# Pregnant-what can i take now?



## J . GOW (Apr 26, 2002)

Hi! I have been reading this website for some time now and have found the courage to deal with my ibs-d after 10yrs of suffering. I can simpathise with so many of you and at a time i thought i was cracking up i read your letters on this sight and realised i wasn't the only one who always knew in advance where toilets were. Where the idea of even a 10minute car drive made me break out in a sweat. I think it really hit me when I realised I couldn't walk my 2 yr old to the park as it just seemed to far away from home(toilet). I must say I'm doing alot better these days. The car is still at times a struggle for me and I'm toying with the idea of CBT. I live in Australia so i find some of the drugs you refer to have different names and some are the same. I've been lucky to have been able to control my D with an anti-spasmodic , bought over the counter, taken before each meal . I've been told once i fall pregnant , which i'm working on, ican't take any of this stuff. At the moment I take a paracetemol tablet with codine a couple of times a day but i'd like to know more about the calcum tablets as this sounds like a much better way of controling the situation particularly when pregnant. Thank you all so much for sharing , as it has opened my eyes to ways of taking charge and almost live a normal life. (Then again, who's to judge who's life is normal)


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## Lauralee (Jan 4, 2002)

Hi Isabau!There is a wealth of information on calcium in the OTC forum. If you go to the "Hop To" box at the bottom of this page and go to the "Over the Counter (OTC)" forum (its the last one listed), you will find a very long thread on calcium. I take Caltrate 3 times a day and it has helped me a great deal. Hypnotherapy has helped many people (myself included), as well. You can get to information on that using the "Hop To" the CBT and hypnotherapy forum.There are non-drug options out there and I hope you can find one or two that will work for you! Also, you should ask your doctor if there is anything you can take if the pain gets really bad. Good luck!Laura


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## JennT (Jul 17, 2000)

I'm ten weeks pregnant (or a little more) and the doc says that calcium carbonate is just fine. I was taken off my levsin (antispasmodic) and told I could take imodium after the first trimester. However, I really recommend the calcium.


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## Mishy (Mar 20, 2000)

Heya, I'm also in Australia so I know what you mean about different brand names and the such!I'm almost 31 weeks pregnant, and occasionally take Immodium when my stomach becomes too much to bear. Generally though, I just try to ride it out. It's painful, but I was on Stemetil and Zofran at the beginning of my pregnancy for severe morning sickness and taking that scared me enough!! Sorry I'm not much help!


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## Anna2 (Jul 12, 2000)

First of all good luck on becoming pregnant. My youngest just turned 4 months and he is so swwet. While I was pregnant I took caltrate, which is calcium and immodium with no problems. Both were okayed by my doctor. Anna


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## Karen A. (Apr 12, 2002)

Isabeau, Good luck on becoming pregnant and I've got some possible good news for you. I have had two children and during both pregnancies my IBS symptoms went away completely. I had a doctor tell me this is really normal so it could definately happen to you. It sounds like it doesn't happen for everyone but odds are in your favor. Good luck again, Karen


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## jane93 (Jan 21, 2000)

Hi Isabeau,Congratulations and welcome to the club (I'm 24 weeks). First of all I'm surpised that you can take anything with codein in???? I'd check with your doctor..I have heard the only truly safe pain releiver is plain tylenol (I think the same as paracetamol). The others have only been tested on animals and so they aren't sure of the risk of birth defects...its particularly important during the first trimester when I was told not to take these things.I too am lucky and have only had one real IBS flare up...I can take acidopholis and I drink a lot of chamomile tea and peppermint tea...but antispasmodics are out of the question. You may be able to take them later in your pregnancy I've no idea.Consult a doctor to be sure..better safe than sorry..and if you're "lucky" the iron tabs will give you C!


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

There is some information that indicates that peppermint may not be a good thing for pregnant woman to use (it has been used to bring on menstruation, but I dunno if you can get that effect with tea, or would need something more concentrated).Herbal teas/meds can be problematic in pregnancy because many of them have been used to bring on mensturation (and that can mean early term abortion..) or for causing abortions so you need to read up on them very carefully to be sure. www.healthcentral.com link to the people's pharmacy has a listing of herbs AND includes pregnancy info when available.K.


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## jane93 (Jan 21, 2000)

K..I've heard that some herbal teas are very harsh as you may not know what is in them, but I've never had a problem with peppermint tea..in fact my doctor recommended it for morning sickness.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Like with all things "the dose makes the poison". I don't know what dose of peppermint has been used to bring on menses (which could cause a miscarrige).Peppermint tea should be a fairly weak dose, and it may be that clinically this doctor hasn't seen a problem with that. However I would be very careful with it for any pregnant woman.For instance Tea may be OK, but taking the essential oil in large doses may not be. And far to many people have the attitude that since it is natural there is no risk and is a little is good then a whole lot must be really really good.The higher the dose the more likely you are to run into trouble with something whether it is an herb or a drug.K.PS http://www.sbherbals.com/AvoidInPregnancy.html has a list of many herbs to avoid during pregnancy which doesn't list peppermint.this is what makes me reluctant to recommend peppermint during pregnancy....but like I said...dose makes the poison, so for some people some doses may be OK, but...


> quote: Pregnant women are often susceptible to heartburn and should not use peppermint. In addition, it has a reputation for bringing on menstrual bleeding and thus is incompatible with pregnancy. http://www.healthcentral.com/PeoplesPharma...673&storytype=H erbalMon[/URL]


 http://www.alternativedr.com/conditions/Co...ppermintch.html Recommends that woman with a history of miscarriges avoid peppermint.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

This is an abstract of a review of the lit about herbal morning sickness remedies


> quote: What do we know about herbal morning sickness treatments? A literature survey.Wilkinson JM.School of Biomedical Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga NSW, Australia 2678. jwilkinson###csu.edu.auOBJECTIVE: A literature survey investigating the use of herbs to treat morning sickness, with particular reference to what is known about their safety. DESIGN: All major English language medical, nursing and scientific databases as well as 300 World Wide Web sites, Internet newsgroups, books and magazines were searched for information about the use and safety of herbs in pregnancy. FINDINGS: A search of medical databases failed to locate any articles which specifically reported investigations of the safety of herbs used during pregnancy. Of 300 non-medical sources studied 75 cited the use of herbs in pregnancy. The most commonly cited herbs for morning sickness were ginger, chamomile, peppermint and raspberry leaf (55, 37, 44 and 63% cited respectively). There was no consensus in the popular literature about whether or not each of these herbs was safe for use in pregnancy. Seven sources (6%) cited chamomile and peppermint as unsafe, while 16 (12%) cited the use of ginger and 11 (15%) the use of raspberry leaf as unsafe during pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Herbal remedies are often seen as safe, 'drug-free' treatments for morning sickness. However, the contradictory information and dearth of original research related to their safety indicates that these compounds should be used with caution.


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