what will happen to my baby if I take a decongestant?

[FOTTFSOF]

Really desperate here. Been ill with sinusitis for 5 days now. Had no Sleep because I cannot bloody breathe. Can't concentrate. Have other DC to look after.

The only way I deal with this outside of pregnancy is to take night nurse or sudafed.

I'm 30 weeks. I've tried steam inhalation, saline spray, the anti-histamines that are ok to take in pregnancy.

What else can I do?

Have you tried having a steam generator on next to you 24/7 PLUS saline spray and olbas oil massaged on forehead and temples?

Manuka honey?

Breathe right strips?

You poor thing! Can you speak to your GP today? I had similar and they gave me antibiotics. He said definitely not to take decongestants, I can't remember exactly the reason but said they weren't safe for the baby. Hope you feel better soon.

I'm not 100% sure but I think decongestants can cause damage to the mucus plug. Really sorry you're suffering

I had this too and it is really horrible so I feel your pain. You are going to have to tough it out without decongestants though.
Have you tried a nasal rinse? Sounds gross but it is basically a bottle that you use to squirt sterile water up one nostril, it then comes out the other nostril and clears your sinuses on the way. It really works, you can find it in a chemist

oh, well. erm, i got told by my gp, vicks / baby decongestants were fine. oh heckers. ive been using them when ive had (a million) colds ect. (now 33 weeks and all is fine with our bump) blooming heckers.

hope you feel better soon x

If you must, use a nasal spray decongestant like otrivine. They're far better for you as they are targeted at a local area only and don't affect the rest of your body (unlike a sudafed tablet). The dose of actual medication is very low. They work to constrict the blood vessels in your airways to open them up, but doesn't affect you otherwise (I find decongestant tablets are often marked as non-drowsy which doesn't work well when I'm trying to get some sleep!).

Use as directed and not excessively or for a prolonged period. It's probably better for your conscience if you use it as little as you can get away with too.

I am prone to sinusitis and pregnancy was awful, but I talked to my doctor and googled a lot to see what options I had. I mostly just put up with it through the days but used the sprays at night in order to get some rest (I had a toddler and a job and I desperately needed my sleep!) It helped me a lot.

bessie Vicks is absolutely fine; it's the decongestants you get in Lemsip etc that you need to avoid :-)

Paracetamol might relive the inflammation in your sinuses a little.
Please don't take a systemic decongestant without discussing with a pharmacist or GP.

relieve

oooh thanks sophia x

Thank you for all replies, got an appointment today with GP.

All the breathe right/vapour/steam stuff works while I am doing it, but as soon as I stop doing it, I am back to the beginning again.

decongestants are nasty.
ask your gp about nose spray (otrivine and such). if you use it in just one nostril you could at least sleep and get some rest.
hope you will feel better soon!

I think this is actually a common late pregnancy symptom - from 37 weeks my sleep was terrible because I would wake up in the middle of the night unable to breathe at all! The thing that helped me was sleeping propped up and sniffing eucalyptus oil, oh and giving birth
Hope you get some relief OP!

I had sinusitis for 3 months. (33 weeks preg now). Had to have 2 courses of anti biotics o get rid of it x

GP gave me antibiotics for sinusitis. Feel for you, it's awful when you can't take decongestants. I would opt for the antibiotics over any kind of tablet decongestant.

There are some useful you tube videos showing facial massage to relive sinus pain and I'm sure some yoga poses too.

I swear by beconase nasal spray for sinisitus although it takes a couple of days to work. That is basically the same stuff as asthma inhalers I think.