Will I vomit acid during pregnancy?

During pregnancy, women's endocrine system will be disturbed, so they are particularly prone to endocrine disorders. Some women may have stomach acid due to discomfort caused by the food they eat. During pregnancy, women need to force themselves to eat a lot of food that they don't like, which can easily cause the stomach of pregnant women to feel uncomfortable. So will pregnant women vomit acid?

Is it normal to vomit acid in early pregnancy?

According to statistics, 30%-80% of pregnant women have experienced vomiting acid or heartburn. However, once delivery occurred, the symptoms of acid reflux and heartburn disappeared all of a sudden.

Acid reflux is related to stomach acid. Gastric acid is produced by the parietal cells of the gastric mucosa and plays a bactericidal and digestive role in the stomach. The gastric mucosa itself has a protective system that protects the stomach from being corroded and digested by gastric acid. However, once stomach acid runs into the esophagus, the esophagus cannot withstand the invasion of the acid at all, and the owner will vomit acid and have heartburn.

Experts measured the pressure of the lower esophageal sphincter in pregnant women and confirmed that its pressure did indeed decrease. The reason is that a series of changes occur in the body's endocrine system after pregnancy. Among them, the levels of estrogen and progesterone in the blood increase. Under the synergistic action of these two hormones, the sphincter muscles become relaxed and weak. At the same time, gastric emptying becomes poor and the downward peristaltic ability in the esophagus is weakened. The former causes gastric acid to accumulate in the stomach and not flow downward, increasing the pressure in the stomach, breaking through the weak "bridgehead" and reflux into the esophagus; the latter makes the esophagus unable to clear out these uninvited guests, and the symptoms of pregnant women appear.

Ways to relieve morning sickness

Treating reflux in pregnant women is different from treating this type of reflux in normal circumstances. The main problem facing pregnant women is whether the drugs used will cause harm to the fetus in the abdomen? Will there be adverse reactions that cause fetal malformations? Therefore, according to the severity of the reflux symptoms, the reasonable treatment for pregnant women should be divided into three steps under the above premise.

Step 1: Adjust your lifestyle. Do not eat foods that produce a lot of acid, such as sweet potatoes and potatoes, foods that are very acidic in themselves (such as concentrated vinegar, lemon juice), strong tea, alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, chocolate, etc. Raise the head of the bed (not the pillow) if necessary. In addition, it is also important to keep a happy spirit and stable emotions.

Step 2: Choose local treatment drugs. Commonly used ones include aluminum hydroxide gel, which should be taken before meals; Wei Shuping, which should be taken before meals. Through this type of drug treatment, reflux symptoms can be relieved in 30%-40% of pregnant women.

Step 3: Choose acid-suppressing methods, which means suppressing gastric acid before it is formed so that it cannot escape, thereby reducing the damage caused by acid reflux. For stubborn cases that are refractory to the first and second step treatments, cimetidine is the first choice. Existing materials show that this type of drug is relatively safe and is recommended to be taken after dinner every day because reflux is most severe at this time, and it does not need to be taken for a long time.