Nyquil?

ahohenadel

Ive been battling a horrible cold for a few days now and finally broke down last night... My Dr. Office gave out a list of things that are ok to take and on there was Nyquil... i was a little surprised but needed something so I took half a dose... anyone else taken this while pregnant? Of course im just psyching myself out now!

von1976

The ingredients in NyQuil are mainly benign during pregnancy: Tylenol (acetaminophen), Dextromethorphan (cough suppressant), and Doxylamine succinate (same as Unisom). I assume what you're worried about is the alcohol content in the liquid form? There really isn't that much alcohol in it, but if you are concerned, you could always opt for the gel caps that don't have any added alcohol.

queen_frostine

I had a terrible cold and took pseudoephedrine, dextromethorphan, and guafenesin under my doctor's okay - actually I took them in moderation and they didn't seem to help so I gave up after a dose or two. 

ahohenadel

Not so much the alcohol as the sedative effect and what that might do to baby... im sure its ok but of course in the moment i needed some relief and then this morning im a nervous wreck lol

Mum4boys

Hi my dr told me to take Benadryl when I couldn't sleep, she said when she was pregnant she drank it every night. 

par_mach_kai

I love nyquil, but dextromorphan is a Category C drug, so I didn't take it when I got a terrible cold, but ended up getting doxylamine succinate instead (Category A), as it's an ant-histamine and was targeting what I wanted anyway. You can find it as "unisom" (but be sure to read the label because not all unisom's active ingredients are the doxylamine succinate) under the sleeping-aid aisle. 

hang in there. my cold made me feel like I was dying, right in the middle of my first trimester. 

von1976

waitingforbabies said:

I love nyquil, but dextromorphan is a Category C drug, so I didn't take it when I got a terrible cold, but ended up getting doxylamine succinate instead (Category A), as it's an ant-histamine and was targeting what I wanted anyway. You can find it as "unisom" (but be sure to read the label because not all unisom's active ingredients are the doxylamine succinate) under the sleeping-aid aisle. 

hang in there. my cold made me feel like I was dying, right in the middle of my first trimester. 

Category C is not as scary as everyone makes it sound. It means that adequate human studies have not been performed, which is not unusual because it's unethical to perform studies on pregnant women. It can also mean that animal studies were performed and have shown adverse effects.

In the case of dextromethorphan (not dextromorphan), animal studies done on chick embryos showing harm to development have been contradicted with studies looking at real-world usage of the drug in humans while pregnant, which show no increase in the risk of birth defects with use. I have found some things online that say that it's teratogenic, but I wonder if these haven't been updated after the study of 2001, or maybe they are waiting on a follow-up study. But really, it looks pretty safe.

If you're unsure, however, follow your doctor's advice.

mothernorth

I took Nyquil a few times while pregnant because I was given the green light. Full doses, no issues here.

ldyger

I took it before I knew I was expecting and told Doctor.  She told me not to take it anymore. Guess everyone and dr has their own opinions.