Is Pravastatin Sodium Safe in Breastfeeding

I am a breastfeeding mother and i want to know if it is safe to use Pravastatin Sodium? Is Pravastatin Sodium safe for nursing mother and child? Does Pravastatin Sodium extracts into breast milk? Does Pravastatin Sodium has any long term or short term side effects on infants? Can Pravastatin Sodium influence milk supply or can Pravastatin Sodium decrease milk supply in lactating mothers?

• DrLact safety Score for Pravastatin Sodium is 5 out of 8 which is considered Unsafe as per our analyses.
• A safety Score of 5 indicates that usage of Pravastatin Sodium may cause serious side effects in breastfed baby.
• Our study of different scientific research indicates that Pravastatin Sodium may cause moderate to high side effects or may affect milk supply in lactating mother.
• Our suggestion is to use safer alternate options rather than using Pravastatin Sodium .
• It is recommended to evaluate the advantage of not breastfeeding while using Pravastatin Sodium Vs not using Pravastatin Sodium And continue breastfeeding.
• While using Pravastatin Sodium Its must to monitor child for possible reactions. It is also important to understand that side effects vary largely based on age of breastfed child and time of medication in addition to 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.

Statin drugs do its action by inhibiting cholesterol synthesis. On latest update relevant data on breastfeeding was not found. Its high plasma protein binding makes excretion into breast milk unlikely. Ability to alter fat composition of breast milk is unknown which is important since infants are in need of high cholesterol intake for adequate brain development, cell membrane building and hormone and vitamin synthesis. Avoid taking it at least while exclusive breastfeeding. Atorvastatin is possibly the safest statin drug because a higher molecular weight that lowers excretion into breast milk even more extensively. For Pravastatin a minimal excretion has been reported. Simvastatin has a lowest oral bioavailability. Avoiding drug treatment for cholesterol as long as breastfeeding is desired would probably not harm long term result of disease. Continuing with a low fat containing diet is recommended.

Levels of pravastatin in milk are low, but no relevant published information exists with its use during breastfeeding. The consensus opinion is that women taking a statin should not breastfeed because of a concern with disruption of infant lipid metabolism. However, others have argued that children homozygous for familial hypercholesterolemia are treated with statins beginning at 1 year of age, that statins have low oral bioavailability, and risks to the breastfed infant are low, especially with rosuvastatin and pravastatin.[1] Until more data become available, an alternate drug may be preferred, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant.