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DM cough medicine and pregnancy?

My stepmother has been taking DM childrens dose cough medicine, her doctor recommended it to her. But my dad went to the store last night and was told by the cashier that there is an ingredient in it that teen age kids have been using to make a certain drug, and that my step mom should NOT be taking it while she is pregnant, because it can ruin the sack that the baby is surrounded by. My dad asked if the man was a doctor and he said no, but that he used to work in a hospital. He told my dad that my stepmom should ask the doctor again if it is ok to use this. She is also mixing antidepressents with it, which the bottle says you should not be doing, does anyone know if this could be a major problem? I already have done research on the anti depressents and I have found that there have been a number of studies and they don't seem to have any affects on the growing fetus. I sould say that the cashier said that she should check with the doctor again because he (the doctor) doesn't seem to know what he is talking about.

Public Comments

1. thats nonsense, notice he said that one ingredient was being used to make other drugs. not that it was the drug they used. Who do you trust more, your doctor who went to medical school, and is certified by the government to practice and prescribe medicine, or a cashier making 10 dollars an hour?
2. Tell your step mom that she will be better off drinking lots of chicken broth, herbal tea, and sucking cough lozenges than using the cough medicine for a nagging cough. Rub her feet and make her tea. Good luck to all of you!!
3. I was told not to take cough medicine during pregnancy by the pharmacist at Walgreens. MY midwife later explained that yes the ingredient (dextromethorphan HBr) carries some risk in pregnancy. However, If a woman is coughing so hard that she tears the bag of waters by straining, the risk of the cough syrup becomes the lesser evil. Your doctor probably knows what he's doing. I'm sure the cashier meant well.
4. well robitussin DM is on my docs "safe" list. go figure.
5. Your step mom needs to make sure that the doctor knows ALL the medications she's taking. Over the counter and otherwise. The cashier means well, but shouldn't be offering medical advice. If it were a pharmacist giving advice it would be appropriate, but not for a clerk. It's always okay to give the doctors office a call when you're concerned about something. It helps the doctor keep informed about how the patient is doing. A call is free and it's a quick and easy way to put your mind at ease.
6. Don't take medical advice from here, but the concern with DM was birth defects. The studies were done in chick embryos. HSC conducted a study and found that this information was false and that exposure to DM during pregnancy would NOT increase the risk of birth defects in humans. Here is a list of safe medications to take during pregnancy. http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/taking-medicine-during-pregnancy DM meds are listed as safe. As for the second part of your question **MANY antidepressants have been known to have negative interactions with DM** I wouldn't ask the doctor if DM would hurt the baby, but rather if DM+antidepressants would. That is the concern here. Good luck.