Experiences with pre-term labor medications

[Anonymous]

I have been recently prescribed a medication called procardia for symptoms of preterm labor. My physicians believe I have an irritable uterus, which is causing contractions and softening of the cervix at 27 weeks. I am hesitant to take any medication that could have long term impacts on the health of my baby (I haven't even taken Tylenol during this pregnancy).

Is anyone else taking (or has anyone else taken) this procardia drug for contractions? Was it helpful? Did you have side effects? Was there any long term effects on your child?

I'm concerned because it's not FDA approved for preterm labor, and is a heart medication with preterm labor off-label use.

Perhaps I am being overly cautious...but I am nervous. Thank you to all in advance for your responses.

[Anonymous]

Hi there. I was admitted to the hospital with PTL at 28 weeks and was given procardia to stop dialation and contractions. I am now at 31 weeks, fingertip dialated, and am still taking procardia 4 times per day, and am also on modified bed rest. I have another doc appointment tomorrow, but so far, the combo of drugs/rest seems to be working for me.

The side effects are worse when you first start taking it...it made me jittery and a bit wired / insomniatic / shaky. But I seem to have adjusted now, and notice fewer side effects if I take it with food. Since this is my first baby, I don't know what impact it could have on the baby...I hope none, but you never know. Whatever the outcome, I am sure the benefits of taking the drug outweigh the risks of having a micropreemie at 27 or 28 weeks. Every day matters! I just trust my doctors will do what's best. Gotta keep the bun in the oven as long as possible.

I would be interested in hearing others' experiences as well. I've heard procardia is the lesser of the evils when it comes to PTL drugs.

[Anonymous]

I've been taking Procardia since 29 weeks (I'm now 35 weeks). No side effects on my end. I too don't like taking medications - but figure it's better than the alternative. From what I've read it doesn't seem like there are adverse reactions/impacts to the baby. I still have days where I get contractions more than is recommended (usually 1 day every 10 days or so). Usually on those days I make sure I'm drinking a LOT of water and go to bed and just stay there as long as I can.

I take it only once per day - my prescription is for 30 mg.

[Anonymous]

I am not sure what the long term effects are but the long term effects of having a baby at 28 weeks can be devastating. I had to take meds from week 23 to stop labor, I had a beautiful healthy baby boy 3 weeks early instead of 17 weeks early. For that I am forever grateful for my doctor prescribing me this med. My neighbor had a baby at 28 weeks, lots and lots of lifelong problems, too many to list here. Take the medicine and be happy about it. You can not worry about everything that may happen, just do what you can now to keep your baby healthy and that means staying pregnant!

[Anonymous]

FYI, *all* of the drugs they prescribe to stop pre-term labor are used "off label." In other words, uses not specifically FDA-approved. THe drugs were all developed for some other use, and someone figured out that they would stop contractions somewhere along the line. But these drugs have been widely used, and IMO, the risks of having a pre-term baby are far greater than possible risks from the medication. There's quite a bit of good info on the internet (look for real medical studies & websites), and you should sit down and talk to your doctor about your concerns. Good luck - I know it's a scary-feeling situation.

[Anonymous]

I know this was written some time ago, but am also looking for others experiences. I was given a rx for this today to stop pre term labor, however, in my case, my blood pressure is already very low. After reading the side effects of this, I was somewhat concerned that perhaps I shouldn't take it given my pressure levels already. Since it is a blood pressure reducer, my side effects seem a little scary to me! My Dr. seemed unconcerned but I am still very hesitant. My contractions have not been causing any cervix ripening or dilation, although, they are very uncomfortable and cause me anxiety, the baby has been doing fine. I've been having contractions un-medicated for about 10 weeks already. I'm trying to figure out if I should just continue on dealing with them and hope that they suddenly don't start real labor or take the drugs. I am 32 weeks along and this same thing happened with my first baby - although, I was prescribed Terbutaline and my DD came at 37 weeks.

[Anonymous]

I took Terbutaline (via pump) with my first from 26 weeks until 36, delivering him only 48 hours after I stopped the Terb. I am now 28 weeks along with #2 and started having PTL last week (despite taking Prometrium since 18 weeks). My doctor gave me the option of taking Terb again or taking Procardia. I chose Procardia because the side-effects are so minor compared with Terb. Although I do already have low blood pressure, the medicine did not seem to lower my blood pressure much when I was being observed in the hospital. Also, although this is 100% anecdotal, my first child has some language/attention problems and there are websites out there linking Terb to those issues, so I just thought I'd steer clear of it this time around. And, to address the post about taking meds verses not taking anything, if you're experiencing PTL it's my opinion that you should take something to stop it. While it may not be changing your cervix yet, if left untreated it inevitably will (how long that takes may vary from one woman to another). Even though my son has some language and attention issues, I know that those are much more minor than what he would have experienced had he been born at 26 weeks. It is just critical for the baby to stay inside as long as possible. The benefits far outweight the risks. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I took Procardia from week 29 to week 35. I started to dialate to 1 cm and have contractions at 29 weeks. Was diagnosed with an irritable uterus. I did not want to take the medication, but to me the benefits far outweighed the risks of having a premature baby in the NICU with developmental problems. I had no trouble with the med at all, but was taking low doses (10 mg every 6 hours). The procardia combined with modified bedrest did the job. I made it to 38 weeks, and delivered a healthy baby girl. I did notice a spike in my blood pressure after I went off the drug...but it has since evened out again.

[Anonymous]

To the poster at 1/8 -- my situation is somewhat similar. They put me on Procardia at 25 weeks after a several-day bout of painful contractions that had my cervix shortened and open 1 cm. The Procardia seemed to stop the initial bout of contractions, but long-term wasn't clearly making a difference. Meanwhile, thanks to some health problems that include low blood pressure, the Procardia was making me feel rotten most of the time. Switched to a high-risk doc at 30 weeks, and she thought the amount of help from the Procardia wasn't worth the side effects.

Have only been off 1 week but have felt better overall. The contractions have gone up but there haven't been any more cervical changes. I still get nervous about the constant contractions (and they're often terribly uncomfortable, if not outright painful), but am finally starting to understand that contractions aren't a big deal, medically speaking, in the absence of cervical changes. Just have to suck it up, take the contractions, and hope they don't lead to anything bigger too soon.

But on the original poster's point, even with the side effects I suffered (and I don't believe it should harm the baby, but probably even then), I would still do the Procardia again. As others have mentioned, any number of side effects are still a better outcome than a very early pre-term baby!