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Tramadol in Pregnancy - Complications and Precautions to Follow
Most medicines that mothers take during pregnancy will cross the placenta and reach their babies. This can sometimes be beneficial to the child, but not always; there are some medications that can be quite harmful to your baby’s growth and development. It really depends on the type of medication prescribed and at what stage of pregnancy a woman is at. All the changes in the body that take place during pregnancy are bound to cause a lot of stress, and everyone already knows that hormonal changes often bring with them unwanted aches and pains. This is why some women would rather be on some kind of medication for the pain rather than not have anything at all. Tramadol is used to treat pain in some situations.
What is Tramadol (Ultram)
Moderate to severe pain during pregnancy can be treated by Tramadol, a medication that works by affecting the balance of mood chemicals in the brain. This is often prescribed to patients who are suffering from an injury or when recovering from surgery. Sometimes it is used as a recreational drug, but in doses much higher than that required when it is only used as a painkiller.
Why Do Pregnant Women Require Pain Medication
During pregnancy, the body undergoes physiological and hormonal irregularities that result in different symptoms. Sometimes the symptoms are trivial and do not require any kind of pain medication, but there are also times when the pain is quite severe, and it requires some kind of action. Here are some reasons why pregnant women may need to take something for the pain:
The diameter of blood vessels changes due to the hormonal changes during pregnancy and results in headaches and migraines. The intensity of these can vary, but they have been known to be severe enough to warrant some kind of medication for relief.
Pressure on the spine caused by your expanding foetus can result in backaches that can sometimes become unbearable. Those who are carrying multiples will find this especially relevant in their case.
The stability and strength of the ligaments changes as the body tries to prepare the pelvis for delivery. This results in a lot of pelvic pain that may sometimes require medication.
Your lower limbs have had to deal with a lot of extra weight, and this causes pain from all the nerves and ligaments that have been bearing the strain of your baby’s additional weight.
Is Tramadol Safe in Pregnancy
Though there are some medications out there with more serious side effects of dependency due to their higher opioid content, Tramadol is also known to cause addiction and neonatal dependency on the drug. A change in the diameter of the umbilical vessels is caused due to the painkillers, and this will have an effect on the flow of blood to your baby. This is why it is best to stay away from painkillers in general during your pregnancy unless you have no choice but to take them.
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) in particular are known to cause this problem. If the blood flow is restricted, your baby will not get enough nutrition, which will either result in restrictions in growth and in extreme and unfortunate cases, the death of the child.
So, can you take tramadol while pregnant? Only if prescribed by your doctor when there is no other choice. It is best to stay away from it as it is not considered safe due to lack of proper study. In tests done on animals, it showed that Tramadol has the possibility of causing moderate to severe damage in the foetus. Respiratory depression and collapse in the foetus is a very serious threat, and so the use of Tramadol is strictly forbidden during delivery.
What If a Pregnant Woman has Already Taken Ultram In Pregnancy
If you have taken Tramadol, let your doctor know about it and so that you can get the proper advice on how to go about it from there. If at all your doctor feels you need it, the smallest possible dose will be prescribed to you. But most doctors will prescribe something that is less harmful. If you take them frequently and you want to stop, it is not advised that you stop taking it cold turkey. Instead, bring this to your doctor’s attention so that you can get professional help in weaning yourself off the drug without incurring the sudden withdrawal symptoms that can take place from such a sudden action. If the drug is stopped cold turkey, you are likely to experience irritation, anxiety or panic, diarrhoea, chills, hallucinations and so much more.
Complications & Side Effects of Taking Tramadol during Pregnancy
Here are some of the complications or side effects associated with taking Tramadol during pregnancy:
1. Easily Abused
The central nervous system responds to pain differently because Tramadol changes this aspect, making it very easy to abuse the drug.
2. Maternal and Foetal Addiction
Due to the potent and opioid components in this drug, it is addictive in nature, something that is very dangerous for babies. If this drug is used consistently, there is a high chance that babies will become dependent on it. Even after the drug is discontinued, babies will still experience withdrawal symptoms one month after birth. Babies can also experience birth defects or premature births. A few other symptoms include irritability, jitteriness, seizures and abnormal muscular activity.
3. Dangerous Combos
If this drug is mixed with other medication it may cause uncontrollable shaking and seizures can result.
4. Simply Problematic
Even when taken in the correct dose, Tramadol has been known to cause side effects such as abdominal pain, itchiness and rashes, joint pains, depression, severe headaches, nausea and more.
5. Learning and Behavioural Problems
Your baby’s brain is developing even until the end of your pregnancy. Taking medications during your pregnancy can have lasting effects on your child’s learning and behaviour.
6. Tramadol and Breastfeeding
Like some other medications, Tramadol can be transferred into the breast milk. If babies consume too much of it through breast milk, they are likely to show signs of increased sleepiness, sedation, difficulty breastfeeding, difficulty breathing and limpness, and will need to see an expert.
Precautions to Follow While Taking Tramadol
If you do need to take this drug for some reason, keep the following precautions in mind:
It is not meant to be used along with MAO inhibitors.
Avoid alcohol during treatment.
When it comes to patients who suffer from drug dependence, central genesis, liver dysfunctions and increased sensitivity to opioid components, treatments with this drug should be avoided.
Avoid it for treatment of narcotic withdrawal syndrome.
It should not be used for more than the specific amount of time needed as prolonged use can cause dependency on the drug.
It should not be used for children under 14.
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions:
1. Will baby require extra monitoring during pregnancy or after delivery?
At around twenty weeks, most women are offered scans as a part of their antenatal care. Here they will check for birth defects in the baby. Though using Tramadol is not actually expected to cause any problems that would require the need for extra monitoring, those who need to take the drug for a particular medical condition are watched more closely so that you can be sure that your baby is growing and developing the correct way. Women who tend to use the drug for recreational purposes are watched even more closely. Those women who have had to take Tramadol during their late pregnancy will have babies who will need to be kept for observation after birth for any kind of signs of withdrawal.
2. Does it affect the baby's health if the father has taken Tramadol?
So far we have seen how tramadol and pregnancy go together from the maternal side. Though there has been no study dedicated to investigating what the effects of Tramadol in the father have on the unborn child, most experts say that it is not likely that the drug can cause any harm to the baby through the sperm. More study in this area is needed, especially on the effects the drug has if the father takes it at the time of conception.
Always keep a record of any medications you take so that you can inform your doctor about them if and when needed. If you have any need to see a doctor for your own health, make sure that the doctor knows that you are pregnant so that this can be taken into consideration when medication is being prescribed for you.
Being prescribed medication like Tramadol, something that has been known to cause some unpleasant side effects, you will have to examine the benefits and disadvantages before deciding on whether it is worth taking the risk. How medications affect your baby is important, and you need to be very careful about what medication you decide to put into your body.
Also Read: List of Unsafe Medicines Pregnant Women Should Avoid Read more
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Explaining The Concept of Part-Whole To Preschoolers
It's essential to encourage maths skills in preschoolers as it lays the foundation of not just maths but other complex ideas like place value, higher level of number concepts, additions-subtraction and even word problems.
As soon as kids learn to count, the next step for them is to learn the idea of Part-Part-Whole(PPW). Studies have shown that a strong understanding of this concept is quite an achievement for a preschooler, which will further aid their ability to deal with the higher complexities of the number system and quantities.
Teaching Parts and Wholes Activities For Preschoolers
1. Introducing The Concept:
The idea of part-part-whole maths in preschool focuses on teaching the children how a particular quantity can be divided into two or more parts. For e.g. a six can be divided into one and five or two and four or three and three. An incomplete idea of this concept may lead the child to have a difficult time with mathematical concepts in future.
2. Have Fun With Parts And Wholes:
When students begin with their exploration of the parts of a number they need to be involved in the study in different ways. Explaining the ideas to preschool children only on a theoretical basis isn't enough. We need to engage them with a multi-sensory approach where they can actually visualise the entire scenario behind the number concept for preschoolers. Once they learn to visualise these you can move them to work with pictorial representations.
3. Activities For Teaching Wholes And Parts:
With the help of five same-coloured cubes or blocks, you can ask your child to build a train. Now, ask them the number of cubes they have used to make the train and take their focus on the fact that they have used one single colour. Now ask them to make the train using different coloured cubes. Help the kids to understand how they add up to the same number.
Give the children a total of five balls, but three of one colour and two of some other colour. Ask the kids to put this group together and figure out the total.
Ask the kids to build up a triangle shaped pyramid with disposable cups. Don't give them the cups yourself but let them figure out how many disposable cups they will need to build a pyramid of a certain level. Allow them to draw out an image of their pyramid to determine the quantity of cups required.
Another fun activity in the list of part-part whole maths games is forming a team of two, asking one kid to keep the hands behind the back while the other kid has to place 5 beads in hands of the first kid.Without looking, the child has to tell how many beads are there in each hand. For example, one and four or two and three. Now show how combining them gets a total of five.
Introducing these concepts at an early age will ensure that the child has understood the basic concepts perfectly so as to add on the layers of new related concepts and ideas. Read more
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Coping With Postpartum Depression - A Guide
Postpartum depression affects one in 9 women. The symptoms are similar to depression. It can affect the day-to-day life of a mother and her ability to take care of the child.
Julie was excited to have a baby. Throughout her pregnancy, she prepared for the newborn. She delivered a healthy baby girl through C-section. She wanted to feel excited about her newborn but strangely felt no happiness. Everyone around her, including her parents, partner, and friends were excited but Julie felt nothing. She started feeling irritated and was crying for no reason. She wanted to run away to some faraway place away from everyone. The people around her were not able to understand this strange behavior. Julie herself was also bewildered. Her elderly grandmother dismissed her condition as ‘baby blues’. She said it will go away in a couple of days. However, days became weeks and Julie was still not feeling any better. Julie was suffering something that affects one in 9 new mothers; a condition known as Post Natal Depression (PND) or Postpartum Depression (PPD).How to Identify The Difference Between Baby Blues and Postpartum Depression?Baby blues affect almost 70% of new moms. It usually lasts between a few hours and a few days after childbirth. It is a feeling where you may suddenly feel cranky, irritable, restless, exhausted, and sad. You do not need any treatment for baby blues. It goes away on its own.Postpartum depression, on the other hand, is a more serious condition that can start even after a few months of delivery. It can last longer and you may have extremely strong feelings of anxiety, despair, sadness, and irritability. Postpartum depression can affect your day-to-day activities and may even interfere with childcare. PPD can make a mother suicidal. In extreme cases, postpartum depression can turn to postpartum psychosis which is a serious mental illness that needs hospitalization.Signs of Postpartum DepressionThe severity of postnatal depression depends on the number of symptoms that are visible in a new mother. The warning signs should not be ignored and immediate intervention of a therapist is advisable. The most common symptoms are:Mood swingsUnable to perform day-to-day activitiesCrying spellsInsomniaLack of concentrationLow libidoSocial withdrawalIrritability and crankinessLack of interest in caring for the childSense of guilt and despairLoss of appetiteHeadache, stomachache, and blurred visionRecurrent suicidal thoughtsTendency to cause self-harmIf a woman exhibits multiple symptoms from the above list, it indicates that her condition is severe.How to Cope with Postpartum Depression: Self Help TipsSevere postpartum depression needs medication and psychological counseling. The first step to treat PND is by being aware of the condition. The woman and her family should acknowledge that she is going through a phase. There should not be any denial. What is needed to cope with PPD is self-care. It may sound easy but self-care is often ignored. Be considerate of yourself. Learn to say ‘No’. If you feel sad then let others know. There is no point in suffering in silence. Here are few things that can help you cope with the situation.Get proper sleep. It is difficult to sleep with a small baby. Take turns with your partner and try to get an undisturbed sleep of 7-8 hours. Try to take small naps during the day when you feel tired or exhausted.Eat a balanced diet. Avoid sugar and junk food. Sugar can cause mood swings. Include fresh fruits and vegetables. Avoid skipping meals.Exercise helps release the happy hormones that help in dealing with depression. Try yoga and aerobics at home.Go out of the house. Fresh air can help you feel less stressed.Try meditation. Even 10 minutes of meditation and breathing exercises can help you release anxiety and stress.Take a break when you feel overwhelmed.Enjoy some me-time. Do things that you love like watching movies, reading, or meeting friends.Join a support group for new moms. These days lots of online groups are available. You can find support there.Visit a therapist. Usually, interactive sessions and mild medication help. Read more
Dr Sameer awadhiya has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
1 hour ago
Q. #asktheexpert
baby having nose block.. sleeping problem
what should I do?
Dr Sameer awadhiya
Paediatrician
1 hour ago
A. nasal blockage can be relieved by using nasal saline drops like nasoclear saline drops in thecg nose followed by nasal aspirator to take out the secretions very ghently
steam inhalation can also be helpful in this condition
Nikitha has added a new answer
Expecting Mom due in 2 months
1 hour ago
Q. At what month does the baby go from breech position to cephalic position?
Nikitha
Mom of a 9 yr 5 m old boy
1 hour ago
A. hello nearing your delivery it will happen.any concern then it would be better to check with your doctor and she will be able to guide you better on examination of the same and advise you accordingly which would be better and also safe
Dr Vandan H Kumar has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
1 hour ago
Q. @ the time of birth baby weight 2.475kg but after completed 6weeks baby weight approx 3kg, why baby weight gain very slow, till breast-feeding milk and urinate 6-7 times and potty 2-3 times. can u please suggest why slow in progress in weight gain???
Read moreDr Vandan H Kumar
Paediatrician
1 hour ago
A. the average birth weight of neonates is about 3 kg.
during the first few days after birth, the newborn loses
extracellular fluid equivalent to about 10% of the body
weight.
most infants regain their birth weight by the age of 10 days. subsequently, they gain weight at a rate of
approximately 25 to 30 g per day for the first 3 months of life.
thereafter they gain about 400 g weight every month,
for the remaining part of the first year. x
an infant usually doubles his birth weight (taken as 3 kg) by the age of 5 months. the birth weight triples at 1 year and is four times at 2 years of age.
the weight of ca child at the age of three years is usually
five times that of the birth weight.
Manisha Singh has added a new answer
Trying To Conceive
1 hour ago
Q. #asktheexpert mera baby 3 month ka h use gas bhuat banti h is karan wo bhuat rota hai
Manisha Singh
Expecting Mom due in 1 month
1 hour ago
A. it's very common for babies having gas problem ...you should recommend your doctor for this
Sai Prasanthi R L has added a new answer
Trying To Conceive
1 hour ago
Q. Hi
what to give 6 months old baby to eat
Sai Prasanthi R L
Mom of a 10 yr 2 m old boy
1 hour ago
A. Hello dear! Once your baby completes 6 months you can start giving small quantities of semi solids like homemade cerelac, mashed bananas, apple puree, ragi and so on. Continue with breastfeeding. Keep Babyhug tummy roll on handy
Dr Muhsina has added a new answer
Expecting Mom due in 2 months
42 mins ago
Q. now I am in 30 weeks of pregnancy I have vomiting.I couldn't control what the reasons for this vomiting
Dr Muhsina
Expecting Mom due in 3 months
21 mins ago
A. Some women may have vomiting throughout their pregnancy. The most common reason for vomiting during the third trimester may be gastritis. Make sure you eat small frequent meals, preferably every 2 hours. If your baby's weight during checkups are adequate..u needn't worry much about this. You can also consult your doctor and take anti emetics and PPIs if the vomiting is bothering you or interfering with your daily activities.
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