Cold Remedies for Breastfeeding and Pregnant Moms

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COLD REMEDIES WHILE BREASTFEEDING

* See More info at kellymom on cold remedies while breastfeeding.
* Throat spray or throat lozenges would be fine to soothe it.
* Slippery elm bark tea is great for sore throats, as is lemon and honey tea (with real lemon and honey).
* For congestion, pour boiling water into a pot, put a few drops of eucalyptus oil or a dollop of Vics vapor rub in the pot, cover your head with a blanket or towel and breath the vapors deeply for a few minutes. (Vent the towel so you don't burn your face).
* Avoid decongestants (pseudo ephedrine type stuff). They are known to dry milk.
* Antihistamines (aka Benadryl) are ok (according to Dr. Newman and Hale's).
* Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen are fine for fever reduction, though I try not to reduce fevers unless they are 101 or higher or go on for several days. Fevers are your bodies way of fighting infection. (Note: you should not take acetaminophen products if you regularly consume one or more alcoholic beverages per day).
* Eat lots of raw garlic. At least one clove per day, three if you can handle it. It will help you get better faster.
* Lots of rest, warm salt water gargles, and zinc lozenges is what I do when I get sick.

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COLD REMEDIES FOR NURSING MOMS

OTC options may or may not be good for you:
Sudafed / Pseudoephedrine: This decongestant can decrease milk supply, but taking one or two pills over the course of a day for temporary relief probably wouldn't affect your supply. Just be sure to stay well hydrated. It has a stimulant effect on many people, so don't take it if you want to sleep within the next few hours.

Antihistamines: If you suspect your cold is aggravated by allergies, you can take Benadryl (diphenhydramine) or another antihistamine. They do not negatively impact milk supply. They have sedative effects and will probably make you very sleepy.

Natural Healthcare Alternatives:
Steaming: you can pour steaming water into a large pot, put in a few drops of eucalyptus oil or dollop Vicks Vapor Rub, cover your head with a towel, lean over it and inhale for several minutes.

Onion poultice: Chop an onion and sweat it over medium heat in a saute pan in a small bit of water. Stand over it and inhale the vapors. When it just turns translucent, let it cool slightly and then scoop it into a cheeseclothe and wrap it in a hand towel. Lay down and place this on your chest, breathing slowly and deeply until it has cooled.

Hot lemon tea with honey: Stir a couple teaspoons of lemon juice or juice of 1/2 lemon and a spoonful of honey into hot water. The lemon and honey work to loosen mucus secretions. Drink several cups a day.

Garlic: Eat 1 - 2 cloves raw each day. You will heal more quickly from your cold. They are antibacterial, antiviral and antimicrobial. If you can't stomach the taste, dip them in honey first. Or you can mince it and stir it raw into a bowl of warmed chicken broth. Cooked and pill form garlic really don't have the same healing effect.

Chicken soup: It really does work even though doctors don't exactly know why. Homemade is best, avoid high sodium Campbell's type. My favorite it to stir a Tbsp. of lemon juice into a couple cups of homemade broth and cook some rice right into it.

Hope you feel better soon.

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More:
Antihistamines should not affect milk supply. That includes Benadryl and prescription antihistamines. They work by releasing histamine blockers, the histamines are the things that trigger allergies.

The main concern with taking antihistamines is that many (like Benadryl) act as sedatives. (The main ingredient in Benadryl, diphenhydramine, is the same ingredient in Tylenol PM and I think also in dramamine). So if you are prone to getting knocked out by sedatives, you shouldn't take these when you need to be awake around babies.

Decongestants, on the other hand, are known to negatively affect milk supply for some women. These act to "dry up" mucus membranes and some women's milk supplies seem very sensitive to these kinds of drugs (i.e. Sudafed or anything with pseudoephedrine in it). Pseudoephedrine has a stimulant effect.

Some allegy meds contain both antihistamines and decongestants, so you should always carefully check the labels.

Either type of medication shouldn't affect milk supply if you are taking it only occassionally for relief. In other words, taking a slug of decongestant cough medicine to get one night's relief from a cough shouldn't impact the milk supply. Theoretically, you'd have to take it over a period of days for it to start impacting supply. I've seen women report otherwise, though, and say after just a couple of doses they noticed a dip (that's for decongestants, not antihistamines). I think it's just as likely, though, that the dip in supply was due to dehydration and illness as to decongestants.

Both diphenhydramine and pseudoephedrine are considered safe for nursing moms as for as Hales and Newman are concerned. They have short half lives, so if you are really concerned you could take them immediately after a nursing session and everything should be fine by the next nursing session.

Most of what I wrote above comes from kellymom and Newman's book, some of it is my own opinion after having read a lot of threads on this topic.

More in next post...

<small>[ August 20, 2005, 07:43 PM: Message edited by: creme de christine ]</small>

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From kellymom:
http://www.kellymom.com/health/meds/cold-remedy.html#antihistamines

Antihistamines

Mom's use of Benadryl and Chlor-Trimeton are generally regarded to be compatible with breastfeeding, but always double-check the active ingredients. Monitor your infant for possible drowsiness if you use an antihistamine. The non-sedating antihistamines (below) are generally preferred and are less likely to sedate baby.

The ingredients of Claritin, Claritin-D, Allegra, Allegra-D, Actifed (the decongestant pseudoephedrine plus triprolidine) and Seldane have been approved by the AAP for use by nursing moms. Loratadine (Claritin) has been studied and the amount of loratadine that passes into breastmilk is extremely low. Claritin-D and Allegra-D have pseudoephedrine added (which is AAP approved, but see above about possible effect on milk supply). Dr. Hale has said that he prefers the nonsedating antihistamines (even though they are long-acting) over the sedating allergy medications.

Zyrtec is also generally considered to be compatible with breastfeeding. It is commonly used by nursing moms, although its levels in milk are not known. Hale rates Zyrtec in the lactation risk catagory L2 (safer).

Clarinex (desloratadine): Desloratadine is another name for descarboethoxyloratadine, which is the main metabolite (breakdown product) of Claritin (loratadine). Per one study (Hilbert J, Radwanski E, Affrime MB et al. Excretion of loratadine in human breast milk. J Clin Pharmacol.1988:28:234-9), 0.019% of the descarboethoxyloratadine was transferred into breastmilk. Since Claritin (and thus its active metabolites, too) is considered safe for nursing moms (it's AAP approved, in fact), Clarinex should not be a problem either.

Milk supply: A common concern is that antihistamines might lower milk supply but, per Dr. Thomas Hale, there is no current research supporting this belief. If you feel that your supply has decreased, it could simply be a byproduct of decreased nursing frequency or dehydration due to your illness.

If you feel that a medication is the cause of a sudden drop in milk supply, then stop taking (or decrease your use of) the medication - if the med is indeed the cause, then supply should increase again soon after you stop taking it. When using an antihistamine, it can be helpful to step up your fluid intake quite a bit. As with any medication, take it only as needed, and discontinue use as soon as you can.


Antihistamines
Name of medication

AAP approved?*

Lactation Risk Category**
Brompheniramine
not reviewed

L3 (moderately safe)
Chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton)
not reviewed

L3 (moderately safe)
Cetirizine (Zyrtec)
not reviewed

L2 (safer)
Dexbrompheniramine maleate
with d-isoephedrine
yes

not reviewed
Diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
not reviewed

L2 (safer)
Doxylamine not reviewed L4 (possibly hazardous)
Fexofenadine (Allegra)
yes

L3 (moderately safe)
Loratadine (Claritin)
yes

L2 (safer)
Terfenadine (Seldane)

yes

not reviewed
Triprolidine (Actidil, Actifed)
yes

L1 (safest)
* Per the AAP Policy Statement The Transfer of Drugs and Other Chemicals Into Human Milk, revised September 2001.
** Per Medications' and Mothers' Milk by Thomas Hale, PhD (2002 edition)



Page last modified: 05/24/2005
Written: 12/11/1998
References

* Table 6: Maternal Medication Usually Compatible With Breast-Feeding, from the AAP Policy Statement The Transfer of Drugs and Other Chemicals Into Human Milk, revised September 2001.
* Medications and Mothers' Milk (2004 edition) by Thomas Hale, Ph.D.

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Milk supply: A common concern is that antihistamines might lower milk supply but, per Dr. Thomas Hale, there is no current research supporting this belief. If you feel that your supply has decreased, it could simply be a byproduct of decreased nursing frequency or dehydration due to your illness.

If you feel that a medication is the cause of a sudden drop in milk supply, then stop taking (or decrease your use of) the medication - if the med is indeed the cause, then supply should increase again soon after you stop taking it. When using an antihistamine, it can be helpful to step up your fluid intake quite a bit. As with any medication, take it only as needed, and discontinue use as soon as you can.

Per Hale, from the kellymom link

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GARLIC FOR COLDS

When taking garlic for illness, I cut the cloves into smaller pieces, dip them in honey and chew them up real quick. Take one at a time, 2 or 3 times per day, with other food.

Some people mince it raw, mix it with olive oil, parmesean cheese and a bit of salt and dip bread in it. That's yummy.

As pointed out, the garlic loses a lot (but not all) of it's health benefits when cooked or processed. But if you eat a whole head of roasted garlic, it's still going to be helpful. Just put a tiny bit of butter or olive oil into a small piece of tin foil, wrap it around the garlic and put it in a 325 degree oven until it's soft and mushy - about 30 minutes. Then you just squeeze the garlic out of the skins and spread it on bread.

Your 18 month old probably won't eat raw garlic. It's pretty hot and spicy. Roasting mellows the taste.

I wouldn't give a toddler more than 1 clove a day, spread out through 2 or 3 servings.