Meds to avoid handling while pregnant.

Zookeeper3 · Jun 11, 2010

i"m not trying to blow your post off and be general, but our pharmacy has labels with any med that can be "toxic if handled". These meds are for everyone, so possibly you can get the pharmacy to join in the joint commission standards of label warning to staff. This will save them from later issues. The "do not handle" ones from the literature I've briefly read, all cover pregnancy... they cover everyone.

Perhaps a facility policy change is needed to upgrade to the standards?

And congratulations... best of health for both of you:D

cb_rn · Jun 11, 2010

Are these meds that pregnant women can't handle at all or handle without gloves.

I have to be honest, I don't know. I don't know why I never bothered to ask of the pharmacists.

I handled them while pregnant, again, wearing gloves. But when I tear open meds in packets I tend to tear off the top and not ever touch the pill, I dump them straight into the cup still holding the bottom of the wrapper. Does that make sense? Hopefully that minimized any remote chance that I was coming in contact with any meds.

I'm so careful because in nursing school I was a dumba** and got nitro paste smeared all over my arm and didn't immediately wipe it off because I was doing some other task and you can probably guess what happened. Yeh, it was really embarassing to be a straight A student with no common sense.

I also gave tacrolimus and hung gangcivlovir (sp?) and gave cellcept. So did the other pregnant nurses on our stepdown floor. I'd kind of be afraid to know now if we really weren't supposed to come in contact with them at all because that would reflect kind of badly on our on-floor educators who were otherwise fabulous. Now that you ask that I'm wondering why none of us that were pregnant on that floor ever bothered to ask and just assumed it meant no bare hands handling

Walden-Puddle, RN · Jun 11, 2010

Finasteride is a big no-no for pregnancy or trying. From what I understand, even if you've handled it in the last few weeks you should not be trying to get pregnant in the interim because of known risks of severe birth defects. Highly teratogenic.

rich8ames · Jun 11, 2010

yea, I'm interested in this too. I heard no fish, is that all fish or just tuna?

also, can you still have a cat as long as you personally don't clean the liter box?

thanks!

Forever Sunshine, ASN, RN · Jun 11, 2010

Hydroxyurea. I checked today.

http://www.chemocare.com/bio/hydroxyurea.asp

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Jun 12, 2010

I also gave tacrolimus and hung gangcivlovir (sp?) and gave cellcept. So did the other pregnant nurses on our stepdown floor. I'd kind of be afraid to know now if we really weren't supposed to come in contact with them at all because that would reflect kind of badly on our on-floor educators who were otherwise fabulous. Now that you ask that I'm wondering why none of us that were pregnant on that floor ever bothered to ask and just assumed it meant no bare hands handling

I've never heard that tacrolimus can't be handled it pregnant. Out cellcept tablets and IV bags come up labeled as dangerous. All nurses are suppose to wear gown and gloves while handling it, and dispose of the IV bags like chemo.

Ganciclovir is most often used to treat CMV, which is a teatrogen, and then ganciclovir itself is as well.

FlashGrad · Jun 13, 2010

Thanks for all the responses. SkyDancer, that list is exactly what I was looking for!

Caffeine_IV · Jun 13, 2010

Good list skydancer. The only ones I knew offhand were methotrexate and thalidomide and those come labeled that you should not handle.

As another poster stated, I wear gloves to handle all pills anyway just because.

NeoNurseTX, RN · Jun 13, 2010

I know Bosentan...not supposed to split them because even the powder is bad.