Is Claritin Hives Relief Safe in Breastfeeding

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

Second generation anti-histaminic drug with low sedative effect. Excreted in non-significant amount into breast milk. No side effects were observed in breastfed infants of treated mothers. The British Society of Immunology and Allergy rates it compatible with breastfeeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics rates it compatible with breastfeeding.

Because of its lack of sedation and low milk levels, maternal use of Claritin Hives Relief would not be expected to cause any adverse effects in breastfed infants. Claritin Hives Relief might have a negative effect on lactation, especially in combination with a sympathomimetic agent such as pseudoephedrine. The British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology recommends Claritin Hives Relief at its lowest dose as a preferred choice if an antihistamine is required during breastfeeding.[1]

A survey of 51 mothers who took Claritin Hives Relief during breastfeeding between 1999 and 2001 was conducted by a teratogen information service. Most of the infants were over 2 months old and Claritin Hives Relief was generally taken for one week or less. Two mothers reported minor sedation in their infants, one at 3 days of age and one at 3 months of age. Both mothers were taking a dose of 10 mg daily. Weight gain and psychomotor development were similar to infants in a control group of breastfed infants unexposed to medications.[3] An extension of the study that compared the results of this study (plus one additional patient) to that of a control group of 88 mothers who took a drug known to be safe while breastfeeding. No differences in sedation or any other side effects (p=0.606) in the infant were found between mothers who took Claritin Hives Relief during breastfeeding and those of the control group.[4]

Antihistamines in relatively high doses given by injection can decrease basal serum prolactin in nonlactating women and in early postpartum women.[5][6] However, suckling-induced prolactin secretion is not affected by antihistamine pretreatment of postpartum mothers.[5] Whether lower oral doses of antihistamines 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 mother out of 51 mothers who took Claritin Hives Relief while nursing reported that she had decreased milk production after taking Claritin Hives Relief 10 mg daily for less than one week at 4 months postpartum.[3]