Anyone else have Asthma - Cat C meds?

goldengirl315

I am a severe asthmatic and had to get off most of my meds because they are in Cat C.  They switched me to pulmicort which is Cat B and my rescue inhaler that is Cat C. Unfortunately I dont want to use it as much as I need to but I am stuck in a hard place.

Anyone dealing with this?

I have had to stop exercising as well for the time being so that I would reduce the times using the rescue.

Anyone else on Cat C meds???

Jules08

I have asthma, I was diagnosed 25+ years ago.  Everything and anything can set off an attack for me.

For my first pregnancy and for this one I was on and am on Ventolin (rescue) and Dulera (controller).  It is more important that I and baby get oxygen (having good control of your asthma also improves the odds for complications like premature birth, low birth weight, pre-e), so per the recommendation of my OB I will continue my meds as normal.  I will also continue my activity as normal as well as exercise is quite important during pregnancy.  (I play volleyball, tennis, hike, walk, run, bike, and swim.)  There is also a chance that pregnancy can make your asthma worse, which is another reason to continue your meds.

If I remember correctly, albuterol is sometimes prescribed to stop pre-term labor.

I think a risk is that it can increase your blood pressure and heart rate, but those are typically so short lived. 

I remember reading that studies say that very little actually enters the bloodstream so baby would be exposed to an even smaller amount.

AEG84

I was on a Cat C med for allergies and just switched to the ONLY Cat B med available that is similar. It costs $120/month instead of $10, yay crappy insurance! I do have asthma, but it is generally well-controlled so all I have is an albuterol rescue inhaler.

I would talk more with both your allergy doctor and your OB. Agree with @Jules08 that having your asthma controlled and receiving an appropriate amount of oxygen likely exceeds any risk from a Cat C drug.

Jlnitti80

I have severe allergies and allergy induced asthma. I talked to my Allergist right away because I'm on two maintenance meds for breathing and a rescue inhaler. She did change my nasal spray to a different med but advised me to stay on the others. I believe that my daily med, Singular, is Cat B and not Cat C. Still makes one a little nervous though.

goldengirl315

Symbicort is the only daily med that works for me coupled with Singular.  Of course I dont really want to take both of these.  The allergist told me to switch to pulmicort and hold off on everything else till I see my OB....including oversize which I am quite bummed about.  The last thing I wanted to do was stop working out.....

I see my OB on Wednesday so I am hoping to have more answers.

missssaramarie

I have asthma but I finally got it under control in the past year with singular. However I am on a C med for depression. I took it my first pregnancy with my doctors blessing of your health/sanity is priority. My daughter came out just fine.

bboroski

I have had to come off my allergy meds entirely because all my OB said all I can take are antihistamines and they don't play well with my epilepsy meds. So yesterday I bought a Costco sized thing of tissues.

While not asthma related my epilepsy meds are Class C. Coming off them is not an option. Before getting pregnant my DH and I sat down with my doctors and had a serious discussion about risks etc. I take a fairly high dose every single day and therefore so will my baby. For people with epilepsy there is a registry of people who have been on all kinds of meds and their outcomes. The med I am on (while class C) does have some minimal risk but it all still seems to fall within the normal range of risk.

I am thinking there may be something like that for your med? Or at least some research? If your good at Google and can avoid over doing it / burning yourself out maybe look Into it. Look up risk among women on no meds and then the risk of mothers on your med.

I was pleasantly surprised and relieved to find that it wasn't as bad as it could have been.