Is allergy driving you crazy? Are you feeling distressed from symptoms similar to cold – like, running nose, sneezing, and watery eyes? Is itchy skin bothering you? Are you searching “Is loratadine safe for nursing mothers?”. Well, you are on the right page.
Even if it is true that these common allergies are not going to threaten your life, there is no doubt that it is tiresome for you, especially, if you are a breastfeeding mother. These symptoms appear when the histamine level in your bloodstream increases. Loratadine is one of the remedies for this. find out if loratadine is safe for nursing mothers.
In This Article
- How Do Allergies Occur?
- What Is Loratadine?
- Does Loratadine Have Any Side Effects?
- Is Loratadine Safe For Breastfeeding Mothers?
- Does Loratadine Affect Breast Milk Supply?
- What Are The Alternative Remedies For Allergic Symptoms?
How Do Allergies Occur?
When you are allergic to something and the allergen (substance causing allergy) gets into your body, your body produces antibodies to fight the allergen off your system. For this anti bodies need histamine. Histamine is found in mast cells. Thus, antibodies persuade mast cells to release histamine. The role of histamine is to make the blood vessels dilate so that WBC could quickly find and attack the allergen.
Too much histamine in the body results in the inflammation of the inner layers of nasal passage and airways, throat, eyes, and skin resulting in watery eyes, sneezing, skin rashes, irritation in the throat, etc.
What Is Loratadine?
Loratadine, also known by the brand name- Claritin, is an antihistamine. As the name implies, it helps to reduce the histamine level as the increased level of histamine generates cold or allergy symptoms. Thus, Loratadine is used in the treatment of hay fever and other allergic symptoms like sneezing, skin rashes, and itching. It will help you to discard the allergy symptoms faster and is easily available as an over-the-counter medication.
Does Loratadine Have Any Side Effects?
Usually, Loratadine has no side effects. Even though serious allergic reactions have not been reported, some patients have complained that their eyes turned red, or they developed a sore throat, dry mouth, or hoarseness. Some patients report headaches.
Drug interaction- the effect of one drug on the other when taken together- happens when medicines containing desloratadine, which is similar to loratadine, is taken along with loratadine. It is also not safe to take loratadine with certain medicines which are antifungal and with medicines that are used for acid-reducing. Whenever you feel uneasy while having a medicine, even if that reports no side effects, do consult your doctor before continuing that medicine.
Is Loratadine Safe For Breastfeeding Mothers?
It is safe for you to take loratadine in small doses in unavoidable situations. It safe for breastfeeding mothers as well. Even though non-sedating antihistamines are long-acting (effects last for a long time), doctors prefer non-sedating antihistamines over sedating antihistamines for allergy treatment. Loratadine is a non-sedative antihistamine. So, they are less likely to sedate the baby.
If you have concerns that the drug can pass into breast milk to the baby, understand that the amount will be extremely low. Only less than 1% of the mother’s dose will get into breast milk. And it is way too little to affect the baby. However, you should always monitor your child for drowsiness or any other changes if you are taking any medicines even, though the medicine is said to be relatively harmless.
Does Loratadine Affect Breast Milk Supply?
Antihistamines can make a mother’s milk production go down, but there has not been considerable research on the subject. AS per studies, only 1 woman out of 51 experiences a decline in her breast-milk production after taking loratadine. She had reported the dosage of 10 mg daily after 4 months of delivery and for less than a week. Hence, limited research suggests that no considerable effects on breast milk production.
What Are The Alternative Remedies For Allergic Symptoms?
If you are a breastfeeding mom, chances are that you do not want to take any medicine that would have harmful effects on your baby. Try non-oral medication to minimize your state of discomfort due to allergic symptoms. Some of those alternatives are:
- Use eye drops intended for allergy symptoms relief or cold symptom relief. It reduces histamine in the tissues of the eyes, thus reducing the itchy-ness and wateriness of your puffy swollen eyes. It will give your eyes a cool and soothing effect.
- Use the nasal sprays and nasal gels for seasonal allergic symptoms affecting the nasal path. Anti-histamine sprays are available which will help get relief from a stuffy nose, runny nose, itchy nose, or sneezing due to allergy. Nasal gels and nasal gels swabs are available to provide relief and thus soothe the allergy symptoms like sinus pressure and nasal congestion. Inhaling steam also will help you to get rid of nasal congestion.
- Nursing mothers can try treating sore throat with sore throat spray or lozenges (medicated candy that dissolves in the mouth) before taking oral ingestion of antihistamines. However, an excessive amount of intake of lozenges and cough drops is not a good remedy because of their menthol content. An increased amount of menthol can affect milk production in breastfeeding mothers.
Avoiding combination medicine is always good. Take treatment only for the symptoms that bother you. For example, you may not have to take an antihistamine if you only have nasal congestion. A nasal spray might do the job neatly. If you are badly in need of medication always take it right after you nurse your baby. This will again reduce the chances of the baby’s exposure to the medicine through breast milk.
