What medicine can pregnant women use for allergies?

Many women become more sensitive during pregnancy and are particularly prone to allergies. When they come into contact with pollen or spices, they may develop allergies. The physical condition during pregnancy is quite special, so you should try to avoid taking medicine. However, allergies are more sudden and urgent. So what medicine can pregnant women use for allergies?

Allergy refers to a hypersensitivity reaction induced by an immune mechanism, which can be mediated by humoral (antibody) or cellular immune mechanisms. In most cases, the antibodies that produce the allergic reaction are of the IgE class and these individuals can be classified as having an IgE-mediated allergic reaction. However, not all "atopy" individuals will develop IgE-related "allergic reactions." In non-IgE-mediated allergic reactions, antibodies may also be of the IgG class. Allergy, simply put, is an allergy to a substance. When you eat, touch or inhale a substance, your body will have an excessive reaction; the substance that causes this reaction is called an "allergen." Under normal circumstances, the body produces antibodies to protect the body from disease; but the body of an allergic person will mistake normal, harmless substances for harmful ones and produce antibodies, and this substance becomes an "allergen." This allergic reaction can cause some physical problems that do not usually occur in normal people.

Allergy is a disease of civilization. Medically, allergies are divided into four different types and named with Roman numerals I to IV. The most common of these are types I and IV. Type I is sometimes called "atopic" or "rapid allergy." For example, the human body will react within seconds after being stung by an insect, animal hair allergies and pollen allergies will react within minutes, and food allergies will react within 30 minutes. In contrast, type IV allergies react much more slowly, with symptoms not appearing until a day or several days later. For example, allergies to decorative objects and many types of occupational allergies. Therefore, people call it "delayed allergy".

There are many versions of the definition of allergy (i.e., allergic reaction). In order to explain this important issue and ensure that medical practitioners communicate in a unified concept, WAO recommends the use of an internationally unified definition and terminology. Prior to this, the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology had published "A Revised Immunology Definition Method" and recommended the use of this terminology (Ref: Johansson et al. Allergy 2001). On this basis, WAO revised and supplemented it again and recommended the promotion of the use of this latest version (Ref: Johansson et al. JACI, 2004).

In daily life, anti-allergic drugs are often needed, such as various allergic disease attacks, including allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma, anaphylactic shock, contact dermatitis, urticaria, etc. Pregnant women are no exception. Whether pregnant women can use anti-allergic drugs to treat these diseases depends on the specific situation, that is, it is necessary to consider what kind of anti-allergic drugs to use and when to use them. Because some drugs have no adverse effects on pregnant women, they can be used with confidence. For example, calcium gluconate generally has no adverse effects on pregnant women and fetuses, and has a good effect on skin itching caused by allergies. However, you must be cautious when using antihistamine allergy drugs. There is a class of antihistamines called piperazine H1 receptor blockers, such as chlorpheniramine, which are teratogenic in experimental animals. Although no teratogenic effects have been found in humans, for the sake of caution, pregnant women, especially within the first three months of pregnancy, should not use them. As for other types of antihistamines such as phenothiazines and diolamine antihistamines, allergy drugs generally have no obvious effect on the fetus. Drugs such as phenergan and chlorpheniramine can be used. In addition, glucocorticoids such as dexamethasone, prednisone, and cortisone can have anti-allergic effects, but pregnant women, especially in the early stages of pregnancy, should use these drugs as little as possible to avoid increasing the risk of fetal malformations. If it is only used topically to treat allergic dermatitis, it generally has no adverse effects on pregnant women.