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Hi. I have a 2 year old who still breastfeeds to fall asleep and when she wakes up. I don't think she gets a whole lot of milk. She is very healthy except for chronic idiopathic constipation that' we've dealt with since she was 6 weeks old. When she was a year old i got botox injections and then repeated them a couple more times after reading up and even talking to the injecting doctor . Her constipation continues and she takes a lot of meds for it although they have ruled out anything serious. I read the most recent small study of milk samples taken from lactating women and saw that some samples actually did have small amounts of the toxin in their milk when it seemed like the theory before was that the molecule was too big to enter the milk compartment. I understand that the amount was small enough that it would not cause significant harm to a breastfeeding child, however, wondered if it could still be enough to exacerbate something like constipation.I have not had an injection for 6 months and nothing has changed for her so common sense says it is the same issue she's had her whole life. But thought it worth the ask with that new little study.
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Hi Sally,
I apologize for the delayed response here. I wanted to make sure I had all of the drug to milk transfer data from this study prior to giving my thoughts. This study is actually a good size in the realm of lactation pharmacology and has some fantastic information. It looks like some women had Botox present in their milk, while others did not. This fact alone has me asking 100 more questions that we are going to work through regarding this topic. I am grateful that you brought it to my attention.
After looking at the numbers, I think that is extremely unlikely that your 2 year old is ingesting enough milk to cause or worsen constipation. In fact, constipation is not even a listed side effect on the Botox drug insert. It looks like other sources have shown maybe 1-10% of people experiencing constipation after receiving Botox, but there are a lot of other factors that could be playing into these numbers.
After reading this study, it is hard for me to say with confidence that your child has not been exposed to ANY Botox (as we would have previously hypothesized). However, it is likely that IF any was transferred into your milk over the course of the past year, that it has been exceedingly low and is not exacerbating any chronic conditions. You may consider waiting until you wean to get Botox again if you are concerned that it could be a contributing factor (it can take up to 6 months to metabolize entirely from your system).
Please let me know if you have any additional questions. I hope this helps a little bit. Thank you!
Nichole Campbell, MSN, APRN, NP-C
[url]https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2011/103000s5236lbl.pdf[/url] -
I am SO grateful for your thoughtful and thorough response. Thank you for taking the time. Your organization is so wonderful.Comment
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