What sleep aid can i take while pregnant

Any cold that is severe enough to require a trip to the doctor during your pregnancy will require a special treatment plan. Your cold symptoms could indicate a more serious problem, and you and your doctor will need to go over the risks of various medications before deciding on a treatment plan. Common medications that you should avoid during pregnancy are aspirin, ibuprofen, opioids, Xanax, and Valium. Skip to main content Search for a topic or drug.

What medications are safe to take during pregnancy? Top Reads in Drug Info. Can you mix Trintellix and alcohol? Does hydroxyzine for anxiety work? Do coffee and Zoloft mix? Treating heartburn during pregnancy Oct. Unisom SleepTabs are a medication people take to fall asleep and stay asleep. The main ingredient in Unisom is doxylamine succinate, which makes a person feel drowsy. The U. But the medicine is intended to treat temporary sleeplessness.

The active ingredient in Unisom is an antihistamine. Another antihistamine that may sound familiar is diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in medications like Benadryl. When you take Unisom, the medication blocks the production of histamine and acetylcholine in the body. When these compounds are reduced, a person will start to feel sleepier. If you are only having trouble sleeping while pregnant, your doctor might recommend Benadryl.

Unisom is likely to be recommended for consistent nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Everything you eat, take, and sometimes even put on your skin can be circulated through your baby, too. Sedating tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline or nortriptyline, may be a better choice for women with sleep disturbance and have not been associated been associated with an increase in risk of congenital malformation. Benzodiazepines, including Ativan lorazepam and Klonopin clonazepam may also be useful.

There is some controversy regarding the use of benzodiazepines during pregnancy. Although initial reports suggested that there may be an increased risk of cleft lip and cleft palate, more recent reports have shown no association between exposure to benzodiazepines and risk for cleft lip or palate.

Pooling the data suggests that this risk— if it exists — is estimated to be 0. The risk of malformation is confined to the first trimester when lip and palate formation take place; thus, benzodiazepines when used later in pregnancy do not carry this tertogentic risk. My wife and I are TTC. The information regarding antidepressant use during pregnancy is growing and is actually a little conflicting. But I think it is really important for you and your wife to develop a relationship with an OB and psychiatrist who are familiar with this area and know the available info re: the safety of these medicines.

I am 24 weeks pregnant and prior to pregnancy have taken Ambien. I held off taking it during my first trimester, but just can not fall asleep at night. Is is safe to take Ambien again? My husband and I are now trying to get pregnant and my OB says no to Trazodone.

I have gone off of it and gone back to my horrible insomnia of hours of sleep a night. But over the counter sleep medication Tylenol PM, Unisom, Benadryl simply keeps me awake and prescription sleep medication is off limits, according to my doc. What are my choices if I want to have a baby? For all those suffering out there, I hear you!

Ditto Shannon! My doc just took me off the trazodone yesterday after I found out I was pregnant last week. There has to be something that I can take. I am barely pregnant 5 weeks and up until this point took a Klonopin and a Seroquel every night to sleep. Since I am not taking them now, I am not sleeping. Did anyone resopnd with helpful suggestions? I too am thinking about having a baby soon and I take trazodone. While it is reassuring to know that a medication has been around since the s, this does not necessarily mean that a particular medication is safe when used during pregnancy.

Many of these older medications have never been systematically studied in pregnant populations. There is nothing to suggest that Trazodone is unsafe; however, the data is limited. There has been one small study including 58 women taking Trazodone. This study detected no increase in the risk of malformation, but the study was too small to rule out small increases in risk. Are you suggesting that trazodone is not safe during pregnancy? Do you recommend that I consult further with the physicians who told me it was ok?

Thank goodness! I too had dreadful insomnia both before and during pregnancy. About once a week. I went through two pregnancies, was really tired and stressed throughout both, but both babies were fine, and unaffected by my stress. Being told that the babies were unaffected by my stress helped me a lot, as that would have just added to my stress and insomnia.

This is my second pregnancy and doctors have all agreed in my case that the benefits outweigh the risks and I have continued to take the medication throughout both pregnancies. Good luck! Meghan, I appreciated your post and am wondering how your babies did since you took the Trazodone throughout both pregnancies. It would be so helpful to know if either of them suffered withdrawal or otherwise had any negative effects which could be attributed to the Trazodone.

If you're suffering from severe insomnia or anxiety , your healthcare provider may recommend that you take a prescription sleep medication. If you're considering taking one, you and your doctor will have to weigh the risks and benefits and determine exactly how often it's safe for you to take it. Here's what we know. A research analysis suggested that two types of sleeping pills - benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepines - could raise the risk of preterm birth , low birth weight, small-for-gestational-age infants, and cesarean birth.

Studies have also raised the possibility that using these medications while pregnant could cause breathing problems in newborns. Benzodiazepines used for sleeping are Restoril temazepam , ProSom estazolam , Dalmane flurazepam , Doral quazepam , and Halcion triazolam. Nonbenzodiazepines include Ambien zolpidem , Imovane zopiclone , Lunesta eszopiclone , and Sonata zaleplon. There are also three barbiturates used as sleep aids: amobarbital, pentobarbital, and secobarbital.

Although the data are limited, birth defects have been reported with amobarbital when it was taken in the first trimester. In addition, using any barbiturate near delivery can cause sedation in the newborn that can last for several days. Other prescription sleeping pills include Chloralum chloral hydrate , Amidate etomidate , Rozerem ramelteon , Belsomra suvorexant , and Hetlioz tasimelteon.

The risk of these drugs in pregnancy is not known but could be similar to those observed with the benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepines, and barbiturates discussed above. Avoid taking prescription sleeping pills during late pregnancy. There have been cases of breathing and muscle tone problems reported in infants exposed to these medications at that time.

Finally, be aware that taking more than the recommended dose of any sleep medication can harm you and your developing baby. For example, high doses of diphenhydramine have caused uterine contractions that may lead to uterine rupture or placental abruption. No, not without the guidance of a knowledgeable healthcare provider. There are dozens of herbal products that are said to help you sleep, but most of them haven't been studied to find out whether they're safe to use while pregnant or breastfeeding.

It's easy to assume that herbs are safe to use because they're "natural. Herbal remedies aren't regulated by the U. Food and Drug Administration, so there's no oversight of what's contained within any herbal supplement you might purchase, and all the ingredients might not be listed on the label.

Only a very few natural sleep remedies can be considered relatively safe in pregnancy or while nursing: ginseng, honey, nutmeg, and oats. But very little information is available even for these. There are many other herbal products that might be okay to use, but there's no information about their effects during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

Here are some herbs that you should definitely not use if you're pregnant or nursing because they may be dangerous for you or your baby: American hellebore, arnica, black seed kalonji , blue cohosh, chamomile, echinacea, feverfew, ginkgo biloba, kava kava, marijuana, mugwort, passion flower, Petasites , Rauwolfia , Salvia divinorum , taumelloolch, tulip tree, and valerian.

It's not known whether St. John's wort is safe during pregnancy, but it is not safe when breastfeeding. Melatonin - often sold as a sleep aid - is a hormone, not an herbal remedy. The effects of melatonin on pregnancy and a developing baby aren't known, so it's best to avoid using it during pregnancy and breastfeeding melatonin is secreted in breast milk. If you do decide to take herbal remedies, consult your healthcare provider before taking anything, either on its own or in combination with other herbs or medications.

That precaution includes herbal tea. Also, since the quality of herbs varies by manufacturer, ask an expert such as a doctor, pharmacist, or naturopath to recommend a specific brand if your caregiver gives the go-ahead to try a particular herbal sleep remedy.

If you're still surprised at how hard it is to get a good night's sleep, you might want to read our article on Why it's hard to sleep well during pregnancy you're not alone!

BabyCenter's editorial team is committed to providing the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information in the world. When creating and updating content, we rely on credible sources: respected health organizations, professional groups of doctors and other experts, and published studies in peer-reviewed journals. We believe you should always know the source of the information you're seeing. Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies. Briggs GG. Treating for Tow: Medicine and Pregnancy.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Get a good night's sleep during pregnancy. Kennedy D, et al. Herbal medicine use in pregnancy: Results of a multinational study. Sleep during pregnancy: Follow these tips. National Sleep Foundation. Pregnancy and sleep. Sleep tips for pregnant women.