Dee asked
Is it safe to take Reeses pinworm medicine when 5 weeks pregnant?
Answer
Reese's pinworm medication contains pyrantel pamoate, an over the counter anthelmintic medication, used to treat pinworm infections. It can also be used to treat roundworm and hookworm infections.
Using Pyrantel Pamoate While Pregnant
Pyrantel pamoate is classified in pregnancy category C, which means that there are no well controlled studies of use in pregnant women. However, pyrantel pamoate is very poorly absorbed from the GI tract and the majority of the drug is excreted from our bodies unchanged.
Sources differ when it comes to recommendations for use of pyrantel pamoate while pregnant.
Some sources suggest that one time dosing of pyrantel may be given to pregnant women safely, due to poor absorption of the drug. Other sources however, recommend caution due to the lack of studies on effects in pregnant women.
The general consensus is to treat pinworm infections with pyrantel pamoate while pregnant only when necessary. Pinworm infections are generally considered not harmful, but of course can cause issues such as weight loss, itching and sleeplessness, which may be necessary to treat.
If using a pinworm treatment while pregnant, pyrantel pamoate is preferred. Other therapy options, such as mebendazole and albendazole, are generally not recommended in pregnant patients.
It is important to not treat suspected pinworm infections until seeing and getting a recommendation from your doctor if you are pregnant.
Treatment Of Pinworm Infections
Treatments for pinworm (Enterobius vermiculari) infections include:
- Mebendazole
- Albenza (albendazole)
- Pyrantel pamoate (Pin-X, Reese's Pinworm Medication)
Per the Centers For Disease Control (CDC), all the above medications are effective for treatment and should be dosed once, with a repeat dose in two weeks. Repeat dosing is important to suppress reinfection from pinworm eggs as the medications don't reliably eliminate pinworm eggs.
It is commonly recommended that if more than one member of a household is diagnosed with pinworms, everyone living in the house should be treated to reduce the chances of cross-infection and re-infection.
With pyrantel pamoate specifically, it is very well tolerated but can cause the following side effects:
- Abdominal pain
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Increased liver enzymes
Summary
- Pyrantel pamoate (Pin-X, Reese's Pinworm Medication) is pregnancy category C.
- Pyrantel pamoate treatment while pregnant is the preferred treatment option for pinworms but should not be used unless recommended by your doctor.
