Anxiety/breastfeeding/meds

[South06]

Thank you very much

[admin]

South:

No, you don't need to wait. Just observe infant for sedation. Very unlikely.

Tom Hale Ph.D.

[South06]

Thank you for the quick response. Just to clarify, then there is not a need to wait to breastfeed? Thanks again

[admin]

South:

You should be able to breastfeed without problems with Ativan at 1 mg daily dose.

Tom Hale Ph.D.

[South06]

Thank you, the doctor has prescribed me 1mg of Ativan daily, for the shorter half life. How long do you recommend to wait to breastfeed?
could this dose be harmful to my infant, breathing, etc.

[kaytlin]

Hi South06,

I hope the sertraline has begun to do its work for you. We do worry about sedation in infants when moms take clonazepam, but it is less common than you would think. In a study of 124 women taking drugs in this class, only 2 infants had CNS depression. Unfortunately, it has a long half-life (18-50 hours) making the timing of the dose vs breastfeeding tricky. The medication probably peaks at around 4 hours, so do your best to avoid breastfeeding for a few hours around that mark.

Best,
Kaytlin Krutsch, PharmD

Kelly LE, Poon S, Madadi P, Koren G. Neonatal benzodiazepines exposure during breastfeeding. J Pediatr. 2012;161:448-451.

[South06]

Hello- I’ve been having severe post partum anxiety. I’ve read on here the benefit of breast feeding can outweigh certain anxiety meds. I want to continue breastfeeding but unfortunately the thought of my infant being sedated or effected by medication is causing more anxiety. I had to take 1mg of klonopin this evening at 7, how long should I wait to feed my infant again? I am not exclusively breast feeding; as I don’t produce enough. It’s about 50/50 with formula. I will probably need to continue taking this I. Lower doses .25-.5 mg once a day. Trying to wait and see if the Zoloft will kick in and help. My infant is currently 5 weeks old.