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Pregnancy and Afrin nasal spray ?

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January 25th, 2010
I want to become pregnant, however I am addicted to Afrin nasal spray oxymetazoline hydrocholride 0.05 I started using it because I had a bad cold, now its been about 3 years that Ive been using it. I use it about 10x a day and no one can help me break this addiction because they just say use saline. Well it does not work. Anyway my question is, is it safe to use durring pregnancy? I cant imagine because I use it so often, however there is a serious lack of info on the web about it because its not been studied in pregnant women, its risk C. I did find this answer to a post on this site:

"Dr. Kokil Mathur , MD

Yes, oxymetazoline hydrochloride nasal spray can cause fetal problems in later stages of pregnancy, but on chronic or frequent use. "


Can someone please explain to me that last part of the respionce? What will happen if I get pregnant nd use Afrin like I do? Please help!!


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replied January 26th, 2010
Pregnancy Q and A Answer A9510
Hi, and thanks for your medical question on eHealth forum!

The FDA places oxymetazoline hydrochloride in ‘C Category’. This means that it causes some risk to the fetus and mother. A single use will not cause any harm. But prolonged use, as you may have since you are addicted to it, can cause slowing of fetal-maternal circulation as this drug constricts the blood vessels. Hence growing fetus will have growth retardation.

However there has been not much work on safety of this drug in pregnancy, but since it in C Category, doctors advice to avoid this during pregnancy. Other fetal abnormalities have not yet been documented. Hope this helps. Take care!



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