Is Mel B Safe in Breastfeeding
Question
I am a breastfeeding mother and i want to know if it is safe to use Mel B? Is Mel B safe for nursing mother and child? Does Mel B extracts into breast milk? Does Mel B has any long term or short term side effects on infants? Can Mel B influence milk supply or can Mel B decrease milk supply in lactating mothers?
Mel B lactation summary
- DrLact safety Score for Mel B is 7 out of 8 which is considered Dangerous as per our analyses.
- A safety Score of 7 indicates that usage of Mel B may cause toxic or severe side effects in breastfed baby.
- Our study of different scientific research indicates that Mel B 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 Mel B .
- Usage of Mel B is in contradiction to breastfeeding hence if it is must to use Mel B and there is no better alternative available then breastfeeding shall be stopped permanently or temporarily.
- 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 Mel B usage in lactation
Used in the treatment of African Trypanosomiasis (T.Gambiense, Sleeping Disease). It contains arsenic. It is very toxic and adverse reactions are frequent and severe. It is reserved for treatment of advanced disease. In such a case, nursing is unlikely. Alternative drugs are not effective. The pharmaceutical industry is responsible for not having developed a more effective and less toxic drug to treat such a disease that kills thousands of people every year just because they are poor and do not represent an opportunity to increase business profit.
Alternate Drugs for Antileishmaniasis & Antitrypanosomiasis
Nifurtimox(Safe)
Benznidazole(Safe)
Meglumine Antimoniate(Safe)
Eflornithine-Hcl(Unsafe)
Pentamidine(Safe)
Melarsoprol(Dangerous)
Suramine Sodium(Unsafe)
Antrypol(Unsafe)
Naganinum(Unsafe)
Naganol(Unsafe)