Is Varenicline Safe in Breastfeeding

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

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

It is a nicotine receptor agonist, which is specifically used for quitting from the tobacco smoking habit. There is not published information available on the use of this drug while nursing. Because of pharmacokinetic characteristics its appearance in breastmilk is very likely.

Varenicline is a partial nicotine agonist used to assist smoking cessation. One researcher points out that based on animal data on nicotine, varenicline might interfere with normal infant lung development and recommends against its use in nursing mothers.[1] Because no information is available on the use of varenicline during breastfeeding, an alternate drug is preferred, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant.[2] If a mother chooses to breastfeed while taking varenicline, she should monitor her infant for seizures and excessive vomiting.