If you suffer from any form of allergy, you should pay attention to the medication you take as a nursing mother. It is essential to know from the beginning that the safest thing to do before you start any treatment is to talk to your doctor.
Let them know that you are breastfeeding, and they will recommend the best treatment. In general, how to treat allergic reaction while breastfeeding? Here are some over the counter medicines for allergy.
Table of Contents
What allergy medicine can I take while breastfeeding?
To keep your allergies under control, you will be looking at a category of medicine called antihistamines. In this category, you will find drugs such as Benadryl, Chlor-Trimeton, Allegra, or Claritin.
They work the same in terms of different allergies, but they might have different side effects that we will discuss further.
Here is the american academy of pediatrics breastfeeding drug list.
LactMed App
As a breastfeeding mother, you should also check out the LactMed app and website before taking any type of treatment. There is iTune app or Android app for checking out any known side-effects of any medications while breastfeeding.
On this platform, you will find all the information you need about all the medicine available in pharmacies.
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Now, there are a few medicine types that you can try out at home if you are nursing and dealing with allergies.
Benadryl / Chlor-Trimeton
Benadryl and Chlor-Trimeton are two of the most common over the counter treatments for allergies.
- However, they will give you dizziness and get you tired easier than other similar drugs.
- The main ingredient in Benadryl is diphenhydramine while in Chlor-Trimeton is chlorpheniramine.
- If you find these two active ingredients in other similar medicine, know that they could affect your mood and reduce your energy.
- Other than that, they are both safe for breastfeeding mothers.
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Claritin / Allegra
On the other hand, antihistamines like Claritin, with the active ingredient loratadine or Allegra with the active ingredient fexofenadine, tend to not have such unpleasant side effects as the previous ones. With these medicines, you will not feel as sedated and drowsy, so you can still take care of your daily tasks as usual.
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Do allergy medicines get into breast milk?
As far as how antihistamines might affect your baby, there is no real reason for concern.
- These drugs could cause fussiness in babies that are breastfed, but it is not at a dangerous level.
- If you don’t abuse these types of treatments, your baby will not be exposed to any risks.
- And even when it comes to the fussiness side effect, there are not enough studies to show that all babies develop it.
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Sudafed
You should, however, watch out for any type of drug that contains pseudoephedrine, such as Sudafed, because they can reduce your milk supply drastically. It only takes one dose of such a treatment to affect your milk flow, and no nursing mother wants that.
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It is essential to understand your allergies and read the instructions of every treatment before you start administrating it.
Even if most of these treatments are safe for you are your baby, you have to check the impact they have on your milk supply. If they impact your milk supply, you should try to find safer alternatives.
Key References
- “Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed) – NCBI Bookshelf”. Accessed June 09, 2020. Link.
