Is Lovastatin Safe in Breastfeeding

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

• DrLact safety Score for Lovastatin is 5 out of 8 which is considered Unsafe as per our analyses.
• A safety Score of 5 indicates that usage of Lovastatin may cause serious side effects in breastfed baby.
• Our study of different scientific research indicates that Lovastatin 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 Lovastatin .
• It is recommended to evaluate the advantage of not breastfeeding while using Lovastatin Vs not using Lovastatin And continue breastfeeding.
• While using Lovastatin 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 amounts of cholesterol 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.

No relevant published information exists on the use of lovastatin during breastfeeding. Because of a concern with disruption of infant lipid metabolism, the consensus is that lovastatin should not be used during breastfeeding. 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.