Can I take paracetamol while breastfeeding?

For a nursing mother, even a common cold can become a huge obstacle in the performance of her maternal responsibilities. It is very difficult to walk and play with the baby while the head is splitting, the nose is not breathing, and even the temperature has risen. How to alleviate your condition, when taking medications in most cases is contraindicated or undesirable due to their ingress into milk.

As the safest medicine for malaise, paracetamol is most often prescribed during breastfeeding, since it passes into breast milk in negligible quantities and does not contain components dangerous for the child and mother.

Can paracetamol be taken during lactation?

Paracetamol is a pain reliever with a mild anti-inflammatory effect. Compared to other analgesics (analgin, caffetin) included in the same group, paracetamol is the least toxic, and with a single or moderate use, its concentration in milk does not exceed 0.23% of the dose that the nurse took. But with prolonged use, it also begins to have a toxic effect on the child. Paracetamol is not included in the list of drugs contraindicated for lactation, so doctors prescribe it to lactating women with ARVI.

How to take paracetamol?

During breastfeeding, paracetamol is best taken immediately after feeding the baby, because the concentration of the active substance in the blood reaches a maximum 30 to 40 minutes after administration. It follows that 30 minutes after taking paracetamol it is not advisable to feed the baby. The low toxicity of this drug is due to the fact that it is almost completely excreted by the liver and kidneys from the body after 3 to 4 hours - this time is also the safest time for attachment to the breast.

Paracetamol during hepatitis B is taken according to the following scheme: within 2 - 3 days, 1 tablet up to 3 times a day. It is advisable to consult a doctor before use. It is important to remember that an elevated temperature is your body's natural defense response to infection or inflammation, so you cannot knock it down if it has not risen above 38.5⁰C. Do not take the medicine only for minor headaches or mild colds. These symptoms can be controlled by other, more benign means. During lactation, taking medication is an extreme measure if your health does not allow you and your baby to adhere to the usual regimen.

Like any drug, paracetamol has a number of contraindications:

Hepatic and renal failure;
Allergy to the components of the drug.

And also there are side effects:

Glomerulonephritis, renal colic;
Hematopoietic disorders, leukopenia, anemia;
Nausea and abdominal pain;
Rash on the skin;
Drowsiness.

Therefore, when breastfeeding, paracetamol must be taken while simultaneously observing the child's reaction. If you or your baby have side effects, stop taking the medication immediately.

At the first sign of SARS, take all measures to prevent the transition of the disease to a severe form when you have to take medications:

Gargle the throat several times a day: with a solution of soda, decoctions of herbs, lubricate with Lugol's solution.
Flush your nose with a baking soda solution using a syringe, syringe, or seawater preparations, which are now a lot in the form of sprays.
Drink vitamins and natural immunostimulants (Echinacea preparations).
From folk remedies for lactation, you can use the following herbs: chamomile, echinacea, mint, St. John's wort, calendula. Have a good healing effect: honey, ginger, garlic, raspberry jam, lingonberry and cranberry juice.

If you cannot do without paracetamol, then do not take the drug in parallel with coffee or strong tea, as they increase the concentration of the active substance. With a short-term use of the drug in the correct dosage, side effects are extremely rare and harm to the child is minimal. Therefore, taking paracetamol with severe acute respiratory viral infections at the nurse is quite justified, since it allows you not to interrupt lactation and avoid stress in the baby.