How Lifestyle Affects Breast
Milk
Medications
Always talk with your doctor before taking any medications.
Most medications pass into your milk in small amounts. If you take medication
for a chronic condition such as high blood pressure, diabetes or asthma, your
medication may already have been studied in breastfeeding women, so you should
be able to find information to help you make an informed decision with the help
of your doctor. Newer medications and medications for rare disorders may have
less information available. The American Academy of Pediatrics has information
about many prescription and over-the-counter medications posted on their web
site at: http://www.aap.org/.
In general, when breastfeeding it is safe to take:
- acetaminophen (like Tylenol)
- antibiotics
- epilepsy medications (although one, Primidone, should be taken with caution - talk
with your doctor about this drug)
- most antihistamines
- moderate amounts of caffeine (remember
there is caffeine in soda and in chocolate)
- decongestants
- ibuprofen (like Advil)
- insulin
- quinine
- thyroid medicines
- progestin-only birth control pills (the "mini-pill")
Medications that are not safe to take when breastfeeding:
Some drugs can be taken by a nursing mother if she stops breastfeeding
for a few days or weeks. She can pump her milk and discard it during this time
to keep up her supply. During this time, the baby can drink her previously frozen
breast milk or formula. These drugs include radioactive
drugs used for some diagnostic tests like Gallium-67, Copper 64,
Indium 111, Iodine 123, Iodine125, Iodine-131, radioactive sodium, or Technetium-99m,
antimetabolites,
and a few cancer
chemotherapy agents.
There are drugs that if new mothers have to take them, they
need to choose between taking them or breastfeeding.
Some of these drugs that should never be taken while
breastfeeding include:
- Bromocriptine (Parlodel) - a drug for
Parkinson's disease, it also decreases a woman's milk supply.
- Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, and
most chemotherapy drugs for cancer - these drugs kill cells in the mother's
body and may harm the baby.
- Ergotamine (for migraine headaches); Methotrexate (for arthritis); and Cyclosporine (for severe arthritis and psoriasis, aplastic anemia, Crohn's disease, kidney disease, and for after organ transplant surgery).
Drugs whose effects on nursing infants is not known but may be cause
for concern include:
- Antianxiety drugs - Alprazolam,
Diazepam, Lorazepam, Midazolam, Perphenazine, Prazepam, Quazepam, Temazepam.
- Antidepressant drugs - Amitriptyline,
Amoxapine, Bupropion, Clomipramine, Desipramine, Dothiepin, Doxepin,
Fluoxetine, Fluvoxamine, Imipramine, Nortriptyline, Paroxetine, Sertraline,
Trazodone.
- Antipsychotic drugs - Chlorpromazine Galactorrhea, Chlorprothixene, Clozapine, Haloperidol, Mesoridazine, Trifluoperazine.
Other drugs - Amiodarone, Chloramphenicol, Clofazimine, Lamotrigine, Metoclopramide,
Metronidazole, Tinidazole.
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