The PREGNANT SWINE FLU thread ............... all welcome (-:

[mosschops30]

So here it is, a thread dedicated to those of us who are unlucky enough to be pg in the current madness!!

Would be interested to know how people are feeling about it? Are you worried? Taking any special precautions? etc

And lol at myself for not being able to see my own thread , but am still not unhiding this topic to read the mass hysteria, I can manage that all by myself

hello. yes its an odd state to be in. keep reminding myself and everyone else that it is mainly madness and not much one can do about it anyway! can hardly just stop travelling to work / buying groceries in busy shop etc.

wondering if i have it at the moment tbh, the NHS symptom checker said yes you have swine flu but i don't believe it really... think its probl just a bad cold virus as i haven't had a temp, just all the other symptoms (hacking cough, knackered 2 days sleeping in bed, sore throat, headache, runnny nose).

hillarious you've hidden your own thread. x

I'm not awfully worried. I'm in good health (apart from hyperemesis ), I know you're immune system's meant to work less well when you're pg but I have always got fewer colds etc while pg, rather than more.

I have a colleague at work with a dd with health problems and frankly I think I have a lot less to be worried about than she does. As far as work goes I see myself as a likely carrier rather than sufferer as I have 2 young children at nursery who could well get it at some point, so I'm trying to be extra aware for that reason.

your immune system not you're

very thoughtful to come back and correct it. lol. we'd all have forgiven you i'm sure though.

I went to a really crowded germ infested soft play today. I did use lots of hand gel (on me & my son) however!

I felt that too about the immune system, I havent had one cold whilst been pg! Odd?

I think the thing that concerned me most was the Australia report that there were 11 pg women in intensive care and some had had caesarians.
What concerns me more is that I used to be staff in intensive care here, so will have to draw up a list of people I am willing to see me naked whilst tubed and sedated lol

Flump I am doing just that at the moment, Im off work with extreme tiredness related to my iron levels, but have been home shopping, kids have been home with me, have not visited anyone cos am too knackered, so Im pretty much sealed off and loving it I could get used to it, wouldnt bother me, expecially in this weather

I reckon we can't stop our kids getting it if they're going to and the hard bit would be managing not to catch it from them if they do.
Flump - hope you feel better soon

thanks. am improving today and enjoying not trailing into work tbh.

yep totally agree on the kid getting it thing. have a 2 year old, goes to a childminder (she's there now) with several other kids, some of whom are at school in the day at a school with confirmed cases. also they go to playgroups etc. so if she gets it, i utterly fail to see how we won't catch it whilst looking after her.

at least work didn't blink when i didn't come in yesterday or today. can't imagine i'd have been popular on the tube either coughing away, even though i think it is just a rotten cold. although maybe it'd make the meanies give me a seat more often!

flump, are you going to take Relenza or just hoping it goes away naturally.
Both mine have finished school now so not too worried about that.

Couple of people at my work have sent emails round saying 'If you see me sneezing don't worry, it's allergies not swine flu!' because they keep getting asked if they've got it!

I am pg and not worried a jot about swine flu. No point in worrying about something until you really have something to worry about!!

no, didn't bother with gp. just not ill enough to take relenza whatever nhs symptom checker says. 2 days in bed with hot honey and lemon and dh doing all the work has helped. have moved downstairs today (on laptop on sofa with daytime telly on) so clearly on the mend.

agree no point worrying as it won't change anything. but we did buy each of us a bottle of hand gel yesterday just in case. i think i'll use it when i go back to work. but i feel a bit of a nit using it in public! anyone else feel like that? or do i just embarass too easily. makes me feel like a hypocondriac (sp?) getting out the gel everytime i touch anything smooth

I just want to bring it on so I can stop worrying! I'm in the first trimester so perefer to get it now and be done wiht (just to add to my nausea fatigue woes).

No desire to avoid places etc as you can't escape a pandemic - paticularly as I have 2 DCs under 5. I worry more for them.

I had flu whilst pg withe DC2 and it was miserable. Being laid up for a wekk also triggered SPD and I spent the last few months on crutches so also worried about that. I just wish they'd give further info on why pregnant woman are at such great risk. Yest he flu was particularly misearble as I couldn't take the array of pharmaceuticals that I would normally tak but other thatn that it was fine.

I also had pneumonia last year so susceptible to that reaccuring

How are you feeling Lenin?

Hi, do any of you know anything about how safe it is to use Relenza in pregnancy? I'm currently 35 weeks and have started feeling a bit flu-ey this evening, nothing major, am hoping it will disappear but am a bit concerned nevertheless. Tbh my main concern is whether relenza really is safe in pregnancy as I'm not sure it's been tested enough - mind you it's always the same old problem with drugs and pg, they can't test it in case they find they've given it to loads of pg women and it's not actually safe. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if anything develops. I'm lucky that I have a really good relationship with my consultant (know him pretty well due to previous mc's ) so hopefully I'll be able to talk to him if I do get ill... wish me luck ladies!

@HerNameWasLola: the advice regarding Relenza (zanamivir) being the recommended anti-influenza drug in pregnancy is made on pharmacology grounds; that it's a powder that settles on the respiratory epithelium and doesn't get into the bloodstream (unlike oseltamivir (Tamiflu) which does). Even then there's no evidence that Tamiflu is harmful to the baby and is still recommended if you can't get hold of Relenza.

Thanks Musukebba. So you reckon it's probably ok as it's v unlikely/impossible for it to cross the placenta? Sorry to be thick, just wanted to check I'd understood you properly.

Forgot to mention on my previous post, the thing that made me worry more tonight was that after I started feeling a bit odd I saw a post on facebook from a girl I chatted to at a party on friday night saying she developed symptoms on saturday and was confirmed as having swine flu yesterday. Although having checked further, her diagnosis is solely based on her telling someone over the phone what her symptoms are and them saying "yup, you've got swine flu"

REALLY don't want to take anything, but REALLY REALLY want to do whatever's best for the baby, just don't know what that is. It's taken 3 pregnancies for us to get to this point, including a late mc last year, so I don't want to do anything to jeopardise this LO... (though I know anyone would feel the same, no matter what their history, just trying to explain in case I sound a little OTT)

Can I just say that for those people worried about taking anti-virals, what is best for your baby is that you survive! If the worst came to the worst I would take Tamiflu, because if it got so bad that I needed it then, the benefits outweigh the risks.

I was in hospital a few weeks ago with something unrelated to this, but had to have tests which werent ideal. I was asking lots of questions about baby and doctor said the same 'if you die here today then so does your baby'!! Tough love but true

Relenza is inhaled into the lungs, it does not get into the bloody stream or pass the placenta in any way like Tamiflu would.

I'd be interested to know though whether or not tamiflu or relenza actually prevent the complications which makes swine flu dangerous?

Lola - yes Drs are just diagnosing over hte phone now

Hi there, I'm not worrying excessively, though I have bought some hand wash to use after travelling. I am a bit fed up of people who are really flippant about the whole thing when they are not pregnant and pooh pooh anyone who does express a concern. I bet they didn't eat soft cheese or drink alcohol when they were pregnant but to me this is just another risk you need to be wary of ('cept you probably can't avoid it!).

I am a bit worried if I do get it (and I've come to the conclusion its probably inevitable) as I really don't want to take the drugs. I thought the advice was that Relenza didn't pass through the placenta in significant amounts (whatever that means), not that it doesn't get through at all, and as its not been tested on pregnant humans I'd rather not take it if I didn't have to. But there again, if I have a raging temperature I'll probably think differently. I guess you just don't know til you get it and how severe your symptoms are.