Pregnant and full of cold - some 'alternative' remedies required please <begs>

[MarthasHarbour]

Title says it all i am 12+5 and full of cold. I snivelled and sneezed through work yesterday and am off with DS (age 3) today as it is my day with him. He is being a star and happily doing jigsaws with me

So what can i take? I have been on the hot orange juice, water, ginger tea, vicks vapor rub, and well thats it. I dont think i can take even paracetomol now (am sure i did with DS but i think it has changed) i dont want to take any chances (prev MC last year).

So please could anyone recommend any hippy type alternative remedies?

TIA

I have hot lemonade before bed, you then sweat the cold out overnight. Just heat lemonade in a pan til it boils and goes a bit syrupy takes 2 minutes).

During the day honey and lemon juice in hot water- though thats more for soothing a sore throat than easing a cold.

I think you can have cough sweets with decongestant in when you are pregnant, i had lockets and tunes when 7-8 weeks and am now 27 weeks.

hope you feel better soon!

I'm pretty sure you can take paracetamol - unless things have changed in the 10 months since DD was born.

I was going to come on to extol the virtues of hot orange (must be freshly squeezed!), but I see you've tried that already!

Also- olbas oil/vicks on your pillow overnight.

thanks ladies, i am not really suffering from a cough or sore throat it is more incessant sneezing and red tickly nose

i shall keep on with the hot orange then and get DH to get me some lemonade for tonigh - great advice thanks!

aworryingtrend i had vicks on the old chesters last night and will put some more on now, i should have done the olbas oil too (although the overpowering smell would have driven DH mad - not that i care, he got me into this state )

I love the smell of olbas oil!

Hope it does the trick. I can't think of anyhting that helps with sneezing unfortunately.

Olbas Oil (for congestion)
Tiger Balm (for headaches/aches and pains)
Menthol/eucalyptus or Honey/lemon lozenges (for sore throat/coughing)

Be careful not to get Olbas Oil on your skin - it burns! Just put some on a hankie and sniff it.

You need the saline nasal sprays (tres populaire with our friends across the channel). The brand I have is Sterimar. It takes a bit of getting used to (basically you're snorting sea water up your nose) but really does the job in terms of clearing your sinuses out.

You can take paracetamol for sinus pain and natural decongestants like menthol and eucalyptus, but dont take any chemical decongestants like pseudoephidrine (in lemsip, beechams, night nurse etc) without a doctor's permission.

You have my sympathy. I have had pregnancy related sinisitis for a month now and been told unlikely to get better before I give birth (4 weeks time).

You are DEFINITELY allowed paracetamol in pregnancy and it's more dangerous not to take it if you're running a temperature - I had a temp of 100f when I has a sinus infection at 7+2, and the doctor told me off for not taking the full dose to keep my temperature down.

I can't help with the natural remedies, but the Germans reckon a cold goes in 7 days without treatment, and a week with treatment... So just hang on in there, it will get better!

You can use decongestant nasal sprays, and paracetamol is fine. Also you can supplement to nasal spray with saline sprays as much as you like.

Have my second pregnancy cold and it is just awful! So bunged up I cannot breath or sleep.

Best thing I can recommend is getting a big spoonful of Vicks Vapour Rub and putting it in a big bowl with boiling water in your bedroom 10 minutes before bed. I shut the door and leave the bowl in there all night while I sleep. Is good for decongestion.

right bugger it i am off for some cheapo paracetomol - thanks for all the fab info. I bloody love Mumsnet!

Honey and lemon linctus usually with glycerin in. You can get from most chemists its really cheap and can take both whilst pregnant and breastfeeding :-).

I had bad sinusitis in 1st tri and doc didn't want to give me antibiotics. Pharmacist gave me the saline nasal spray and it was good actually. That and home made hot toddy with lemons, cloves and honey.

Get well soon :)

I had really bad sinuses and used a nasal irrigation device. Basically a squeezy bottle you fill with lukewarm saline, and squirt it up one nostril and it comes out the other. Very unpleasant, but the only thing that shifted the sinus headache. I bought the squeezy bottle in a chemist, but believe a neti pot will do the same job...

Manuka honey! It's expensive, but I swear by it... Use it in hot honey and lemon and take some spoonfuls just on it's own. I was getting a scratchy throat the other day and thought I was for it - pregnant and a primary teacher so surrounded by kids with hacking coughs. Fully prepared myself for illness, bought loads of lemons and started on the manuka honey... And it didn't turn into anything!