Blocked nose...

I've got a cold and have the worst nasal congestion ever... I can't breathe through my nose at all, hardly slept at all last night and haven't been able to work for 2 days now.
My midwife has said that I can't use a nasal spray such as Otrivin when I'm pregnant, only panadol (which does nothing for my nose). I've used the saline non-medicated nasal spray but that doesn't seem to make any difference either.

Just wondered if anyone had any tips or ideas to relieve this? It's starting to get uncomfortable and it's just driving me crazy.

Have you tried a nasal rinse. DH does that. Its a special bottle you get from the chemist and put salt water in it and squirt it up your nose and it clears everything else.

The thing with Otrivin spray is there is some evidence that ephedrine *may* cause an increase in the baby's heartrate when used during pregnancy.

There isn't actually solid evidence that using xylometazoline (the main ingredient) in nasal spray during pregnancy is harmful, but it's not possible to say categorically that its use is safe - so the manufacturer, pharmacies and other care providers need to caution against it to cover their backsides.

Close to the end of my most recent pregnancy, I ended up in the same situation and tried EVERYTHING. None of it worked. In the end, as I was so frazzled from not being able to sleep (due to only being able to breathe through my mouth), I sent my husband out at the earliest possible moment on a Sunday morning to get some Otrivin for me - used it for three days and it did the trick until my symptoms started to subside on their own.

HippyMama wrote: Close to the end of my most recent pregnancy, I ended up in the same situation and tried EVERYTHING. None of it worked. In the end, as I was so frazzled from not being able to sleep (due to only being able to breathe through my mouth), I sent my husband out at the earliest possible moment on a Sunday morning to get some Otrivin for me - used it for three days and it did the trick until my symptoms started to subside on their own.

That's how I feel. I wonder how good it is for the baby, me being so frustrated and uncomfortable, not sleeping etc and whether the small potential risks to the baby could be outweighed by the relief I'd feel...
Even if I just used it once to get me (and my partner!) through the night...
...and it would be nice to be able to taste food again!

My GP has happily prescribed me otrivin while preg, I get sinus infections pretty much at the first sign of a blocked nose. But I only use that as a last resort

I also used otrivin when I had a horrid cold and couldn't breathe or sleep because of my blocked nose... like hippymama I only used it for a few days, I figured the benefits of me being able to get some proper rest and get over the cold outweighed the potential, unproven risks to bub.

Auckland University of Technology Bio Design Lab is working on new technology to relieve nasal congestion. The technology is not a pharmaceutical/drug solution. We are hoping to learn more about the current experiences nasal congestion sufferers have. We are asking if you might be able to help us, by answering our survey. Thanks for your interest. AUT Bio Design Lab Team.

Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PVR6RTW

If you are interested to know more details, please send us an email at autventures@aut.ac.nz.

Edited by AUT268517 - 02 September 2021 at 1:53am