Can I take Cystex and continue breastfeeding?

Question

I have a call into the dr. but they don't call back until later in the day. Has anyone gotten the ok to take Cystex for a UTI while they were breastfeeding?

Answer 1

Category C is a measure of a drugs safety during pregnancy, and has nothing to do with lactation.  Drugs that readily cross the placenta are not the same as drugs that appear in high levels in breastmilk.

Safety during breastfeeding is listed as L1-L5 with L1 being safest.

Sodium salicylate is a salicylate and should be used with caution in breastfeeding moms because of the association with Reye's Syndrome -but the risk is very small.  But I can't find any actual info on it.  Methenamine appears to be safe.

AZO also looks like a poor choice.

Anyway I have to go,but your best bet is to cal motherisk they have the most up to date info, use a 10-10 plan and it won't cost more than a couple of dollars: [phone]

I will look more when I get back but that's going to be hours from now.

http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/se...

Summary of Use during Lactation:

Both the hippurate and mandelate salts of methenamine pass into milk in small quantities and appear acceptable to use, even while nursing a newborn.

Answer 2

I can't find any reliable  info on this drug.  All the online sources just say "check with a health professional if you're nursing."

While most meds ARE safe -- given the lack of info, I'd probably try to hold out until you talk to the doctor. (the pain med in cystex  is a salicylate -- related to asprin.  And asprin isn't the preferred pain med while nursing.)  Most antibiotics are safe to use while nursing, so you can treat it with an appropriate prescription drug once you talk to the doctor.

(I had a kidney infection while nursing, and was prescribed Tetracycline.)

Answer 3

ok from what i'm seeing the med contains Methenamine (Hexamine) Hippurate which according to safefetus.com is a category C and is excreted in breast milk but doesn't have any effect in nursing babies... the Cystex has another drug too (sodium salicylate) which i am not finding at safefetus.com

did the prescribing doctor know you were nursing? what type of doctor are they? i put more faith in OB that GP regarding meds that may effect a baby