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Today we talk about how to navigate the

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often confusing world of over the counter

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medications during pregnancy, what's

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safe, what's not, and how to make the best

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choices for you and your baby's health.

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I'm Doctor Mark Ammols, and

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this is taco. About

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fertility Tuesday. I remember when my wife and I got pregnant,

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and we were so excited to be pregnant that one of the

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things we were most scared of was screwing something

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up. And that meant anything we did,

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whether it was having intercourse

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or what we ate or flying a

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plane, we were always afraid of. Could

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we cause harm? Well, in this episode of

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this podcast, we're going to step a little away from

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fertility, but talk about what's safe to

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take in pregnancy. And then in

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the following episode, we're going to talk about what

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things are okay to do when

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we sometimes are worried about them, such as having

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intercourse and is it dangerous. And the

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reason for this episode is because when it

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takes time to get pregnant, when you have

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feared that you may never be pregnant,

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you are terrified of doing something wrong.

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And so this episode is for everyone

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who has been in that moment and, want to have a resource to

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fall back on to know what to do. In

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this podcast, we're going to break each topic up

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into several categories. And so if you just want to hear about

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that category, you can usually forward to that by

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hitting one of the chapters. So the first part we're going

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to talk about is nausea. The second

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will be fever and pain. The third will be about

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GI upset in pregnancy. The fourth

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will be gas that you get during

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pregnancy. The fifth will be talking about allergies and

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medications for that. And the last one we're going to talk about

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is cough and cold medications. I'm

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not going to talk about supplements such as

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herbs, and that's because they are not FDA

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regulated. And so although supplements

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and herbs are okay, especially when you're talking

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about herbal medications,

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I'm going to keep this to medications and over the counter

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medications that are from the FDA.

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Additionally, I'm not going to go over

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medications that you would take

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because these are things that you get from your doctor, but medications you can

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get over the counter. Nausea,

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nausea is one of those things that everybody

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likes to have because it tells them that the pregnancy is going

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well, but they also dont like having it

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because youre nauseous. And, nausea is one of the things that

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people hate even more than pain. And

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so for most women, theyre going to

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have a little bit of nausea, and you might feel like youre

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going to vomit, you might even have dry heaving.

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And so in the past, years ago, there used to be a

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medication called doxylamine,

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and that was taken off the market due to risk

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of lawsuits. And so what happened is, over the

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years, doctors have been given patients vitamin

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B six and unisom to be able to

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recreate that doxylamine and help with

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that nausea. This is a very effective

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medication and was even put

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into another brand at one point, but they took it off the

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market again. To create this pill, you just need to

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take 25 milligrams three times a day of vitamin

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B six, also known as peroxidine, and

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unisom, also known as doxylamine,

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12.5 milligrams, which is half a tab

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at night. There are other things you can do, such as

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ginger snaps, pressure bands, and

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even more aggressive treatments, such as medications

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such as Zofran. However, if

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you're having some mild nausea and you want to

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recreate the medication Bendectin later named diclages

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in the past, all you need to do is take

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some vitamin B six and half a tablet.

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Unisome. The next

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part that we're going to talk about is fever

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and pain in pregnancy. One of the

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safest drugs to use in pregnancy for fever

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or pain is using Tylenol. It will help

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with pain. It's going to help with fevers.

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Now, there are other medications, such as

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ibuprofen and naproxen,

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and those medications should be used very

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cautiously. What I usually tell people is, don't take

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them unless a physician tells you to take

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them. But the question is why? There are several

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reasons why you shouldn't, one of them being

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that, especially in the later term of, pregnancy, like in the third

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trimester, it can actually cause premature

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closure of the ductus arteriosus, which

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is an important blood vessel. And

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if that blood vessel is prematurely closed,

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it can lead to pulmonary hypertension in

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the fetus. Now, naturally, this closes at birth, but it

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shouldn't be closed before them. The other thing is

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it can also reduce amniotic fluid. Low

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amniotic fluid can be associated with fetal growth

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problems, lung issues, and sometimes even the limbs can

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become contracted because it has less room.

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The reason for this is that the kidneys

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on the fetus won't make as much urine because

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of the ibuprofen. There's also

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slightly increased risk of bleeding when you're taking ibuprofen. So when it comes to fever or

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pain, stigmationol. And if you need

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more, make sure you go to an urgent

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care er, or talk to a physician before taking other

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medications. The third section of this

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podcast is going to be talking about GI

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upset. So for

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heartburn, using things like tums,

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pepcid, or

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mylata are safe options.

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If you're having constipation, you can always

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use colace. And if you're having issues

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with diarrhea, it's safe to use

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ammonium. Now, like anything,

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everything should be in moderation. You shouldn't be treating

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yourself. So if you have constipation that's not

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getting better, you need to see a doctor. The same thing

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if you're having diarrhea that's not responding to amodium,

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don't keep taking multiple doses of amodium. Go

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and see a doctor. Now, on the other hand, things are not

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safe for Gi. Things are going to be things like

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Pepe Bismol. This is because Pepto

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Bismol has salicylate in it, and that can cause

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issues in the first trimester and in the third

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trimester. Now, this doesn't mean you can't take

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a medication that I, talk about. If your doctor says you can take

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it, this is just talking about medications you can

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take and feel safe taking over the counter

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when you have some symptoms. For those of you who are a little bit

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older, another option for

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indigestion is mom,

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also known as milk omagnesia.

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Next, we're going to talk about having

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gas, also known as flatulence,

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through pregnancy. It's normal women are going to get

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gassy, but sometimes you become extra gassy

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and can be quite uncomfortable, especially with the

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fact that there now is a baby in your abdomen and you have

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less space. And that means that baby can be kicking your

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bowels and can be causing problems.

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The best medication to use for gas is

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going to be products like Gasex, also known as

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simethicone. These are over the counter and can be

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taken safely as with prior

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recommendations. If it's not getting better with the

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medication or is it becoming unbearable,

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definitely see your doctor and they can give you other

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medications that work similar or even stronger than the over

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the counter varieties of it. Next, were going to talk

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about allergies. Everyone gets allergies

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and they have stiffly noses, they have

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coughs, they have a little bit of post nasal

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drip or not talking about being ill. So this is

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not talking about flus and colds. Were just talking about your typical

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daily allergies. Most

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antihistamines are going to be safe. This includes things

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like benadryl, claridin,

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zyrtec and Aleve.

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Unfortunately, Benadryl makes you pretty tired. And so

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most people are going to use things like a, claritin or zyrtec to

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reduce band tired. There

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are other medications that your doctor can give you if allergies are

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becoming too severe, but when it comes to over the counter,

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you're perfectly fine taking things like zyrtec

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and claritin. Now, you

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don't want to take what's called, like, claritin d

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or zyrtec D, which stands for decongestion.

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That's something we're going to get into next, and that actually

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should not be taken. So things like phenylephrine

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and pseudo phedrin are, 2d congestions out

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there. These are commonly mixed with antihistamines

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to create a less sinus

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pressure and will also then help with your allergies.

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But unfortunately, you do not want to be taking

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sudafed or pseudoephedrine or

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while pregnant. It doesn't mean you can't take

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it, and it's okay when you're doing it under a, ah, physician's

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supervision, but there are many cases where you do not want

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to take it, and that's why it's important to talk to your

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doctor. What I would recommend is don't take

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any decongestant like Sudafed, which

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is the brand name, but Sudafedrin

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or phenylephrine when pregnant without doctor

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supervision. The last thing we're going to talk about is

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like, cold and flu medications. And although there are many other categories that

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need medications, the reason why we're talking about these

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is because these are the main categories that come up.

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But if you have other questions about other medications and want me to

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do another episode on this, I can. So when it

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comes to cold and cough medications, there are

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some that are very safe. Tylenol is a safe

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medication. So you're having a little bit of headache or

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a little bit fever, take some tylenol.

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Dextromethophran is a

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cough suppressant that you can usually get, and it's

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considered safe in pregnancy. The same thing with

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guafinosin, which is an expectorant. So if you

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feel like you need to cough stuff up, if something is kind of stuck,

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you can take that to help pull things up. Another

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medication that can be used is robitussin, especially

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Robitussin DM, which contains both the

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cough suppressant and the expectorant in the

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formula. But this is where it gets tricky when it comes

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to cold and flu medications. A lot

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of them combine a bunch of medications together, and

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you're going to have to read the labels. In general,

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it's best to just take the individual medications and create

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it yourself. So, for example, there's

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meds like Dayquil and Nyquil.

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Sometimes these medications do have things like

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pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine in them,

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which shouldn't be used in the first trimester unless under the guidance

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of a physician. I don't

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recommend taking these medications that are

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a conglomerate of other medications, but instead taking the

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individual medications. That way

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you know you're not taking something you shouldn't. Now, again, that

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being said, if your doctor says it's fine for you to take it, then that means

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your situation is safe and you can take the dayquil or

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Nyquil. But again, make sure you talk to your physician,

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because in general, we do not recommend that.

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What is important to understand about with this podcast is we're going

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over medications that you can take and not be worried

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about. But for some of these medications,

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such as taking Sudafed, such

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as cold medication, flu medications that have

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sudafed in it, you'll need your doctor's

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guidance, because potentially you may have a

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situation in your first trimester that they don't want you to

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take that and it could cause some harm. In

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general, stick to the medications that we discussed that were

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safe, and anything outside of that, please talk to your

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doctor. Hopefully this episode was helpful to

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you and maybe you know someone who's pregnant, it might be helpful to

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you. I remember when we went through, it was definitely

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something we didn't have a list of, of safe, over

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the counter medications, and we kind of felt lost. And so

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hopefully this will help you. If you're pregnant now,

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maybe you're going to get pregnant. Or when you do get

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pregnant, you now have this resource to go back to

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to make sure you can reference when you're dealing with

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some mild illnesses or issues during

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pregnancy. I do want to make sure that you understand this list is

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not exhaustive. There are other medications. I was just

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going over the more common ones to give you a general idea.

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A future episode will go over things like activities

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that are safe to do in pregnancy, such as intercourse and

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swimming and flying planes. As

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always, I greatly appreciate everyone listening to the

12:41

podcast. And as I always say, if you know someone who's

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going through this that might help, tell them about this podcast

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episode and give them that resource. Like I said,

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if you don't want to listen to the whole thing, just jump to the chapter that

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helps you. As always, if you love us,

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give us a five star review, tell us to your friends,

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and most of all, keep coming back. I look forward to talking

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to everyone again next week on taco Bell

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fertility Tuesday.