# Xanax and Breastfeeding



## SativaStarr (Jul 16, 2007)

I have a 5 month old baby who was born at 32 weeks. Unfortunately this time around Ive been hit hard with PPD and severe anxiety. I'm on zoloft and thats not cutting it, we tried tegretol and that made me even more depressed, and we tried chloral hydrate for anxiety but that didint cut it either.

Long story short things escalated and I was on the verge of being put into an inpatient psychiatric unit. I didnt want that to happen so they tried xanax and it made a HUGE difference, so for the past several weeks Ive been on xanax .5 mg 3-4 times a day. I was told to pump and dump.

Ive been pumping to maintain supply, and I'll admit Ive been nursing him about once a day becasue I dont want him to forget how to nurse.

What I want to know is if any other mamas have been in similar situations and continued to nurse on xanax. My Dr's are admit that its not ok, but if he only is getting maybe 8-12 ozs of my 'tainted' milk a day is it really going to be detrimental to him? I just have a a hard time believeing that the risks from the tiny amount of xanax in the milk outweighs the benefits of breastmilk.

Ive read Dr Hale's info on xanax and I still feel uncertain about what to do.. Any help would be greatly appreciated!


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## leighann79 (Aug 4, 2005)

I would nurse and watch the baby. If he seems affected then adjust accordingly (nurse less or what ever). If you don't notice a difference in him, then just go ahead and nurse.









I was on some medication that wasn't "recommended" for nursing. My nursling was already over a year, but I just watched her for signs of any reaction. There was no sleepiness, nervousness, change in appetite, etc so I didn't worry. Xanax is one of the things I used. I used less than you, but that is still such a small amount, that honestly I would still feel fine with nursing and just watching the baby.
Again, if you *do* see that it seems to affect the baby then you should nurse less or something along that line. But if it doesn't then you can save yourself a lot of trouble.


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## JessicaS (Nov 18, 2001)

Here is a link regarding Xanax and breastfeeding

http://neonatal.ama.ttuhsc.edu/discu...tml?1092924911


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## verycozy (Jul 23, 2008)

I took Xanax while nursing my son. However, he was older than 3 months, and also I didn't take it long enough to have to worry about him becoming dependent on it. That said, I totally didn't see any evidence that he was being affected by it. I agree with the advice that you should watch the baby for any signs that he's being affected. Good luck!


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## SativaStarr (Jul 16, 2007)

Thank you for the replies. I talked with his pediatrician today and she agreed that it should be fine to nurse him a couple of times per day as long as he isnt showing any signs of being affected.. which he isn't.


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