Cold vs. needing an antibiotic

[dizzy_girl]

How do you know when you need an antibiotic?

I have a two year old. She picked up a cough from her cousin and then was fine after about two days of a runny nose and coughing mainly at night.

I, however, got this cough from her and maybe my nephew, too, and I’ve been coughing for a week and a half. I have a minor headache when I lay down and cough, and I am slightly stuffed up. There is some slight congestion, the worst at night, but mainly a dry hacker kind of cough. A little asthmatic sounding sometimes.

But, I don’t appear to have a fever. (I haven’t taken my temp, but I don’t feel like I am running one–I don’t feel achey or fluey.)

Also, I am five weeks pregnant. Could this cough hurt the child growing in me? (My two year old is adopted, so this is the first pregnancy for me.)

Do I go to my primary care doctor or my OB for a cough when I am pregnant?

How do I know if I should even go to the doctor or just ride out how I feel? I don’t normally get sick and haven’t been to my internist in years (except for physicals).

It may be that my health is suffering slightly from stress. A good friend died last night and a family member was in a car accident earlier in the week.

Sorry for all the questions!! Hope this is okay to ask in this board.

 

[tamie]

You really need to go to the doctor especially since you are pregnant. It is possible that you have an upper respiratory infection or bronchitis. Go to your primary doctor. Be sure he/she knows that you are pregnant. They can look up in the Physicians Desk Reference what medication is safe for you to take while pregnant. You can be very ill and not have any fever. I nearly died from pneumonia 5 years a go and my temp went up maybe one degree above normal.

Absolutely stress will make things worse. But you need to take care of yourself so you can grow a healthy baby! God bless you.

Tamie Walcott

 

[MaryB23]

Honestly, if you feel more comfortable with your OB, I would call him/her. When I was pregnant, I would have called my OB over my primary care physician since I had only been to my PCP twice and I had seen my OB more often and more recently. If you call your OB’s office, they can always tell you to go to your primary if they’d rather you go there.

I hope you get some relief and God bless you and your little ones!

 

[MooCowSteph]

You should probably call you OB versus your primary care doctor. When I was about 19 weeks along, I got what I thought was a cold, since my neighbor had the same thing. She say her doc right away and they gave her nothing. I let it run about 5 days and then went to one of those urgent care places because it was a Sunday. The doctor said I’d developed an upper respiratory infection and a sinus infection, and that if he didn’t give me an antibiotic I’d likely end of with pneumonia. I was also coughing up phlem, which was yellow/green.

Just a note - eat lots of yogurt when on the antibiotic. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to yeast infections, and you’re nearly guaranteed one while on antibiotics if you’re pregnant. I was on omnicef (sp?) for 10 days and started symptoms of a yeast infection around day 10. I didn’t eat yogurt…it made my phlegm worse. Also, my OB told me it takes pregnant women longer to feel the effects of the antibiotic. I was used to feeling better within 48 hours, but this time I didn’t start to feel better for more than 3.

Hope this helps.

 

[kage_ar]

Very basic here, but my rule of thumb is - if it is green or yellow, call the doc (the stuff you cough up).

Being pregnant, call the doc anyway!