BEWARE OF HAYFEVER PILLS!!!!

[sagarika]

it might be just me who didnt know about it. those hayfever tablets, zirtek,piritez etc contain lactose in them. bad bad bad for breast feeding mums who have babies with milk allergy. i have very bad hayfever, so been taking these tablets without checking the ingredients, and my poor ds's eczema got worse(i breast feed my 10 month old ds who has cmp allergy).after about a week of taking these tablets i realised my mistake. i feel terrible. thought i should warn you mummies who could be in a similar situation

um, pretty bad to take when breastfeeding anyway, I think!

An awful lot of medication contains lactose as an ingredient...

It's a good idea to check the ingredients of any medications that you take. As nellymoo says, many medications contain lactose.

However, not all antihimstamines cause a problem when breastfeeding. Lots of them do say on the leaflet that they should not be taken by breastfeeding mothers, but this often just means that the drugs companies have not bothered to fund research into the effects on babies/breastfeeding, so have not included this in their licence.

Here's some information about antihistamines while breastfeeding (from the Breastfeeding Network's Drugs in Breastmilk Helpline).: www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/pdfs/Antihistamines_and_Breastfeeding_March_2009.pdf

sorry, hours later, but have realised that my last post sounded really wrong. You shouldn't blame yourself!! Milk protein gets into so many things, and it is a rare mummy who never makes a mistake. hope your DS is feeling better.

my ds's allergy specialist said it was fine for me to take cetrizine but he never told me that it may contain lactose. i am not blaming him, i should have checked before popping them in my mouth.

Thanks for this post sagarika, I had no idea. I am currently pg and this will be useful when bf dc2. I took cetirizine when bf DD but we have only recently been told about the cwp allergy so at the time I was oblivious what was causing her her bad eczema. Hope you find a lactose free antihistamine, please post if you do. Thanks.

Greenbananas - lactose is not milk protein, it is milk sugar. Big difference.
In fact, OP - if your DS has CMP allergy and not lactose intolerance, the lactose should make little difference to him as well - lactose intolerance and CMP allergy are entirely different mechanisms.
Lactose intolerance is due to a lack of the enzyme lactase, which digests lactose in the gut.
CMP allergy is, as stated, an allergic/immune response to a proteing in cows'
milk - completely different.

It is fairly important to understand the difference.

this is the list from this website www.brightonandhovepct.nhs.uk/healthprofessionals/clinical-areas/prescribing/resources/documents/LactoseFreeMedicinesRPSGB.pdf of lactose free antihistamines and emergency allergy treatments.

This list may be helpful as a whole document for anyone with CMP allergy or a child with one.

3.4: Antihistamines, hyposensitisation, and allergic emergencies
3.4.1: Antihistamines
Telfast tablets (fexofenadine)
3.4.2: Allergen Immunotherapy
3.4.3: Allergic emergencies
3.5: Respiratory stimulants and pulmonary surfactants
3.5.1: Respiratory stimulants
3.5.2: Pulmonary surfactants
3.6: Oxygen
3.7: Mucolytics
Erdotin capsules (erdosteine)

OK, thanks to thumbwitches description I see the list will be helpful for those with lactose/dairy intolerance allergy NOT CMP. Hope it helps still though.

Thumbwitch - I do know that lactose is a sugar and that lactose intolerance is a very different thing to CMP allergy. However, lactose is purified from cow's milk and may contain impurities including milk protein.

DS is severely CMP allergic (anaphylactic) and I know I would not take medication containing lactose while breastfeeding him.

The other part of my original post was in response to nellymoo, about whether or not it is safe to take antihistamines while breastfeeding. Some breastfeeding mums are told they are not allowed to use hayfever remedies...

Yep, we were told quite clearly (CMP allergic DD) to avoid anything containing Lactose by DD's specialist, for the reason Greenbananas gives.

This was after I realised it was in the mini-pill I took whilst breastfeeding...Though it was deemed to be in such a small amount that it was a necessary evil. I'm not sure, as I was so careful with everything else I ate, but it did make me feel guilty unless there was a cumulative effect. Who knows!

It's a worry though (as if we don't all do that enough!) that medication might trigger a reaction.

Oh dear, I'm confused and greenbananas knows that doesn't take much for me

Anyhoo, take a look at my link, it gives the 'safe' lactose free meds. Handy to use when seeing your GP to ask for an alternative. I would imagine they're more expensive to prescribe, but worth it I would think.

youarekidding, that's a really useful list!

That is fair enough, greenbananas, but it wasn't clear from what you originally posted. However, it's very useful information to have been clarified.

hayfever tablets that don't contain lactose are telfast as I'm lacrosse and sugar intollerant. I'm on special fodmap diet as have ibs

sorry lactose

yes telfast (fexofenadine) tablets do not contain lactose, or u could use the liquid antihistamine rather than the tablets.

greenbananas

I think it would cost an astonomical amount to fund that research plus the insurance costs. Not to mention the difficulty of getting it through an ethics committee.

It would put the price of hayfever medication up to an extortionate amount.

I can't see where you would get your study group from. I cant imagine anyone would volunteer on a large enough scale to get reliable data.

Wow, this is an old thread!

Yes, littlefrogs, I can see why getting people to volunteer for a study group might be a problem.

However, sometimes the evidence is already available, and drug companies just don't include breastfeeding mothers in the their licences, for reasons that I don't really understand.

The Breastfeeding Network has a Drugs in Breastmilk helpline (0844 412 4665) which is 'manned' by a pharmacist who gives advice about whether or not various medications are safe for breastfeeding mothers to take. She basically calculates how much gets into breastmilk and whether or not that is a safe dose for a baby.

The most ridiculous example I can think of is a topical medication for thrush that I was supposed to put on my nipples. The leaflet accompanying this cream (can't remember what it was, micanazole or something like that) said that it should not be used by breastfeeding mothers - but the active ingredient was exactly the same as the one in the medicine that I had been prescribed to give directly to my baby. The doctor said I should ignore the leaflet!

here is a link to the Breastfeeding Network's factsheet about antihistamines while breastfeeding.

It says that some antihistamines can make babies drowsy and miss feeds, but that non-sedating antihistamines such as Loratadine and Cetirizine are fine (and are available as paediatric syrups anyway).

It doesn't mention lactose though. I guess the only way of finding out if the lactose in the tablets is derived from milk (i.e. may contain traces of milk protein) would be to contact the drug companies. However, I should think the amount of protein that gets into the baby via breastmilk would be pretty tiny.

Oh - I didn't realise it was such an old thread!