Getting the flu during pregnancy might just be the single most uncomfortable thing for any woman.
Even though you pretty much just have to buckle down, and let the virus run its course through your immune system, there are a few remedies you can implement at the onset of the flu or even a nasty cold so that you can be more comfortable while you’re sick.
Starting a remedy right when you feel a sickness coming on will help ease the symptoms before they wreak havoc on your body.
Easing the undesirable symptoms like body ache, chills, and fever are crucial to feeling a little better while your body fights off an illness like the flu.
Some of the best ways to remedy your body during pregnancy are by making sure you get lots of rest, water, and vitamin C – but let’s discuss a few additional at-home remedies you can use during pregnancy.
There are even flu and cold medicines that you can buy over-the-counter to help ease your symptoms. The key to figuring out what works best is finding out what cold medicine is safe to take during pregnancy.
In this article
- What Is The Flu?
- Can You Take Cold Eeze During Pregnancy For the Flu?
- What Is Zinc and How Does It Help With a Cold or the Flu?
- Is Zinc Safe During Pregnancy?
- What Food Can You Eat To Include Zinc In Your Diet Through Your Daily Diet?
- Beef is a great source of zinc for pregnant women
- Dark turkey meat is a good way to include zinc and tryptophan in your diet during pregnancy
- Pork has a good amount of zinc in a single serving and who doesn’t love bacon?
- For our plant-based, mamma’s cashews offer a great supply of zinc
- Baked beans are easy to throw in your crockpot and have ready to eat on a regular basis
- Why Would You Want To Take Cold Eeze During Pregnancy?
- Signs of Zinc Deficiency Which Could Contribute To Prolonged Cold or Flu
- In Conclusion
- Sources
What Is The Flu?
The flu is a common viral infection that attacks the lung, nose, and throat making it more difficult to swallow and breathe at times. You can see why this would be far more serious if you’re pregnant.
Not only do you have yourself to look out for, but you also have your fetus in your womb to care for. Pregnancy changes everything, and especially how you will feel when you have the flu.
When you’re pregnant, how does the flu affect your body and baby?
Getting the flu during pregnancy creates a higher risk for miscarriage, premature birth, and fevers during the time a mother has the flu. Fevers are known to cause birth complications for pregnant women.
Overall it’s best for any mother to avoid getting the flu, but since this is something that happens regardless of what’s best – we do our best when it happens to us.
Don’t stress if you have the flu. There are many pregnant mothers who have had it and end up unharmed by it. It really comes down to a matter of staying safe while you have the flu, and maybe even more importantly, staying hydrated.
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Be sure that you stay hydrated if you’re pregnant and have the flu
You’re going to take longer to recover from the flu if you get dehydrated. The moment you start to feel a tickle in your throat or fever coming on – make sure you drink plenty of water.
Water helps flush out the sickness which helps you feel better overall during the course of any illness.
The muscles in your nose and throat might be stiff during the flu, but if you make sure your body has plenty of water these muscles should loosen up and relieve your congestion.
Water is crucial to getting over any illness, but especially the flu, water helps cool your body and keep amniotic fluid stores at optimal levels until you’re completely better.
Can You Take Cold Eeze During Pregnancy For the Flu?
Cold Eeze is a zinc gluconate lozenge that is commonly taken by people at the onset of the flu or even common colds. It’s designed to be sinus medicine, that helps clear your sinuses when you have a sickness that causes them to be congested.
You can take it during pregnancy, but you need to be sure to contact your Obstetrician or Primary Physician beforehand. If that isn’t possible to get clearance from your OB first, you can safely take the upward limit of 2-3 doses a day.
Do not consume any more than 40mg per day if you are 19-years-old and upward. If you are in the age range of 14-18 then you should not consume more than 34mg of Cold Eeeze in one day.
- Take Cold-Eeze Cold remedy natural wild Cherry flavor zinc lozenges when the first symptoms of a cold start to appear, such as scratchy or sore throat, coughing & stuffiness.
- Shorten your cold: Cold-Eeze can shorten your cold by 42% when taken at the First Sign of Symptoms and used as directed.
- Symptom relief: cold-shortening Cold-Eeze helps reduce the severity of cold symptoms including cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, post nasal drip and hoarseness.
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It can be harmful to take more than 40mg of Cold Eeze in a day during your pregnancy
When consuming Cold Eeze during pregnancy you need to be mindful of potential Zinc overdose for you and your baby. Zinc has been proven to reduce the duration and intensity of a cold, but taking too much of it can cause harmful side effects too.
What Is Zinc and How Does It Help With a Cold or the Flu?
Zinc is well-known to shorten the duration and reduce the symptoms of the common cold and the flu. It’s also been known to significantly reduce the most common symptoms most people experience when they get the flu.
Is zinc a mineral or a vitamin?
Zinc is a very important trace mineral – long ago people found out that Zinc helps tremendously when someone gets sick. A long time ago, people even believed that Zinc would keep them from getting sick at all.
Is Zinc Safe During Pregnancy?
Yes, zinc is safe to take during pregnancy. In fact, taking a zinc supplement can reduce your chances of having preterm labor. Zinc is an essential mineral for optimal immune system function to take place.
In turn, your body needs zinc to efficiently grow a healthy baby to full-term. Be sure to take the appropriate dose of zinc during your pregnancy though.
A lot of the time prenatal vitamins have added zinc, so if you branch out and take zinc in addition to your prenatal vitamin be sure to ask your Obstetrician a good amount of zinc to have on a regular basis.
What is the maximum amount of zinc you can take during pregnancy?
The amount of zinc that you can have in a given day during your pregnancy will depend on your age. The following guidelines are accurate according to Babycenter.com;
- If you’re pregnant and 18 years old or younger you can take 12 milligrams of zinc per day.
- If you’re pregnant and 19 years and older you can take 11mg per day.
- If you’re a breastfeeding mother and 18-years-old or younger you can take 13mg per day.
- If you’re a breastfeeding mother and 19-years-old and upward you can take 19mg per day.
If you’re not pregnant and 19-years-old and upward you can take 8mg per day. When supplementing zinc you don’t need to take the recommended amount every single day, but aim for this amount for a few weeks in a row.
What Food Can You Eat To Include Zinc In Your Diet Through Your Daily Diet?
You won’t need zinc every day because your body stores a sufficient amount of zinc over time.
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Remember that you are also getting a decent amount of zinc from some of your foods. Below are the top sources of potentially consuming zinc in your diet.
Beef is a great source of zinc for pregnant women
Meat in general offers a good supply of zinc, but particularly beef – a 3.5lb raw beef burger offers 4.8mgs of zinc which is about %44 of the recommended daily intake for zinc.
Dark turkey meat is a good way to include zinc and tryptophan in your diet during pregnancy
If you love turkey, it’s an easy place to get a sufficient amount of zinc. You have to grab for the dark part of the meat though if you’re aiming to get a decent supply of zinc per serving.
A serving of dark turkey meat over white meat contains more zinc, B- Vitamins, and selenium overall.
Pork has a good amount of zinc in a single serving and who doesn’t love bacon?
Pork has %14 of your daily zinc in it per serving. This is one good reason to get your bacon or ham into your diet during pregnancy.
A bacon hall pass? I’ll take it! Yet again, pork falls under the category of being zinc sufficient because it’s meat.
For our plant-based, mamma’s cashews offer a great supply of zinc
I am mostly plant-based and was vegan/raw vegan for a few years when my 3rd baby was born – I totally get the need for plant-based sources of vitamins, minerals, and proteins.
Cashews are a wonderful source of plant-based zinc sources, plus cashews are really easy on a queasy pregnant appetite. You can get pretty creative with cashews, and add them into casseroles or ‘cheesy broccoli’ dishes too.
Baked beans are easy to throw in your crockpot and have ready to eat on a regular basis
One of my lifesavers in my last few pregnancies was my crockpot, but we aren’t here to talk about crockpots, are we? So I’ll get to the point, baked beans are super high in zinc and baked beans are easy to put in the crockpot.
Serve them on rice, or mash them, and serve with melted cheddar cheese on top(which is also high in zinc). If you don’t like nuts, cashews might be a great option for you to get some much-needed zinc during flu season.
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Why Would You Want To Take Cold Eeze During Pregnancy?
Congested sinuses along with the flu can cause another slew of undesirable symptoms to deal with while you’re sick.
Sinus infections happen all the time as a result of a common cold or the flu once the illness clogs your sinuses. Once you already have the extra mucus being produced during the flu or a cold, bacteria in your sinuses can get trapped in your clogged sinuses.
It’s important to keep your sinuses flowing as actively as possible until you are no longer sick. Having clogged sinuses is a symptom that can actually become quite painful once it becomes more severe.
Cold Eeeze is so effective in combatting illness because it’s a zinc lozenge
If you can find alternative foods, supplements, or natural remedies that supply you with an adequate supply of zinc, you’ll be just as good off as taking Cold Eeze.
If you’re unsure about taking any kind of medicine during your pregnancy, be sure to ask your health care provider all of your questions.
Signs of Zinc Deficiency Which Could Contribute To Prolonged Cold or Flu
If you’re deficient in zinc, there will be noticeable symptoms that appear such as unhealing wounds, a decreased sense of smell, loss of appetite, open sores on your skin, and lack of alertness.
If you begin experiencing any of these symptoms on a regular basis, ask your Obstetrician if you can have your bloodwork taken for evaluation.
I always opt to have my bloodwork done at the beginning of pregnancy and a few months afterward too – checking your vitamin and mineral levels is crucial to maintaining a healthy balance.
Pregnant women are especially susceptible to becoming low on certain vitamins and minerals – being low in crucial vitamins and such is important to keeping your immune system functioning optimally.
In Conclusion
Cold Eeze is perfectly fine to take during pregnancy. That said, there are plenty of other ways to include zinc and immune-boosting foods into your diet during pregnancy.
Natural immune boosters are probably the best way to combat the flu or other viruses, bacterial infections, and other ailments during pregnancy.
Cold Eeze has additives and preservatives included in it that you should keep in mind when choosing Cold Eeze over a natural remedy.
When taking Cold Eeze, be sure to take the recommended amount for pregnant women. Cold Eeeze states that all pregnant women should ask their Primary Health Care Provider if it’s okay for them to take lozenges.
If a professional tells you that it’s okay to take Cold Eeze or you genuinely feel comfortable taking it for the duration of a cold or flu, be sure to not take it anymore than absolutely necessary.
Even though medication can be safe for pregnancy or breastfeeding, your body is still having to process it through your body and your baby’s body during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.
It’s good to keep that in mind and be smart about the amount of Cold Eeze you choose to consume throughout your pregnancy.
Sources
Feeling a cold coming on, what can I do? – DC Urban Mom
Flu vaccine in pregnancy? – Mother Bloom Midwifery
