Studies on other medications that work in the same way make blood vessels smaller have raised questions about a small chance for birth defects. If you have high blood pressure, talk to your healthcare provider about medications that would be best for you.
Could taking phenylephrine in the second or third trimester cause other pregnancy complications? Talk with your healthcare provider before you start taking any medication. If you use a decongestant after the first trimester, it may be best to choose one that has only one active ingredient not one with many active ingredients.
This avoids exposing the baby to other medications that may not be needed. Never take more than the recommended dose. The dose is found on the product label. Talk to your healthcare providers if you have questions about how much to take. Because phenylephrine can constrict blood vessels, using this medication could raise your blood pressure.
Talk to your healthcare provider if you have high blood pressure. However, the form of phenylephrine that you use can make a difference. Get answers: What happens during the trimesters of pregnancy? This is because of the way phenylephrine works. The drug relieves nasal congestion by narrowing the blood vessels in your nasal passages.
This reduces the secretions in the nasal passages and opens up the airways. However, for oral phenylephrine, this narrowing of blood vessels is not limited to the nasal passages. It also affects the blood vessels in your uterus. Any narrowing of uterine blood vessels during pregnancy may decrease the blood flow to the fetus.
Because of this risk, you should not take oral phenylephrine during pregnancy. On the other hand, intranasal phenylephrine mostly affects just the nasal passages. You take an intranasal drug directly into the nose, typically by a spray.
In general, intranasal decongestants should only be used for three days at a time. There is no known link between short-term use of intranasal phenylephrine and birth defects or other harm to a pregnancy. Oral phenylephrine can interact with some medications that a pregnant woman may be given before, during, and after labor. Oxytocics and ergot derivatives are two classes of these medications. These drugs are used for things such as managing labor and treating postpartum bleeding.
Taking these drugs while also taking phenylephrine by mouth can increase blood pressure in the mother, which can cause pregnancy complications or cause the baby to be born too early. These effects are not linked with use of intranasal forms of phenylephrine, however.
Phenylephrine may cause some side effects. But for the first time, the authors found links between first-trimester use of pseudoephedrine also in Sudafed and a 3-fold higher risk of so-called limb reduction defects. Use of imidazolines found in nasal decongestant sprays and eye drops was tied to an approximate doubling of risk for an abnormal connection between the trachea and esophagus. Even the eight-fold increase in risk indicated by the study results, while it sounds large, would translate to a 2.
Phenylephrine is alright under normal circumstances because it helps many people across the world from the discomfort caused due to different types of congestion. It is a Category C medicine, which means that it has been tried and tested on animals that have been pregnant and have shown to not have any adverse effects on the fetus.
However, there have been no controlled tests conducted on humans, so there is no hard evidence, and at this point, it is conjecture.
This means that the consensus that has been arrived at is only by following the route of the chemical and how it affects the body. Congestion is a common issue and has been present since the dawn of mankind. There are many alternative ways that will help you heal in case you feel congested in your nasal or chest area. Medicines are available just to make sure that the symptoms die out a lot quicker than they would naturally so that you can get back to your normal life. For the most part, the symptoms will disappear on their own in a few days, but in order to accelerate the healing process, you can try these non-medicinal ways to help your body recover.
Be sure to always consult your doctor before starting any medication. In case you have a cold or some sort of congestion, make sure you reach out to the doctor right away in case it is accompanied by any of the following:. We strongly discourage the consumption of any over-the-counter medication during pregnancy, including phenylephrine. However, in case you want to buy medication from the pharmacy, make sure you read the labels carefully to know the composition of the drug so that you can make an informed decision.
Of course, consulting your doctor in advance is also recommended to know which chemical compounds you should avoid during pregnancy for the safety of her baby. A common cold is nothing to worry about since it is not life-threatening. However, it can definitely be a nuisance, especially if you are pregnant.
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