What does heartburn feel like?

Is this heartburn?

For the last week or so I keep getting a burning sensation that starts in the centre of my chest, then moves up into my throat. It feels (and tastes ) very much like I want to be sick.
But it's not painful - just a bit uncomfortable. I always thought heartburn was extremely painful.

Also, I'm only 21 weeks - surely that's too early to be getting heartburn? Isn't it meant to affect you later in pregnancy?

Thanks,
Spirals.

I've got it now and am only 15 weeks but guess because its twins theres less room in there already so its started early. Pretty much walk about with a bottle of Mylanta near by.

Sounds like heartburn to me. It's not too early either and it's not always super painful. Here's some advice from my trusted pregnancy book....

Eat little and often avoiding heavy, fatty, highly spiced or pickled foods which make symptoms worse.

Drink a glass of milk or eat a pot of natural yoghurt before meals and bedtime. This helps to neutralise stomach acid.

Sit upright when eating to reduce the compression to your stomach

Avoid lying down for at least an hour after you have eaten and keeping your head well propped up at night with pillows may help too.

If your symptoms are severe ask your doctor to prescibe you an antacid such as Gaviscon.

Hey Spirals, your heartburn sounds just like mine! Ick. You have my sympathy!

For me, the cause seems to change all the time (at the moment it's apples) but eating an antacid tablet seems to help - I went to the chemist and asked them to recommend something that's OK during pregnancy. Banana milkshakes do the trick well too - just a banana and milk whizzed up in the blender with some ice. Yum.

Definately heartburn and trying to figure out what causes it could be tricky. For me obvious things bring it on, eating and then lying down not long after, but then randomly I would get it during the day when I have not been eating and its exactly as you describe it.

Mine went a couple of weeks ago when the baby moved down a bit, but over the last few nights has been back.

yoghurt can feel nice, I found the chewy antacid sweets worked pretty well too.

yep that's heartburn and I'm getting a little even at 16 weeks. It doesn't hurt, it's just annoying. But closer to the birth it can get stronger/more frequent. You'll get to know what types of foods set it off; e.g. spicy or chocolate for me

Thanks everyone.

Am definately going to get hold of some raw almonds (I love nuts) and some papaya enzyme tablets to try - fingers crossed :-)

I used to have it quite bad at the beginning of my pregnancy, week 5 up till about week 8, then it went away, and since about two weeks it's bad. Guess like all things pregnancy related things can just hit you whenever.

I would definately recommend Mel&Kel's tip of eating almonds. I wasn't keen on taking antacids several times a day, and the almonds work very well.