Is Mesalamine safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Mesalamine. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
A 6-week-old breastfed infant developed watery diarrhea 12 hours after the first maternal dose of mesalamine rectal suppositories 500 mg twice daily. The drug was stopped and reintroduced 4 times and each time the infant's diarrhea began 8 to 12 hours after the drug was started and ceased 8 to 12 hours after the drug was stopped. The infant's diarrhea was probably caused by mesalamine or it metabolite in breastmilk.[ 13 ] A 4-month-old breastfed infant developed thrombosis of the superior sagittal sinus following severe thrombocytosis. The infant's mother was receiving oral mesalamine in dosages averaging 1 to 1.5 grams daily throughout pregnancy and lactation. Breastfeeding had been stopped abruptly 1 week prior to the thrombotic event. The authors ruled out other causes of thrombosis and hypothesized that the abrupt discontinuation of long-term mesalamine exposure caused the thrombocytosis and thrombosis in the infant. They rated the reaction as possibly caused by the drug.[ 14 ] In a prospective telephone follow-up study, 8 nursing mothers reported taking mesalamine (dosage and route unspecified). One mother reported diarrhea in her infant. No other adverse reactions were reported in the infants by their mothers.[ 15 ] A case-control study compared the infants of mothers taking mesalamine (n = 117; average dose, 2065 mg daily), olsalazine (n = 2) or sulfasalazine (n = 2) to infants of matched control mothers (n = 121) who were exposed to no treatment known to be harmful to a breastfed infant. Infants were exposed to mesalamine through milk for a mean of 5.3 months (range: 3 days-24 months). Infants were breastfed for an average of about 7.4 months and were followed up at an average age of about 22 months. No difference in the frequency or characteristics of maternally reported adverse events were found between exposed and control infants.[ 16 , 17 ] Two women who developed inflammatory bowel disease were treated with mesalamine during pregnancy and postpartum. Th
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
Mesalamine (5-aminosalicylic acid; 5-ASA) is metabolized to N-acetyl-5-ASA, which is inactive in treating inflammatory bowel disease, but the metabolite's possible effects on the breastfed infant are unknown. Maternal Levels. One woman with ulcerative colitis (time postpartum not stated) was taking delayed-release tablets of mesalamine (Claversal) 500 mg orally 3 times daily. A single milk sample taken 5.25 hours after a dose contained 0.11 mg/L of mesalamine and 12.4 mg/L of N-acetyl-5-ASA.[ 8 ] A woman with inactive ulcerative colitis was taking mesalamine (product not specified) 1 gram orally 3 times daily. A milk sample taken 1 week postpartum at 5 hours after a dose contained mesalamine 0.1 mg/L and N-acetyl-5-ASA 18.1 mg/L. Another milk sample taken 4 days later at 5 hours after a dose contained mesalamine 0.1 mg/L and N-acetyl-5-ASA 12.3 mg/L. The authors also report another mother taking 1 g of mesalamine daily (product not specified) who had a milk level of mesalamine that was undetectable and N-acetyl-5-ASA level of 2.2 mg/L (time of sampling and assay method not reported). The authors estimated that a fully breastfed infant whose mother was taking 1.5 grams of mesalamine daily would receive 0.015 mg/kg of mesalamine and 2.3 mg/kg of N-acetyl-5-ASA daily.[ 9 ] Twelve women taking mesalamine in various oral dosage forms and one taking olsalazine capsules collected 1 to 8 breastmilk samples over one day at 2 to 4 weeks postpartum. Mesalamine was undetectable ( 20 mcg/L) in most women, but detected in the milk of 3 women; one was taking Pentasa tablets 1 gram 3 times daily and one was taking Pentasa suppositories 1 gram at night, and one was taking oral Asacol 400 mg twice daily plus Mesalal tablets 500 mg at night. Mesalamine milk levels ranged from 20 to 81 mcg/L. N-acetyl-5-ASA was detected in all milk samples, but there was no clear relationship between the dosages, times of the doses and the peak time in breastmilk. The individual average N-acetyl-5-ASA
Alternatives LactMed lists
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.