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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Breast feed on prozac or bottle feed? which is preferable?

9 replies

raddichio · 03/05/2009 20:29

I can't get a straight answer from anyone. I'm on 40mg prozac and I want to b/f my baby. But not if it's going to put the baby at risk of anything adverse.

Does anyone have any advice?

OP posts:
weaselm4 · 03/05/2009 20:31

Hi raddichio, I was on 20mg after I had my son and my GP advised me not to breastfeed. Sorry. I don't think they know either way whether it affects the baby, but I guess it's best to err on the side of caution.

TotalChaos · 03/05/2009 20:34

5 years ago I was on 20mg Prozac and was pretty much encouraged to breastfeed by psychiatrist (who double checked with psych unit pharmacist) and obs/gynae consultant. I think these days they tend to prefer Sertraline for breastfeeding. As of 5 years ago I was told that the research they had on Prozac showed that tiny traces came through in the breastmilk, but they were so small they wouldn't affect a baby at all. Obviously my knowledge isn't up to date. May be worth e-mailing La Leche League.

thisisyesterday · 03/05/2009 20:36

breastfeeding.

thisisyesterday · 03/05/2009 20:38

take a look here they'll be able to give you an answer if you contact them

like totalchaos says I think sertraline is more usually recommended if you're going to breastfeed as it has a shorter half-life.

but the BFN people will know

Grendle · 03/05/2009 22:23

BfN factsheet on antidepressents seems to suggest that one school of thought is to change to an alternative 2 weeks before EDD, as the potential effects of prozac on a newborn aren't well understood. It might be worth calling them to discuss or researching your alternatives. Many women bf while taking antidepressants, it's a question of finding the right one usually. You can email or phone the BfN drugline if you want to explore the issues more fully .

LackaDAISYcal · 03/05/2009 22:39

I was taking 20mg prozac when pregnant and was set to change to sertraline post natally, all under the care of a perinatal psychiatrist. I've now increased my dose of sertraline and am on the equivalent of 30mg prozac per day.

DS2 was born in the wee small hours and his temperature dropped and he was a bit shuddery with low blood sugars, which the paeds thought was down to the prozac (although when I had my DD two years ago she never had any effects from it).

Anyhoo, the paeds, who had little understanding of BFing tried to tell me that I couldn't take any ADs and BF, inspite of the advice I was getting from the HCP who deals with pregnant and BFing women every day and my own research into it.....I stuck to my guns and started taking the sertraline as planned beforehand with my psychiatrist. I'm just glad that I was fully versed in it all as at four hours postnatal, tired and sore and wanting to sleep was not the best time for a fight with a paediatrician about how I should be feeding my child. If I hadn't done my research, or had I been younger and more impressionable, I would probably have been bullied into not breastfeeding.

From my expereince and research sertraline is the preferred drug for BFing as it gets through in limited amounts, but other ADs aren't ruled out and I know of lots of women who have BF whilst taking prozac, albeit at a slightly lower dose. The BfN druglsine is a fantastic resource. Please call them and get their latest advice on the matter, and also can you get a referral to a psych who deals with pregnant/post natal women or your local perinatal mental health service?

weaslem4, I think you may have been let down badly by your GP who should have researched suitable alternatives, or even researched that prozac isn't to be ruled out where BFing is concerned

TrinityIsLovingHerLittleRhino · 03/05/2009 22:45

I am on paroxetine, have been pg and bf twice on it

was changed from fluoxetine..

weaselm4 · 04/05/2009 20:13

I'm pleased to read that others have still been able to BF while taking ADs. My son was was born 3 years ago so perhaps things have moved on since then. I also had other issues which made BF difficult, so perhaps was best for me to FF at the time. Hope you get the support you need raddichio.

peppapighastakenovermylife · 04/05/2009 21:08

I took fluvoxamine (an Anti D but also prescibed for anti anxiety / OCD) both times. With DS (2.9 years) I waited until 12 weeks as I was convinced something terrible was going to happen - it didnt and I got better. With DD I started taking them when she was 7 days old and she is possibly one of the fattest, happiest least miserable babies on the planet loL!

There are plenty of anti d's you can take whilst breastfeeding and in terms of the effect of the drug on the baby it is almost always best to BF (with the ones recommended).

The usual reason some doctors dont want to prescribe them is that there havent been millions of studies on the effects - obviously you cant just give mums anti d's randomly to see what happens. However the studies that have existed have shown certain ones to be safe for bf babies and mums.

Hope you get the help you need xx

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