I've done something very bad (at 37+6) anyone have any advice?

[lunavix]

Had a killer migraine last night, haven't had one since the start of pregnancy when the doctor prescribed me some codeine which I used up early on.

After 5 hours of trying to rip my hair eyeballs and brain out, I took two nurofen. Last ditch attempt, I know you aren't meant to take ibuprofen when pregnant, but I was at my wits end.

What should I do? That was about 2ish this morning, should I phone the GP?

Oh I need to make this clearer, I'm allergic to paracetamol which is why I can't take any and why I need a prescription for anything else.... hence was desperate.

Migraine has gone now thankfully, which is a world record as mine usually last quite a while. But still concerned for baby.

I would honestly have thought it was totally and utterly OK: really!

If you think about the strength of some of the opiates you get in labour, e.g. pethidine, which are hundreds of times stronger than nurofen..

If you were very early on in the preg it might be more of an issue, but the most that would happen is the baby gets a bit of the painkiller and then it wears off.

However you should definitely check with the doctor or midwife, or if you get any funny symptoms..

I'm sure you'll be fine. They are always very over cautious when they talk about what you shouldn't take during pregnancy, which is just about everything now isn't it? Don't worry

I would check with your midwife - if it was only 1 dose I think it won't be a problem but drugs like nurofen are used to close the ductus arterious (in infants when it hasn't closed by itself) which is why nurofen isn't recommended in the later stages of pregnency.

This page makes clear some mothers have to take iboprofen throughout their pregnancy, and it seems to be ok.

I think it's not great in late pregnancy as it may inhibit labour or reduce the amount of amniotic fluid, but I really doubt a single dose would do that.

I would talk to your GP and get another scrip for codeine, just in case, to save yourself the stress of wondering whether you should take nurofen. (I'm guessing the OTC codeine always has paracetamol in it? That's the codeine I always have in the house.)

you could always ring the labour ward and ask them to check with a consultant - they should be more aware of affects on babies just before and after birth than your gp would.

And go to the gp to get some more codeine (assuming that is safe).

When I was about 5 weeks pg (didn't know at the time) I got a migraine abroad, the day I was flying home, so I took ibrupofen + paracetamol about every 3hours for 20 hours just to get through the pain (very bad I know) and I have a healthy son so I'm pretty sure one dose as far on as you are won't have done any damage.

luna - I'm sure as a one off there will be no problem at this stage - try not to worry. but get yourself a prescription in case you get another one.
take care!

I have an injured finger which is really painful at night, and was talking to the gp about it the other day. She mentioned that Ibuprofen is a wild card in medical circles these days: there have been years when they said it was not ok, then they said it was fine, now they've gone back to 'best not take it' BUT she said if a situation warrants the risk they will prescribe it quite happily. We agreed my finger didn't, but I'd think a killer migraine would (though it never worked on mine!). In other words, she really didn't seem to think it was that huge a no-no....so although I wouldn't take any more, I very VERY much doubt it will have hurt your baby.