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Pregnancy

worrying about medicaton taken in pregnancy

6 replies

monkey · 13/06/2003 21:14

this is my 3rd pregnancy. !st 2 didn't take a thing, this time I've had a lot of pain in my neck & shoulders.

2 main things - doctor recommended i had steriod (cortisone) injection in shoulder. (one off, not a course) He said it was a low dose & reassured me it woul d be ok. I asked several times & he was catagorical, so I agreed to the injection. Now I'm stressing about it.... Just turned 18 weks if this is relevant.

2nd thing. Due to the pain I took paracetomol.. I asked the pharmacist if it was ok & he said yes. I read the packet & it said it was ok in pregnancy as long as stuck to dose (500mg, 4 doses of 2 tablets max). A few tims I took the max dose, but mostly took 3 or 4 a day.(16 weeks at this point). I just went to another chemist to get more & they said it was ok, but only low dose & she specifically said maybe 3 a day, not 6 or 8! So imagine my horror.

Apart from this pain in my neck, shoulders & arm, my main pregnancy symptom seems to be chronic worrying. Can anyone please help put my mind at rest?

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aloha · 13/06/2003 21:53

Well, when I had some bleeding in pregnancy and there was a risk I'd have to have a c/s before 34 weeks I was given steroid injections to help mature ds's lungs. This is standard procedure, there were no harmful side effects and I didn't worry about it.

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aloha · 13/06/2003 21:55

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aloha · 13/06/2003 21:56

Also, there are no side effects in pregnancy due to taking paracetamol at normal dosages in early pregnancy. Paracetamol is one of the safest drugs you can take in pregnancy.

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pie · 13/06/2003 22:06

Just to agree with aloha about not worrying about the paracetamol. It is seen as the safest pain medication in pregnancy at normal doses. When I was in the hospital the doctors gave me the max dose the whole time and I was 10 weeks pregnant plus a few other things.

If you are worried ask the doctor, not the pharmacist, I tend to find that pharmacists vary too much to be a source of consistent advice. No offence to any pharmacists out there!

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whymummy · 13/06/2003 22:25

monkey i had a really bad ear infection while i was 2 1/2 months pregnant with dd,the pain was horrific and i took paracetamol like smarties everytime i took 2 i had to wait half an hour for the pain to go and an hour later the pain was back day and night i also didn`t eat for 4 days,i spent the whole of the pregnancy worrying but thankfully dd was born really healthy
hope your pain goes away

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monkey · 16/06/2003 14:49

thanks a lot all of you. I will check with doc, but not due to go for another fortnight, and I could get myself so paranoid by then! I will ask anyway, but you have put my mind at rest. Honestly, it's alarming how much I can worry atm!

Been told not to use left arm, and this seems to be having an effect, although finding driving very wierd and difficult! (this activity is the worst foor making arm & shoulder pain come on) anyway, feeling a bit better, mentally & physically - thanks!