Medicine and Pregnancy?

Question

I may be pregnant and I take pain medication EVERYDAY for migraines. I get them every day since a car accident I was in 3 years ago. I take Darvon and Butalbital. Since I've thought I've been pregnant almost 2 weeks ago I've been trying to not use them because I didn't know if it was safe or not to use them if I am pregnant. Its really taking a toll on me to not use these, I'm in so much pain it feels like there is a vice on my head and someone just keeps making it tighter and tighter.

Are they okay to take or should I try my best to still stay off of them?

Answer 1

Those are some serious drugs  here is what I discovered about Darvon and pregnancy.Do not take these medications if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant unless you are directed to do so by your doctor. Temporary drug dependence may occur in newborns when the mother has taken Darvon consistently in the weeks before delivery. The use of Darvon Compound-65 (which contains aspirin) during pregnancy may cause problems in the developing baby or complications during delivery. Do not take it during the last 3 months of pregnancy. Darvocet-N does appear in breast milk. However, no adverse effects have been found in nursing infants.

This is what I found out about the other drug

Pregnancy

Teratogenic Effects: Pregnancy Category C

Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with this combination product. It is also not known whether Butalbital and Acetaminophen can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. This product should be given to a pregnant woman only when clearly needed.

I n my opinion your baby should have a chance to be born healthy,Maybe you should learn some meditation techniques to relieve pain.look in to other alternatives.

Answer 2

I suggest you to become 100% sure you're pregnant first. Go to a drug store, buy one of those pregnancy tests and check it out. The tests are supposed to be over the counter and cost less than 10 dollars. The tests are also insanely accurate.

Before doing crazy things to protect your baby, make you you have a baby in the first place. 2 weeks is more than enough time for the GnRH hormone to raise enough so that one of those tests come out positive.

Acetaminophen isn't teratogenic. Your baby won't be born with a heart defect or without arms if you take it. It's one of the safest NSAID drugs. I've heard it can make a baby be born earlier than normal, but compared with not taking anything to treat the pain, I'd take my risks with the drug.

Sadly I'm not familiar with the other drug so I can't say how dangerous it is (though I'm pretty sure it isn't an X drug that causes serious birth defects because I would have already heard of the drug before).

In fact, it's more probably the possible baby you might have will be born with a defect because you're not taking folic acid. If the embryo is 2 weeks old, you're still in time to start on 4mg/day doses of the vitamin and do the baby a lot of good. The later you start taking folic acid, the more worthless it is. The first 8 weeks of pregnancy are the most critical for the future of the baby because it's the time when the organs are formed. Neural tube defects are horrible defects that can haunt the child for the rest of their lives and usually prevantable if you take folic acid.

If a drug store is still open at this hour, take the test to be sure you're pregnant in the first place, and get an appointment with a trusty Obstetrician now to start with your folic acid and prenatal care. Tell the doctor you're worried about the drugs you need for your migraines and ask him if they are 100% safe to use or whether you might need to change the dosage. But yes, in my opinion you can't keep living with pain, but talk to the Obstetrician first (if you're really pregnant).

Answer 3

You need to see an obstetrician, immediately if not sooner.  First, you should find out for sure whether you are or are not pregnant.  Second, they are the best ones to assess what medications are safe, or relatively safe, for you to take, and if they don't recommend the ones you're on they are also the best people to suggest alternatives.  You should not be in pain because you're pregnant.  And third, the earlier you get prenatal care if you are pregnant, the better it will be for both you and the baby.

Please, go see a doctor.  Asking people online or just trying to keep from taking your meds are both less than optimal solutions.

I wish you all the best!