VERY CONGESTED

[MillyStar]

Sorry for my ignorance i'm not even sure if i have spelt congested right!!

I started snoring lightly at about 5 weeks pregnant, i googled it and found that your blood vessells in your nose expand and 20-30% of women start snoring whilst pregnant!

Anyway i've gradually gotten worse and i'm so congested today!! I'm 18 weeks pregnant tomorrow by the way ;) My nose was so blocked this morning but when i blew it there was hardly anything there, i've got a headache aswell becuase my head just feels so 'full', i've had this since last night and i've taken paracetamol for it!

My nose, head and top of my neck just feels full if you know what i mean, i feel like i need to stick a tap in and drain it! I'm convinced it's not a cold either i think it's just the pregnancy, one of my friends sisters had a huge nose during both of hers!

Has anyone experienced this and was there anything you took to help? I was thinking of a nasal spray but not sure as they're designed for colds i think, would they even help! Gonna rub some vicks on my chest and back before bed tonight and i'm already using the breath right strips on my hooter lol x

Sounds like your sinuses - DH describes exactly these symptoms when his become blocked, and he is definitely not pregnant!

I think sleeping propped up helps, as does opening a window at night - you'd have to see the GP for medication though, most pharmacists probably won't sell you anything OTC without a prescription.

I had a bad cold that turned into sinusitis and was really congested for about 6 weeks. Not fun! Spoke to my midwife about it and saw my GP but he said he couldn't give me anything much as I was pregnant. I took paracetamol (got really bad headaches from the congestion) and used vicks and my GP prescribed me a saline nasal spray. Think that helped a bit so probably worth going to see your GP. Would also agree that sleeping propped up helped. Other than that I think it's just a case of getting as much rest as you can and waiting for it to sort itself out. It's not fun! Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks ladies,

i wasn't sick or didn't feel sick at all and i've gotten away with everything so far so it was only a matter of time before something cropped up!

My GP has happily prescribed me Nasonex, which is a sinusitis spray I took before I was pg when I had some sinus issues. I was massively congested too and it was really affecting my sense of balance, but Nasonex actually tries to clear it up rather than just treating it for a few hours, as the cold ones do. She was happy to prescribe it as it is topical, and thank God 'cos I couldn't live without it!

Steam and Olbas oil are your friends while pregnant. My GP refused to prescribe any decongestants when I was pregnant. I slept with Olbas Oil on a hanky tied to my bed post from about 15 weeks and had hot steamy showers.

If it gets reall bad through the day you could just try steaming over a bowl.

I find that those breathe right nasal strips really help.

I've made an appointment with the nurse at my doctors for 5pm so i'll see what she says, the midwife told me to phone the docs, even if she just tells me to use oils etc rather than a spray hopefully she can prescribe it as i'm on free prescriptions at the mo! Thanks everyone

You can use the nasal irrigation things during pregnancy: www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=nasal+irrigation&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=8266084968641630216&sa=X&ei=BZC6Tr_2BIS3hQeq7KCwBw&ved=0CIQBEPMCMAE sort of thing.

I had the exact same thing - I spent the whole 9 months feeling like i was about to sneeze. It didn't subside til after the birth. sorry to be bearer of bad news

I wish i'd had one of these

It's more the headaches that are bothering me, feel like my head's gonna explode boo hoo hopefully i can find something to sort it out i don't fancy popping paracetamol for the next 4.5 months!

I know! - that feeling of a balloon being pumped up inside your head, the pressure! agh its all coming back to me now, I'm prone anyway to sinusitis and headaches and it got 100 times worse. My GP just told me I had 'small tubes' and the increased blood volume was causing pressure in my blood vessels.
Wish I could help

He did say that I should weigh up the risks of taking ibuprofen against the risks of the stress that pain could put on me and my foetus.

I did end up taking a couple of Ibuprofen (at my own informed risk!) as its anti-inflammatory it did help.

Olbas, steaming and mentolated crystal steaming didn't help at all as I wasn't actually ever congested.
[big fat sympathy emoticon] sorry!