# How long can you take paracetamol for?



## Rissa

Hi,

I will be 28 weeks pregnant tomorrow and last week I had a nasty fall at the swimming pool and landed heavily on my lower back. I have been experiencing pain and stiffness in my lower back since then which has been getting worse. I now find it uncomfortable to sit or stand, can't walk very far without difficulty and having difficulty sleeping. I went to the doctors yesterday and was told that the back pain is definitely due to the fall but being pregnant won't be helping and it could get worse. He advised me to take the maximum dose of paracetamol for as long as I needed it (as using it occasionally when I couldn't stand it any more wouldn't do much good) as well as using hot compresses. But I have seen articles on the internet about heavy use of paracetamol in late pregnancy being linked to asthma in children, which having asthma myself I'm obviously concerned about. So now I'm not sure what to do. I will be seeing my midwife nest week, but by then (if I continue) I'll have been taking the paracetamol for a week. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks
Rissa


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## mazv

Hi Rissa,

Paracetamol is safe to take in pregnancy and you can take the maximum dose for as long as you need to; one week is hardly any time at all and certainly not classed as long term.

There was a study last year that linked heavy use to a small increased risk in children developing asthma later however as far as I'm aware there hasn't been any more published work on this and the actual risk was very small, although it appeared to be statistically significant. As you know asthma and allergies tend to run in families but I'm not aware that there was any evidence from this study showing that there was a greater risk over and above this anyway.

The MHRA (the UK watchdog on medicines) reported following the publication of the study that the actual results were not exactly interpreted clearly and were not strong enough to show a definite link with asthma. They recommended that there was no need to change the current advice that paracetamol is safe in pregnancy and in children under 1. It remains first choice pain killer.

I would advise you to continue with the paracetamol and discuss it with midwife/GP when you next see them. There are risks associated with chronic pain for both you and the baby in pregnancy too and you need to balance the need to take pain killers aginst the risk of not taking them.

In the meantime follow the advice the GP gave you. Hope you feel better soon  

Maz x


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## Rissa

Dear Maz,

Thank you very much for your reply. It has put my mind at rest at least for now until I can discuss it further. I hadn't, until you mentioned it, considered that there might be risks with dealing with chronic pain for the baby too. 

Rissa


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