Is Lofexidine safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Lofexidine. 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
Maternal Levels. A pharmacokinetic model was designed using in vitro-in vivo techniques that were then used to create a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model of lofexidine. A simulation of administering a dose of lofexidine to nursing mothers resulted in peak milk levels of about 4 mcg/L with a single 1.2 mg dose and 6 mcg/L with a single 2 mg dose assuming milk pH to be 6.8. Excretion was pH-sensitive, with levels dropping by over 90% at a pH of 7.[ 1 ] Using the peak level from a 2 mg maternal dose, the worst-case relative infant dose would be about 3%. Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Alternatives LactMed lists
“No published information” means the studies do not exist yet — not that Lofexidine 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.