Breastfeeding on Lexapro...?

I've always had anxiety, and now that I've had my son I asked my doctor about prescribing me something for it. He told me to take Lexapro and that it was ok while nursing. Has anyone else taken this while breastfeeding? Thank you!

The doctor said it was ok to take. The pharmacist said it can make the baby drowsy and can cause children to not grow as quickly as they normally would....

http://neonatal.ttuhsc.edu/discus/messag...

The most common side effect on babies who are in taking breast milk from a mother on this drug is sedation and somnolence. You may want to switch to zoloft if that will work for you. The website I cite is run by a Phd who has worked for the last 20 yrs studying the effect of medications on breast milk. Talk to your doc about this but beware many docs don't have a clue on the effect of most medications and breast milk. Good luck.

Edit: I don't know why so many people thumbs down mystic_eye_cda she is citing the same Phd as I am, Dr Thomas Hale.

http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/se...
Summary of Use during Lactation:
Escitalopram is the R-enantiomer of the antidepressant, citalopram. Limited information indicates that maternal doses of escitalopram up to 20 mg daily produce low levels in milk and would not be expected to cause any adverse effects in breastfed infants, especially if the infant is older than 2 months. Based on limited data, escitalopram appears to be preferable to the racemate, citalopram, during breastfeeding because of the lower dosage and milk levels and lack of adverse reactions in breastfed infants. Monitor the infant for drowsiness, especially in younger, exclusively breastfed infants and when using combinations of psychotropic drugs.


[...]

Effects in Breastfed Infants:
Eight breastfed infants whose mothers were taking an average of 199 mcg/kg daily for postpartum depression were evaluated by a pediatric specialist using the Denver developmental scale. Their mothers had taken escitalopram for a median of 55 days postpartum (range 23 to 240 days). Their development on this scale was 110% of normal.[2]

A mother began taking escitalopram 20 mg daily in the morning on day 15 postpartum. She exclusively breastfed her infant on demand. At 3 months of age, no adverse effects had been reported in the infant by his pediatrician.[5]

A woman began taking escitalopram 5 mg daily immediately after birth. Her dosage was increased to 10 mg daily and valproic acid 1200 mg daily was added by 7 weeks postpartum. Her infant was judged to be healthy and have normal neuropsychological development by a general practitioner at 7 weeks of age.[3]

At 5 days of age, an infant was readmitted to the neonatal intensive care unit with a diagnosis of necrotizing enterocolitis. The infant had spent the first 2 days of life in intensive care because of respiratory distress. The infant's mother had taken escitalopram 20 mg daily throughout pregnancy and while breastfeeding (extent not stated). The authors hypothesized that escitalopram might have been responsible for the enterocolitis because of its effect on platelet aggregation.[6] The drug was possibly a cause of the reaction.

The manufacturer states that drowsiness and weight loss in breastfed infants whose mothers were taking racemic citalopram has occurred. "Uneasy sleep" that reversed with dosage reduction and partial formula supplementation was probably caused by citalopram in breastmilk in a 5-month-old infant.[7] Irritability and restlessness was noted in her infant after she began citalopram at 2 months postpartum. The side effects subsided after she stopped breastfeeding 2 weeks later.[8] However, these and other studies found no adverse effects in 52 breastfed infants whose mothers were taking citalopram.[4][8][9][10]

Lexapro (escitalopram)
http://neonatal.ttuhsc.edu/discus/messag...
I'm becoming increasingly concerned about the use of Lexapro(escitalopram) in breastfeeding mothers. We've have 2 cases of somnolence in infants here in the last several months.

In this situation, she'd be a lot better off on Zoloft(sertraline).


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Lexapro & breastfeeding - risks to baby's brain
http://neonatal.ttuhsc.edu/discus/messag...
Tanya:

Yes, they are saying that the data suggesting neurobehavioral problems is stonger during gestational use...NOT breastfeeding.

As for your second question, I don't think there's any risk at all in the above example of an 8 month old infant.

Tom Hale Ph.d.

If your dr. said it was ok, then it should be ok. I know it is safe to take during pregnancy, so it should be ok for breastfeeding as well.

If your doctor said it was okay Im sure its fine. I dont think he would give you anything that could hurt your baby!