Nose Spray

[diamond lil]

Please tell me it's not all the bad. :o This cold has me wiped out. I can't breathe, especially at night. I've been using Afrin. I use it in conjunction with nasal strips, which do not work on their own. I also use a Vicks vaporizer at night. I also need the nose spray at least twice during the day at work. If I can't take any cold meds, I have to have my Afrin. Beleive me, I've tried everything else: teas, hot showers, aromatherapy, neti pot.

So how bad is Afrin for baby? One of my baby books actually recommends using it.

[alegna]

It's one I'm comfortable enough with past the first trimester in small doses.

Personally I tough it out during the day and just use one dose at night (and do only one squirt instead of two...) And then I use it as few days as possible.

:hug

Hope you feel better soon!

-Angela

[Changed]

Nose spray isn't going to pass over like oral medications do. It's the ONLY think I'll use when I'm sick and pregnant or nursing. And luckily, it does help a lot and really fast.

[StephNelson]

I used it last time and have had to this time also... I think in moderation it is fine..

~Steph

[Sunshine4004]

May I recommend saline spray for the nose. It has no medication in it but works well to keep the sinuses 'cleaned out'. It has been my saving grace through 3 colds so far this winter.

[Marieke]

Agreed with the previous poster that in moderation it's probably fine.

When I was sitting in the OB's office after my amniocentesis he took a call by a pregnant woman who was obviously having a cold too, and he had told her that it was fine to use nose spray and some other cold medications too (I can't remember which ones he was talking about, but did remember that he okayed use of nose spray).

I've not asked my home birth midwife about nose spray and her thoughts on it, but I've just used it when I've been totally stuffed up at night. I can deal with being a mouth breather during the day, but I need to be able to breathe at night while sleeping, and thus able to get some sleep... especially with an active toddler to chase around all day.

As Angela mentioned earlier, I do use less, and less frequently while pregnant. In fact I've found that after a couple of days sometimes just using a saline spray ends up being more effective than the nose spray is, though admittedly that one needs reapplication more often... but then it's saline and that's not going to harm me.



Marieke

[Barcino]

Don't use it during the day and use it as little as possible at night. Like Alegna said. I stay away from it unless 100% necessary to sleep. It is not systemic but it is very habit forming and you can make your problem worse really fast on those. Try the neti pot too. It helped me a lot - When I was so stuffed I would take a hot shower then do the neti pot. Lots of fluids and emergenc also helped as well as two days of resting.

[1babysmom]

Afrin was the only type of nasal spray that provided me relief during one of my many crappy colds this winter. I just made myself only use it at night (works for 12 hours) and tried to stick with just a few days of use.

[Dillpicklechip]

If you are going to use a nasal spray while pregnant just be sure to read the label. Different brands have different ingredients. Recently I asked my husband to pick me up some nasal spray, and he came home with the regular Dristan. I read the box, and guess what? It contained thimerisol. We're talking, mercury! So just be careful.

[DiannaK]

Please tell me it's not all the bad. :o This cold has me wiped out. I can't breathe, especially at night. I've been using Afrin. I use it in conjunction with nasal strips, which do not work on their own. I also use a Vicks vaporizer at night. I also need the nose spray at least twice during the day at work. If I can't take any cold meds, I have to have my Afrin. Beleive me, I've tried everything else: teas, hot showers, aromatherapy, neti pot.

So how bad is Afrin for baby? One of my baby books actually recommends using it.

I think I'd forego the Afrin, and use just the plain saline spray instead.

[Tiffanoodle]

I'm avoiding all nasal spray during this pregnancy. With my ds, I had horrible sinus congestion pretty much constantly. From the end of the first tri on, I was almost dependent on Flonase. I never took it more than the dosage and not every single day, but at least once every few days. My son was having a very irregular heartbeat. They said it could be from stimulants. The ONLY thing I was taking at all was the Flonase. When I stopped using it, his heartbeat regulated. I'm still not sure if that's what it was, but I really don't want to take any chances.

[EmilyS]

I have had this cold the last week and I am 16 weeks along. I took a medicated nasel spray twice becasue I just couldn't handle it after two nights of NO sleep. I only did one spray each time. I have to say though, this has been the wierdest cold i have ever had--it is lingering in a wierd way where I have this really summy, stringy snot that I have to blow out like every hour and my ears have been plugged like crazy. Never before have I had ears plugged like this...anyway, maybe that has something to do with pregnancy and no the spray...