I was recently in the hospital for numbness and blurred vision on the right side of my body. I had several ct scans, extensive blood work, ekg, and am now waiting to get an MRI (sceduled Monday morning) It has been recommended that I begin to take low dose aspirin to help thin my blood encase I may have a blood clot ( one of multiple diagnosis that I have been given which range from TIA, pinched nerve, migrains, MS,and the list goes on) until they figure out what may be causing my symptoms which I have regularly for short periods at a time along with light headedness since I have been released two weeks ago. I also have a 2 month old baby whom I have been primarily nursing. I have had Dr.s tell me that it will be fine to continue to nurse while taking the aspirin, I have had Dr.s tell me no way, I need to stop nursing her immediately, and I have had a pharmacist tell me that I can nurse 6-8 hours after taking the medication. I am not a person who likes to take medication as it is, so I am not looking forward to taking meds daily and I am really not looking forward to discontinuing to nurse my little one. My question to you is if anyone out there has had similar symptoms and what your diagnosis was? And if anyone has taken baby aspirin while nursing or has any information on it.
Thank you in advance
i don't know the answer but i do know there are a ton of breastfeeding mamas who have BTDT at www.mothering.com
go to the "discuss" tab which will get you to the forums then scroll down and there are a number of breastfeeding forums.
T., I am not a doctor, but I have started nursing school.
I personally would DEFINITELY continue nursing your baby. It is SO good for her.
I have nursed and been pregnant with Both of my girls through taking antidepressants and other meds necessary for my well being. Most off the time you can find out from a pharmacist the point in time where the medecine is at its strongest content through out your body. perhaps just not nurse for an hour on either side of that.
I had dental work done recently and they tole me after 8 hours the meds would be negligible with the amount left and I could nurse.
Asprin, while still a drug, I think you could be taking something way worse than a blood thinner. (and the baby doesn't get as much as you do)
I recently went and got TONS of booster shots, pneumonia shot, flu shot etc in hopes that my baby would get antibodies in my breast milk (since she is to young for some of these shots) Afterwards I told the doctor my plan and he laughed and said. "I would have to give you triple the amount of serum in all these shots for your baby to have even a small benefit of extra antibodies!" Vaccines work that way, maybe meds do too! :-)
Takecare and good luck.
p.s. I take asprin every 4 days because I take birth control and it reduces the risk of clots, stroke and heart attacks with aspirin intake.
Hi
Yes, I have had similar symptoms. Numbness, terrible pain on one side or the other but usually not at the same time. I had some dental work done and thought it was from that. I have been diagnosed with Trigeminal Nueralgia. Read on the Internet and see if the symptoms are the same. I had to go to the hospital because nothing helped the pain. I have had a ton of tests also CT Scan, MRI, etc. The Neurologist concluded this is what I have after the tests came back normal. He did testing in his office that also concluded this is what I have. Also he doesn't think the dental work is the cause, but who knows. I have stopped breastfeeding because I need to take the medication for the pain. I know it's hard to decide what to do. I would look at the list of medications that are ok to take while your breastfeeding also. Hope this helps and good luck. God bless,
Hi T.,
I am so sorry you are having health issues. I hope you can find out what is going on soon. The not knowing can be so scary.
Regarding the aspirin-I am pregnant with my second baby and am taking 81 mg of aspirin during my pregnancy and will continue to do so while breast feeding. I did it with my first and it was fine. Sometimes what is taught gets so overblown. You need to take care of yourself!
Good luck!
D.
Hi T..
First, I hope you find a quick resolution to the symptoms you are having and feel confident it its treatement.
You've received a lot of advise here, and the final decision is yours to make. Certainly you've also received a lot of conflicting medical advise, which compounds and confuses the problem. I have a degree in medicine, and am specialized in transfusion/transplant medicine. It doesn't make me even remotely quailified to give you medical advise on your condition, or on breastfeeding.
My son is now 3. I still breastfeed, and have the entire time along, including while on different medications, and through anesthesia for 2 different surgeries. The thing to bear in mind is ask the medical provider if there is a different medication you can take to accomplish the goal the aspirin does that is not harmful in your milk supply, if you are concerned about it.
I would recommend the Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers by Jack Newman MD and Teresa Pittman. Newman is considered the foremost authority on breastfeeding, has worked both with UNICEF and WHO on world breastfeeding issues. Even if you never had another problem again, this book on your shelf may help you decide how to approach the things you do encounter.
According to his book, the small amount of medication that gets into mother's milk still does not make breastfeeding riskier than feeding a baby formula in his opinion. The majority of drugs as far as he is concerned are still safe. At 81mg, you're taking an extremely low dose, and it's going to be in even tinier quantity by the time it gets into your milk supply, if it does. "As a rule of thumb, about 1% of the total of what the mother takes gets into the milk. There are some medications that come out in greater quantities than that. Others come out in even smaller quantities." (Newman, 2006). So in your case, if you're taking 81mg 1 time per day, if we assume 1% in your milk supply, your child is getting only 0.08mg over the course of a 24 hour period. With most medications, that's not an effective dose for much of anything. Still, if there is a concern for you, then ask for a medication prescription that will accomplish the goal of protecting you from a clot that does not contain salicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin.
Again, best of luck getting yourself treated, and I hope you will continue to breastfeed and find an alternative treatment for yourself that allows you to do so, if you opt to seek one.
K.
I don't know if this will help.
My Daughter is now 15 months. When I was pregnant with her my OB did'nt want me to have the same problems I had with my son so he told me to take low dose asprin. I took the chewable. I took one a day throughout the last few months of my pregnancy. It was to help with my blood pressure and hopefully reduce getting pre eclmapsia.
My baby is fine.
hi I would stop nursing babies and children are not suppose to take aspirin they can get Reyes syndrome.
http://www.reyessyndrome.org/index.html this can be fatal. I am the mother of 4 kids and nursed them all. but with my second I had to stop at 6 weeks due to a lump in one of my breasts that needed to be removed. she was still health and we still have an amazing bond. you cant take the best care of your baby till you take the best care of yourself. yes I was sad to stop nursing but I had to do what was in the best interest for both of us. also I like the post that said to pump and discard till you can nurse again. my kids took both and breast so you may not have a problem getting baby back to the breast once you know what's wrong.
Contact your local La Leche League leader, or contact the national office. They keep track of all the latest medical studies about drug and breastmilk interactions. Their website is http://www.llli.org
Hello!
I would go with what her pediatrician says in regards to the aspirin. If you put "aspirin & breast milk" into Google, there are a lot of relevant returns.
Maybe this too: Even if you would have to stop nursing her, you could pump (and toss) to keep your supply up in order to be able to resume once you are off the medication if it is only for a relatively short time?
Hope this helps and good luck with your health and the nursing.
D.
On Dr's advice I stopped nursing my 4th baby after only 3 months. I still feel cheated 30 years later. Also have you tried a really good chiropractor? They can and do work miracles! The best I have ever found is in St. George, UT. His name is Scott Vautrin at Life Light Chiropratorics.
good luck, M.
I understand that you don't want to stop nursing your child but if you don't take care of yourself now, you won't be there for your daughter at all. With all of the conflicting doctor reports, it sounds like the safest way to go would be to take the asprin to thin your blood and stop nursing.
