Co-codamol in pregnancy - worried I've hurt my baby

[CobaltRose]

Hi everyone. I'm six weeks pregnant with my first child.

Unfortunately I suffer from migraines/severe headaches pretty often. My doctor reckons it's hereditary as my dad gets them too. The only painkiller that remotely touches the pain is co-codamol (paracetamol and codeine). Funnily enough my headaches have actually somewhat improved since I got pregnant, but I've still had a few 'attacks' and needed to take cocodamol. Most days I don't take any, or any more than one tablet (15mg of codeine to 500mg of paracetamol), but there's been a couple of days where I've had a particularly bad headache and needed to take as many as three or four in a 24 hour period. That's well below the stated maximum dose, but it doesn't say anything about pregnancy!

I did what you probably shouldn't do and Googled codeine in pregnancy and was terrified by what I saw... Well, some sources said it was fine as long as you didn't take too much but other sources said it can cause severe birth defects, heart problems, deformities, lung problems... horrible stuff. I'm now utterly terrified I've hurt my precious baby. I nearly cried earlier because I felt so guilt ridden.

I'm trying to cut out the codeine completely and see how I can do with just paracetamol, but I'm worried the damage has already been done

is it seperate Codine Phosphate tablets and paracetamol you take or is it Co-Codamol 8/500 or 30/500?

You can take Co-codamol in pregnancy as long as you are under doctor guidance for doing so - ask your Midwife or GP for a Yellow Warning sheet (drug contraindicator) sheet which will let you know about the pros and cons of medications.

As you have said, you dont take it every day and I have IIH so i know the migraines can be horrific - dont panic.

Speak to GP, get some advice (also a Pharmacist will help too!) and relax - other mums will come on and say the same.

The only way to put your mind at rest is to see your doctor.

I was on high doses of co-codamol for several months of one of my pregnancies but it was under the supervision of a consultant. My baby was fine and they reassured me at every stage that they wouldn't be prescribing it if the benefits didn't outweigh the risks. It's not about proving something is harmless (nothing is harmless, anything can harm someone in the wrong circumstances) it's about balancing the risk against the benefits.

I took 60mg dihydrocodeine for most of my pregnancy, although it’s not generally recommend it was the only thing that helped with my long term pain condition.

I’m would book in with the gp and have a chat, but I very much doubt you’ve caused any damage i am not a doctor

Cocodamol quite often gets prescribed in pregnancy for SPD amongst other things. It should be on the advice of a doctor ideally, so you're best seeing your GP and you can sort something to manage your pain.

I was prescribed it for migraines in pregnancy but if you are worried speak to a pharmacist

I used to take 30/500 upto six tablets a day throughout my last pregnancy due to headaches and severe SPD, on average I'd take 4 everyday I'd say.
This was under docs orders and they just monitored DD when born to check for withdrawal but she was just fine

Obviously that's 30/500mg not tablets 🙈

OP I'm 11 weeks pregnant and on 30/500 co-codamol as just had 2 knee operations and the doctor told me it's the later stages of pregnancy that it poses a risk and even then it's not a massive risk. For my own peice of mind ive just started taking one pill every 4 hours rather than 2 every 4 hours. I wouldn't worry too much I've had regular scans due to prev mc's and baby is in there waving arms around and legs everywhere lol. If your still concerned just mention to your gp 😊

I was told by my doctor and midwife that they don't like it to be taken after about 35 weeks as if can cause breathing difficulties with the baby when born. I'm supposed to take it for chronic pain caused by EDS but because I didn't want to chance anything I didn't take it from when I found out I was pregnant, the only time I allowed myself was when I had a extremely back week with SPD as I was alone looking after a 11 month old and was heavily pregnant. But none otherwise. Think it's just advice from doctors or the midwife and how comfortable you feel with it. X

Thanks everyone. I'm naturally a bit of a worrier anyway so my anxiety is going haywire!

This is gonna sound so dumb, but I'm worried my midwife/GP will look down on me for taking codeine in pregnancy. I know, it's stupid. My first midwife appointment is on the 14th and I'll definitely mention it to her and see what she says.

@colbatrose no gp/mw will look down on you. You have been prescribed it for a genuine reason and as long as your not abusing it so there is no reason for doc/mw too worry about you taking it either

I would totally agree with everything everyone else has said. My gp has said that codeine is ok to take (for my headaches), but just to not take more than a few times a week as it can cause withdrawal headaches if you take it too much.
Definitely don’t be afraid to just call your doc and have a chat, I literally did that exact thing this morning, they’re there to help you get through this as safely as possible so lean on them and midwives as much as you need to.

If it helps OP I was given single tablets of Codine to take at 4-5 weeks pregnant due to a possible ectopic and my LO was fine!