Hiya all,
My Fiancee is pregnant, and occasionally she suffers from quite bad headaches. I usually take paracetamol/codene mix tablets for my bad headaches but she has told me that she isn’t able to take them while she’s pregnant.
I was wondering why that would be and would appreciate any info anyone can give me.
Thanks in Advance.
She can’t take most medications because things in her bloodstream go into the baby’s bloodstream, and there’s a hell of a lot of stuff that has the potential to interfere with fetal development. When it comes to stuff that might cause birth defects, better safe than sorry.
I don’t know what paracetamol is, but codeine isn’t exactly bubble gum. Sharing prescriptions is a bad idea, anyway. Just because you don’t have contraindications for the use of something doesn’t mean she (or your dad, or your friend, or the guy next door, or whoever) doesn’t.
Drugs in Conception, Pregnancy and Childbirth Priest and Attawell, comments that any painkillers in pregnancy can act as a teratogen. Codeine’s been associated with a very small increase in lung malformation. Paracetamol seems to be safer although in 1996 when the book was written the studies had not been done.
I guess it depends on how bad the headache is. I wouldn’t use Panadeine Forte in pregnancy but I’d probably use panadol if the headache was so bad that nothing else was helping.
Has she tried lavender oil? Ice packs on the head? Just trying to remember what I used to do when I was pregnant and migraining. Blech.
She uses Ice packs, and she hates the smell of lavender.
Would there be anything else that could help to relieve headaches that wouldn’t harm the bub?
Lee, she needs to talk to her health care practitioner. Are there midwives involved in her care? They’re often a good source of ideas.
Her mother is a midwife, so she gets lots of info and so on from her.
I suppose it was more a question of things I could do. but anyway 
I am not a health care practitioner of any sort and this is only personal experience…perhaps Qagdop the Mercotan will pop in…
My wife had pre-eclampsia (pregnancy induced hypertension) with our twins and would have terrible headaches. She was allowed to take acetaminaphen (North American name for the same drug as paracetamol I believe), but not allowed to take codeine on a regular basis. Occasionally she had near migraine headaches and was allowed to take a Tylenol-2 to ease the pain. All the drugs do pass on to the fetus, but our doctor wasn’t concerned about any specific health risk to the baby if codeine is used once…the main problem being that it can be addictive.
As I understand it, acetaminaphen is preferred over ibuprofen or aspirin during pregnancy.
Make sure your wife is having her blood pressure monitored, as headaches can be a symptom of high blood pressure…
[Completely off-topic]
We visited England in the spring and our kids had a bit of a fever while there and I went into a pharmacy to get some infant Tylenol and I asked a person there (not the pharmacist) for it. The conversation went something like,
Me: ‘Do you have any childrens Tylenol?’
She: ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t get that?’
Me: ‘Tylenol for infants?’
She: -blank look-
Me: ‘Acetaminaphen for children?’
She: ‘I don’t understand what you are saying…’
Me: 'Headache remedy for children?
She: ‘We have paracetemol…’
Me: -blank look-
Me: ‘Is the pharmacist available?’
[/Completely off-topic]
My wife is currently pregnant with twins 
and she was told by her doctor to use only acetaminaphen for pain. Anything else is probably worth a call to your doctor.
Drugs during pregnancy: Less is better and none is best. This includes alcohol and tobacco also. However some meds should not be stopped, and a physician should guide you thru this, preferably one with knowledge of pharmacology and obstetrics.
Having said that, acetaminophen (paracetamol) is generally considered pretty safe when used as directed during pregnancy, and so is codiene. But still rely on your own doc, not answers here.