Last Wed the 11th I had an appointment with my allergist. He wasn't surprised to find out that my hives have returned while expecting. He did ask a series of questions to determine that they weren't PUPPS hives. He asked what I have been doing for it. I said that after I was out of the first trimester I went back on my Zyrtec. He recommended that I try to take Benadryl or cut back on the Zyrtec. Only because there have been no studies on expectant mothers and Zyrtec. There have been no studies with Benadryl either, but it has been taken by expectant mothers long enough over time that it is generally considered safe. Bottom line is there are no tests done on expectant mothers period! We're all to chicken to try anything. Granted being an expectant mother I understand that fear. We don't want to hurt our babies, and no company out there wants to take that risk.
My Allergist suggested trying to not take anything unless it became so unbearable that I couldn't live with it and then suggested the alternate treatments before resorting to medication. So I tried it, I lasted one day. By the end of the full 24 hours with out my next dose I was in so much pain, I couldn't sleep, I itched all up my legs and arms. I was crying from the pain. My husband held me and suggested that I take the second part of the Allergist's advice, that they are my babies and my body and that in the end its my choice how to treat this problem, that the drug is only a class B and was safe on animals that were tested. I took my Zyrtec and with in 2 hours the pain was gone and I could sleep.
In also speaking to my husband, he reminded me that I was on Clariton-D prescription strength, considered even more unsafe for the entire remainder of my 1st pregnancy after the first trimester. My allergies were so bad and my OB prescribed it. My son is healthy and shows no signs of any problems at the age of 2. So I am back on my Zyrtec. Other women my have the strength to live without certain drugs while pregnant just because no one knows how its acting on the fetus. I am not that strong. I am already at high risk for stress induced labor and I have a toddler to take care of, my husband deployed on Friday morning and its us. The last thing I need right now in my life is to be in constant pain from hives therefore being unable to take care of myself or my toddler. I need the Zyrtec, its the only drug that we have found that has an effect controlling my hives and is somewhat safe to take. Too bad taking this on my own choice won't count toward results of a study to determine safeness of drugs for expectant mothers in the future. But then maybe if enough of us have voices and document our experiences- it will.
