I had to have my knee drained today and they gave me a shot of steriods in each knee. Because of this the doctor said I would not be able to breastfeed for 5-7 days. My baby is 10 months old now and I am worried that when I can start nursing again that he won't want to anymore. Hopefully you have some success stories to ease my mind. Otherwise I'm pumping for every feeding and throwing away the liquid gold. Has anyone had a similar experience? what time frame did you have to refrain from nursing? Did your baby re-adjust well after?
Thanks to Everyone, sometimes it helps just to have someone tell you the common sense approach. I called the doctor back the next mroning to make sure exactly which steriod he gave me (injection only, no oral medication) it was Decadron. Then called a cousin who reps Medela, she looked it up for me and said it is given to pediatric patients and only has a half life oof 3.5 hours, so after 6 hours it should have been fine. I called a local hospital's lactation services to double check and they said the same thing. So after about 30 hours from having my knee drained I started nursing him again. Frustrating since I could have started back that night, but releived it wouldn't be a week. My cousin did say there are very few drugs that would require a week, iodine injections for MRI's are one of the ones that would take several days.
Anyway, thanks for the advice and peace of mind. It was very much appreciated!
I suggest calling a lactation consultant or the pediatrition and ask them if you really have to pump and dump. I found out that many times the doctors really don't know and just recommend pumping and dumping out of fear. There is a book called Medications and Mother's Milk by Dr Hale that really ranks and tells the risks of thousands of drugs. Good Luck. I've taken prednisone while breastfeeding before.
Call a couple of Pharmacists and the Pediatrician. Then you can decide what to do. I think your child will be happy to have you back. Nursing is more than just food, it is bonding and comfort too. You can always contact the steroid company and find out what they say.
I would slightly disagree with the Mom who said she took steroids while nursing. Medications have changed drastically in just a few years and they are new now. Many drugs carry side effects that similar drugs previously did. It is always safer to check all resources.
Check http://www.rphworld.com/pharmacist/viewlink-22927.html they might have more detailed information about whether you really have to pump and dump.
I would talk to a lactation Specialist before you took the drs advice. I've had a dr tell me I couldn't take something and my lactation Specialist told me I could so I would do that. If you don't have one you can call ###-###-#### its Baptist Hospital in Little Rock, AR and ask to speak to a Lactation Consultant. They will tell you whether or not its necessary to not breastfeed! I as well just took oral steroids not even a month ago and my doctor and lactation consultant said it was fine. Not sure if injections are the same.
I'd follow doctor's orders, but don't worry too much about going back to breast feeding... have you ever tasted formula? It's disgusting. Breast milk is sweet - at most you may have some nipple confusion from going from the bottle back to the breast.
I had a couple of days, early on, during which I had a stomach flu and was terrified that I'd give it to my then 7 week old... I stayed away completely for 2-3 full days and had no trouble going back to breastfeeding afterward.
Good luck, and feel better!
Have a look at www.kellymom.com - it has a section called is it safe when breastfeeding. The website has a list of medications that are safe when breastfeeding.
Hope this helps.
i too would call a lactation consultant BUT i know the baby should go back to feeding just fine because he is 10 months old and has been doing it for a bit....
i had to take steroids when i was pregnant and the docotr said my baby would be fine but of course that was oral and only for 2 weeks. i am not sure what the difference is...inside or out shouldn't be much difference i wouldn't think but i would consult a pharmacist, lactation consultant or a pediatrician and i personally would not take the advice of a regular doctor who does not specialze in infants ect..you get my drift...but that is just me...
good luck and tell us what they say because now i am curious :)
You should be pumping and throwing away the milk for those 5-7 days, otherwise it will sit there in your milk. He should have no problems going back to breast after that short of a time, but you should consider alternate means of knee treatment while your feeding, as your baby could be getting as much as 10-20 times the dosage you are receiving. Doctors dont really know how much or how long chemicals can store in breast tissue and milk, so there really is no "safe" time to resume feeding.
C. - I'd call the breast feediong center at Children's Hospital and my pediatrician and my midwife/obstetrician for their input before I'd stop nursing my baby. I was on oral steroids (which would be much more likely to cross over to your milk than those 2 injections) for months while I was breastfeeding my youngest child and no one ever suggested that it would harm him. He's 27 years old now and perfectly normal. Hope that helps...L.
I had a nuclear stress test. They give you a shot of radio active stuff, do a stress test, then take pictures of the heart. Anyway, I couldn't nurse for 3 day after the test. (I didn't know this until during the test) I don't remember exactly how old my daughter was, but I think she was about 10 months. She didn't have any problems adjusting back to nursing at all. I had my husband give her bottles while I had to pump and dump. Good luck!
