Is Vicodin safe during pregnancy?
Patient: hello i am five months pregnant and my doctor says its okay to have one energy drink a day and i have really bad headaches during my pregnancy to the point of needing vicoden and since i started drinking energy drinks my headaches have stopped when not even coffee or soda has been able to do that so am i harming my baby? Doctor: Hello, and I hope I can help you today.Many women have headaches during pregnancy, because as your blood volume increases to prepare for the birth, the amount of blood flowing to your head increases in intensity, which commonly can cause severe pounding headaches. Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor, which means that it makes the blood vessels slightly smaller and as a consequence it actually is a very effective treatment for headaches. It is actually used as an ingredient in prescription migraine medications.The warning against not using caffeine during pregnancy actually has no real scientific basis. There never been any studies in humans that actually shows an increase risk of any pregnancy-related complication.So, if caffeinated drinks help your headaches, there is no evidence that any harm will come to you or your baby. Furthermore, Vicodin is safe to use during pregnancy for pain as well.I would advise you to try to find the least amount of caffeinated beverage you need to drink to help your headaches. Tea and coffee are much healthier than soda or energy drinks because they usually have a lot of artificial ingredients.So in summary, it is okay if you need to increase your caffeine consumption a little bit. Neither doing that, or taking Vicodin occasionally for pain, will do any harm to your baby.I hope I was able to adequately answer your question today, and that my advice was helpful.Best wishes for the rest of the pregnancy,Dr. Brown