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anti tnf medicines for breastfeeding

Posted , 4 users are following.

kezibankaruk
kezibankaruk

hi, i have RA and i breast-feeding a baby and my doctor suggests me to use anti tnf-biological medicines because my illness is getting worse after give birth.

Does anybody knows that this medicine affects milk?? I couldnt find a certain information sad

1 like, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • manda1030
    manda1030 kezibankaruk

    Posted

    hi Kezibankaruk,

    ​Well I would first ask your babies pediatrition. When I was breast feeding they told me any thing i put into my body could come out in my milk. But That was 11 years ago maybe things have changed. Sometimes they say to pump and dump after taking medication then after so many hours you can breast feed again. i would pump and stick it in the fridge. hope this helps RA is so hard I am sorry!! Hugs

    sent your way from one mom to another. Ra really is a daily struggle iknow all too well Iwish you the best!

    Manda

  • ama38049
    ama38049 kezibankaruk

    Posted

    Hi K, I am a mother of two and I had a mini research on this a while ago. It depends very much on the medication. On Humira, in principle, you can be on while pregnant, meaning that you can breastfeed too. According to my rheumy, at least. I didn't take her advice, to be frank. Statistics of 10 babies over 10 years that she has monitored didn't seem like a big number, but maybe it has changed. I doubt that throwing milk away after shots will help, as it changes your cell structure and stays in until the next shot. I had to throw away 3days of milk once, but it was not on anti-Tnfs but because of the contrast med that I took for liver biopsy. So basically I was off meds while being pregnant and breastfeeding. Not the best choice in retrospective. Consult your rheumy and any other dr you can find. GNs don't understand much about it, but maybe your will be an exception. Maybe child's Drs will know better too. Google medical docs not forums for the specific med that you will be on. Best of luck and congrats on a new baby :-)
  • ama38049
    ama38049 kezibankaruk

    Posted

    Hi again, K - did they check your TSH and liver functioning? My RA had gotten worse dramatically after each birth giving, but along with that I had endo problems and liver malfunctioning that basically "went away" after a while (a year of while or so). These malfunctioning gives the same sympthoms of pain and tiredness as RA. And with some luck and some treatment go away. The TSH treatment is safe breastfeeding-related. So maybe you might want to check these too. Good luck and hug - being a mom is hard enough as it is. RA challenges it further...
  • Light
    Light kezibankaruk

    Posted

    I can't help you here, but presumably, if your doctor has reccommended it because you are breast feeding and therefore it wouldn't be good to take the conventional medicines, then he or she must know what he's doing.

    Is he offering you biologics on the NHS or are you not a Brit?

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