Oral prednisone

[Sccrgrl]

My doctor just prescribed oral prednisone. The dose is prescribed as 20 mg 3x's a day for 5 days. The pharmacist recommended taking all three doses at once as some side affects are restlessness and upset stomach. Could I bf in the morning, take the doses and then discard the pumped milk and resume bfing in the afternoon and evening? My son is 7 mo and is exclusively bf.

[admin-james]

Hi, thanks for your post.

Our assessment of prednisone is that long-term use of prednisone >40mg per day poses a *theoretical* risk to the infant, but there are no direct studies available to verify this. You can reduce this risk substantially by doing the following:

1. Make a point of feeding or pumping just before or just after you take your oral dose. This is when you will have the lowest concentration of steroid in the blood. The steroid will not have time to enter the breastmilk if you complete the process within 30 minutes of taking your pills.
2. Wait 4 hours after your dose, pump and discard your milk, then breastfeed freely for the rest of the day. This delay reduces your baby's exposure to prednisone by 50-75%

Please call us at the InfantRisk Center if this has not completely answered your question. (806)352-2519

-James Abbey, MD
and
-Thomas W. Hale, Ph.D.

[Fiori1020]

30mg Prednisone

Hi, thanks for your post.

Our assessment of prednisone is that long-term use of prednisone >40mg per day poses a *theoretical* risk to the infant, but there are no direct studies available to verify this. You can reduce this risk substantially by doing the following:

1. Make a point of feeding or pumping just before or just after you take your oral dose. This is when you will have the lowest concentration of steroid in the blood. The steroid will not have time to enter the breastmilk if you complete the process within 30 minutes of taking your pills.
2. Wait 4 hours after your dose, pump and discard your milk, then breastfeed freely for the rest of the day. This delay reduces your baby's exposure to prednisone by 50-75%

Please call us at the InfantRisk Center if this has not completely answered your question. (806)352-2519

-James Abbey, MD
and
-Thomas W. Hale, Ph.D.

I was placed on prednisone for a week for UC 30mg a day with Mesalamine 20mg. For prednisone, how long do i need to wait to nurse my 5 week old infant, if at all, do i need to pump and disregard milk as well before i go ahead and resume nursing? From previous posts, with mesalamine 20mg, as to my understanding is alright to nurse with, simply to monitor baby for side effects of diarrhea, correct. No pump and dump needed? Please advise. Thank you.