can i take flu-type rememdies when pregnant?

[misdee]

i have a horrible cold, very flu like atm. i have a few of beechems flu capsules here, but cant find the box or leaflet. can i take them whilst pregnant? paracetamol hasnt helped today.

[Twiglett]

nope .. sorry misdee .. its not advised

paracetomal

hot drinks ...lemon tea a good idea

go to bed if poss (I know that bits not likely but try)

[lilsmum]

afraid not, you cant really take anything apart from paracetamol i suffered with colds when i was pregnant, its a nightmare, i remember asking the g.p at the time and he said i couldnt even use olbas oil!!!

hope u feel better soon x

[misdee]

i went back to bed this morning, didnt get out till lunchtime.

so will take some more paracetamol later, and an early night for me.

cheers twiglett.

[artyjoe]

I've used Olbas oil throughout my pregnancy (on my pillow) and am due on wednesday, now need some reassurance that this was okay to do ! Anyone?

[misdee]

thank goodness. i've always used olbas and karvol oils when ill, never thought about whther or not i was pregnant.

[Prufrock]

Olbas and Karvol are fine - the new Vicks inhaler thing isn't though.
Try boiling water, a spoonful of honey, juice of one lemon and a slug of whisky (small one seeing as you are pregnant). I read recently that in clinical trials this has actually been shown to be as effective as soem drugs in relieving congestion.

[misdee]

got horrible sinus pain now as well. looks like more paracetamol. again.

[sammyw]

i have tasken a lemsip asnd im really worried
im 10 weeks
what are the real risks

sammyw

[tillykins]

I think lemsip is just paracetamol, vitamin C and caffeine, so I wouldn't worry too much now you have taken it, but perhaps don't take any more?

[sammyw]

unfortunately it had a decongestant in it - my husband made it and i was so ill i didnt check with him that he bought the one with just paracetamol.

is it a big risk, one sachet

surely they should have bigger warnings on things you buy from sweet shops

[happymerryberries]

Just paracetamol, the decongestatnts are not 'allowed'

[Twiglett]

Sammy .. no one sachet is not a 'big risk' please try not to worry about it .. the warnings really are there for continuous use

[LapsedGymJunkie]

Sammy W

There are women out there who take heroin for 9 months and have babies who are addicts but physically OK.

Not advocating that , but do not beat yourself up over one or two decongestants.

[happymerryberries]

Agree with twiglett. What decongestant was it, and I'll have a look at the net for info for you? (used to do this sort of thing for a living)

[Twiglett]

HMB the active ingredient in most of the lemsips (apart from paracetomal of course) is phenylephrine hydrochloride

[happymerryberries]

Thanks for that twiglett.

I've had a look and found different comments. One site said it was safe in pregnancy and the rest said that there were no long term studies that showed it was safe.

Don't panic! This is the norm for most drugs, it is almost impossible to test them on pg women, as we would all expect. What I didn't find was any indication that the drug had been shown to be a problem in pregnant animals (and most drugs that do have an effect on humans also have the effect on animals too)

I can't say that your are 100% OK, because you can't say that for any woman even if she only ate organic whole grain food and drank distilled water! As others have said women abuse all sorts of things and their babies are OK. Try not to worry and don't beat yourself up about it

[Sheldpl]

Make sure you drink lots of water - you don't want to end up dehydrated and on a drip in hospital!

[sammyw]

thanks, on my wifes behalf - she is feeling better about the lemsip after your comments to her - funny she wouldnt listen to me. but it got worse today after spotting and a serious fresh blood show tonite - she's sleeping finally but i cant.

[Copper]

sammy
how pregnant is she? If its very early days it may be worth mentioning to the dr - if she's well on no worries. Not because of the lemsip but because viruses can be problematic.

[Sponge]

I was advised - by senior midwife at hospital, who checked all the reference books - that pseudo ephedrine was fine to take when pregnant.
This means that sudafed is fine and lemsip is fine.
I too had a horrible cold and sinus pain took sudafed and have a lovely healthly baby (albeit one with a stuffy nose at present ).

[Uwila]

Go to www.safefetus.com and put in the drug name. It may be helpful. Some things are just not advised in first trimester. You have to decide how miserable and what risks are/aren't worth feeling better.