Salamol (ventolin - blue inhaler) when pregnant

[MKCH]

I put this into general health as well but thought it was worth sharing on this board too, as there may be some more specialist knowledge or experience here!

I have a horrid cough (dry, tickly until I cough up some mucus... sorry, gross I know) and I am 23 weeks pregnant so can't take pretty much everything I'd usually take to calm it down!

Certain sites say yes to sudafed but the NHS website says pseudoephedrine is a no-go. And I'm not actually bunged up, I've just got a horrid cough!

Honey & lemon / hot ribena and paracetamol are making no difference.

So - my daughter has a blue inhaler... would this work?! I know it is safe in pregnancy. But I don't know if it would make any difference.

Or alternatively- does anyone have any tried and tested remedies? I've heard warm lemonade...

If it does work let GP know

If it's a dry tickly cough, I can't imagine it would help much to be honest. But it is safe during pregnancy so no harm trying. Glycerin cough mixture should be allowed as it's not really medicine just soothing.
I'd drink a small brandy if it were me, but obviously that isn't advised.
Vicks?

How old is daughter with inhaler, my ventolin inhaler is 200 mg per dose, children’s dose may be 50 mg per dose and I doubt that would do much.

Blue inhaler probably won’t do much for the cough. If you do try it don’t take more than one or two puffs. It can really get your heart racing if you have a lot!

I had pregnancy induced asthma and used a ventolin inhaler throughout to get rid of my cough. Worked brilliantly, gp also prescribed the brown preventer too.

@Mindymomo That won’t be a salbutamol inhaler that OP is referring to (brands include (ventolin and salamol) - there is only one strength of these.

The ones that come in 50/100/200micrograms per puff contain a steroid, which works in a different way to salbutamol.

Is salbutamol for treating a cough? I had no idea. I would t go using someone else's medication though, particularly when pregnant.

*wouldn't

Salbutamol (blue) inhalers are all the same and fine to take during pregnancy. It doesn’t always help to relieve any cough- only an asthmatic cough annoyingly but it wouldn’t hurt to try! Two puffs whenever you need it for a couple of days, see if it opens up your lungs any. My mum has bought an inhaler for when she has a cold which she claims works wonders (I have asthma anyhow so It does alleviate my coughs, just don’t want you to get disappointed if it doesn’t work!)

it’s job is to open the airways so it can help

I wouldn’t take someone else’s a prescription medication without checking with a GP - it’s on prescription for a reason.

You could try ginger tea - chop fresh ginger, bring to the boil and simmer for a while, strain into a mug and drink. Add some honey to taste if you want.

Thanks all. DD is two and it's a 100 microgram Salamol inhaler.

@piegone I mean not really apart from a symptom of asthma or COPD is coughing - hence why I'm not sure if it would actually work!

It's totally safe in pregnancy, but you're right, it's not been prescribed for me (although they prescribed it for DD because she kept getting bad coughs, so I can't imagine it's too bad).

Cross post - thanks @TheGirlWhoLived!

My four year old niece has the identical one to me.

I used my 2 year olds inhaler when I had a really persistent cough/cold when pregnant. It had kept me up at night for days and I was so exhausted as I couldn’t drop off to sleep because if the coughing.
It did really help just relax my airways enough for a few minutes so I could actually fall to sleep without a coughing fit.

Salbutamol relaxes smooth muscle, this type of muscle is present in the lung and also in the uterus. It used to be (might still be but it's not my area) used to slow down labour. You must seek medical advice before using this

A blue inhaler won't help a cough unless you have asthma. When someone has an asthma attack the airways constrict due to inflammation. It's an inflammatory response. The lung alveoli contracts (producing a different sort of mucus from a cold) and the lining of the airways become swollen and inflamed. This doesn't happen when you just have a cough, so there is nothing inflammatory to relieve.

I would only take an inhaler if I needed to for an asthma attack, mainly because it raises your resting heart rate quite a bit.

Pregnancy induced asthma is a thing, so if you try the inhaler and it works to alleviate the cough then you will know its worth going to the gp to get one prescribed. If not then honey and lemon all the way 😁

I have a dry asthma related cough and Ventolin does work for me. The cough has been a nightmare for months but the GP switched me from a combined inhaler to a preventer and Ventolin three weeks ago. The difference has been startling.

Don't use salbutamol unless prescribed.
Use a steam cup and a few drops of menthol or olbas oil to ease a persistent non-productive cough.