What was this capsule?

[Worried888]

Was given the wrong drug in a healthcare setting. They don’t know what they gave me.

It was a small capsule (smaller than paracetamol) one half was coloured yellow/orange and the other pink/red.

I am absolutely terrified as to what it could have been as I’m 6 weeks pregnant.

It was incorrectly dispensed and no one seems to be able to identity what OP was given. I think that means her reaction is absolutely proportionate.

OP, presumably an investigation will be taking place, so at some point soon this should be identified

Not sure from your posts if you were on a maternity/foetal medicine ward when you were given the medication, but from what you’ve said I imagine you may have been and if so, then logically speaking it’s unlikely these wards would keep medications close by/in stock that would be unsafe for pregnant women :-)

I always presumed that 'harmful in pregnancy' referred to taking it as an ongoing medication, not a single one off capsule. We consume all sorts of things that aren't ideal eg non-organic fruit, or fumes in a particularly polluted area, yet babies still thrive.

Hey OP - if it helps, I took cocaine, ecstasy & crap loads of alcohol AND smoked with no idea I was pregnant. Partying stopped immediately, obvs, but of my 3 children he is the 'normal' one ;)

Just checked my omeprazole stash - all tiny capsules & in four different colourways. It's all rather Meds By Temu.

One tablet, you'll be fine & if something does go awry with this pregnancy it's unlikely it's anything you've done or that tablet. Not that it excuses the mistake, it doesn't, the bigger risk would be an allergic reaction I should think - which you aren't having.

Deep breaths & try to put this aside. Good luck with rest of your pregnancy 🍀

I travelled with a friend across South America who was pregnant and didn’t realise. She’d had cancer as a child and was later told she would never conceive.

She took various medication throughout our trip as she (understandably) was confused about why she felt so awful. Over the months we were there, she took anti-malarials, sleeping tablets, pain killers, anti-nausea drugs and antibiotics. She drank (a lot) and ate all the weird and wonderful things. She hiked at high altitude. We put her weight gain down to our increase in meals, her nausea down to street food and her headaches down to the altitude.

When she started to feel internal movement, she was convinced she’d caught a parasite from swimming in the Amazon and flew herself home. Took herself immediately to the doctor who delivered the happy news. She was 6 months along - we couldn’t believe it. She was thrilled but also terrified about what damage cause have potentially been caused.

Her little girl was born perfectly healthy and is now a teen. Moral of the story: one pill isn’t going to harm your baby. Relax and don’t fret :)

Another version of oseltamivir?

This?

Having trouble tonight!

OP, I can't help identify the medication, but my baby is 7 weeks tomorrow and during pregnancy I convinced myself that I'd irreparably harmed her on a few occasions. Both chemical and physical traumas.

Baby was born fighting fit on her due date.

I know exactly how you feel, it's very hard to convince yourself that everything is fine, even with people reassuring you that it is. I totally get it. I was sick with the anxiety a few times. Sorry it's happening to you.

I was given omeprazole in pregnancy as I had horrendous reflux, so it’s fine.

It definitely sounds like Omeprazole, they come in a whole range of colours and although most are the average capsule size, there are several brands which are a smaller version. I only have the all-white, normally-sized version at the moment, otherwise I would post a photo, but I know I've had Omeprazole in the colour and size you describe @Worried888,

I can take some educated guesses knowing the approximate size and colour, none of which would concern me particularly. For example amoxicillin 250mg is the size and often the colour you’re describing. The 500mg dose is a bigger capsule - it sounds like you are familiar with that size from a your post up thread. Among other things it could also still be oseltamivir - just because they don’t have that colour variation in stock now doesn’t mean they’ve never had it.

Assuming you are in the UK, on the thalidomide point above, I agree with @TaggieO, it’s not something that is readily available on wards so is very unlikely you have been given it. The description also doesn’t match with thalidomide, or lenolidamide (which is similar in nature). It’s pretty easy to rule things out but not so easy to rule things in. Without having the capsule it’s not going to be possible to work it out. I’d need dimensions and markings to be confident in identifying a tablet or capsule but if it’s of any reassurance, the vast majority of drugs available on hospital wards would not be harmful even in multiple doses, and anything that is a significant risk is usually well controlled.

Well technically that's incorrect. Google Mifepristone

If you've worked in maternity then you know very well what one single tablet of Mifepristone does

OP I am prescribed a lottttttt of medication and every single month they're different colours. However, although there are some particular medications that may be harmful in one single pill, anything REMOTELY harmful is locked away in a controlled drugs cupboard and have to be double checked before they're dispensed, so I really wouldn't panic. Sounds like a generic brand of Tamiflu

Another vote for omeprazole, I take it daily and have definitely had the colours you describe. If it is that then it’s totally harmless.

It could be anything - 99.999% chance of it being completely harmless. Generic meds often look different to proprietary ones 🤷‍♀️.

Google fluvastatin capsule and see if it could be that.

How much easier would it be if the same drug always came in the same colours, regardless of manufacturer?
It would have saved OP all of this worry.
Judging from these responses, it's even possible that she was given the correct medication, just the last of a different coloured batch.

This is a very sensible point !

It absolutely wasn’t tamiflu because they do not have any in the entire healthcare setting in the colour capsule I was given nor have they ever, confirmed by the main pharmacist. It’s also confirmed not to have been omeprazole because their stock is all white. Given it was a gynae ward I suspect very few of the actually harmful to baby drugs were there but what is very concerning is they cannot locate any looking like the drug I was given so have absolutely no idea what it was. I’m terrified still. Scans don’t tell you everything so this has totally ruined my entire pregnancy as I’m faced with months of worry.

OP, there are so many things that happen in pregnancy that you can worry about, and I do understand - but please don't let this ruin it for you. I was an anxious mess through the first half of mine and I regret it so much now, it is so so unlikely (like less than 1%) that it was anything harmful and even then just one dose would be so unlikely to create any serious problems I would really try to put it behind you. For your own sake and your baby you need to try and get on top of your anxiety, scans absolutely can tell you if there's a problem and you need to trust in that.

Who exactly gave you the drug?

You haven't said but surely this is being investigated, the person must be suspended if they are handing out medication that isn't actually stocked in their department?

A nurse who is adamant she gave me the correct drug. But I remember the pill being a totally different colour and size. They say they have checked stock and there is nothing remotely like the colour capsule I reported so I have no idea what I have had.

Thank you, I appreciate your words but it is very difficult to put it behind me when I have no idea what drug I was given and what potential risks there are. I don’t know for instance how unlikely it is that one pill would do any harm at this stage of pregnancy.