help any pain medicine that is safe while breastfeeding?

[Krischaser]

Hi I broken my leg and am trying to find a pain medicine I can take while trying to breastfeed....any suggestions???Thanks

 

[locolala]

What did they give you at the doctors? Chances are good they gave you something that's safe... I take tylenol with codiene for severe back pain, and I'm 20 weeks pregnant.

 

[Eeyore's Wife]

Always talk to your primary health care provider.

In most, but not all women, tylenol is safe for use during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I was told to take Motrin instead of Tylenol while breastfeeding. But the best course of action is to ask your doctor.

 

[gabriellyn]

I was told to take Motrin instead of Tylenol while breastfeeding. But the best course of action is to ask your doctor.

I was also told Ibuprofen, but please check with your doctor.

 

[Lisa_M]

kellymom.com has a list of drugs by ingredient that are safe/not safe for breastfeeding. I used that to double check with what my doctor told me (because I wasn't certain I could trust her on this).

 

[creativeamanda]

I'd check with my doctor, but when I broke my elbow when I was breastfeeding, I was told by my OB/GYN (called him to make sure the primary care physician was right) to alternate 500mg of Tylenol every 4 hours and 800mg of Ibuprofen every 6 hours.

Get well soon--I had broken my left elbow and am left handed--it made breastfeeding difficult.

 

[Soulsearching]

PLEASE DO NOT TAKE ANY PAIN MEDICATION UNTIL YOU HAVE SPOKEN TO YOUR DOCTOR!

You are breastfeeding and must consult your physician first before taking anything.

Not this board.

I say this with the utmost concern for you and your baby.

 

[dis-happy]

Call your OB. And if you're in the ER and they don't know what to give you that's safe (what happened to my bf friend when she broke her ankle) have them call the OB/delivery dept. to ask. When I was b/f I never relied on my regular doctor for meds...always called the OB's office. They would just call in what I needed.

Hope you feel better soon.

 

[miknsusn]

Try calling your lactation consultant. If you don't have one, you can usually talk to one at the hospital where you delivered. They are very knowledgeable about this subject and quicker to get in touch with (often) than your doctor. Hope you are pain free soon!

 

[3boymthr]

Definitely call your dr or your pediatrician. If you can't get a hold of them call the OB ward at your local hospital. The nurses there are usually really really helpful. My cousin works labor and delivery and as she says well there's always someone here and awake so we're happy to help.

Also another word of caution, for as long as you are taking the medication they recommend be very careful about giving any meds to your infant if he/she is running a fever, etc. as some of the meds do transfer thru the milk even in small amounts. Make sure to let the pediatrician know what meds you are taking before giving the baby anything.

 

[mjkacmom]

PLEASE DO NOT TAKE ANY PAIN MEDICATION UNTIL YOU HAVE SPOKEN TO YOUR DOCTOR!

You are pregnant and must consult your physician first before taking anything.

Not this board.

I say this with the utmost concern for you and your baby.

Where did she say she was pregnant? I was told by my OB and pediatrician that tylenol was okay for pregnant and nursing moms.

 

[Soulsearching]

Where did she say she was pregnant? I was told by my OB and pediatrician that tylenol was okay for pregnant and nursing moms.

Thanks for the heads up. I corrected my post.

 

[QVCshopper]

I'd check with my doctor, but when I broke my elbow when I was breastfeeding, I was told by my OB/GYN (called him to make sure the primary care physician was right) to alternate 500mg of Tylenol every 4 hours and 800mg of Ibuprofen every 6 hours.

Get well soon--I had broken my left elbow and am left handed--it made breastfeeding difficult.

How did you break your elbow? I also broke mine when I dropped down a 5' fence due to a bum knee. It was very painful. I heard only about 1 in 100,000 people break their elbows each year, so I'm always curious. Hope you are well now. And best of luck to OP; I took meds when breastfeeding, but I forget what they were now; I know they were prescriped.

 

[bumbershoot]

kellymom.com has a list of drugs by ingredient that are safe/not safe for breastfeeding. I used that to double check with what my doctor told me (because I wasn't certain I could trust her on this).

kellymom.com is awesome. And I trust another nursing mom over a doctor who definitely didn't take a class in breastfeeding at medical school and most seem to know very very little about it.

PLEASE DO NOT TAKE ANY PAIN MEDICATION UNTIL YOU HAVE SPOKEN TO YOUR DOCTOR!

You are breastfeeding and must consult your physician first before taking anything.

Not this board.

I say this with the utmost concern for you and your baby.

Again, there are no classes in breastfeeding that I can find at the medical schools... And you have to know the mechanics in order to know if it transfers.

Alternatively, you can read the info on drugs.com, which is likely the same info the doctors would go by (if it comes through breastmilk, etc).



If they give women ibuprofen when they have had surgery on the same day they meet their babies, obviously it's OK. Though it made me high. Then again just one normal tablet of ibuprofen makes me loopy (I don't touch tylenol anymore).


If you haven't joined a La Leche League group, and you have no good support group in your family, get to LLL! They can be the essential link to figuring out this brand new action on your and baby's part. I myself can remember nursing (I went until I was 4) and I have siblings up to 25 years younger than me who were nursed...I called myself my OWN support group, LOL, but most American women don't have that background. So it's really important!

 

[RooRach0906]

Im going to tell you that I know of doctors who have prescribed breastfeeding moms things they could not take... Personally I would ask a Pharmist(sp?) over a doctor. I used to work at a local pharmacy and they had to recall doctors all the time b/c of allergries, pregunant women and/or breastfeeding women being prescribed something they could not take... this is also a good reason to keep all prescribtions at one pharmacy b/c pharamist have more schooling on drug actions and reactions and so on.

Other than that I would ask the pedicatrian or OB but not just a primary care doctor.

 

[Jennifer in MI]

If you do call your doctor or the ER, please ask them to check Medications and Mother's Milk by Dr. Hale (http://www.ibreastfeeding.com/). If they don't have a copy, please call a LLL Leader. It lists most medications as well as all the testing that's been done on them as it relates to breastfeeding.

MOST medications are fine to take while breastfeeding. Most doctors have not had much training when it comes to breastfeeding and they tend to err on the side of caution and not allow certain medications that are actually safe.

That said, I was given vicodin for an eye injury when I was still nursing my last baby.

 

[disneymarie]

Hi I broken my leg and am trying to find a pain medicine I can take while trying to breastfeed....any suggestions???Thanks

I had to have a knee surgery during breast feeding. I froze up all I could, no problem there, used powder formula, jucies, foods, per the age of my baby, and then for two days I pumped until after I was off the pain meds. 2 days on pain meds, and the second day I stopped pumping.

My dd was not an infant at the time, and this is what the doctor recommended. There was so much inflamation pain after the novacain wore off that I needed at least 24 hrs pain meds. I could reduce the second day, and then Advil the rest of the week.

 

[TupperMom7]

Does LaLeche League still exist? Maybe they have a website you could consult.

 

[fatuhiva]

Im going to tell you that I know of doctors who have prescribed breastfeeding moms things they could not take... Personally I would ask a Pharmist(sp?) over a doctor.

That's the best advice in this thread. Being a pharmacist it's my experience that most doctors don't have a clue about medication while breastfeeding. In the hospital they routinely call the pharmacy with that very question. OB/GYNs or Pediatricias may be a little better. It's also important to note that just because a medication is safe during pregnancy does not make it safe during breastfeeding - which is what many doctors assume. The potential exposure to the baby is from 2 very different routes - via breastmilk vs via the maternal circulation/placenta. That difference can result in markedly different ammounts of the drug reaching the baby.

Talk to your own pharmacist, since after all I am just an annonymous person on the internet!! For me, I wouldn't take anything unless I had to. But if I had to, Tylenol would be safe. The age of the baby can also make a difference - I wouldn't take ibuprofen if the baby is under 6 months old. If I was in a lot of pain & I needed something stronger I would consider Tylenol with codeine. If you do take any med, take the med immediately after feeding the baby (less drug in your system to reach the baby - basically try to avoid feeding the baby when the drug is at it's peak level in your body).

Just my 2 cents, but always talk to your own health care providors - doctor, pharmacist or lactation consultant.