Breastfeeding and cloramphenicol?

[RadoxBabyBel]

Hi all - wondering if anyone can give me some quick advice. I have pretty bad conjunctivitis. Went to chemist who gave me Cloramphenicol ointment. I have just read the back of the packet and says not to use whilst breastfeeding. DD is 11 months old, so still has a couple of feeds a day. Anyone know why it advises not to use whilst BF? Thanks a million!

Check on the Breastfeeding Network.
They have info on what is actually ok and what isn't as pretty much everything says do not use when bfing, yet many things are ok.

well my son was prescribed it at all of three weeks, so i reckon you're OK. kellymom is good for information too.

i think that Hale (author of medication and mother's milk) advises against it actually. I can't for the life of me remember why, but someone posted about it before

personally i would see if you could get an alternative

Do please double-check with someone. I was told that i couldn't use it, as it passes into the milk and affects baby's bone development (or something similar - it was a few years ago) It was ok to use it on a baby's eyes as it wasn't ingested.
However, breastmilk is amazingly good at curing conjuntivitis - put some on some cotton wool to clean your eye with.

I had conjunctivitis last December. Spoke to the pharmacist, who recommended something called 'Golden Eye' or something similar. For some reason she advised against the ointment and gave me drops. She double-checked it in the book to be sure. The first thing she recommended couldn't be used. In the event I didn't use it as often as recommended and I actually used breast milk as well.

But, please do check with someone before you use it!

Thanks all. Going to call nhs direct!

The prescribing information for chloramphenicol eye drops states that there is no information about its use in pregnancy or during bf. So I doubt that NHS Direct will be able to help much.

They were actually helpful: apparently Cloramphenicol eye ointment OR drops should NOT be used - they can cause vomiting and other things in the infant apparently, so I am to discontinue use and ask Dr for an alternative. Thjanks for all responses"

And - in case it is useful for anyone in the future, I have been prescribed a safe alternative called Fucithalmic.