Heparin question

7Lucky7 · January 2013

Hi all,

I don't think I have introduced myself officially on this board before, but I lurk occasionally because I am on Lovenox this pregnancy due to some blood clotting issues. This is my second pregnancy and I am currently 36 weeks.

This week I am supposed to be switching from Lovenox to Heparin, which I understand to be a pretty routine switch as labor gets closer for several reasons. My question to you all, for those who have done this before, is about the preservative benzyl alcohol found in the normal prescription of Heparin. My pharmacist brought it to my attention, but said when she asked my doctor that the doctor said it was fine. Looking online, I am getting a mixed feeling on this. I have a call into the MFM specialist that I see so I can get his feedback as well. For now, I am curious about how many of you were able to get the preservative-free. Are some of you taking the kind with the benzyl alcohol after your doctor said it was fine like mine?

Ahh... nervous about switching over from the Lovenox!! Thanks for any input. I apologize if this has been asked recently. I will go back through more posts later tonight. Thanks!

fignewt74 · January 2013

Great question! I am normally really careful about this stuff (always get the preservative-free flu shot, turned down the pertussis vacinne b/c of preservatives) and didn't even think about this! Yikes! Must be my pregnancy brain...

All I can say is that I had such a tough time finding a pharmacy that actually carries Heparin, that I cannot imagine trying to find one that carries preservative-free Heparin (if there is such a thing).

Anyway, please keep me posted and let me know if you find it. That would be extremely helpful for the Lovenox Ladies to know about.

7Lucky7 · January 2013

Thanks for the reply. Just wanted to let you know what I ended up doing. I looked into the whole benzyl alcohol thing and it mentions it not being good to have when pregnant on sites such as the FDA website and the actual medication website. When I spoke to my doctor she said it was fine, it was kind of like the risk ratio of it all- I need the shot to prevent clots, and the risk of the preservative doing anything is minimal, especially because it is in such low quantities and I will only be on it for a short time at the end of the pregnancy. So, it was a bit confusing what to do.

In researching, I found that there are three types of Heparin: 1. preserved with benzyl alcohol, 2. preserved with parabens 3. preservative-free. The preservative-free is ridiculously hard to find. I gave up on that. The paraben one seemed like the less of the two evils because the only thing I saw mentioned was to avoid the benzyl alcohol when pregnant. So, I ended up findind a Walgreens pharmacy that could order the one with the paraben preservatives only. That's what I'm going with.

So, I'm now waiting on that to come in and will be starting a week later than planned. I am sure my doctor is a little irritated at me for not totally trusting her, but it makes me feel a little better. I have been on tons of meds this time around and I have a hard time taking something that says anywhere in the warning not to take when pregnant... I am sure it is fine, but it's all about what you are comfortable with.

fignewt74 · February 2013

Thanks so much for following up about this! Because of your post, I ended up contacting my pharmacy too. They did a ton of research, and ended up finding the preservative-free for me (fyi - this is the pharmacy at the hospital.)

Too bad I ended up going into labor the day after I did my first shot of the preservative-free stuff

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