What Allergy Medications Are Safe to Take During Pregnancy?

Trimesters

• Pregnancy is divided into three milestone periods of three months each, known as "trimesters." It is recommended that no medicines be taken during the first trimester unless absolutely necessary, since there is a greater chance of the medication causing problems that early in pregnancy. As the child develops into the second and third trimesters, more medication options may become available (though may still be avoided to ensure safety for the developing baby.) If the mother was on allergy medication before she became pregnant, doctors will generally encourage her to stop taking the medication unless absolutely necessary.

Categories

• Medications are broken into five separate categories; A, B, C, D, and X. Categories A and B are medications that have generally been proven safe to take during pregnancy, though B category drugs have only been tested on pregnant animals and not humans. There is usually not enough evidence or studies done on the medicines in C category to determine the safety of taking them during pregancy. Category D and X drugs are deemed unsafe and taking them risks causing harm to a fetus, though with category D drugs the benefits usually outweigh the risks. Category X drugs should not be taken while pregnant as the risk to the baby outweighs the benefits of the drugs.

Antihistimines

• Some antihistamines are safer than others. While there are no Category A antihistamines, there are several category B options as well as a few choices from Category C. Zyrtec, Claritin and Benadryl are all Category B medications, and doctors suggest that they be taken only if they are clearly needed. Clairinex and Allegra are Category C drugs, which doctors only recommend in cases of extreme allergy symptoms when category B options are not available or aren't providing adequate results.

Decongestants

• Most decongestants are Category B drugs, so they have been proven safe through animal testing, though there have been no human trials done. Commonly used decongestants such as Benadryl and Travist are both Category B medications and are generally recommended by doctors if a decongestant is needed. Some decongestants are Category C drugs, however, which means that there hasn't been any research done on them in regards to use by pregnant women. A doctor should be consulted before taking a decongestant to make sure that your preferred brand isn't one of the Category C options.

Allergy Shots and Immunotherapy

• If a newly pregnant woman has been receiving allergy shots or immunotherapy, she may safely continue to receive them as they should not cause a negative reaction with the developing baby. If a woman is pregnant and has not previously been taking immunotherapy shots; however, then she will likely not be able to receive them as the introduction of new immunotherapy drugs that were not present at the time of conception can potentially cause harm to the fetus.

Unrated Medications

• Many pregnant women worry about taking any medications for fear that it might hurt their unborn child. Fortunately, no Category X medicines are used to treat allergies and congestion. Some medications are either category C or simply not rated as yet, which means they could be anywhere in the range from Category A to Category X.) Examples of unrated allergy medicines include Naphcon and Visine. Though these medicines may be safe to use, the fact that no rating has been given to them should cause you to use them only as a last resort.