tired, fed up and worrying.

[curlytoes]

I'm about 24 weeks pregnant and have 2 young, hyper and very heavy children at home! I've hurt my back lifting my darling lumps around and have been taking of Co-codamol regularly for a week to keep me moving. My doctor said this was fine but I've just read that it isn't recommended in preganany. Added to which I have a stonking cold and lots of sinus pain. Last night I got up and coated myself in Vicks, dropped Carvol all over my pillow, snorted an Olbas inhaler and went back to bed feeling much better. I would never have dreamt of taking a Sudafed or such like because those are 'medicine' and off limits but the other stuff seemed harmless to my tired, bunged up head. Now I've read that all those 'natural' remedies are not recommended in pregnany either. I am exhausted, achey and now worried too.

Please don't worry. It may be a speciality for you (as it is for me) and you've got enough on your plate. Many of our mothers smoked throughout their pregnancies, and all was fine.

(Sorry I have no medical links to offer, but you hardly sound like a heroin addict. I'm sure a week's worth of codine isn't the worst thing you could do)

Get more rest, if you can

I wouldn't worry too much curly. They say 'not recommended in pregnancy' on almost everything it's possible to buy. It's something to do with the fact that they can't actually test on pregnant women or something.

I don't know what co codamol is but presumably some kind of pain killer. If it were me I'd keep that to a minimum. The other stuff sounds absolutely fine though. Olbas oil? Surely it's completely harmless. It's just a nice menthol smell.

Remember that your sense of happiness and peace of mind also affects the baby so you have to look after yourself.

I hope you get better soon. Try not to pick up those great heavy brutes!!

I wouldn't honestly worry too much. If your Dr has said that cocodamol is fine, it will be. A LOT of medicines say "not recommended in pregnancy" as they are really reluctant to say on the literature that they are fine, as they want you to go to the doctor first. I have pregnant friends who take codiene, paracetemol, that Sinus inhaler stuff, anti sickness meds, antidepressants and anti acid meds.

Please don't worry so much - take the cocodamol if the doctor has specifically said it is fine. My physio told me to take the codeine as she said it is much better to keep pain under control rather than get completely under the weather with it and achey.

I have no idea about natural remedies as I don't really take them. My brother is a GP so I go on his recommendation!

BIg hug anyway xxxxx

I am a natural born worrier - how did you guess - but I was so lucky thro the last 2 pregnancies. Everything sailed along nicely and I had this wierd sense it would all go right. It's been very different this time. Maybe it's one too many pregnancies in a short time, maybe it's coz I've always been properly bumpy pregnant in the spring/ summer before and not the cold, dark, yucky winter. Whatever it is I've been run down, absent minded, sick, clumsy, tearful and anxious a lot more this time. I'm defintitly done after this one.

curlytoes please don't worry!
I was prescribed co-codemol in my last pregnancy on the ante-natal ward so it's fine.
About a month ago I had a cold which turned into sinusitis and like you was smothering my chest in vicks and using olbas oil inhaler, I've never tried Carvol. It hadn't even occured to me not to use Vicks when pg until someone else mentioned it but when I was at the chemist I looked at the insert as I had thrown out all my packaging and the phrasing was pretty ambigious something like 'pregnant women should seek medical advice before using' so not a definite DO NOT USE WHEN PREGNANT so I think they are just covering their backs.
I did find that steaming my head over a bowl of hot water (and towel over my head) did give some relief, also a saline nasal spray but in the end it was antibiotics that cleared up the sinusitis. Oh I also used those 'breathe right' strips to try and open my nasal passages a bit more.
Hope you start to improve soon.

Thank you smaconthelips for your lovely caring post. You deserve all the nice things you get under the mistletoe! Am holding out for another day or so before going begging for antibiotics if I don't mend. Will try steamy water for now.

Co-codamol only contains a very low dose of codeine (8mg per tablet, and since it is mixed with paracetamol - which is safe in pregnancy - that means you can only take a maximum of 64mg a day this way). When not pregnant you can safely take a dose of up to 60mg of codeine 4 times a day, and I was taking about 120mg per day a few weeks ago after a serious accident.

Codeine is dependency forming so there is a risk if you take it for a very long period of time that your baby could form a dependency to it. I couldn't find any figures on this, but my GP and midwife both said it was a pretty negligible risk at 16wks pg, particularly since I took the pain relief for the shortest time possible. It is not advised in the third trimester because it also makes the baby dozy which could cause problems if you go into labour.

Otherwise, I couldn't find anything linking it to major problems, and my midwife was very clear that not being able to sleep for pain was far more likely to harm me and my baby. So frankly I don't think you should worry about the co-codamol, but if you find the sinus pain lasts a long time you should go back to the GP in case you need antibiotics. I am sorry I don't know anything about the other cold remedies, but would strongly suggest you ask your midwife or GP for advice, since manufacturers routinely say things are not recommended in pregnancy because they can't tested to see if things are safe, rather than because they are known to be dangerous.