Common Cold Medicine and Pregnancy: The Safe List

Your immune system lowers slightly during pregnancy so your body won’t reject your developing baby. Not all sore throats are due to infection, however. For example, heartburn, a common pregnancy symptom, can also give you a sore throat. Pregnant women also often become congested, which can lead to a sore throat.

Cough medications: Expectorants (like Mucinex), cough suppressants (such as Robitussin or Vicks Formula 44), vapor rubs (like Vicks Vapo Rub) as well as most cough drops are considered safe during pregnancy, but ask your practitioner about dosing.

• Acetaminophen (Tylenol)
• Diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
• Pseudoephedrine (Sudafed)
• Loratadine (Claritin)
• Zinc lozenges.
• Chloraseptic spray (but a salt water gargle is just as effective, with no risks)

Medications

1. menthol rub on your chest, temples, and under the nose.
2. nasal strips, which are sticky pads that open congested airways.
3. cough drops or lozenges.
4. acetaminophen (Tylenol) for aches, pains, and fevers.
5. cough suppressant at night.
6. expectorant during the day.

Cough medicine Expectorants like Mucinex, cough suppressants like Robitussin, vapor rubs like Vicks VapoRub, and cough drops are all considered safe during pregnancy.

To ease congestion and other symptoms of pregnancy rhinitis:

1. Drink plenty of hydrating fluids.
2. Elevate your head with extra pillows when you lie down to rest or sleep.
3. Take a warm shower and linger in the steamy bathroom.
4. Try saline nose drops or saline nasal spray, available over the counter at drugstores.

You should not take NyQuil Severe Cold & Flu if you’re pregnant. Use of its active ingredient in early pregnancy may be linked with some birth defects. You should also talk to your doctor before using the liquid forms of NyQuil Cold & Flu and NyQuil Cough during pregnancy.

Menthol is a common ingredient of many throat lozenges, sprays, and topical ointments. There are no human studies on the use of menthol during pregnancy; thus, its risk is undetermined. The concentration of menthol in these products is low, and the risk of malformations is therefore believed to be small.

Therefore, the risks of menthol cough drops on pregnancy are not fully known. That said, there have not been any reports of negative effects on a pregnancy due to menthol use. To be safe, you should talk to your doctor before taking menthol cough drops during pregnancy.

Medications that are safe to take for cold symptoms during pregnancy:

• Sore throat sprays or lozenges.
• Dextromethorphan (Robitussin)
• Acetaminophen (Tylenol)
• Cough drops.
• Sudafed PE or products containing Phenylephrine HCL- avoid using during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.
• Mentholated rubs.

To relieve coughing during pregnancy is recommended to avoid cold, heavily polluted, or dusty places. Alongside, pregnant women should also drink about 2 liters of water a day, as well as warm teas, with honey and lemon, which can help relieve the cough naturally.

Yes, it’s safe to eat honey during pregnancy. While it’s not safe to give honey to babies under a year old, eating honey when you’re pregnant won’t harm you or your unborn child. That’s because your grown-up stomach can handle the bacteria in honey that sometimes makes babies sick with a rare illness called botulism.

What Can I Take for a Cough While Pregnant?

• The use of humidifiers in the house can soothe the dry throat and relieve throat irritation.
• Drinking hot tea with honey, having hot soups or broths, and sipping warm water with a pinch of turmeric may help relieve cough and chest congestion in many women.

Many women worry that too much coughing could be dangerous for the baby. However, the baby is surrounded by amniotic fluid, which works as a shock absorber and protects them from coughing, vibrations, noises, pressure, and minor knocks.

As the uterus grows, the ligaments that attach it to the side of the abdomen are stretched. Doctors call this round ligament pain. Sneezing and coughing can put more pressure on the ligament, causing a stabbing pain.

Which Medications Are Safe During Pregnancy?

• Safe to take: Regular and extra-strength Tylenol (acetaminophen)
• Safe to take: Metamucil, Colace, Citracel, Milk of Magnesia, Dulcolax.
• Safe to take: Tums, Maalox, Mylanta, Pepcid.
• Safe to take: Penicillin.
• Safe to take: Monistat, Gynelotrimin.

Here, we look at 12 of these remedies in more detail.

1. Honey tea. Share on Pinterest A popular home remedy for coughs is mixing honey with warm water.
2. Ginger. Ginger may ease a dry or asthmatic cough, as it has anti-inflammatory properties.
3. Fluids.
4. Steam.
5. Marshmallow root.
6. Salt-water gargle.
7. Bromelain.
8. Thyme.