Hyperemesis Gravidarum Support and Research Forums

Hi,

I am 7 weeks pregnant and have been having terrible nausea and vomiting. Yesterday I must have thrown up 20 times and by the end of the day, I threw up blood. I have already lost 6 pounds and was slender to begin with. I called my doctor and he prescribed compazine. I am really scared to take it because I read about all of the side effects. He said it's perfectly safe but it really concerns me. Has anyone ever tried compazine?

Thanks.

I didn't try it. There have been several HG women here who have not had good results and have had some not-so-fun side effects. Can you ask him for Zofran? It really is the best thing out there to treat HG.

In my first pregnancy I was prescribed Compazine and did not take it for fear of birth defects. With my second pregnancy my doctor prescribed Phenergan and it worked wonderfully once I got up the guts to start taking it. I asked why she had not prescribed Compazine and she said Phenergan had proven safer. With my most recent pregnancy I asked for Zofran because of all the info. on this site but with my copay it is $91.00 for 12 pills. We can't afford that so I called and asked for the Phenergan. I am on that and I do not have any side affects from the suppositories except that I have to keep myself from pooping for 30 to 60 minutes after I insert one. It has been a miracle for me with HG.

With respect to Compazine: "Although studies have not been done in pregnant women, some side effects, such as jaundice and movement disorders, have occurred in a few newborns whose mothers received phenothiazines during pregnancy. Studies in animals have shown that, when given to the mother during pregnancy, these medicines can decrease the number of successful pregnancies and cause problems with bone development in the offspring. Before taking this medicine, make sure your doctor knows if you are pregnant or if you may become pregnant.", Taken from http://www.drugs.com/cons/Compazine.html.

I found a few other sites where possible affects to the fetus were mentioned.

I found no such information with respect to Phenergan. Just that it is unknown if it causes side-affects.

There are several anti-emetic drugs that belong to a class called "phenothiazines." Compazine and Phenergan both belong to this class. A number of people will have adverse reactions to phenothiazines, the worst being something called extrapyramidal reaction, which is basically when your muscles tighten and contract, and if severe enough, can cause respiratory arrest. The most common reaction is severe anxiety and muscle twitching, but since it can progress to the more serious reaction, it is necessary to get treatment right away. Usually treatment is a hefty dose of Benadryl, taken for a couple of days until the phenothiazine clears the system.

Now, the interesting thing is, that even though Phenergan belongs to this class of drug, it has a slight difference in its chemical structure that makes it much LESS likely to cause extrapyramidal reactions. I myself have ended up in the ER with an extrapyramidal reaction after a single dose of Compazine, but was able to take Phenergan without any problem many times. The exception was in one pregnancy where I had been taking Phenergan round the clock for several weeks, and started to get vague muscle twitching, so knew it was time to call it a day and move on to something else.

I think that many doctors and nurses are unable to recognize adverse reactions to phenothiazines until they get extreme. I know this is true, because I was a nurse for many years and have watched countless patients complain of "anxiety" only to have the doc or nurse pat them on the shoulder and say "relax." Only when their tongue is hanging out of their mouth does the medical staff scratch their heads and say "hmmm, what medicine do you suppose could have caused that?" So when I hear doctors saying that Compazine is perfectly safe and not to worry, my guess is that they have tons of patients out there who are feeling slightly on edge (or maybe not so slightly!) but the doctors are not making the connection, or perhaps they have no clue in the first place of what the patient is feeling.

Many people do just fine on Compazine. I just think that Phenergan works just as well, is just as safe, and has fewer side effects, so why bother with Compazine??? If you do decide to try it, just be on the lookout for feelings of anxiety, restlessness, muscle twitching, or anything that doesn't feel right. Good luck.

I took compazine with my first pregnancy and my eyes rolled up in the back of my head and my head turned to one side. It was very weird. Luckily I was in the hospital at the time and they just gave me a shot of benedryl and I was ok in about twenty minutes.

Hi-

I can relay my experience w/compazine. Firstly, my NP prescribed it for me, but the pharmacist basically refused to dispense it to me! I dropped the fact that Zofran had worked before (my NP thought it was no longer covered by my HMO) so I ended up getting that instead. However, two months later I did have compazine in via IV. I think it helped slightly and I didn't have any side effects other than diarrhea. I have had a bad reaction to Phenergan (it's in the same class of drugs) which made my BP drop & it too gave me diarrhea.

It is a class C drug- and I think there are better options out there (Phenergan is used much more commonly than the Compazine) even though it probably is safe.