Health concerns from ondansetron (Zofran)?

During my first Hg pregnancy, my OB GYN recommended I take Zofran and it was the only thing that allowed me to keep food down. I am currently eight weeks pregnant and I’ve taken Zofran a few times from what I had in my cabinet because I haven’t been able to see an OB yet. The pharmacist gave me Diclegis and highly recommended AGAINST using Zofran. She seemed pretty adamant that I do not take Zofran while pregnant and I was wondering if anybody else was told the same thing??? after googling side effects I’m not really sure if it’s really affected women and babies as much as she was making it sound. But I also feel like a pharmacist should know a lot more about drugs than an OB. Right?

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I’ve been taking ondansetron for a while now, my gp and midwife said it’s safe to keep taking for as long as I need to. I was worried too x

I took it throughout my entire pregnancy & everything was just fine.

I was on it for my whole pregnancy too. Babies were fine.

I have been on it my entire pregnancy and so far baby is thriving. My ob said the dehydration and starvation is worse for baby. I have had conflicted messages from pharmacists because they aren't trained in HG. They don't know as much as your OB.

I was told by my midwife there was one study which suggested a very slight increase in the chance your baby could have a cleft lip of you take ondansetron before 12 weeks of pregnancy, but no adverse affects were found if taken after 12 weeks. The chance of cleft lip was still incredibly low AND my HG was so horrific I had to make the decision to take the ondansetron anyway. My midwife did say only one study found this and there are no other studies which support it. In fact so far as I’m aware all other studies say ondansetron is 100% safe for the entire pregnancy. I think it’s nonsense for your pharmacist to recommend against it.

So I have been taking it for two weeks and it’s the only thing - it was a third line tablet and my GP said he hadn’t used it himself with a patient but he knew they used it in hospitals. I did my own research and my husband worked out that the % chance of cleft palate only increases 0.003 for taking it (in their study of 100,000 babies I think the typical percentage change was 0.011% vs 0.014% when taking it in first trimester) - the benefits have outweighed the risks for me as I was very concerned about the damage the dehydration could be causing.

*the only thing that has worked so far (in combination with two other medications)

I was prescribed it in the first trimester. There was previously a reported risk of heart defects but that has since been discounted. For me the benefits far outweigh the risks of untreated HG- and the studies looking into cleft lip also can’t be sure that the ondansetron is actually the cause, just that there was a very very small increased likelihood as Alex describes above. Absolutely a personal choice though. I’m now 35 weeks and still taking it daily with other drugs and baby is looking happy and healthy so far. Hope you feel better soon x

Thank you all! This is so reassuring. I couldn’t agree more that the lack of nutrients from not keeping food and water down is worse than taking Zofran. I even would take half a pill as sparingly as possible just to be safe too. The PA also recommended Raglan. Just trying to survive!

I took it all the way through my first, and all of this one so far, 2 pregnancies both fine. Doctors are really anxious because of liability, but for me it was a matter of life and death for the babies…. Look at ‘Pregnancy Sickness Support’ online they have a lot of data on it 👍🏼

I took zofran for a few weeks but then my obgyn told me she didn’t want me taking it, so I started taking dislegis and I really loved how dislegis made me feel . 🤞🏽🤎

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