Hello doctor, Is Colchicine safe for breastfeeding mothers? I have been prescribed Colchicine for the treatment of my oral lichen planus condition. However, I am still nursing and breastfeeding my one-year-old child. I am wondering if the medication is safe to consume given that I am still nursing my child? If not, is there any alternative treatment or medication that I can suggest to my oral medicine specialist? Also, can I practice “pump and dump” if I want to continue nursing and yet continue with the medication? Assuming the dosage frequency is once a day, I will nurse my child in the morning first before I consume Colchicine, then I express my milk and dump them through the day, and only continue nursing my child six to eight hours after the last dosage in the morning. Is this do-able?
Hello. Regarding your treatment for oral lichen planus, you need to take a topical corticosteroid and Colchicine is an appropriate treatment for it. I am posting here a study regarding the use of Colchicine by a group of lactating mothers and you can see the results yourself. The National Transplantation Pregnancy registry reports that 124 women with transplants have taken corticosteroid while breastfeeding 169 infants for periods as long as 48 months, with no apparent infant harm. So the gap you are giving in between the morning and day feeding is the best. You need to give a gap of four hours maximum after the intake of the drug.