oxycodone use while breastfeeding

[breastfeedingmom30]

Dear Dr. Hale,

I am prescribed 10 mg oxycodone for back injuries due to a car accident. I am currently exclusively breastfeeding a 9 month old. I would like some information on the use of this medicine while breastfeeding. I will only take this medicine at night after my baby is down for the night. She sleeps through the night so the next time I breastfeed her is 10-12 hours after my dose. The dosage would be 2 10 mg oxycodone. I would only take this amount at this time daily. Would this be safe? Is she going to become dependent? What should I do?

Thank you,

Breastfeedingmom30

[admin-james]

Hi, thanks for your post.

Oxycodone has a 6 hour half-life in adults. That means that waiting 12 hours after your dose has reduced your blood levels of oxycodone by 75%. We know that only about 2% of your daily oxycodone dose gets into the milk if you breastfeed every couple hours the way you would with an infant. So that means we have a dose of 20mg x 2% x 75% = no more than 0.3mg of oxycodone getting to the baby. It is highly unlikely that she would exhibit any side effects or dependance from this level of exposure.

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