Worried about the future

Hi everyone. I am new here and looking for some advice/reassurance. I will try to keep this short lol

I am 28 years old and in 3 weeks time I will have a beautiful baby bot, my first :)

I have been suffering GERD/LPR symptoms since the since the age of 20. I always seemed to have a sore throat, burped a lot, regurgitation, tight throat but silly me never thought much of it. As my dad suffered heartburn almost every day I guess I just thought it was the norm.

18mnth ago I went to the doctor, I had had enough of these chronic symptoms and demanded a scope as I was worried about the damage that was being done. He told me not to worry about take some Nexium and I will be fine, I quit smoking at this time but he never told me what not to eat, to raise the bed head etc. I'm so annoyed that I listened to him!! I finally saw another Dr who referred me to a GI and I was done to have an upper scope, then I found out I was pregnant. So the scope has been put on hold until I have the baby, as you could imagine my reflux has been in full force. In the last 3 weeks I cannot get rid of my sore throat, I am taking losec and gaviscon advanced but would not want anything stronger due to the pregnancy.

So basically i'm terrified of what will be found during the scope, untreated reflux for 7-8 years could not be very good on the oesophagus, i'm worried I will have barretts which will progress to cancer and my son will grow up without a mother

I'm so annoyed at myself...what can I do??

I have really enjoyed reading other sufferers stories and recoveries, it does give me some hope.

Hi Newmumma,

When I had my first scope done, I had almost 10 years of horrible reflux that had not been treated very well. I had very little signs of Barretts and a few ulcerations. Take what you can to manage the reflux now as best as you can. Sleeping with a few more pillows will also help. As for the future, note that there is a VERY small, VERY VERY small chance that Barretts will transform into cancerous cells. In fact, even after my Nissen procedure, I still have a small bit of Barretts in my esophagus that my surgeon will keep an eye on with a yearly scope and isn't concerned in the least now that the reflux has been treated. Note that as your baby grows you might feel even more reflux as the baby moves the furniture around.

For now, worry about your baby. You can't do much about the reflux at this point except for control the symptoms. It's hard not to when you're so uncomfortable, but your baby is more important right now.

Take care and be well,
-TonyG-

I have a question for the pregnant mothers on this post: Does being pregnant create extra pressure on the stomach? Will pregnancy exacerbate reflux symptoms? I'm wondering if some of the reflux symptoms will lesson after the baby is born?

Wow than you all so much for your replies, they made me a bit emotional lol hormones!
Most days I can manage to push the negative thoughts away but if I am having a severe reflux day I cannot think of anything else but this terrible disease.

Sidiosquiere, i'm sorry to hear of the problems you are having, I remember my reflux being very bad the first 12 weeks, I was in a lot of pain everyday but it seemed to ease in the 2nd trimester, maybe due to the shift in hormones i'm not sure, but I could manage it a lot better in the 2nd tri so i'm hoping you experience the same. Obviously as baby gets bigger your symptoms will worsen again, I have really had to be strict with diet, all those chocolate cravings I could never satisfy :(

Bill, I have 5 pillows I layer starting from the middle of my back so i'm not just bending my neck which definitely helps.

Hi Ian. Yes like Bill said reflux symptoms almost always increase during pregnancy. The hormone relaxin loosens the oesophageal sphincter even more making it easier for acid to travel up and the growing baby putting pressure on all your bits doesn't help.

Once again thank you all very much, I feel some what more at ease and will try to relax and enjoy this special time in my life :)