Is Sildenafil Safe in Breastfeeding
Question
I am a breastfeeding mother and i want to know if it is safe to use Sildenafil? Is Sildenafil safe for nursing mother and child? Does Sildenafil extracts into breast milk? Does Sildenafil has any long term or short term side effects on infants? Can Sildenafil influence milk supply or can Sildenafil decrease milk supply in lactating mothers?
Sildenafil lactation summary
- DrLact safety Score for Sildenafil is 1 out of 8 which is considered Safe as per our analyses.
- A safety Score of 1 indicates that usage of Sildenafil is mostly safe during lactation for breastfed baby.
- Our study of different scientific research also indicates that Sildenafil does not cause any serious side effects in breastfeeding mothers.
- Most of scientific studies and research papers declaring usage of Sildenafil safe in breastfeeding are based on normal dosage and may not hold true for higher dosage.
- Score calculated using the DrLact safety Version 1.2 model, this score ranges from 0 to 8 and measures overall safety of drug in lactation. Scores are primarily calculated using publicly available case studies, research papers, other scientific journals and publically available data.
Answer by Dr. Ru: About Sildenafil usage in lactation
A 5-phosphodiesterase inhibitor used in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension, erectile dysfunction in men, Raynaud's syndrome and in other treatments due to its vasodilatory effect on smooth muscle. Its use is authorized in small infants and neonates to treat pulmonary hypertension (Lakshminrusimha 2016, Krishnan 2010). Sildenafil and its metabolite N-desmethylsildenafil are excreted in breast milk in clinically insignificant amounts, much lower than the dose used in newborns and infants (Wollein 2016).
Answer by DrLact: About Sildenafil usage in lactation
Limited data indicate that sildenafil and its active metabolite in breastmilk are poorly excreted into breastmilk. Amounts ingested by the infant are small and would not be expected to cause any adverse effects in breastfed infants.
Sildenafil Side Effects in Breastfeeding
A 23-year-old woman with congenital heart disease and pulmonary hypertension was treated during pregnancy with sildenafil and bosentan in unspecified dosages. These drugs and warfarin were continued postpartum. Her infant was delivered at 30 weeks by cesarean section and weighed 1.41 kg at birth. She nursed the infant in the neonatal intensive care unit for 11 weeks "with good outcome" according to the authors, but the infant died at 26 weeks from a respiratory syncytial virus infection.[2]
Alternate Drugs
Sildenafil(Safe)
Diltiazem(Safe)
Amlodipine(Low Risk)
Sildenafil(Safe)
Nebivolol(Unsafe)
Nitroglycerin(Safe)
Nicardipine(Safe)
Verapamil(Safe)
Nitrendipine(Safe)
Nisoldipine(Low Risk)
Nimodipine(Safe)
Nifedipine(Safe)
Minoxidil(Safe)
Isradipine(Low Risk)
Hydralazine(Safe)
Cinnarizine(Low Risk)
Felodipine(Low Risk)