Naproxen when breastfeeding

I spoke to the pharmacist about it before I started to use it and they said minimal naproxen gets into the breastmilk so wouldn't make baby more sleepy! As for your back pain. Naproxen is an anti-inflammatory drug, and is great for short term use but for more chronic pain eg slipped discs etc you may need to go back for something stronger which I don't think you'll be able to use whilst breastfeeding x

@Lauren thank you! I’m hoping it will ease up enough… we’ve had a shitty bf journey but at 8 months things finally feel good, I’m dreading that this may abruptly finish our journey if I need something stronger 😭 (plus in 8 months she’s consistently outright refused a bottle 🤦‍♀️) fingers crossed 🤞

Hey! I’ve just been taking it for a week now for back pain since epidural. My boy is 6 months and usually a great sleeper but has been fighting sleep since I started taking it 🤣 could just be teething though!! My Dr said it’s fine to take short term as very little passes to breast milk!

HEY! I used this for mastitis it was my only option I hate taking meds and refuse even taking paracetamol or ibuprofen but it wouldn’t go away so I did, but I didn’t take the recommended dose. I took 1/2 of what they prescribed me too. It cleared up fine and there was no issue with my little one.

Sometimes we just have too!

Thanks everyone! I’m feeling slightly more mobile this afternoon but still can’t lift my little girl so my husband is being a star and lifting her to me to feed. Fingers crossed I ease up more in the next few days 🤦‍♀️

@Millie out of interest how could you tell it was related to epidural? Was your back pain continually after birth? I had an epidural but to be honest feel like my backs always been a bit dodgey pre-pregnancy anyway so thought it’s probably unlikely to be related!

Yep! It’s progressively got worse since giving birth to the point where I couldn’t really walk and I have put on a bit of weight from not being able to move about as much! I know it was from epidural as I’ve never had back problems before (even in pregnancy). I also had a pretty traumatic birth, epidural didn’t work and was removed and put back in again and still didn’t work, following that the epidural needle was left in for around 24 hours after birth as I followed my baby to NICU & it was forgotten about 🙈 Honestly the naproxen has given me my life back this past week! Not sure how long I’m allowed it for but I’ll be gutted when it’s finished and I’m back in pain 😂 Hope that it helps you & you have a speedy recovery!!x

@Millie I’ve had terrible back pain since C-section with epidural, worse of a night when trying to sleep. I’m having physio now, they’ve said it’s less to do with epidural and more to do with your core muscles being so weak after cutting through all these layers as you lose the strength in your back. You might want to ask to be referred for some post natal physio.

Have you tried a nipple shield to transition from breast to bottle?

@Joanna key note in that nhs screenshot is “not usually” - doesn’t mean it can’t be if nothing else is suitable. Although this is what I was reading when I posted this 😅 i’ve only been given it short term for a week before discussing further options with GP if needed. I’m a few days in and feeling lots better in myself and LO is no different to usual (I think her long stretch of sleep was due to a few poor nights of teething coincidentally happening at the same time making me panic!) We’ve tried nipple shields, no luck unfortunately. We’ve gone through all different types of tips over the last 8 months, girl just knows she likes boob 😂

@Millie oh gosh that sounds really traumatic! Sorry you had that experience! I’m glad it’s working for you currently though, and fingers crossed you can get some other alternatives to help in the coming weeks if your GP is helpful! 🤞