Is Dimethyl Sulfoxide safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Dimethyl Sulfoxide. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
Dimethyl sulfoxide is slowly metabolized to dimethyl sulfone after absorption. Maternal Levels. One nursing mother received a treatment for interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) consisting of a single instillation of 50 mL of 50% DMSO into the bladder, which was voided after 15 minutes. Milk samples were obtained before instillation and 5, 11, 19, 24, 27, 32, and 36 hours after the treatment. DMSO was analyzed, but its metabolite, dimethylsulfone, was not measured. A peak milk DMSO concentration of 34.5 mg/L occurred at 5 hours after the treatment. The average milk DMSO concentration was 13.4 mg/L, which resulted in an estimated daily dosage of 2 mg/kg for the infant and a relative infant dosage of 0.45%.[ 3 ] Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
“No published information” means the studies do not exist yet — not that Dimethyl Sulfoxide is known to be harmful, and not that it is known to be safe. Your prescriber or pharmacist can weigh your baby's age and whether a better-studied alternative would do the same job. Worth asking before stopping a medicine you need.
Source: NIH LactMed (National Library of Medicine).
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.