I have a cold, mostly stuffy/runnny nose. I took dayquil earlier and just now I took some benadryl but it's not working! and I just googled both of these things and i cant really find too much on dayquil, and all it says about benadryl is not to use long-term while breastfeeding. what can i take that will work?? the dayquil worked but after i took it my sister said i shouldnt have taken it because it has a stimulant in it???? I dont know. help me! thanks
As far as I know, you can't really take anything orally, beyond lemon tea. Cough drops are a no, as well as cough syrups. My friend with twin 8 month olds was told she could take some at night after the night feeding as long as she dumped the first milk of the day... but her boys were sleeping through the night by that point. So, vitamin C and lemon tea? I've had a really bad sore throat, sinus/chest cold. I've been rubbing vapor rub on my back (as not to burn the baby while he feeds) and drinking hot lemon tea with honey. It's getting better, but not as fast as it would if I were taking the drugs!
Nearly ALL Medications are fine while breastfeeding. Benadryl, taken "long term" (meaning every few hours for years) used to be beleived to "dry up your milk" but the breast isn't a mucous producing membrane, so occasional use is ABSOLUTELY FINE. With the exception of Chemotherapy drugs and Lithium and Statin drugs, nearly everything in the US (and Canadian) pharmacopia are fine for breastfeeding. Guess who has the WOST information on drugs and breastfeeding? Pharmacists. The PDR (Physicians Desk Reference) is terrible for breastfeeding advice, as ALL the breastfeeding advice in that book (and in the "inserts" that come with medications) were written not by Lactation Consultants, but by lawyers. Drug companies not only worry more about getting sued that what is best for your baby, most drug companies MAKE formula and will make more money by scaring you into not breastfeeding. On average, a womyn takes 5 to 10 prescription drugs in two years of breastfeeding.(And probably more OTC drugs than that.) There are just things that you need to treat, or you can't take care of your baby. Go ahead and take the Nyquil if you want. There is NO REASON to dump milk for most commonly used drugs. None at all. The tiny, nearly undetecable amount of milk that MAY (or may not) get into your milk is less of a danger to her than formula and bottle, and the nipple confusion which follows taking a baby off the breast and using a bottle for even a few feedings in the long run. As for people who say "Why take a chance?" I wouldn't "take a chance" on that stuff in a can, unless it was my ONLY alternative. If you have milk in your breasts and your are sick, take the meds and nurse as normal. Dr Thomas Hale is a Pharmacologist who has writtent the best and most quoted informaotion on drugs and milk, and very few he has found to have problems.
From the Mass. Breastfeeding Coalition: Medications and Breastfeeding Most medications are safe in breastfeeding but a few are not. It is rare that a woman needs to stop breastfeeding in order to take a drug. Nonetheless, sometimes doctors are not completely familiar with the most current information on medications and breastfeeding. If you are unsure, please refer to either to Thomas Hale's book, Medications and Mothers' Milk, last updated in 2006, or to the American Academy of Pediatrics list of drug safety in breastfeeding, or to the National Library of Medicine’s free, accurate service, LactMed, released in April 2006. (Or talk to a International Board Certified Lactation Consultant or a Medical Liasion La Leche League Leader. MS.) The AAP lists drugs only by their generic names. The AAP list is extensive, but is not a complete list of every drug. It is updated every few years, most recently in 2001. If a drug is not listed, it does not mean it's not safe, only that it was not reviewed yet by AAP. Click Here to view the AAP’s policy and drug listing. (Both Benadryl and Nyquil have been "Approved" by the AAP for use by breastfeeding womyn with NO restrictions regarding pumping and dumping. For the most part, only chemo and a small number of other drugs require the antiquated "Pump and Dump" Ritual. There is rarely a reason to do this, ever.) Medications and Mothers' Milk is considered by many people to be the most complete and authoritative resource. It includes some drugs not reviewed by the AAP. This book also lists the AAP's rating on each drug which AAP has reviewed. Hospitals and doctors' offices should have access to this book, which is available in paperback, through http://www.ibreastfeeding.com. This book is updated frequently, most recently in 2006.
I took Sudafed and Claritin while BFing my son, with his pediatrician's approval. No reason to pump and dump for OTC cold meds!
I personally cannot take sudafed or benadryl (have a bad reaction/sensitivity to those particular meds). The only decongestant that ever worked for me is the one they don't sell any more because it was giving people strokes or something. What I do when I get stuffed up is put a pot of water on the back burner of the stove on low, add a few drops of eucalyptus oil and a couple menthol crystals to it. Turns the whole house into a cough-drop, and really helps clear the nasal passages. Airborne also seems to help a lot, if I start drinking it at the first signs I might be getting sick. You can check on any medication in Dr. Hale's book, as Maggie suggested. You can also search his website for info, or call any LC to look it up for you. Nobody else knows more about medications in mother's milk than he does.
it's safer than Vick's Vapo Rub or whatever it's called. My kids don't mind, not even when they were babies. Having a painful, stuffed up nose is much worse.
For those too weirded out for a neti pot (like I am) there is a saline areosol nasal spray. All that is in it is saline water. It shoots way into your nose, and then runs out. It isn't a little bottle that you squeeze, it actually SHOOTS the water up, gently, but better than you can get with Ocean or one of those. So, until I can get up the nerve to use a Neti Pot (I gag really easily, so I just can't bring myself to do it) the saline mist stuff is great for me.
