Pregnancy is a game-changer. Not only does your life change forever, but your day-to-day becomes much different. One of the most stressful things can often be how hard pregnancy can be on the body. Sure you may be glowing, but those aches and pains, heartburn, and hemorrhoids are making you cranky. To top it all off, you can't just go taking a lot of medicine since many things aren't safe or the effects aren't really known when it comes to the baby inside your belly.
If you're planning on going a more natural or home-based route, or just want some easy pregnancy-safe OTC meds, I've got some suggestions approved by doctors.
Ailment: Heartburn
Natural Cure: Papaya Enzymes or Heartburn Tea
Safe OTC Items: Maalox, Pepcid, or Zantac
Ailment: Hemorrhoids
Natural Cure: Witch Hazel, Ice Packs, Sitz Baths, use unscented/sensitive baby wipes or soft washcloths instead of toilet paper
Safe OTC Items: Tucks pads are witch-hazel soaked cloths and safe during pregnancy.
Ailment: Back Pain
Natural Cure: Prenatally-trained chiropractic or massage, Traumeel ointment on sore muscles, and of course stretching and heat packs
Safe OTC Items: Acetaminophen and similar pain relievers
Ailment: Bloody or stuffy nose
Natural Cure: Saline spray or drops
Safe OTC items: Neti Pot, and if allergies/cold related, Benadryl or Novafed, nasal strips to help you sleep
Ailment: Constipation
Natural Cure: High fiber foods, warm baths, drink lots of fluids, a non-iron fortified prenatal vitamin, coffee (decaf, if you want)
Safe OTC items: Metamucil, Citrucel
Ailment: Nausea
Natural Cure: Ginger, mint, or peppermint tea, candy, or however you can handle it, cool air, frequent small meals
Safe OTC items: Vitamin B6, sea bands
Note: This is general mom advice, and you should always consult your doctor or midwife before taking anything.
What were your go-to remedies while pregnant?
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Comments 7
for ear infections, mash up a garlic, than dip a ball of cotton in it and put it in the ear, and jus keep it there, max 2 days no more ear infection! :)
Mandago, decaf coffee still contains caffeine, just less of it. :)
coffee didn't work for me anyway. For nausea my mom always made ginger tea, just add a hunk of ginger to the water when you make whatever flavor hot tea you like then sweenten how you choose, it works really well and it's easy. I've even chewed on a ginger root before.
you can also use colace for constipation, not natural but it works.
For heartburn I ate tums like mad (full of calcium so also good for you) as well as chewing a sweet mint sugar free gum, which worked wonders for the heartburn as well as occasional nausea.
Backpain: sleep with a pillow between your legs if you are a side sleeper. Takes a little bit to get used to but really helped me, even in the early months.
What about headaches!?!?!? any suggestions without taking tylenol all the time. Im 17 weeks and seem to be having mild to moderate headaches every day.
@hutchfam2007 - For me, having a cold washcloth in the fridge that I could lay on my forehead or neck whenever I needed it really helped my severe headaches/migraines in the first & second trimester.