Antihistamines during pregnancy: harm or benefit?

The term "allergy" is taken lightly by many people, believing that this is not a disease, but only symptoms of a mild ailment in the form of a cold or rash that are not necessarily treatable. As a rule, such an opinion is held only by those who do not suffer from allergic reactions and do not experience seasonal complications. In fact, it is a disease, and it can seriously damage a person's health, so you need to know what to do with allergies and have the right antihistamines. In pregnancy, allergens can cause a woman and her fetus special harm. The child, being in the womb, receives irritants through the placenta and umbilical cord, and this provokes an intensified negative reaction to food, household chemicals or other allergens after birth. As practice shows, in women suffering from rashes, rhinitis or bronchial asthma for a long time, the symptoms of illnesses weaken or disappear during pregnancy. Doctors explain this strangeness by the fact that the body during this period is able to produce cortisol, which reduces the activity of allergens.

Types of allergies

Allergies can be of several types, differing in the causes and symptoms:

1. A rapidly developing disease in which a false croup, hay fever, or anaphylactic shock can occur in the shortest possible time. If the first signs are found , you should use antihistamines. In pregnancy, this type is especially dangerous.
2. Drug allergy, manifested as a runny nose or rashes.
3. Irritations from bites of mosquitoes, wasps, bees and other insects in the form of edema, blisters or redness of the skin.
4. Dermatitis from skin contact with certain types of tissues, metallic elements of clothing or accessories. In this case, ointment against allergies and drugs for oral administration.

Hives in pregnant women

Urticaria is the most frequent manifestation of allergic reactions in pregnant women, starting as a small rash on certain parts of the body. Can be provoked by food or household irritants, which a woman has to face in the process of life. That the child has not suffered, or the harm has been put minimum, at the first signs it is necessary to address to the doctor to the allergist. Taking antihistamines during pregnancy without the appointment of a qualified doctor is strictly forbidden, as most drugs will cause even more harm than the effects of hives. Modern methods of treatment for pregnant women are mainly aimed at excluding contacts with disease catalysts. For this, the allergen is detected by the sample method, and the pregnant woman is advised not to eat the identified products or to not contact the detected catalysts.

Methods of preventing allergies in pregnant women

Allergy is safer to prevent than start treatment and take antihistamines during pregnancy with a risk to the health of the child. In order to prevent disease, the most dangerous products should be excluded from consumption, including limiting fatty fish, nuts and products containing them, caviar, honey, chicken eggs, milk, some fruits, coffee, chocolate. Do not contact with animals and birds, as often as possible do wet cleaning and ventilate the apartment.

Preparations for allergies for pregnant women

Medicines of the new generation give a positive effect in the fight against unwanted symptoms, but do not harm the child. These drugs include drugs "Loratadine", "Astemizol" and "Fexofenadine". Doctors recommend one of the above mentioned methods during pregnancy and categorically prohibit such lekartva as "Dimedrol" and "Betadrin", after application of which pathologies in fetal development are possible.

If you follow a diet and safety measures, you and your future baby will be protected from allergies and its consequences.