If you or someone you know is experiencing a dry mouth during pregnancy, do not worry. This is completely normal and many women suffer, especially whilst in the early stages of pregnancy. Many of the changes that happen to a woman’s body during pregnancy is due to hormone changes. There are many completely normal symptoms that come along with pregnancy such as heartburn, vomiting, nausea, sore nipples and an increase of thirst or dry mouth.
What Causes Dry Mouth During Pregnancy?
The exact causes of dry mouth early pregnancy are unknown but there are many possible causes that health-care professionals agree on. Dehydration is a common cause of dry mouth. As the fetus grows, it requires more bodily fluids from its mother, meaning although you may have felt you drank plenty, it still wasn’t enough. Hormones can also increase the need to urinate, meaning pregnant women are losing more fluid through urination than they normally would. Another indicator for dry mouth is gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes is diabetes that only occurs throughout pregnancy, therefore if you experience dry mouth, always inform your GP so they can test for this.
Symptoms of Dry Mouth
Mouth dryness may come along with a few or many symptoms. If you wake up with a dry mouth on several occasions and display any of the following symptoms, go to your GP to be safe and ensure it is just dry mouth. You may suffer from cracked lips, difficulty in swallowing, bad breath, a burning sensation in the throat or a raw tongue.
How to Cure Dry Mouth
As well as seeing your GP, there are things that you can do at home to help reduce the symptoms of dry mouth. There are many cold and flu drinks and lozenges that can be bought from your local supermarket and different flavors depending on your preferences. These and herbal teas can assist in soothing a dry, sore throat. This is a given, but drinking plenty of water can help with dry mouth. Try to stick to just water if you can, but if you really don’t like the taste, flavored water or juice can help. Try to stay away from caffeinated drinks as these can make you urinate more. If your dry mouth comes with a “metal” taste which many pregnant women experience, drinking lemonade or another citrus based drink can help combat this specific taste. Aloe Vera can also help stimulate your salivary glands to produce more saliva, hence curing the problem of dry mouth.
Dry mouth can be a very normal development during pregnancy. The change in hormones in the female body during pregnancy can cause a dry mouth or throat, a metallic taste in the mouth and even bleeding gums. These are not usually a cause for alarm, more a side effect of excess hormones. Using home remedies and speaking to your doctor who may test for any underlying conditions as a precaution, can help reduce and cure any dry mouth you may be experiencing.