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Azathiprine and breastfeeding

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 5/27/2009 8:02 AM (GMT 0)
Hi there,

I'm almost 35 weeks pregnant and keep being given conflicting advice about whether you can breastfeed or not on azathioprine (imuran). Anyone had any advice / experience on this? My gastro specialist said a while ago that i shouldn't, but a breastfeeding specialist i spoke to recently said some doctors do recommend it and some don't, she said growth restriction and cancer were the main worries - sound pretty worrying to me! - but that the dangers are only theoretical, have not be proven, whereas the benefits of breast feeding are proven. I even got a letter from the hospital the other day saying that now as long as your baby's healthy and not premature it's ok to breastfeed on azathioprine.

This leaves me somewhat confused!

Be great to hear from anyone who's in the same boat...

Thanks!
Posted 5/27/2009 4:55 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, congratulations on your pregnancy !

I don´t have any personal experience with breastfeeding on Imuran, but I do follow a thread of Crohn ´s patients on pregnancy here (Czech Republic) and all were advised to stop taking Imuran with the end of pregnancy in order to breastfeed.

I myself came here to this forum not long ago with a question about taking Entocort when breastfeeding :-). Decided not to risk side effects on the baby, stopped taking E. and have been breastfeeding my daughter for almost 3 months - I am lucky, tests are fine and we can carry on. I was prepared to stop breastfeeding the moment I would feel the illness is coming back though and give baby formula- my son couldn ´t have been breastfed and he is a healthy boy now.

Hope you make a decision you will feel happy with and enjoy you baby, good luck !
Posted 5/27/2009 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
I was told by my GI not to breastfeed. I started taking Imuran right after I gave birth. I was in a very bad flare up/bowel rupture and 2 weeks after delivery I had to have a surgery. He really wanted me to start on the Imuran before surgery since it takes a little while to start working. So I chose to use formula so I could start Imuran. And it worked out :) Mostly too, b/c while I was recoverying from surgery, I didn't have to worry about how I was going to feed him or when to pump. And I haven't heard anything about if it matters if the baby is premature, but my son was 3 weeks early, but the GI never said that had anything to do with it? Good luck with everything and I hope everything turns out well! :)
Posted 5/27/2009 6:14 PM (GMT 0)
The best information I've seen comes from Dr. Hale. You can ask someone to check his book. Newer information not in his book is on his site

http://neonatal.ama.ttuhsc.edu/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi?pg=topics&access=guest

Here's a thread on imuran:

http://neonatal.ttuhsc.edu/discus/messages/53/1176.html
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