Hello all. I have a perfect little 4 month old boy and I'm breastfeeding. I have a horrible ear infection and the doctors have me on Amoxicillin and some ear drops.. and hydrocodone for the pain. They have recommended that I put my son on formula until I'm finished with the pain pills... so I pumped and dumped for the day. Now my son is constipated and not eating well. I've decided to quit taking the pills and go back to breastfeeding my son.. there's no sense in two of us suffering. I'm almost possitive they sent me home from the hospital on hydrocodone for the ?episiotomy? and told me it was ok to breastfeed. Does anyone know or rembember what pain pills are ok to take while breastfeeding?
Thank you all again for your quick responses... I ended up just dropping the pain pills and went back to breastfeeding. It took him almost 4 days to poop just from the 3 bottles of formula.. my poor lil guy. Everything is back to normal for the time being. Thanks again for all the great advise. :O)
Hey it sounds like you got a lot of good advice already but I just wanted to add that my husband is a PA and he looked up the drug for me and vicodin is classified as "safety unknown" for breast feeding. He would suggest that unless you are in crazy amounts of pain just switch to tylenol or motrin. Hope this helps!
Hello, it's fine to take Hydrocodone(Lortab) while breastfeeding and Amoxicillian they are both safe for baby. Don't take Lortab and Tylenol together though, to much Tylenol, you could take Lortab and Motrin together though and it's safe. You could also call the Breastfeeding Center at FMC ###-###-#### and ask for Breastfeeding Center, they can look up the meds in a special book. Formula does make babies constipated espescially if you switch back and forth. Hope this helps.
Yeah, its kind of weird how hydrocodone is OK to take but I breast feed both my girls for 14 months and had painful clogged milk ducts and was also but on an antibiotic and pain pills for short use. I would finish your pills and keep breast feeding since it is so important for your little boy! I can't believe they recommended you putting him on formula:( Was it the hospital that told you to put him on formula why you finished up your pills? They seem to always push formula in the hospital, if you talk to a lactation specialist I think it would be better to nurse on the pills then to stop breastfeeding and switch to formula. Good luck and I hope this helped:)
Can you get yourself a copy of The Breastfeeding Book by Martha & William Sears? I just checked my copy and there is a very thorough section on medication and breastfeeding. The two drugs you mention are listed as OK. Also they say that only 1% or less of the drugs will pass through to your milk and that it's better to take frequent doses rather than more concentrated dose once a day if possible.
Hope you feel better soon!
When my son was in the NICU born quite prematurely, I had dental surgery and was given hydrocodone. I had to pump all my breastmilk for him drink and the doctors in the NICU looked up the interaction and said it was fine for my milk and not to worry about it. But since then I've heard otherwise. Even so, because of that experience I took hydrocodone and still breastfed my daughter when she was a couple months old and saw zero affect on her whatsoever and felt fine about taking it...don't know if that helps, but that was my experience with it.
Vicoden is hydrocodone and yes it is fine to take while breast feeding. There is a book out there I recomend EVERY breast feeding mother buy, its called Medications and Mothers Milk, this is the book most doctors look in to see if medications are ok for breast feeding mothers to take. The book rates meds: L1 safe, L2 safer, L3 moderatley safe, L4 possibly hazardous, L5 contraindicated. Here is what it says about your 2 meds. #1 Amoxicillin- no ped. concerns level L1. #2 Hydrocodone- no ped. concerns level L2.
hydrocodone is perciset if i recall and i was on it after i came home and breastfed as directed by my doctor...
so i think you should call your dr and get the ok. if you stop the meds to stop your son's suffering, it will make it worse because your infection won't go away and it will prolong the illness andyour inability to get back to a normal schedule!
They gave me percocet for the cramping after giving birth. They said it was fine to nurse.
After my c-section, I was given Percocet (oxycodone) and ibuprofen. I was breastfeeding (somewhat), so I'm assuming those were OK to take while breastfeeding. Your ear pain must have been pretty bad for them to prescribe Vicodin for you! You can always look it up on Webmd.com. They usually have a lot of info about whether a drug is safe for pregnant and nursing women. I always check on there for new prescriptions since I'm trying to get pregnant, especially since I found out the sample blood pressure pills my doctor had given me when I was trying for my first child caused birth defects. Luckily, I didn't conceive until I was on some safer medicine. Anyway, hope you feel better!
DON'T STOP breastfeeding! Doctor's don't always have the correct information. It could ruin everything you and your baby have going right now. Go buy the book "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" by La Leche Leauge (LLL) International and contact your local LLL consultant.
www.kellymom.com is a great resource that might be able to answer your question :)
When I had my second son I was sent home with hydrocodone. My third son was born in January and I went home with Demoral. I also breastfeed exclusively. I do not know why you would be able to take these pain medications after childbirth and breastfeed and not now. Maybe because your milk has not "come in" yet right after birth, but I can say my milk was in within a couple days and I took pain medication for at least a week, week and a half for a c-section. I would maybe get a second opinion. Did you ask your ob-gyn?
I have read all of the other responses and agree. I have adverse reactions to percoset and darvoset. So my doctor always gave me hydrocodone after my deliveries. It's fine to take while you are nursing. Also, my doctor told me that antibiotics attack the cell wall of bacteria and our human cells do not have cell walls. I have taken antibiotics during pregnancy and breastfeeding with my doctor's OK. Breastfeeding is a blessing and a wonderful experience and I hope you are able to continue!
Internal Medicine doctors would rather tell a mom not to breastfeed than actually take the time to investigate whether the medication is safe to take. I stopped nursing my son when I had to go on long-term antibiotics, and when I told this to my new OB during my second pregnancy, he said that I could have continued breastfeeding on that medication and that I should always check with an OB or pediatrician to see if medications are safe during breastfeeding.
You can take hydrocodone (vicodin) while breastfeeding. They prescribe it for moms after c-sections all the time. I would definitely call your OB or pediatrician about the antibiotic. I just finished giving amoxicillin to my 4 month old for an her ear infection. So it's probably safe for you to take.
I think that is what they gave me for pain after delivery also. I would just call his ped and double check.
I was on that for my episiotomy after being sent home from the hospital and breastfed my son just fine. The doctors knew I was breastfeeding so I'm sure it's ok. If you are sick, your supply may be lower so you may have to supplement if he still acts hungry after nursing, but you should be able to safely breastfeed him
One of the best sites for breastfeeding and questions, is www.breastfeeding.com
They have a link about medications that may be helpful:
http://www.breastfeeding.com/helpme/answer_medications_bf...
Breast of Luck!
C. :)
They are probably recommending that you not breastfeed because of the antibiotic. I had a friend who got an ear infection and had to pump and dump because of the antibiotic. If I were you, I would contact your child's pediatrician and ask if they have any suggestions for his constipation and to help him eat better.
While breastfeeding you can take both vicadin and Percocet. I think hydracodone is generic for vicadin. So that is ok to take. Some antibiotics are ok for breastfeeding, maybe ask your Dr. if there is another antibiotic you can take that is ok for breastfeeding and that will take care of your ear infection. Your best bet is to call your OB because they WILL know what can be taken, even more so then a pediatrician. Hope you feel better soon
I tslked with an anesthisiologist right before I had my gall bladder out and he said that there are very very few drugs that actually get enough in the breastmilk to do anything to the baby. I had general anesthesia and went home on vicadin and the baby never acted any different (she was 2 months at the time). The also gave me percaset(?) right after she was born (c-section), and so she's never acted drugged up or sleepy or anything from it. Hope this helps!
I breastfed and I did hydrocodone after my c-section as well as another pain pill which I don't remember. The thing they told me was to not take for an extended period of time - I think it was more than 7 days. I only took when absolutely necessary and just did tylenol in between to dull the pain.
I'm with you - no sense in both of you being miserable - switching from breastmilk to formula is hard. I would be concerned with the amoxicillin - both of you could develop thrush so I would take a probiotic and give one to your baby.
Good luck to you both!
