Clarinex-D and Pregnancy: An Overview
Clarinex-D® (
desloratadine and pseudoephedrine) is considered a pregnancy Category C medicine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which means that it has not been studied in pregnant women. However, studies on pregnant animals suggest that
Clarinex-D could potentially cause harm to your unborn child.
During testing with animals, Clarinex® did not show any potential for birth defects; however, Clarinex-D did cause a slowing down of fetal weight gain with extremely high doses (50 times the recommended amounts). No problems with weight were seen at the recommended doses. It is important to note that animals do not always respond to medicines the same way that humans do.
Clarinex-D and Pregnancy Category C
The FDA uses a category system to classify the possible risks to a fetus when a specific medicine is taken during pregnancy.
Pregnancy Category C is given to medicines that show side effects to the fetus in animal studies but for which no human studies in pregnant women have been done. A pregnancy Category C medicine may still be given to pregnant women if the healthcare provider believes that the benefits to the mother outweigh the possible risks to the unborn child.
If you are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant while taking Clarinex-D, let your healthcare provider know. He or she will consider both the benefits and risks of Clarinex-D during pregnancy before making a recommendation for your particular situation. It is possible that he or she may recommend switching to an
allergy medicine that is a pregnancy Category B drug, such as
Zyrtec®.
