piriton pregnancy and breastfeeding

[theonewiththenoisychild]

im 35+2 and have been prescribed piriton for extreme itching..... literally itd driving me mental but gp seemed very nervous about prescribing it. and said i shouldnt take it right up to delivery and shouldnt take it while breastfeeding. ive ha blood test for colastasis and midwife said result is fine and take piriton and use calomine lotion. she didnt seem to have same concerns as the gp

I've taken piriton for severe itching which is not colastasis, have had it in all three previous pregnancies and know I will start itching soon in this pregnancy. Itching has stopped within hours of delivery of all of mine, I put it down to raised body temp during pregnancy, aloe Vera gel also helps!

thanks. i havent had this in my previous 2 pregnancies but had it for most of this pregnancy and its got progressively worse the further into my pregnancy i have got. i cant stand to wear my clothes and im scratching my skin raw i did get irritated skin before i was pregnant nothing like this tho. i have started to wonder if i may be allergic to the cat as these flare ups started around the time we got him and have got worse during pregnancy

I don't know about pregnancy, but when I was bf and hardly able to breathe with hayfever, I was told anti histamines are thought to have an impact on mik production, given the anti histamine dries up mucus, etc. It was a paediatrician who told me this rather than a lactation specialist.

oh. maye thats why gp said not to use it for long then. i do plan to breastfeed and dont want anything to mess that up

It's hard to know what to do isn't it?! It sounds like you need something for now though, so maybe it'd be worth talking to you midwife about when to reduce/stop taking it so it won't impact on the feeding.

i see the consultant this afternoon and will be taking it with me to ask the consultant about it. its not piriton hes given me its some tablets so will just double check as my gp seemed so nervous

Here is a really useful fact sheet on antihistamines and breastfeeding, written by a UK pharmacist who is also an expert in breastfeeding. You have options.

I have cholestasis at the moment and my consultant prescribed piriton. I'm taking it as little as possible but I am confident that they often use it for this reason and wouldn't if the risks were huge. So I'm happy to take it occasionally, but just my personal opinion

I had PUPP rash from 24 weeks and it was miserable, none stop itching all over so you have my deepest sympathies. It's really horrible.

I was prescribed a million and one lotions and creams but nothing really worked and I was eventually given antihistamines to take which helped enough that I could sleep at least. I took them up until my due date.

I ended up going two weeks over and had the rash/itching a week postpartum before I had to go back to the drs. The first fobbed me off because I was BF but after I broke down in tears in the next drs office she gave me antihistamines and oral steroids to stop it as well as some topical creams which helped massively and it was gone in 4 days.

They are so hesitant to give anything to pregnant/breastfeeding women but in their guidelines there ias information that usually says things are ok. You just have to push them to check rather than just lead with a blanket no.

One word of warning though, antihistamines do have an impact on your supply but I would think that would only be an issue on a high, frequent dose and DS BF from the start despite me taking them.

my consultant was fine about the tablets he said they would be fine and agreed that altho prescribed 4 times daily if i can get away with 1 daily then great

I've been taking piriton during my pregnancy for allergies and psoriasis caused from pregnancy. Was told not to take in final weeks though.
I was sick of conflicting advise so tried to avoid taking it and just suffer which was worse as couldn't sleep etc and was so itchy and agitated. I take it when I need to now. They say the older antihistamine are better ( like piriton) as more history with it so more research has been gathered.