# Nexium and pregnancy



## Wraakgodin (Jun 17, 2006)

I went for my 26 week check up yesterday and DH mentioned my bad heartburn to my consultant and he wrote me a prescription for Nexium.  

Now I am paraniod about taking any sort of medication now I am pregnant and if there is a 0.0000001% chance it will do any damage to my little Ninja then I won't take it.  I haven't even taken a painkiller since I have started ttc.  But DH thinks that the doc wouldn't have prescribed it unless it was safe and DH is more concerned about the long term damage (already had it for a couple of months, got 3 months left of pregnancy) heartburn will have to my insides.  

What is the official line on this?  Is this medicine 100% safe for pregnant women?  Even for a paranoid mother-to-be?

Not sure if this is a question for you or "ask a midwife", but thought I would try here first.

Sue


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## mazv (Jul 31, 2006)

Hi Sue,

Sorry not been on to reply, was on my own with Lily all weekend, developed a migraine and then today she's been really poorly  A fun filled bank holiday weekend all round   

Poor you with heartburn   Very common unfortunately   DH is right in that long term it's not the best thing for your tubes but for the majority of women it is only transient and disappears after birth (when baby stops squishing stomach from the inside) and th elining of the oesophagus does usually recover in the end.

Not too sure why consultant went for Nexium first though  Bit like a sledge hammer to crack a nut!!! Certainly in the UK the usually treatment protocol are as follows:
1. antacid liquid e.g. Gaviscon/Peptac
2. H2 blocker e.g. ranitidine
3. PPI e.g. omeprazole

All of the above are very much tried and tested in pregnancy and are thought to be perfectly safe. Nexium is the brand name for esomeprazole which is a component of omeprazole (the third line drug). It is the S-isomer of omeprazole which is a racemic mixture compound or, in lay mans terms the parent drug omeprazole is a mixture of right and left hand gloves and nexium is just the right glove on its own.

It is a relatively new drug and as such does not have the same amount of evidence as omeprazole has so caution should be exercised when prescribing in pregnancy. Even though it is part of omeprazole (which is safe) there can be subtle differences between isomers and you can't always predict response.

Personally I'd go with an antacid first if you haven't tried that before and work your way through the 'safe' list before resorting to the Nexium 

Hope this helps
Maz x


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