I wonder if any of you knowledgeable ladies know about breast feeding whilest taking what I suspect are fairly strong drugs for bi polar disorder. My oldest friend ( we've been buddies since we were six) has bi polar and is currently very down, she is also breast feeding her little boy who is four and a half months old. She has been advised to wean him as the drugs she has been prescribed are apparently not good to breastfeed with. We talked for a couple of hours today and I asked her the names of the drugs, these I'm afraid are U.K. brand names , she is currently taking 500mg of depakot ( I think this generally called valproate) and 100mg of lustral ( edit: done some reserach, I know of this drug as Zoloft) per day. Don't get me wrong, I want her to get help and if that means stopping feeding young Rufus so be it, but in many ways feeding her little man is keeping her going in my opinion, and the advice she has been given is so vague, basically the doctor said " these drugs aren't good for your baby, but people do carry on feeding whilest taking them, it's up to you." Now the problem with this is, that when my friend is as sick as she is at the moment she can't make any decisions, so she's asked me to research it, meanwhile she is introducing formula in the day and feeding him herself at night. Anyone have any experience of these drugs?
I personally don;t know squat about stuff like this. What I do know to be true...B (breastfeeding) helps to release endorphines ("feel good" hormones), thus helping to take an active stance in preventing PPD (post-partum depression). That's about all I know, sorry. If it were me, I'd ditch the medications and continue to feed my babe naturally while looking for a homeopathic or nutritional remedy for my mentle instabitliy.
Yes, you see I've noticed that when my friend's feeding her baby she does seem to get calmer, I guess that's probably the whole endorphin thinggy......and I personally think that in the long run her bi polar problems have been triggered by some hard early life experiences, and dealing with this in the long term is the answer.....right now we just have to keep her with us.
I am bipolar and I was on both of those medications before I found out I was pregnant. My doctor took me off of them immediatly. There are several things that are safe for mom and baby, she really needs to ask her doctor about changing her medication.
Whatever you take goes through to the the baby...there are definitely cases where the woman would want to maintain her medication but do you think the baby needs these meds as well????? Breastfeeding is the best thing you can do for a baby but if she told you she was drinking or smoking I think you would say that she should not do so when she was breastfeeding...so with drugs that are acting on the mind don't you think that the same would apply...if not more so? I definitely am no expert on any of this but either the stuff about what passes through breastmilk is utter bullshit or it's not....I don't know but I know that I would choose for my baby to bottle feed for that reason over some of the reasons I have seen people choose to bottle feed....maybe it is not the breastfeeding hlding her together but rather the drugs that are? I don't know but all whatI have read running round here suggests to me that I would actually take it seriously. The first link is reasonably well known hospital here and seems to give balanced advice about how to take the meds....you know I think this might be the answer at this point whilst research is lacking, if the bub is feeding relatively predicatably then take them after the last feed so that it works through the system as much as possible before bub feeds.... http://www.sjog.org.au/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/SUBIACO/SERVICES/ABOUT_RAPHAEL/RAPHAEL_CONTENT/PROFESSIONALS_CONTENT/INFO_AND_CLINICAL_GUIDELINES_CONTENT/84223_BF3.PDF http://www.depressionet.com.au/treatments/medicns/pdm.html http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/CFForum/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=32&Topic=54375 http://www.tga.gov.au/docs/html/aadrbltn/aadr9711.htm this one has some good tips on weaning off breastfeeding if his was the chosen course of actiin.... http://www.barwonsouthwestdrugs.org.au/pdf/chapter5.pdf however they dov seem a bit puritanical in their wording to me but it still makes sense when they are talking about if you do decide to wean due to the drugs you are taking. http://tg.com.au/etg_demo/tgc/plg/5a57cf7.htm#bipolar states some negatives of taking the meds but also the negatives of not... seems to me you may have to weigh the benefits of breastfeding up against the unknwn effects of these drugs.... if she chose not to breastfeed to me that would seem far more honurable than not breastfeeding due to figure, job etc.... goodluck
Thank you everyone who replied to this thread. My friend has been prescribed more stronger drugs, and had to wean young Rufus completely. She is upset over giving up breastfeeding, but the important thing here is that she gets well and is able to look after her little one, thanks for all your help.
I hope your friend gets well. Big hugs to her ((((hug))). And you're a great friend for wanting to help.
god luck with everything for your friend! take care and make sure to let her know that a loving and carng mum is as important if not more than how long she got to breastfeed!
