Instead of three square meals a day, try five or six smaller ones.
A Word About Fda Pregnancy Categories
Using the letters A to D and X, the Food and Drug Administration used to assign pregnancy categories to drugs according to how safe they were to take while pregnant. These categories are no longer in use officially, but people often still refer to them for guidance.
When the lettering system was still in use, simethicone was considered category C. Category C stated that effects in human pregnancy were unknown, although some fetal damage had been observed in animal studies.
The American Family Physician Journal also classified simethicone as considered safe during pregnancy in 2014 and assigned it pregnancy category C.
Although Gas-X is considered safe during pregnancy, you may decide against it on your own or after talking to your OB. If thats the case, you may want to try some alternatives to avoid gas pain. These include:
- drinking more water and then drinking even more than that
- avoiding certain foods known to cause gas, such as beans, apples, certain dried fruits , excessive dairy, and onions
- avoiding swallowing excess air while eating or drinking by not talking while eating and not using a straw to consume liquid
- getting enough fiber
- not chewing gum
If youre already experiencing painful gas, ginger or peppermint tea might help soothe your digestive system. While other OTC options are considered pregnancy-safe, such as Maalox or Mylanta, its worth noting that they contain the same type of drug as Gas-X.
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Avoid Taking Tums If You Have Kidney Problems
If you are currently diagnosed with kidney problems and are pregnant, avoid taking tums. Also, if you are at high risk of getting kidney diseases, you should stay away from Tums too. As what Ive mentioned, Tums provide a good amount of calcium. But too much calcium might form stones in your kidney and will worsen your situation. If you have a healthy kidney, then youre good to go.
What Are The Side Effects Of Tums And Antacids During Pregnancy
Please consult with your OB/GYN or doctor about taking antacids while youre pregnant.
Weve learned that taking sodium bicarbonate can actually be harmful because it raises the risk of both the mother and baby having too much fluid or experiencing metabolic alkalosis.
Moreover, antacids with magnesium might interfere with contractions if taken during the last trimester .
Just as bad, taking too many Tums can lead to very painful kidney stones. Thats because the body cant process all the extra calcium. Please stick to the recommended dose .
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Mixing Medications Or Supplements
It is worth noting that another important supplement pregnant women might be taking is iron, which should always be taken at least two hours before or after an antacid. Inform your doctor of any other medications or supplements you might be taking while using TUMS to avoid any unforeseen complications.
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How To Lower Your Risk Of Heartburn During Pregnancy
For some women, diet and lifestyle changes during pregnancy can lessen the likelihood of heartburn. Suggestions from OB/GYNs include: monitoring overall food consumption, eating smaller meals throughout the day, and reducing caffeine intake.2 Avoid eating or drinking too close to bedtime and stay away from spicy and fatty foods to lower your risk of occasional heartburn after dinner and at night.2 As far as specific items are concerned, citrus fruits and chocolate have been linked to trigger heartburn during pregnancy.6
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Key Points To Remember
- GERD symptoms may not get better on their own. Its important to treat GERD, because it can lead to more serious problems, such as inflammation or narrowing of the esophagus.
- Most people can control symptoms of GERD with over-the-counter medicines and lifestyle changes.
- Stronger prescription medicines often work when over-the-counter medicines dont.
- You may decide to have surgery if:
- Medicine doesnt completely relieve your symptoms.
- Medicine works to stop your symptoms but for other reasons you cant or dont want to take the medicine.
- You have other symptoms, including asthma or hoarseness, that do not get much better with medicines.
What Causes Pregnancy Heartburn
Hormones
When you’re pregnant your body has changes in its hormone levels. Some may act as a muscle relaxant that helps to prepare your body for childbirth. The downside? The increase of some hormones may also relax the lower esophageal sphincter . That’s the valve responsible for keeping stomach acid from moving up into the esophagus where it doesn’t belong. If the acid moves into that area it can irritate the esophagus causing heartburn.
Baby growth
As your baby grows, its size can put pressure on your stomach. Sometimes this can push the acid in your stomach, past the LES and back into the esophagus, causing heartburn.
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Besides Tums What Else Can I Take For Heartburn During Pregnancy
You may consider taking other antacids such as Rolaids, Maalox, Pepcid and Zantac . However, check with your healthcare provider before using any of these medications. Besides medication, eating smaller meals, avoiding acidic and spicy foods, drinking lots of water, unsweetened coconut water, and mint tea can also provide relief from heartburn.
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How Soon Is Too Soon To Take A Pregnancy Test
A pregnancy test can usually detect pregnancy about 5 days before your expected period or when your period is supposed to start. If you’re tracking ovulation, the earliest a pregnancy test can be taken is generally 6-7 days past ovulation .
The process of fertilization to implantation can vary from person to person, so sometimes, it can take longer to detect. This is why the general recommendation is 6-12 DPO to take a test. To understand this, let’s do a quick reproduction 101 recap.
During ovulation, you release an egg from your ovary. The egg is then captured by the fimbriae of the fallopian tube and then swept into the tube where it has the opportunity to meet sperm. If fertilization occurs, the egg will spend about 5 days maturing and traveling the fallopian tube before reaching the uterus.
Once in the uterus, a viable embryo will implant on the uterine wall, leading to pregnancy. It takes time for the embryo to burrow into the wall of the uterus and begin secreting hCG .
Ovulation usually happens mid-cycle, about two weeks before your period, but it can vary from month to month and even from woman to woman. While many people are told we all ovulate on day 14 every cycle, this simply isnt true. You may ovulate on day 10 or day 21, just depending on your cycle, current health, and life factors like stress. But in general, it is usually consistently around the same handful of days within each persons cycle.
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