Does Taking Zolpidem Allowed During Breastfeeding?

Posted on Mon, 23 Mar 2015

Question: I have narcolepsy and went off all my medications in order to breastfeed my daughter when she was born in September last year. I really want to breastfeed her for at least the first year, but my symptoms are become more and more unbearable each day. The toughest symptom I'm experiencing right now is interrupted nighttime sleep. I'm getting between 3-4 hours in 30-45 increments per night. As a result, this is wreaking havoc on my daily functioning and my ability to care for my daughter. Ambien is a sleep aid that I've used in the past that doesn't work too well, but definitely is better than nothing. I've read that it poses a moderate risk and not very many studies have been performed to evaluate it's effects on breastfeeding infants. My question is, would it be better to risk exposing my daughter to this medication each night so I could continue to provide her with breastmilk, or would it be better to just switch over to formula at this point? She has a very sensitive stomach and I really hate to give her formula bc she deserves to have all the benefits that breastmilk provides, but I also must be able to care for her and myself. Thank you!
Thought I should also mention that my five month old goes to sleep around 7:30pm and wakes up once to feed anytime between 3:30-5:30am.

Answered by Dr. Seikhoo Bishnoi (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Zolpidem in low doses can be taken during breastfeeding

Detailed Answer:
Hello thanks for asking from HCM for your health related queries

I can understand your concern. You have narcolepsy and this results in disturbed sleep in nighttime which is causing significant stress to you. As you are breastfeeding now to your 5 month infant, if we consider safety of drugs then practically every drug get secreted in milk. If we consider sleep drugs and the drug Ambien you were taking is also secreted in breast milk. This may cause CNS depression in some infants, but this effect is not commonly seen in every infant. In my clinic I have prescribed the drug in low doses to a lot of patents who were feeding their child and found the drug as safe. But the drug should be used in low doses only and infants should not be breast feed for at least 4-5 hours after taking the drug. Half life of the drug is about 2-3 hours and taking the drug after that time would not post much risk. Also try to avoid taking the drug regularly because this would not harm to infant. Take the drug after gap of 1-2 days.

Other drugs if we consider for sleep then benzodiazepines especially Lorazepam is considered as safe. Some studies have evaluated its efficacy and safety and found positive results. You can discuss with your doctor for these drugs and for proper prescription.

Discuss with your doctor for positive and negative effects of the drug on infant, and in the mean time also start weaning of your baby. As the baby is 5 month old now so there is no need for exclusive breastfeeding now.

Thanks, take the drugs with proper prescription only. If you have more doubts please ask again.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E