sinus headache and congestionsos!

chefsteph · August 2012

I've had the worst sinus headache for the past two days and now have a ton of congestion in my face. My DR is closed until Monday, any suggestions on what is safe to take?

jterpbride · August 2012

I was told Claritin is safe and take it occasionally. Don't take ClaritinD though, just the regular kind.

erkie · August 2012

jterpbride:
I was told Claritin is safe and take it occasionally. Don't take ClaritinD though, just the regular kind.

Plain old Claritin won't help with congestion because it's an antihistamine. You'd need a decongestant which is the the D in ClaritinD, but I dont know what's safe in pregnancy. For my sinus headaches, I've been taking tylenol with a can of coke and it seems to help. The caffeine dilates your blood vessel and allows more blood flow/oxygen to the pain source.

jterpbride · August 2012

erkie:
jterpbride:
I was told Claritin is safe and take it occasionally. Don't take ClaritinD though, just the regular kind.
Plain old Claritin won't help with congestion because it's an antihistamine. You'd need a decongestant which is the the D in ClaritinD, but I dont know what's safe in pregnancy. For my sinus headaches, I've been taking tylenol with a can of coke and it seems to help. The caffeine dilates your blood vessel and allows more blood flow/oxygen to the pain source.

The reason I said don't take Claritin D is that my doctor recommends no Claritin D or anything that contains pseudophedrine. That being said, some websites say you can take it after the first trimester if your doctor okays it. So it may be fine, but my doc doesn't recommend it.

I get bad sinus headaches from allergies, so for me an antihistamine does help. I do also take Tylenol sometimes and also use Simply Saline nasal spray for decongestion, which is perfectly safe since it's just saline.

sbevmc09 · August 2012

Yeah, I was going to say the antihistamine actually might help. Ragweed is really bad right now, or at least it is in my area. I don't even usually get seasonal allergies, but when the levels are really high like this I'm definitely getting some sinus congestion and pressure from it. Right now I'm just dealing with it. I hope it goes away soon!

My office recommends Claritin as well as Sudafed after first tri for allergies/sinus congestion.

ETA: Also wanted to say, if you don't think it's something that would be helped by an anti-histamine then I'd probably actually try a Netti Pot. It'll flush everything out and you won't have to take any medication. Maybe just follow it with some Tylenol if your head still hurts afterwards.