6 Months PREGNANT with a COLD! Really STUFFY NOSE!

If you can handle it, crush two cloves of garlic in a mug of hot water and let it steep and then drink it. I do this 2 times a day when I am sick with a cold and my colds last half the time of other people's. But you smell stinky and some people's stomachs can't handle the garlic.

Feel better, Mama!

A neti pot with salt water is what I used when I had a cold. Good luck to you, I know how miserable it is to be sick and pregnant.

Have you tried Neti pot? It helps SO much. Try the Neti pot but use the neti pot bottle, its easier to use. It might take a few tries but its great! (and safe)

Get a neti pot and rinse out your nose with a saline solution. If you have lot's of mucus, add a little baking soda to the saline - it helps to dissolve it. If the nasal tissues are just swollen, add a drop or two (very little) vinegar to the saline - it helps to reduce the swelling. You can rinse as often as you want.

Haven't read other posts but I'm a month further then you and having the exact same symptoms :( I put vicks in between my toes and on the bottom of my feet and put socks on. I don't take anything so that's all I'm doing but it did help clear out my nose so I can at least breathe a little better.
Good Luck, I hope we both feel better soon!

Try a Neti Pot. It looks like a mini tea kettle. You make a solution of salt water and pour it in one nostril and it comes out the other. I bought mine at an acupuncturist's office (I think it's a Chinese solution), but I have seen them at Wal Mart in the pharmacy section.

Swipe a little bit of Vicks underneath your nose. That should clear up the congestion for a little bit.

Feel better soon.

In the section that sells children's cold meds, you will find vapor plugs either made by Vicks or PediCare. They are like the air freshener plug INS, but use a menthol scented pad. You plug it in in your bedroom, close the door, and for 12 hours, your room fills with a Vicks smell. It clears the sinuses and stops cough drug free.

i know there is not too much out there to take when you are prego but benadryl seems to be the safest thing i was told to take. and tylenol

I am dealing with the same thing at 7.5 months preggo. My OB said I can safely take Sudaphed, Robitussin DM, and saline spray. I also run a humidifier in my bedroom 24-7. Unfortunately nothing is working...I think we are stuck waiting it out. I've had it a week now : ( Feel better!

Boy oh boy have I been there!

Netty pots do work, and you can just use a cup with saline water instead of an actual netty pot. Check out the internet for instructions. We just lightly snort the warm salt water into our nostrils, only taking in enough to get into our nasal passages and not inhaling it enough to choke on it or breathe it in. Sounds weird and I'm not sure I'm describing it well, but if you can do it then you don't have to run out to buy a netty pot.

However, what I think is really much better than anything else is a hot steam vaporizer. The humidifiers (i.e., cold vaporizers) don't work for me, but I've used a cheap Vics brand hot steam vaporizer now for years for me and for my young kids. They work great and are perfectly safe for pregnant women. You need to be careful to keep them out of the way of kids since the water does get hot. Not boiling, but hot. Since you are in Spokane, it tends to be pretty dry so the extra humidity should help you feel more comfortable. BTW, some people freak out about the black stuff that shows up in the water. It is actually the minerals that are actually in the water anyway being precipitated out. It isn't mold, even though some people are afraid that it is (apparently they don't think about the fact that it is gritty and mineral feeling and not organic feeling at all). Anyway, can't recommend the hot water vaporizer enough. Good luck!

You could go to a drugstore and get a saline nasal spray. They make it for babies to loosen up the mucous, so I imagine it would be safe while pregnant.

Do the nasal sinus rinse or netti pot. Neither are Rx medicines and they work like a charm. Better than any meds we've had.

S.,
I used to put Vick's Vapor rub above my lip right under my nose. You can also use a Netty Pot that you can get a Walmart or another drug store.
hope you are better soon.
Victoria

I was told I could take single ingrediant/sympton medicines over the counter. So you could take a decongestant, but not a multi-sympton cold relief.
You could always ask the pharmacist at RiteAid or Walgreens.

try a Neti-Pot! It works wonders!

I am really sorry if I answered you already - I tried answering on my phone but I don't think it worked????

Anyway, try Vitamin C, garlic, also use echinacea or echinacea complex ten days on - ten days off. echinacea quits working if you continually take it.

N.

Call your doctor. I had a cold really bad too when I was pregnant with my twins. I thought I couldn't take anything and I suffered through it for about 2 weeks. When I went to my regular doctors appointment I mentioned it to her and she said that I could have taken meds. Uhg!!! So call your doctor or at least try the advice nurse. Hang in there. I have a major cold right now and i am taking everything for it and nothing is working so I know how you feel.

I didn't read other mamma's posts but I swear by the Netty Pot.. All natural and cleans those sinus's out.. I am also 6 months prego and work in a school. The netty pot has saved me from many a cold this season so far..

in addition to neti pot and steam inhalation, google "the wet sock treatment" a give it a try. it gets the blood away from your nose, reducing inflammation and allowing drainage.

Google acupressure points for sinus congestion, I was skeptical when someone recommended but it worked! You have to press rather firmly for a couple minutes on each point every couple hours...the best one is at the top notch of the eyebrow

I just used a humidifier and made sure I drank extra fluids. It sucks to be sure, but there's not a lot of medications you can take.

This may sound weird, but my daughter eats prepared horseradish sauce, either plain or on a slice of deli meat, to clear her stuffy nose.

Have you tried saline nasal spray or a neti pot ? I know it seems like not enough, but you'd be surprised what a difference that can make. I actually had a sinus infection when I was pregnant with my son and that made SUCH a difference in my level of misery.

I also ended up having to take meds, but the saline should be really helpful if you aren't actually badly infected.

HTH
T.

My doctor's nurse told me I could take Sudafed (the real stuff- pseudoephedrine, not phenylephrine) and Tylenol (acetaminophen). Stay away from cough suppressants. Good luck! It sucks to be sick and pregnant, huh?