Hi- I was diagnosed with ADD as a young adult. During this pregnancy I was told to go off of concerta during pregnancy by my doc. It is extremely difficult, I'm 31 weeks along now and feel like my brains are falling out of my head! I want to breastfeed and was also told I couldn't take any meds during that time either. Does anyone have experince or info on breastfeeding and ADD? Looking on the internet I found a natural homeopathic called Native remdies? Anyone try this with any success?

I feel your pain!

After leaving my baby girl in the hallway of my sons preschool, I stopped breastfeading that day and got on meds. I figured that the effects of me not on meds were not worth the benefits of breastfeeding. Just my opinion though. Making it to the car and realizing you left your child behind in her infant seat just sitting in the middle of a hallway is a very scary feeling, I was afraid it was going to be a hot car the next time.

You could try Omega 3, exercise and low cars/high protein diet. Oh, and getting more sleep (HAHAHAHA). I would not take any supplements! They are not fda approved and while nursing you can not be too careful.

Just to emphasis 20trackedmind's point, natural does not mean safe. Drugs are drugs whether they come from a factory or a flower. Unborn children and infants are extremely vulnerable and you really should stay away from any drugs whatsoever.

In a perfect world, your husband would make sure you experience as little stress as possible, eat as well as possible, and get as much sleep as possible. Keeping yourself healthy is the very best thing you can do for the baby's health.

I didn't want to chance taking anything at all while I was pregnant or breastfeeding (I breastfed my daughter for 3 years -- yes, you read it right :) and that was a loooong 4 and something years. I don't know in retrospect why I didn't start trying to get meds sooner than that, except maybe that my daughter didn't sleep through the night for a looong time and I must have been half (or more) crazy from exhaustion.

However please remember that if you experience post partum depression there are several SSRIs that you can take safely while breastfeeding, such as Zoloft. I have a friend that did so through both of her children and they were fine. Don't hesitate to get treatment if you start feeling whacked out after you have your baby.

Amie

Its worth bearing in mind if you really dont think you can go without meds and cant find meds that you can breastfeed with that the first 3 days of breastfeeding are considered the most important in terms of passing on immunities and such like so you could work it so you go back to meds after the first week and know that you've still given the best start :)

I began to suspect ADD a little before my daughter was born, but planned on breastfeeding so I didn't see a doctor yet. I didn't know whether meds would help and I'm a big believer in breastfeeding so I didn't want to give it up just to be able to take meds that might not even work. So I did BF her for a year.

Now that I know how great Adderall works for me it would be a lot harder to give it up again. But I would also be kind of crushed to give up BFing a future baby. My suggestion would be to just take it a week at a time. Once a week, just ask yourself if you're reading to quit BFing yet so you can take meds, or if you want to give it another week.

I would also suggest thinking it out and planning whatever strategies you can use without meds, to really take care of yourself while you're doing without. If your husband could get up and do some night feedings with a bottle so you can have some decent sleep, that might make a big difference. Sleep deprivation is hard on anyone but to my experience it just multiplies the ADD symptoms! Maybe that could help keep you sane so you can continue BFing the rest of the baby's feedings. (I wouldn't suggest that in the first month or so though, because any formula supplementing can screw up your milk supply).

Hi- I was diagnosed with ADD as a young adult. During this pregnancy I was told to go off of concerta during pregnancy by my doc. It is extremely difficult, I'm 31 weeks along now and feel like my brains are falling out of my head! I want to breastfeed and was also told I couldn't take any meds during that time either. Does anyone have experince or info on breastfeeding and ADD? Looking on the internet I found a natural homeopathic called Native remdies? Anyone try this with any success?

If there is a La Leche League in your area, you may find other women who have had experience with which drugs are safe to take while still nursing. Many of the antidepressants are apparently okay to take while BF, and some of those are very helpful with ADD.

Omega 3 has been very helpful for me, and in all my research on it I have found nothing indicating interactions of any kind with meds.