Bupropion & night breastfeeding 21 month old

[samantha.knight1974@yahoo]

I have been prescribed Bupropion HCL 75 mg - started last week once a day and now have gone to 2 times a day. I have tried to take it in the morning and then at night after my daughter has breastfeed to go to bed. She generally breastfeeds between 7:30pm to around 8pm (absolutely latest is around 9) so I took the medication around 9:30pm. Some nights she will nurse for a little bit around midnight or in the middle of the night around 2-3am and some nights she will not until close to 5-6am. She is not nursing during the day at all.. pretty much at night for comfort/to get to sleep. How much of the medication is she getting and what can I expect? so far for last week she had no problems.. I just started it 2 times a day and I am just wanting to space it so she is getting the least amount possible. I held off taking this as I was prescribed a higher dose when she was 6 weeks old and I was afraid to take it with her nursing ever 2-3 hrs then. But feel I needed it now and my doctor put me on a lower dose this time to start. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Sandra]

samantha.knight1974, thanks for posting,

Bupropion (Wellbutrin) is only minimally passed into breast milk at 0.2-2% of your dose. It is most concentrated in the first 2 hours after taking a dose and has a half life of 8-24 hours. There have been some reports of reduced milk supply with the use of bupropion, and the infant should be monitored for sedation or irritability, not waking to feed/poor feeding and weight gain. With that being said, your infant is older and would receive only small amounts of the medication, I think if you wait 2 hours after a dose it would be ok to breastfeed at that time and I doubt you would see any side effects in the infant. Remember the risk of untreated depression is greater than the risk of taking the medication. I hope this helps, if you have any other questions please call the InfantRisk Center at 806-352-2519. Thanks,

Sandra Lovato R.N.
InfantRisk Center

[samantha.knight1974@yahoo]

thank you so much for your response. Makes me feel a little more at ease about taking it.. My little ones safety is my #1 concern. My Anxiety I have dealt with for a while on my own and would continue to if there is a danger to her.. but this makes me feel that it will be minimal that she will get as I take one dose while at work and the other after she nurses to sleep at night.