Pregnancy insomnia and best time to take piriton? HELP please!

[cookiedough86]

Hey ladies.

I’m really suffering here. I’m nearly 36 weeks pregnant and every night this week, I’ve been going to bed at 10ish but I am absolutely wide awake until anywhere from 3am to 5am. I.just.cannot.sleep. I managed 1.5 hours Thursday night and 3 hours last night. It’s horrendous!

I’ve been coming downstairs as it’s slightly cooler down here but I am really struggling with a blocked nose, I’m thinking it’s pregnancy rhinitis. I see my consultant on Monday as we have been having weekly growth and Doppler scans so will mention this then and hopefully they can recommend something. The soonest GP appointment is 19th July 😫
I have an air purifier hopefully arriving today and I’ve had a read through here and seen the nose strips are recommended so will get some of those. Any other suggestions?

Also, I was prescribed piriton for hayfever two weeks ago but haven’t taken any yet as at the time I didn’t realise they are the drowsy ones and I’m a bit weird with new medication, I read the side effects then convince myself it’s going to happen to me. Odd I know! 😅 So I’ve not taken any. However I’m thinking I should try one tonight and see if they do actually make me drowsy so I can sleep a bit! My question is, what time shall I take the tablet? Like how long do they take to make you drowsy?

I just want to cry. I have a 4 year old who wants attention all the time, I just have no energy. My DP has been great, he just can’t understand why I can’t sleep when I’m so tired 🤷🏻‍♀️ At least it’s a bit cooler today.
Thank you for reading my essay and anny advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

If you don't want to take the piriton then you can take loratidine or cetirizine which are non drowsy and considered ok in pregnancy

I'm sure corticosteroid nasal sprays are ok to use too

Yes, Beconase nasal spray is safe to use in pregnancy.

Thank you for your fast replies!

@dementedpixie I am going to ask for an alternative antihistamine on Monday. I just kind of do want to take the piriton now to see if it helps me sleep 😅 Just not sure what time to take it.

Sorry I forgot to mention, I have the beconase spray! :)

Here for some solidarity, im 39 weeks and suffering with the same insomnia and it's so brutal. I keep worrying about how il manage in labour on such a lack of sleep.

I was prescribed antihistamines for itching particularly at night, I tend to take mine around 8pm as this is when my itching gets worse. Sorry to say I haven't noticed any drowsy side effects even though I was warned it was a side effect.

@squidgem Aggh it’s horrendous isn’t it! I’m sorry you are suffering with it too.

I feel like I’m going mad, I dread when it starts to get dark as I’m thinking ‘here we go again!’

Hope it easies for us both. Not long to go!

You can buy loratidine/cetirizine cheaply OTC, even in the supermarket so you don't need a prescription.

I was told to take piriton at the end of pregnancy as i was sooo itchy! I took it before bed. You can take it 4 hourly, so by the morning the drowsy effects had worn off. But did help me to get to sleep to start off with.

I continued taking it post partum as I was still really itchy. However I'd had a c section and combined with the pain killers I was scarily drowsy, definitely not worth taking together if you're needing pain relief post partum.