dangerdedame replied to your post “annoying doctor shit”
What exactly are the alleged reasons behind Sudafed/Nyquil being harmful for pregnant people?
With Sudafed, there is some limited evidence suggesting slightly elevated risk of cardiac defect in the first trimester. I have never heard a doctor cite this risk, actually; the research is quite recent and most of them don't read it. They're entirely concerned about the pregnant person's blood pressure. Since pseudoephedrine is a stimulant, this is definitely something to monitor. My blood pressure is always on the low end of good, however. (I personally don't consider the amount of evidence for cardiac defect terribly persuasive, especially since my sinuses get so inflamed in pregnancy that I literally have debilitating vertigo without Sudafed. And that's only the first trimester anyway, and would show up on the 20-week sonogram if it were an issue.)
With NyQuil, it's probably the alcohol. Since NyQuil is 10% alcohol, we're talking about a quarter of a shot, maybe slightly less. The preponderance of evidence suggests that even light-to-moderate drinking in pregnancy has no discernible effect on the fetus (in some studies, that's as many as 12 drinks a week, btw--thanks, Australia). The amount of alcohol in a dose of NyQuil is negligible.
The antihistamine and cough suppressant in NyQuil are both totally safe for pregnancy (and in fact, doctors have told me specifically that I can take them, but never said "Just take NyQuil" no doubt because of the alcohol). Some doctors, especially the crunchy ones, have a general "BUT YOU SHOULD AVOID DRUGS" mentality that may also contribute here.
You can also take benadryl in pregnancy--totally safe and actually recommended to me by my drug-saavy psychiatrist as a possible sedating agent in the event of panic attacks.
Basically there are a shit ton of things you can take with no or minimal risk to the fetus and it's total bullshit that we live in a culture that privileges IMAGINARY risks of treatment to ACTUAL risks of non-treatment. (Stress or lack of sleep in the pregnant person, for instance? NOT GOOD FOR FETUSES.)
