Month 6: Dragon in your chest
Most pregnant women are on intimate terms with heartburn, especially in the last few months of pregnancy, when your big bump pushes your acidic gastric juices up into your throat. It hurts. What many of us don’t know is that there is another version of heartburn that can be just as uncomfortable but does not come with the telltale burning sensation: it is called silent reflux.
KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
Both heartburn and silent reflux (also known as dyspepsia) have the same cause: a weakened oesophageal sphincter that, instead of squeezing shut after food has gone down, remains slightly open, letting the acidic juices from your stomach back up into your throat. In pregnancy, this is made worse, firstly by the hormone relaxin, which does exactly as its name says – relaxes all the ligaments in your body in preparation for birth. This is perfect for your pelvis but not so great for the rest of your body, as it ”loosens” many other seemingly unrelated areas, like your oesophageal sphincter. Secondly, your baby takes up a lot of space in your abdomen and pushes your stomach, as well as all its juices further up. Traditional heartburn results in a burning sensation or that horrible ”food still in your throat” feeling. Normal antacids usually provide relief, and giving birth almost always solves the problem. Silent reflux, on the other hand, is deceptive, as there are no burning or ”full” sensations. Instead, you get symptoms such as postnasal drip and a persistent cough. These symptoms are very easily mistaken for a cold, flu or sinusitis and are often treated as such, but obviously cold and flu medications will not solve the problem. While prescribed antibiotics may clear any secondary infections that develop as a result of the post-nasal drip, they do not clear up the root cause of the problem: reflux.
“It felt like I always had a cold,” describes Colleen, mom of two, “with constant coughing and a post-nasal drip that kept getting infected. I was on course after a course of antibiotics, which would clear the infection but not the coughing.
“It was not until my doctor prescribed an antacid that I began to feel relief. I had silent reflux, which was causing all the problems, but I had no idea.”