painkillers... c-section..

[dabihp]

Hi

Just read another thread on here about allergies and breastfeeding, bf is supposed to protect from allergies, right?

I had a c-section(was knocked out due to epidural not workign!) with dd and when i came round was pumped full of drugs - as you are- and was on painkillers for about 2 months... I managed to bf for about 6 weeks and then half n half for a while, but my dd has an egg allergy and eczema and is sensitive to qite a lot...

Just wondering if breast really is best (preggers at mo') if you are so full of drugs all the time??

i dont think the drugs would be continual given to you if the were considered harmdful to a baby.
i know after my c-section the heavy doses were for the first 3 days then a reduced amt til day 7 or so and then regular painkillers.
if you were on them for 2 months it seems a bit long imo.

yes, i was on painkillers for about 2 mnths, might have been longer.... how long did u take them for??

about 10days , then panadeine whenever i needed it but to be honest it was sore but i just bore it, as i was concerned about ds & dd being affected.
what did your hv say at the time

2 months sounds a bit odd. Had C-Section as well and left the hospital on the fifth day armed with a week's suply of Distalgesic and Voltarol. Was told to take the Voltarol only if I could manage it and to avoid the Distalgesic as there can be side effects. Had onset of mastitis and dreadful headache and took the Distalgesic which resulted in abdominal pains more painful than the C-Section!! Horrid.

I know the drugs I was given post-section (voltrol aka diclofenac and co-codamol aka paracetamol and codeine) do not go into breastmilk. They're safe enough that I've taken both in later breastfeeding: voltrol for a soft tissue injury - it's a serious anti-inflammatory, co-codamol to help me sleep when I'm suffering bad colds etc.

Morphine is often given after a section, but it does go into your milk.

Meant to add, your body protects the baby from a lot of things in your diet, so breast is almost always better, even if you're taking drugs. And of course many post-section drugs don't go through at all.

Acually I was on co-codamol, and it DOES pass into breast milk... (google it!)

Section took forever to heal and pain killers were essential.. and the doctor prescribed them in abundance so i thought nothing of taking them...

co-codamol has Codiene in it, which is an opiate, which is similar to morphine and heroin?

I would take probiotics for the last trimester (and then during breastfeeding)if I was pregnant again. There has been research that shows that it helps with allergies.

I didn't have any painkillers during his birth, and my ds is allergic to egg, peanut, banana, avocado, latex and has eczema.

Current thinking is exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months is the best thing you can do for an allergic child. It's impossible to know how much worse ds would have been had I not done this (if at all obviously).

I'm still bfing at 2 years and I have had my share of codeine (and some morphine), I still think that the advantages of bfing outweigh the tiny amount that gets through into the milk. After all if a baby had an operation they would use these drugs.

I think about my dd1 who was not breastfed and at 8 weeks old underwent two open heart surgeries - the recovery time saw all sorts of drugs pumped through her... She has no allergies etc.

In the Uk - first c-section I was sent home with all sorts of drugs - did not take them as I did not really need them.

In Aus - I had a Patient controlled epidural drip in my back for the first day and then given some painkillers the next day and then I was on paracetemol .. which does not pass through the breast milk. I also took arnica ( natural ) for the bruising and to aid healing - am sure that helped with a quicker recovery 2nd time round.

dabihp: I just did google it, to find many references saying either it was ok, or that it may pass into breast milk in tiny quantities, but that with normal clinical doses, it is not believed to be a problem with babies. If you're addicted and taking more than you're meant to, it might be.

I know codeine is an opiate, but that doesn't mean it behaves exactly the same as all other opiates.