What can i take for a sore throat?

[TashPenguin]

Hi ladies,
I really need help I have a really sore throat with swollen tonsils, I think i may have picked up tonsillitis from my niece (worst thing is i was warned she was ill before i saw her). I don't really want to get antibiotics if i can cope with just normal pain relief but I have no idea what i can take while pregnant. Any ideas, anyone be told it's safe to take things like strepsils? Thanks in advance. xx

How many weeks are you? If you pop into your local pharmacy they'll be able to advise what is safe to take, but if you start having a fever with it then you may need antibiotics and obviously will have to see your GP - it's not good to be running a temperature in the first trimester. I just woke in the night with a sore throat and have gargled with listerine mouthwash which has helped for now, I'm 11 weeks but I don't think my sore throat is anything serious. I also had a sore throat at about 5 weeks for which I took honey in hot water to soothe it?

Honey and lemon in hot water is nice and soothing and sucking any boiled sweet is the same as most throat sweets to be honest - a pharmacist gave me strepsils when I went in with sore throat but said mint imperials would do the job just as well as it's the saliva production that helps.

Paracetamol is safe. Lockets etc are fine. IME the best sore throat cure was gargling with soluble aspirin but not sure whether that is ok even if you spit out rather than swallow the aspirin. Maybe warm salt water?

Honey and lemon and paracetamol only best sore throat cures in pregnancy.

You can take honey and glycerine medicine, but it does not do much! Lockets too, but go and talk to a pharmacist.

Why are you against antibios? Amoxycillin is safe in pregnancy. But most OTC cold and flu cures are not.

You could try gargling with hot salt water (if it won't make you hurl!) - tastes awful but really does the trick.

mrswoz i'm 7+5 so quite early on still very much in the being sick stages which isn't helping the sore throat at all, Fishandjam I have always been an antibiotics as a last resort person, however this has now spread to my left ear so feel a little off balance, i will probably be going to the doctor to get some before the week is out.

Thanks everyone, I was drink Honey and Lemon just so i could get some sleep last night. I'm off to the supermarket as need soup, can't swallow solids, so will ask the pharmacist and get some lockets.

Thank you for your help. xx

hi Tash definately try the salt water gargle worked for me. also I cut up some good organic garlic into swallow size pieces (don't chew them you will stink) and swallow them like a pill, one clove a day. great anti bac properties. get well soon.

Hey had awful cold/sore throat/chest infection recently. Bought all the different ok for pregnancy throat sweets. Best were potters blackcurrant and glycerin ones quite soothing and good to stop a cough but mostly lockets because they did to some extent numb the pain.

Did have amoxicillin though due to chest infection... apparently pregnancy = low immunities = normal viruses becoming secondary infection. The joys! Feel better soon!

Zinc lozenges are fab for sore throats but if it is tonsillitis you will need anti b's surely? I ignore tonsillitis once and ended up very ill and in bed for 3 weeks and had a severe telling off from the OOH doctors.

Poor you. I was struggling along with cough/sore throat for weeks - it got to the stage where it hurt to swallow anything at all at which point I relented and saw the doc for antibiotics. 2 days later throat entirely better. Cough still going but you can't have everything...

If you are dead against antibiotics, have you tried Manuka honey? Apparently it is supposed to be anti-bacterial and help fight off bugs. Vastly expensive compared to normal honey, but if you are desperate might be worth a try.

The doctor also suggested I get some water soluable paracetamol to gargle/swallow to help with pain before antibiotics kicked in.

Hope you feel better soon.

Honey and lemon in hot water, and paracetamol.

Please be very careful re: running a temp. if you run a temp of over 38C for more than 24 hours, you MUST go to the GP. Fevers are dangerous during pregnancy. Take your temp every few hours and use the recommended paracetamol dose to keep it as much under control as possible.

you might need a-bs if you run a fever, even if you don't usually take them, it's different in pg because your immune system goes down to 1/20th of what it was and you're very vulnerable. (and so is baby)