I'm worried about Codeine Phospate

[Rocklover]

Hi,

I was prescribed this in early pregnancy to calm down my diahorrea as I wasn't allowed to take Loperamide.

I took quite a bit (15mg tabs) in the first trimester and take them very occasionally now(i.e if I am off on a long journey in the car, so maybe once every 3 weeks and then only 1 tablet), I only have about 2 left anyway. I have read online that they are not considered safe to take during pregnancy and I am now very worried.

It says the problems can be caused when taking them towards the end of the pregnancy, but of course I am now completely paranoid that I have caused harm to my baby.

I have had 3 scans and all was fine, baby is moving well and at my 25wk mw appt (last week), the heartbeat was good and strong.

I obviously won't take any more now, but I just wondered if anyone else had taken them in pregnancy and if everything was ok.

Codeine is safe to take in pregnancy. It just shouldn't be taken unless it's really needed and checked by a doctor. I've had it for migraines, SPD and when I was in hospital recently because of back pain.

If you're taking it right up to when your LO is born, then they will have some in their bloodstream that could make them sleepy, but for 1, you'd need to be taking it throughout labour for that to happen and 2, it's at the bottom of the scale of opiate painkillers and pethidine, etc (ie. the usual opiates for labour) are near the top!

Thank you, I was just so worried when seeing the info online. Believe it or not I did check online when I was first given them and all the advice was don't take them if you don't have to, but it wasn't a big deal if you did.

Now the info seems to have shifted to DO NOT TAKE, which has scared the hell out of me.

Not as far I'm aware, but it depends where you look. You have to remember that drug companies don't want to be blamed for anything, so will often say "do not take" just to cover their backs! I'd stick with reputable info sources - e.g. bnf.org, rxlist.com and KellyMom.

Hi, I am prescribed codeine for chronic pain but I am starting to taper off them with my doctors help. I have just found out I am pregnant. I would say around 5 weeks pregnant. My doc says it's OK to take but I am so so worried about my baby. He says it would be more dangerous to stop taking them all together than to taper off them.
Anyone had or been prescribed codeine in early pregnancy??
Xx

People shouldn't really be saying things like 'codeine is safe in pregnancy'. There's a reason our pharmacists are always on our backs when we are giving them to our pregnant women - but we certainly only give it when the women feel they really need it and paracetamol isn't working.

The issues with codeine are usually in early pregnancy (effecting growth), and then in the late stages and that's mostly due to the potential for dependency. Used responsibly like you are doing OP should be okay.