This week, I've been struggling with a nasty cold. Due to changes in the immune system during pregnancy, I have been more prone to come down with any and all of the viruses that have been going around. In addition, there's the typical nasal congestion that a lot of pregnant women suffer from (rhinitis of pregnancy) due to hormonal changes and higher amounts of blood. Since pregnant women are advised against taking medications during pregnancy, I have been doing some research this week on the safety issues surrounding various medications, in particular nasal spray. What I've found is that while the active ingredient in most nasal sprays--oxymetazoline (as in Afrin or Vicks Sinex) or xylometazolin (as in Otrivin or Zycomb)--causes blood vessels to contract (to open passages), and thus could affect the supply of oxygen, it is most likely quite safe to use during pregnancy since only a small amount will reach the maternal circulation, hence fetal exposure is love. One study even stated that pregnant women may use more than the recommended amount of nasal spray. The bigger problem, as I found out, is that most nasal sprays distributed in the US contain the preservative benzalkonium chloride, even though an overwhelming amount of research shows that this preservative aggravates serious side effects that basically make you addicted to taking the nasal spray. Around 1985, it was noted that the number and severity of cases of rhinitis medicamentosum increased with increased use of benzalkonium. Rhinitis medicamentosum means that the nose gets stuffy and congested after use of nasal spray; research shows that the symptoms worsen and arrive sooner when the nasal spray includes benzalkonium chloride. The more the nasal spray is used, the more "rebound" when the drug wears off, that is, the worse the patient gets after the spray wears off, requiring more and more use of the nasal spray. The spray becomes effectively addictive, and worse, the nose is always stuffy anytime the drug is not active in the nose.
In Norway, the medical industry seems to have taken the research findings into consideration; only one nasal spray (Iliadin) of those available for purchase includes the preservative benzalkonium chloride (benzalkonklorid). In the US, on the other hand, benzalkonium chloride is the default preservative used in nasal spray; neither my doctor nor pharmacist could find any nasal sprays that did not include this preservative.
Is it possible that the pharmaceutical industry in the US wants us to get addicted to certain medications so that we will keep buying them? How concerned is the pharmaceutical industry about our health? Why did it take the pharmaceutical industry ten years from when mercury (thimerosal) in vaccinations was first shown to be unsafe (1991) till we had mercury free vaccinations (2002)? Today, Dr. Sears wonders if aluminum is the new thimerosal. And as a parent-to-be, I'm learning that I can't trust or rely solely on my doctor or local pharmacist in recommending what's safest for me and my baby; we have to be pro-active about our own health and speak up about what we learn.
2 comments:
YES!!! By the way, a good friend of my is an ObGyn and she made the great point that a lot of books about pregnancy are essentially written by lawyers instead of doctors. Because you don't want some pregnant woman to read that it's OK to take such and such or do such and such while she's pregnant and then blame the author of the book if she has a problem. So books about pregnancy tend to say, "don't do anything, don't take any drugs, don't drink any alcohol, etc."
The drug industry is nasty in the U.S. You're at a great advantage to be able to find out what's available in Scandinavia and why. I found a lot of my most trusted advice on what was acceptable during pregnancy from other governments besides my own. I figured that if the UK and Canada and Australia and Norway all said something was OK, then it didn't matter what the US government said.
We (as a household) stopped taking painkillers and nasal sprays and such several years ago when a study came out showing the same kind of rebound effect with analgesics. Now we MAYBE take them 5 times a year or something. And they work *really* well. In the old days we took them way more often and had more aches and pains. It's sad. What is great about the pharmaceutical industry is that they pay for a lot of translations. And since I'm a translator, I am able to make a nice living. One clinical trial for a beta blocker single handedly paid for me to take 2 months of maternity leave. Of course, the Norwegian government would have done way more than that... Why do I live here again?
I had a similar realization about the restaurant industry a while back too. That they don't necessarily want to feed us food that's good for us.
It's all sad, but a fact of life.
--Tara
Hi Anne!! Have you tried a saline nasal spray? That's what I use to clear up sinuses. And it's just salt water. There's also this thing called a Neti pot for cleaning out sinuses with salt water, they have them at the coop there. Christie H swears by it!
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