PLEASE help me. have just taken meds that could harm my unborn baby

[imschanidiot]

This is so awful, Last night at bedtime I discovered that I had threadworms. I have had them once before and it makes me panicky and makes my heart pound so fast I can't STAND the thought of it.
Anyway Im 34 weeks pregnant and I knew I shouldnt have taken it but I just did without thinking and last night I couldnt sleep a wink for worrying.
I have done an internet search and all the advice is to not take it (one said unless absolutely necessary and advised by the doctor) as it crosses the placenta.

what am I going to do? I feel sick. what if i have harmed my baby?

please help me.

ring nhs direct, I think they will be able to give you more info about how much crosses the placenta and what it could do.

Don't panic. nearly ALL medication says not to take if pregnant, mainly because they are hardly going to run trials on pregnant women.

I feel for you but there is not a lot we can do! What about calling your midwife and having a chat? Just about every medicine under the sun is contraindicated during pregnancy and most of them for b/feeding too. I'm sure that a practically fully formed baby will be fine, the real risk is in the early stages.

and it may well cross the placenta, but who's to say it does anything when it gets there?

And try to calm down - you're not going to help anybody by panicking. Do as Trinity says, ring NHS Direct - they're very good. Deep breaths. Let us know what they say....

ok I'll ring them now
will get back to you.

As soon as you can ring your community mw. They will be able to help. So many meds say you can only take them with a dr's permission when pg - even Canestan pessaries carry that warning now! I'm sure things will be fine. Poor you, hope you get some advice to put your mind at rest soon. xxx

nhs are calling me back within half an hour.

I just can't believe I did it, I knew I shouldn't have and now I really am panicking, trying hard not to, but i feel so guilty (thats motherhood i spose)
the possible side effects are hidious, I cant believe that i have subjected my poor baby to that.
am I alone in completely loosing m senses at the thought of threadworm? my dh isnt bothered b them at all, but its not him that has them.

which drug was it?

piperazine is not known to be harmful in pregnancy, and can be prescribed for babies from 3 months of age, so the chances are, if any crossed the placenta, your baby at 34 weeks will be fine

mebendazole is not licensed for use in children under 2, but can be prescribed to babies from six months of age

(these are according to the British National Formulary).

As Colditz saysm, they can't do safety trials in pregnant women, so can't categorically state that there will be no problems for babies, but that doesn't mean there will be!

BTW, just because your dh doesn't think he has threadworms, it doesn't mean he hasn't !"

Make sure you are treating ALL the family, and repeat the dose 2 weeks later in case any of the little buggers escape.

Your children will almost certainly be picking them up at school/ nursery, so you need to train them (the children) to be as scrupulous as possible about washing fingernails after loo and before eating, especially if they suck their thumbs. Oh, and make sure they wear pants/ PJ bottoms in bed.

if it said "unless absolutely necessary and advised by the doctor" ... then i am sure you will be fine!

as others have said, almost all medicines say not to take whilst pg.

i had to take full dose nurofen for 2 weeks whilst pg... (under docs recommendation) and even that was fine at certain times of pg even though it is in theory a big no no.

at 34 weeks too i am sure this is less dangerous than say at an earlier stage when organs etc are developing.
do try not to panic, your stress levels/blood pressure are more concerning to the baby at this stage!

I am with coldiz, as a pharma rep, I know that companies can not do trials in pregnant women for ethical reasons, therefore all drugs not tested (99%) are not reccommended in pregnancy. So I am sure it will be safe
if you want a medical answer,
I would ring your consultant obsetrician to reassure yourself. Personally I would stay clear of NHS direct as I think they are useless.

lillymolly -you are right!

had a long phonecall with nhs direct just now, lovely lady but had absolutley no advice, she just said to ring the midwife which i did and she is setting the pharmacy on the case and will get back to me. do feel calmer now thankyou all.
it was mebendazole 100mg i took.

funny thing was for all the worrying i did in the night -there was no dreaded itch!

have just heard back from my m/w who has had pharmacy investigating...
she said in this stage of pregnancy it is totall fine, there is no evidence of an problems arising from it's use and in fact it is used in other countries during pregnancy for other conditions (dont know what)

so I can sleep tonight!
thanks to all for the support, have to say you were far more supportive than dh who found the whole episode funny

PHEW!

glad to hear it

(not that dh laughed - that was mean)

I don't know anything about threadworm or how it is contracted (yet!) but I think you should try and infect your dh to pay him back!!

Glad it is all ok and nothing to worry about.