Can I use canestan pessary?

[Madamecastafiore]

Midwife said go ahead, chemist said no and doctor said no!!

I only found out doctor said no after I made DH get one for me on the way home from work. Put it in 30 minutes ago and just now got call from fit or saying no!!

It's going tone fun fishing the bugger out if I really should not have used it!

Am 34 weeks btw!

Did they say why you couldn't use them?

Midwife said not an issue but HCPs are cautious because not tested on pregnant women!

I was told it was fine (and actually prescribed it early in pregnancy) by both my doctor, a pharmacist and my midwife.

HOWEVER, they all said, don't shove it up as far as you possibly can, because you don't want to poke your cervix at this stage of pregnancy, or get any of the pessary into the cervix either.

Didn't whack it up super far. Was surprised how far it could go but didn't knock against anything iykwim!!

I did at 6ish weeks and used with both dcs and all is well. Dont worry

I used 9 on consecutive days early in my pregnancy as antibiotics gave me a monster thrush episode. These were prescribed by the doctor who said they're fine to use.

I called NHS Direct to ask too as I was concerned and they said they're fine in pregnancy so I'd say to use them. I had no adverse effects.

My doctor and my midwife both said fine to use. My doctor said use a few on the trot if necessary to shift the bastard bird, and prescribed me a multipack!

Thanks chaps. That's really reassuring. Was starting to panic!!

I'm super obsessive, much to the annoyance of everyone around me! I was in the USA with DH and was prescribed monistat 3 which in the UK is daktarin. Not happy with using this I found a clotrimazole (canestan) pessary in my wash bag that my GP had prescribed a few months earlier.

I called the midwife at the hospital and emailed my GP, both said it is safe to use. I used it at 20 ish weeks and I've been absolutely fine. In my experience I've always listened to the midwives over even my GP as they deal with pregnancy every day. I hope you can feel assured that this medicine is safe and will only benefit you and baby :)

from nhs website:

If you have thrush and you're pregnant or breastfeeding, you should always visit your GP rather than buying anti-thrush medication over the counter from a pharmacy.

You won't be prescribed oral treatment because it may affect your baby. An anti-thrush pessary, such as clotrimazole, econazole or miconazole will probably be prescribed to be used for at least seven days.

If you're pregnant, take care when inserting a pessary because there's a risk of injuring your cervix (neck of the womb). To reduce the risk, it may be better to insert the pessaries by hand instead of using the applicator.

If you have symptoms around your vulva, such as itching and soreness, you may also be prescribed an anti-thrush cream.

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1101.aspx?CategoryID=54

I've used it, and I'm 20W...Pharmacist (a Colleague as I'm a Nurse) said applicator not advised simply due to irritation of cervix if pushed in too far. This can cause early labour but is v rare. I used my fingers to pop my pessary in (sorry if TMI!!) & all was fine. If you're ok ATM you'll be fine. You'd be crampy etc by now if you'd irritated your cervix. Thrush tends to live quite high up in the vagina so IMO you need the pessary to get to the source of the problem (I do Smears for women every day at work & see plenty of it :-) Creams simply do not work-they just soothe symptoms. Better to kill the damn thing (I suffer a lot from it whilst pregnant.....). HTH.