Afternoon Food Aversion & Reflux

I'm 14 weeks with babies 2&3 and have been noticing that the reflux has begun early this time around (I had a lot of reflux with DD). However, I am also noticing that I am barely hungry at lunch, but I make myself eat and after that I'm almost hopeless. I have no desire to eat, think about food, or prepare food for my family. I can't force myself to eat dinner as it's so unappealing. Is this temporary? I'm wondering if its OK to eat a lot in the morning and then not worry about this afternoon blah feeling, but I wanted advice from mamas who have BTDT. Thanks! PS -- any tips on reflux other than Tums?

 

I never had a food aversion, I have been hungry this whole time, so I can't help out with that. But I have had some crazy heartbearn. The only advice is to stay away from acidic foods, spicy foods, eating too much, etc. It doesn't always help, I have gotten heartburn from water even. As for just eating in the morning, I don't think that's a good idea, as your blood sugar levels would plummet, and so do the babies. I eat every 3-4 hours to stabilize my blood sugar levels and keep each meal to a minimum to (200-300 calories) to avoid feeling stuffed/acidic. Find something you like and eat it often- I eat a lot of yogurt and homemade english muffin pizzas. Cereal is a good one too, I never get heartburn from cereal. Good Luck!

 

i hate to say it but I have food aversion and acid reflux for the entire past 31 weeks and it's not fun. some days are better than others. i take tums and pepcid (when it's uncontrollable). sorry. i know how you feel.

 

As unappealing as it is to continue eating through the afternoon/evening it is important to maintain your blood sugar levels & prevent worse nausea.

Some things I found helpful for heartburn were separating food/drink (I'd eat & then drink about an hour later, then wait another hour or so before eating again, etc) & on the recommendation of my midwives I've been using papaya enzyme rather than tums for flare ups & it's worked quite well. They also suggested chewing 10 or so almonds until they're a paste like consistent & then swallowing to use in place of tums (I haven't tried that myself because I don't like almonds). Check with your caregiver too - they should have some suggestions for you.

 

The almonds do help. I have the same aversion. Have you tried just a few bites here and a few an hour later. It may feel like all your doing is eating but it will keep you healthy too. Best wishes

 

Thanks so much. Drinking has been really really hard for me and the one thing that sounds good to drink is OJ--not exactly the best reflux choice. I have not been drinking it much as the reflux gets worse, but I am coming off a bad chest cold where I drank a lot of OJ to try to hydrate and get good nutrients. I have been trying to force food later in the day but it's not fun. I'm not even devouring the halloween candy so I KNOW I'm feeling off (lol) I left a mini kit kat in my purse from early morning until late afternoon today--really a sign something is wrong with me. Ha!

 

Oh, and about the almonds-- would almond milk work the same as chewing the almonds?

 

You could try. I think it's more the thick paste that acts as a barrier to the stomach acid though. I have heard sometimes a glass of milk can help so it's worth a try (for others though milk can make reflux/heartburn worse).

 

I am not sure about the milk. I think miss bossy is right about the paste being the key, but I am going to try it anyway.

 

Love, love, love my chewable calcium/magnesium supplement for combating reflux. For me, if I chew 1 tablet the heartburn immediately stops. It usually lasts 24-48 hours, too.

Yes, this time around dinner was pretty unappetizing for me, too. I tried to snack later on if I couldn't eat a proper dinner.

 

OMGoodness with both my twin pregnancy and my last pregnancy I had some serious food aversions! Oh it was awful!!!!! With the twins it was ESPECIALLY for Mexican food which was always my very very favorite - I HATED it and could not even think about it without feeling sick- now I don't feel sick when I eat it but it is still not my favorite. With my last pregnancy it was BAD too - it was ESPECIALLY for this soup that I used to LOVE and was my dads favorite food for lunch ( I took care of my dad until he passed in 1-15-11) I could not even put the can in my shopping cart - now I still don't like it and would never buy it. My food aversion lasted the entire time - but the further along I got the less intense it was.

 

Oh boy, I hope this doesn't last the whole pregnancy, lol. I will add almonds to my grocery list and see if that works. I have milk occasionally, but I never really went back to drinking it after DD was born and had such terrible food intolerances I had to cut milk out for over a year. I decided to try cereal last night after the suggestion and cheerios worked--at least for last night. I appreciate the tips!

Has anyone tried a hazelwood necklace for reflux? Any luck?

 

Don't know what your OB says so you should probably ask, but I HATE rums and can't take them. My OB said any OTC antacid is fine for pregnancy, so I take zantac instead.