Hello!

I am the mother of a 6 month old, and have been struggling. I have always suspected that I had ad/hd since I was in junior high. My parents told me they thought I had it, yet never took me to a doctor for it. Anyhow, I digress.

I went to a psychiatrist for the first time yesterday after nearly reaching a breaking point, and they suspected that I have ad/hd, depression, and social issues. I am scheduled to take some testing for it.

I am breastfeeding my baby almost exclusively, and I do not plan weaning him anytime in the near future.

When I told this to my psychiatrist, he was dumbfounded and halted on prescribing any medication for me.

They wanted to prescribe Prozac, and or wellbutrin.

Does anyone know if these are ok to take while breastfeeding?

If not, what other medications would be ok?

I'm sorry I can't directly answer your question beyond suggesting that Omega-3 capsules will do no harm, but I would like to caution you about Prozac.

When my life turned into hell on Earth my doc prescribed it. It makes everything seem OK. The observant will note that as everything is not always 'OK', thinking it *is* will lead to problems. For instance, you wake up one morning wondering about killing yourself. The Prozac says "You wanna kill yourself? Thats OK".

Hi and welcome to the forums!

Just want to offer some words of encouragement...you've taken the first step by going to the dr. Now you need to be patient. It is a process of finding out what works for you. The testing will, hopefully, give more accurate information about what the predominant problem is (depression, ADHD, or something else) and with that info you can start considering medication options.

Try and keep in mind that you are a new mother which adds a whole new world of stress to your life. I think breastfeeding it great and you should do it as long as you and your baby are comfortable with it even if it means putting off starting on meds. Maybe some therapy would be helpful to try and help you cope. I know therapy did a lot for me.

When you get the chance check out our medication section. There's tons of information in there about just about everything!

Again, welcome and I'm looking forward to hearing more from you.

Kim

Congrats on your baby, Crazzy. I respectfully direct your attention to the following site:

http://maggee.upmc.com/Research.htm

Magee-Women's Hospital, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is devoted to healthcare relating only to women. This particular link will take you to their research section. They have done extensive studies on Women, Pre and Post Natal, and class 1, 2, and 3 medications. There is a toll free number people can call, too. If you call the hospital, you would need to ask for the toll free number for their genetics department. I am at work right now, and our computers are filtered for the safety of the students.

I went though Magee's Genetics Lab with several of my pregnancies, as I was high risk, and for one of them, had been taking several types of prescribed medication prior to learning I was pregnant. They're fanstastic here.

Thank you!

I tend to be quite the advocate when it comes to breastfeeding, and I have done a little research on medications and breastfeeding. While not every medication is safe to take while breastfeeding, I understand that there are a quite a few medications that are. Even some of the cautionable ones are still ok to take if the nursling is older and past the newborn stage, such as mine, who is almost 7 months old.

Some of the medications used for postpartum depression are safe for breastfeeding mothers and also help for ADD.

From my research I have learned this: The bottom line is, for most medications, Breastmilk with a hair amount of non-risky medication in it is far better for baby than infant formula. Baby still benefits by continueing to breastfeed even if mother is on medication better than he would if he was weaned onto formula, which is what my doctor was hinting at.

Anyway, I would rather do my testing for ADD before medication, rather than after it. He was about to write the prescription and was talking about my coming back in to do the testing, and this is when he halted upon finding out that I was nursing.

I'm glad of this, for in my opinion, it is backwards to write the prescription before doing the testing.

Thank you Ms.Sunshine , but your link did not work for me.

http://magee.upmc.com/Research.htm

I have never researched Wellbutrin, but I've been on Prozac continuously for a dozen years and went through 2 pregnancies & breastfeeding on it.

Prozac is excreted into breastmilk, but in very low amounts.

In my case, I felt it was necessary for me. I also, like you, felt that the benefit of breastfeeding far outweighed the minimal risks of feeding on Prozac.

I breastfed my first child for a year and my second for 5 months (he was a giant infant -- little guy now, though -- and I couldn't keep up with is appetite). The majority of the benefits of breastfeeding occur in the first 3 months, anyway, but as long as you're willing and able MORE POWER TO YOU! :D

As for as the research I have done states, Wellbutrin and prozac are safe to take.

It also makes a difference how old the nursling is. Some things that are not ok when little one is a newborn becomes ok when he is 6 months and older.

I will have to do more research on this.