Anyone take Sudafed during pregnancy?

RevJG · January 2011

I have the worst head cold and can't fracking breathe. I was up from 12 to 5 am-the severed congestion combined with my already bad insomnia/anxiety/clausterphobia due to being this gigantic is about to send me over the edge. I have tried every non medicated remedy I can think of and have also tried benadryl and zyrtec-neither of which even touched the congestion. Sudafed is on my OB's safe list but I hate to take it if it isn't going to help. I haven't taken it very often while not pregnant, so I am not sure how it will affect me. TIA.

meltoine · January 2011

I took a Sudafed PE the other day. It did absolutely nothing. I hear regular Sudafed (from behind the pharmacy counter) is better, though. My OB said Afrin is okay, too. That was much more helpful than the Sudafed.

RileyGrace · January 2011

I have pregnancy congestion, so unfortunately I have to take sudafed fairly often. It does help. Just make sure you're taking the plain sudafed, 4 hr, no initials. Don't get all the 12 hr, extended release, etc. Just plain.

You can also use Afrin nasal spray if you need to, but just be careful because it will cause rebound congestion after a few days. I only use it when the neti pot doesn't help.

GoMommy · January 2011

My Doc said it was ok, but it makes my blood pressure shoot up.. so I opted not to take it.. I hope you get feeling better

RevJG · January 2011

RileyGrace:
I have pregnancy congestion, so unfortunately I have to take sudafed fairly often. It does help. Just make sure you're taking the plain sudafed, 4 hr, no initials. Don't get all the 12 hr, extended release, etc. Just plain.

You can also use Afrin nasal spray if you need to, but just be careful because it will cause rebound congestion after a few days. I only use it when the neti pot doesn't help.

Does it make you sleepy? I am just wondering if I should take it for day or wait until night. Thanks!

vlagrl29 · January 2011

in my experience it did not make me sleepy, actually i felt like my heart was racing on it one time. i'm not a fan of sudafed and only take it when absolutely necessary

missmiss307 · January 2011

I took Sudafed and Robitussin DM for a bad cold around Christmas, and both helped tremendously. They didn't make me drowsy at all.

ljones1025 · January 2011

I have had to take it several times...works great...the real stuff though not the PE. However, something I do notice for me when I have taken it during pregnancy vs not...is that it does increase my heartrate, but not to a dangerous level or anything.

Manateearmz · January 2011

I had the worst cold in my 2rd tri. It's also on my OB's safe list but I called the office just to be sure. She told me that the only reason that she allowed me to take it was becuase I wasn't high risk, but to only take it if I HAD to. I ended up taking one pill at night, just so I could get some sleep.

MelCfromMN · January 2011

Sudafed does nothing for my congestion, but I wanted to throw out the Neti Pot. Have you tried one of these yet? It always clears me out. Also, Unisom helps knock me out. Good luck!

rad2sings@hotmail.com · January 2011

HI- I was told only take straight Sudafed not PE or any other. It did help but my doctor also told me if I have trouble sleeping due to a cold or just uncomfortable, to take Benadryl! It has done wonders! Good luck-Rene

shamyfowler · January 2011

I finally broke down and took Sudafed a few days ago because I was so miserable. I think it helped a little. I only took it twice because I really didn't want to take any medication. I think regular Tylenol or even a Tylenol PM at night would help too. I used my neti pot last night and I feel tons better after that. Really helped to clear things out. Did it again this morning and feel better. Good luck!

EmberTopaz · January 2011

meltoine:
I took a Sudafed PE the other day. It did absolutely nothing. I hear regular Sudafed (from behind the pharmacy counter) is better, though. My OB said Afrin is okay, too. That was much more helpful than the Sudafed.

Same here- Sudafed did absolutely nothing, and Afrin worked WONDERS as far as the breathing- which was 99% of my battle!

chary412 · January 2011

I took the "real" sudafed (not PE) 2-3 times a day for 4 days last month when I had a cold. Real sudafed is a miracle drug for me, it's like I don't even have a cold anymore. The PE stuff does nothing for me.

baby kilpatrick · January 2011

When I talked to the pharmacist she said that sudafed would actually cause you to get energy. She recommended that if the cold is bad to take sudafed during the day and benadryl (to help me sleep) at night. Seemed to work pretty well when I wasn't feeling good a couple of weeks ago.

bootsnbananas · January 2011

I have had a nasty cold and took Sudafed. It defintiely helped but it also made my heart race, jacked my bp up and made me have a panic attack. I switched to Afrin.

heylee · January 2011

I took it and it didn't help me. I read a post where someone took one before their OB appointment and it made their baby's HB shoot up and down so that alone is making me not take it again.

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