Is Menhydrinate Safe in Breastfeeding

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

Antihistaminic drug used as treatment of vertigo and dizziness. Sporadic usage is not contraindicated.

Small, occasional doses of Menhydrinate would not be expected to cause any adverse effects in breastfed infants. Larger doses or more prolonged use may cause effects in the infant or decrease the milk supply, particularly in combination with a sympathomimetic such as pseudoephedrine or before lactation is well established. Single bedtime doses after the last feeding of the day may be adequate for many women and will minimize any effects of the drug.

Relevant published information on Menhydrinate was not found as of the revision date. In one telephone follow-up study, mothers reported irritability and colicky symptoms 10% of infants exposed to various antihistamines and drowsiness was reported in 1.6% of infants. None of the reactions required medical attention. In this study, irritability was reported in one infant of seven exposed to Menhydrinate in breastmilk.[2]

Antihistamines in relatively high doses given by injection can decrease basal serum prolactin in nonlactating women and in early postpartum women.[3][4] However, suckling-induced prolactin secretion is not affected by antihistamine pretreatment of postpartum mothers.[3] Whether lower oral doses of Menhydrinate have the same effect on serum prolactin or whether the effects on prolactin have any consequences on breastfeeding success have not been studied. The prolactin level in a mother with established lactation may not affect her ability to breastfeed. One woman became dependent on Menhydrinate during her first pregnancy and continued to take it in a dose of 150 mg daily while she breastfed her infant for 3 months. The infant did well except for a febrile seizure at 2 years of age, which was probably unrelated to Menhydrinate. During her second pregnancy, she took Menhydrinate 300 mg daily during the pregnancy and while breastfeeding her infant for 2 years.[5]