Hay fever relief whilst breastfeeding

[Puddingsmummy]

I'm so sick of waking up in the early hours with my nose streaming and eyes itching. I've tried prevalin allergy nasal spray but it's useless.

Has anyone tried anything that's worked? I'm breastfeeding so bit worried.

I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head, but the Breastfeeding Network (are they Breastfeeding Together now?) run a free drugs in breast milk help line, operated by a pharmacist with oodles of knowledge about what you can take while breastfeeding (which is far more than any normal HCP would have you believe!) I’d always go to this first with any drug queries as many normal pharmacists, doctors etc will default to ‘don’t take anything’ to cover their arses.

Thank you, I've messaged these on Facebook!

I’ve been taking cetirizine as normal

www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/medicines/can-i-take-hay-fever-medicine-if-i-am-breastfeeding/

My hayfever has been awful this year, waking up during the night gasping for breath. A week ago I started putting a little Vaseline in each nostril and I’m 99% better! I’m so happy and hope it helps you too

Sleep with closed windows, wash your hair before bed, change clothes when you get in from outside. It's a pain, but I find eliminating the actual trigger from my house as far as possible works best to let me sleep.

Do what @forkfun said. Also wear sun glasses whenever you leave the house.

cetirizine or loratadine are both fine

if really bad, nasal steroid spray (beconase etc) would be fine.

GP has told me loratadine fine so used it all last summer with no probs

Thanks for this thread @Puddingsmummy and to @ElphabaTheGreen for mentioning The Breastfeeding Network who I'd never heard of despite getting quite a bit of breastfeeding help in the first couple of months.

Here is their fact sheet on hay fever drugs

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/wp-content/dibm/hayfever%20and%20breastfeeding%20june%202018%20%281%29.pdf

Crikey I dont get time to wash my hair twice a week let alone everyday with a little baby 😂

That website looks really good, it's just scary taking any meds when breastfeeding

I was told loratadine was fine when expressing for dd1 when she was in NICU. Plus the milk bank were ok with it as well. . Unfortunately fexofendine is the only one that really works for me and there isn't much data on that

I was able to take cetirizine as normal whilst breastfeeding

BFN drugs in breastmilk service is amazing. Run by Dr Wendy Jones, who is a PhD pharmacist and is the most knowledgeable person ever on this subject! The sheets are v useful if needing to get a GP to prescribe something - GPs often know little to nothing about BF

Fexafenadine is what I take but it's prescription only. The year ds was two my hay fever was horrendous and that's what the GP prescribed as nothing else was working. Sodium chromoglycate eye drops and beconase nasal spray too. I take a cocktail of drugs for various things and all are fine when bfing. Hope you get sorted. It's bloody miserable.

Sorry to hijack your thread OP but can I just ask @Motherof3feminists about Fexofenadine - just to clarify did your GP say that was fine to take whilst breastfeeding?

I was prescribed this last summer and it is the only thing that has ever worked but my GP asked me whether I was still feeding DS1 and I assumed therefore it wasn't safe to take whilst feeding. I wasn't feeding then, but I am now feeding DS2 (they are only 20 months apart) and I've assumed I can't take it, but if I can that would be great as I'm suffering!

Well I'm on my third season of taking it whilst still feeding ds so I'm hoping so! Check the breastfeeding network for info.

Thanks, maybe I've got an over cautious GP!

More likely clueless about bfing. Mine said no to fluoxetine even though I'd had it when ds was much younger. I had to send him the info from the bfing network.