Zofran Dangers? How about Diclegis??

So here I am, as GRATEFUL as can be but in a bind. The nausea has gotten worse with every pregnancy for the last one, DD I took Zofran from week 6-12. Now that the nausea is in full gear 24 hours a day I have requested for another prescription. At the same time a friend sent me a link to all these dangers and lawsuits going on with Zofran and fetal heart defects. DD is fine as far as I know but I know this means nothing for future pregnancy health risks. I obtained the prescription on Wednesday and I was really trying to hold off until yesterday I had to take the kids out and I was practically crawling on the floor and had to take one. Wouldn't you know it on the way to our location we pass a lawyer's office with a Big Neon sign ZOFRAN and Birth Defect? CALL US! Just fxckin great!

So I started to Google and found that another drug that was pulled over 30 years ago has made a comeback and is classified as Category A and now deemed safe?? Diclegis?
Has anyone tried this?? The only thing that worries me is that a side effect is drowsiness and I really can't have that as I drive 100 miles round trip for work and drive in between as my car is my office...

Just to add I have tried it all, wrist bands, crackers, small meals, preggy props, sour candy and gum which helps a little but my mouth/jaw is so sore from chewing I can't even do it anymore! I absolutely do not want to put the baby at risk but unfortunately cannot lay on the couch or sit on the bathroom floor all day for the next 6 weeks :(

Jany-

this is just my opinion only, keep that in mind...i too struggled with unbearable nausea/vomitting for 16 weeks of pregnancy this current pregnancy. I too put off taking zofran as long as i could but in the end i decided to take it and i have not looked back. the b6/unisom or Diclegis as you say wasnt an option for me because when i took it it didnt always help the nausea but it DID always make me want to sleep my days away. I took zofran in my two previous pregnancies as well and both of them are healthy and happy no issues with any ultrasound no issues so far growing up that anyone has seen or mentioned. I ended up with the mindset myself (and its up to you to believe what YOU want...remember that :-) ) that alot of the women partaking in these lawsuits bringing this kind of attention to the drug may be looking for a scapegoat. All pregnancies are at risk for defects. Most women wont even have an ultrasound where they can say for sure that particular baby has an issue until the 12-13 week scans or their 18+ week anatomy scans. Maybe the zofran caused the defects, maybe they would have always had that defect zofran or not. I have yet in all the research i did out of desperation to feel okay about taking it seen someone PROVE 100% without a doubt it was zofran that caused the issue and not mother nature.

If the zofran helps, take it. if you needed it for your previous pregnancy or pregnancies and those babies are just fine....take it. I have a cousin who has taken it with two different pregnancies, both babies fine and i have a friend from school with 3 kids and she had to take it too all 3 times and her babies are all just fine...these are just my personal experiences but if they help your peace of mind by all means use them.

Good luck and hope you find relief one way or another SOON! <3

Jany, have you tried taking the unison/b6 combo before bed? It really helped me. My OBGyN suggested taking the b6 multiple times a day in smaller doses.

I ended up taking half a unison, and I still do for insomnia, because a whole pill just left me in a fog the next day until lunchtime.

I hope the nausea eases up, that has got to be the worst part of it all. I can handle labor because that will only last so long but nausea is just miserable.

I'm on my 3rd pregnancy taking Zofran. All from 6 weeks gestation, right until birth. All my babies have been fine. I can't keep anything down without it :( I only need a third of a tablet for it to work. It's been miraculous for me. My dr tells me the latest studies say it's very safe.


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Diclegis is a prescription version of Unisom/B6. Each pill contains 10mg of Doxylamine succinate (Unisom) and 10mg of B6 in a time released tablet. You can take up to 4 a day (2 twice a day) if needed. It can make you sleepy, although it is less likely since it is time released. I'm VERY sensitive to medicine and it never made me sleepy. I had to take the Diclegis because it was time released and lasted all day instead of wearing off after 12 hours with taking Unisom and B6 separately.

If you take Diclegis or the Unisom/B6 combo, check your blood pressure often. Unisom (Doxylamine succinate) is a different type of antihistamine- it is an Anticholinergic antihistamine (not all antihistamines are this type). An Anticholinergic medication dilates blood vessels and when you are pregnant and have an increase in blood volume, this can increase your blood pressure. I had to stop taking it because my blood pressure was slowly climbing higher after taking it for three weeks. Although my BP wasn't considered high, I didn't like the fact it went from my usual 110/62 to 133/90 in three weeks. Since stopping the Diclegis my BP is back to normal. I really wanted to take this and liked it tremendously! I just didn't like the trend it was having with my BP.

I have since replaced the Diclegis with Zyrtec (a regular, good old fashioned antihistamine!) and I take 25mg of B6 twice a day for morning sickness. This has worked like a charm, since the Zyrtec lasts 24 hours, for my morning sickness. I took Zyrtec with both of my boys (I have bad allergies) and they were just fine.

HTH!!


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OBGYN explained to me that the old zofran was the one that they had issues with. she wouldn't prescribe it to me my last pregnancy because she didn't feel it was safe. they have reformulated it and are now prescribing it safely and competently. the old one is the one they are doing the lawsuits for and warning stories

I don't have any advice, just hope you feel better!!

Dicelgis is suddenly safe after 30 years because the original combo drug was also safe but not profitable enough to withstand multiple lawsuits for birth defects. Any drug, including Zofran, taken in early pregnancy when organs are forming can theoretically result in birth defects, but for many, including Zofran, we just don't see the deviations from normal birth defect rates that indicate harm is actually occurring. If you've never had birth defects in previous pregnancies when you took Zofran feel free to go ahead now.

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Originally Posted by silverstar1717

OBGYN explained to me that the old zofran was the one that they had issues with. she wouldn't prescribe it to me my last pregnancy because she didn't feel it was safe. they have reformulated it and are now prescribing it safely and competently. the old one is the one they are doing the lawsuits for and warning stories

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Could you elaborate? Zofran only contains one active ingredient so how would it ge reformulated?

Jany, as a pharmacist with a premed background I personally think Xofran is safe to take and am not convinced by the negative research which is honestly sketchy. I very much think the lawsuits are about looking for something to blame...and as somany things can potentially cause defects, other factors are likely the true cause. I'd be more worried about chemical residues in food and water than Zofran.

Most birth defects are either caused by things that are easily avoided (smoking) or hit out of the blue and you have no control over them. :agree: When something is causing huge numbers of birth defects like DES, you KNOW about it. It's not an iffy maybe, maybe not kind of thing.

I took zofran regularly for 12 weeks with my son and intermittently up until i was 20 weeks with him. It helped take the edge off, but I often still felt sick and had to use several other remedies you mentioned to help. With my last pregnancy I took Diclegis for almost the entire time. My MS was much worse than with my son and without it, I found it hard to function. The doxyalamine/b6 combo also worked, but left me feeling more drowsy than the diclegis, and when it wore off, I felt sick again. The diclegis has a long half-life and is slow release (I believe), so once you have been on it several days, you have a consistent amount in your system at all times. I only took it nightly (as someone else mentioned, you can take it more often), but it made the sick feeling go away entirely. A couple times, I thought I was beyond the nausea, so I didn't take it, and boy did I regret it. Without it, I couldn't function. From what I read, many people have good responses like I did, but unfortunately, not everybody does. I will say though, that I work in a high pace medical center, and I couldn't afford to be sick or tired, and it did the trick. I had a coupon that allowed me to get it a discount rate, but it was still expensive. My hubby asked if I thought it was worth it, and i told him without hesitation, that I would have happily paid the $500 per month non-reduced rate if it came down to it, for me... it was that good.