Is Escitalopram safe while breastfeeding?

Effects on the breastfed infant

Eight breastfed infants whose mothers were taking escitalopram in an average dose of 199 mcg/kg daily for postpartum depression were evaluated by a pediatric specialist using the Denver developmental scale. Their mothers had taken escitalopram for a median of 55 days postpartum (range 23 to 240 days). The infants' scores on this scale was 110% of normal.[ 4 ] A woman began taking escitalopram 5 mg daily immediately after birth. Her dosage was increased to 10 mg daily and valproic acid 1200 mg daily was added by 7 weeks postpartum. Her breastfed infant was judged to be healthy and have normal neuropsychological development by a general practitioner at 7.5 weeks of age.[ 5 ] One woman was taking escitalopram 20 mg daily and reboxetine 4 mg daily orally while nursing her infant (extent not stated). She had taken reboxetine for 1.5 months, but the start of her escitalopram therapy was not stated. At 9.5 months of age, her breastfed infant had normal weight gain and a Denver developmental score of 105% of chronological age.[ 6 ] A nursing mother was given escitalopram 10 mg daily for depression beginning at 3 weeks postpartum and increasing to 20 mg daily thereafter. At 4 months of age, her exclusively breastfed infant was admitted to the hospital for irritability, vomiting and fever of 4 days duration. He had been irritable with prolonged periods of crying for the past 3 months according to his mother and had gained only 400 grams per month since birth. Liver enzymes were moderately elevated. The infant was discharged after 5 days and breastfeeding was continued, but only twice daily for 2 weeks, then discontinued at 4.5 months of age. At 5 months, symptom improvement was noted and at 6 months, serum liver enzymes had normalized. The author noted that the time course of the adverse effects were consistent with the treatment with escitalopram.[ 14 ] A mother began taking escitalopram 20 mg daily in the morning on day 15 postpartum. She exclusively breastfed her infant on

Effects on milk supply

The SSRI class of drugs, including escitalopram, can cause increased prolactin levels and galactorrhea in nonpregnant, nonnursing patients.[ 25 - 35 ] Euprolactinemic galactorrhea has also been reported.[ 36 - 38 ] The prolactin level in a mother with established lactation may not affect her ability to breastfeed. In a small prospective study, 8 primiparous women who were taking a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI; 3 taking fluoxetine and 1 each taking citalopram, duloxetine, escitalopram, paroxetine or sertraline) were compared to 423 mothers who were not taking an SRI. Mothers taking an SRI had an onset of milk secretory activation (lactogenesis II) that was delayed by an average of 16.7 hours compared to controls (85.8 hours postpartum in the SRI-treated mothers and 69.1 h in the untreated mothers), which doubled the risk of delayed feeding behavior in the untreated group. However, the delay in lactogenesis II may not be clinically important, since there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in the percentage of mothers experiencing feeding difficulties after day 4 postpartum.[ 39 ] A case control study compared the rate of predominant breastfeeding at 2 weeks postpartum in mothers who took an SSRI antidepressant throughout pregnancy and at delivery (n = 167) or an SSRI during pregnancy only (n = 117) to a control group of mothers who took no antidepressants (n = 182). Among the two groups who had taken an SSRI, 33 took citalopram, 18 took escitalopram, 63 took fluoxetine, 2 took fluvoxamine, 78 took paroxetine, and 87 took sertraline. Among the women who took an SSRI, the breastfeeding rate at 2 weeks postpartum was 27% to 33% lower than mother who did not take antidepressants, with no statistical difference in breastfeeding rates between the SSRI-exposed groups.[ 40 ] An observational study looked at outcomes of 2859 women who took an antidepressant during the 2 years prior to pregnancy. Compared to women who did not take an antidepress

Levels in milk

Escitalopram is the S -isomer of racemic citalopram which is metabolized to 2 metabolites, each having antidepressant activity considered to be about 13% that of citalopram.[ 3 ] Maternal Levels. Eight women taking escitalopram in an average dosage of 199 mcg/kg daily (10 to 20 mg daily) had 6 to 8 milk steady-state milk samples analyzed over the 24-hour interval after their single daily dose. The average dosage that an exclusively breastfed infant would receive was calculated to be 7.6 mcg/kg of escitalopram and 3 mcg/kg of desmethylcitalopram daily which were 3.9% and 1.7% of the maternal weight-adjusted dosages, respectively. The absolute dosage was about 40% less than a previous study by the same authors with racemic citalopram.[ 4 ] A woman taking escitalopram had milk escitalopram concentrations measured twice. While taking a dosage of 5 mg daily, milk escitalopram was 24.9 mcg/L at 20 hours after the dose. While taking 10 mg escitalopram daily and valproic acid 1200 mg daily, milk escitalopram was 76.1 mcg/L at 15 hours after the dose. Using these two data points, the authors estimated that the infant received 5.1% and 7.7% of the maternal weight-adjusted dosage of escitalopram on these days, respectively.[ 5 ] One woman was taking escitalopram 20 mg daily and reboxetine 4 mg daily orally while nursing her 9.5-month-old infant. She collected milk samples before each breastfeeding session over a 1-day period. The authors estimated that the infant would receive 4.6% of the maternal-weight-adjusted dosage of escitalopram plus desmethylescitalopram.[ 6 ] A nursing mother was taking escitalopram 20 mg daily. Foremilk and hindmilk samples taken at 1 week postpartum, 12 hours after a dose contained 173 mcg/L and 195 mcg/L, respectively. The samples also contained 21 mcg/L and 24 mcg/L of S -desmethylcitalopram in foremilk and hindmilk, respectively.[ 7 ] Eighteen lactating women taking escitalopram in a mean daily dosage of 10 mg (range 2.5 to 30 mg [mean 0.2 mg/kg

Alternatives LactMed lists

• Nortriptyline
• Paroxetine
• Sertraline