Pink eye during pregnancy?

Question

What do you do when you have pink eye during pregnancy? I have heard you can't take antibiotics. Has anyone had conjunctivitis while pregnant?

Answer 1

It depends on the type of pink eye you have.  You need to talk to your doctor about it, and get the correct prescription if you have bacterial pink eye.  If you have viral pink there is no specific treatment for it anyway.

Pink eye, also called conjunctivitis, can show up when you least expect it, and it is very contagious. There is more than one type of pink eye, and how you treat it depends on the type. If it is bacterial you need antibiotic ointment or drops. There is no particular treatment for viral pink eye. If it is an allergy that is causing your difficulty you may need anti-inflammatory medication or antihistamines. Frequent hand washing is crucial to prevent spreading the virus or bacteria, depending on which type you have.   There is also something called CLARE, or contact lens induced acute red eye. Sleeping in contacts makes the eye more susceptible to inflammation/infection.

These links give basic information about pink eye.

http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/07/08...

http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/...

http://www.medicinenet.com/pink_eye/arti...

Answer 2

You can take anitobiotics but specific ones. Go to your doctor or local clinic and they will give you something that you actually can take.  

Answer 3

You can absolutely have antibiotics during pregnancy-just make sure your doc knows you're pregnant. I was on antibiotics throughout almost my entire pregnancy for recurring UTI's. But for pink eye, if they suspect it's viral, they'll probably give you nothing and let it clear up on it's own. If they suspect it's bacterial, they'll probably give you eye drops. I've never been given oral antibiotics for pink eye.  

Answer 4

call your OB they can tell you what to do.

Answer 5

Your regular doctor or any clinic will probably prescribe Tobrex Ophthalmic Solution Generic - Tobramycin) to you to put one drop in affected eye(s) a couple times a day for about 10 days. This will not harm your unborn baby but MAKE SURE you tell the doctor you are seeing for this that YOU ARE pregnant. Antibiotics will not hurt your baby. But don't take something that is not prescribed to you without seeing the doctor you need a special kind of antibiotic for this.