breast feeding and alprazolam (xanax)

[spratling33411]

i have been taking alprazolam (xanax) for the past 3 weeks now,for panic attacks and,i stopped breast feeding the day before i started taking it. i dont like the medication because it makes me very drowsey and i have stopped taking it for the last 2 days. my question is, how long do i have to be off the medication before i can start breast feeding again becuase im still producing milk and want to breast feed my baby
thankyou for your time

[spratling33411]

hey to jackiemoo, im 24 years old. i have been getting panic attacks since i was 16, i didnt get treated for them until i was 19 and my doctor then precribed me paxil, which didnt help much at all and, made me really sick and i always felt like i was going crazy.. so i stopped taking paxil after about 3 months and i basicly went crazy from the withdrawl symptoms which, at the time i thought was all in my head. so i have just been dealing with them ever since. somtimes they arent as bad as other times and, somtimes they are so bad i get them 20 times a day and some of them can last up to 2 hours. i put off going to the doc for 3 months because i was breastfeeding and i didnt want to stop but my panic attacks continued to get worse. so i went to the doc i have now, who told me that he wouldnt prescribe any of his paitents paxil because of the serious side effects of withdrawl  and he also told me its for depression not panic attacks and that xanax is a great drug for panic attacks. i started taking the xanax and it worked great but it makes me very drowsey, i still get the panic attacks but they arent as bad or last as long. i was just wondering cus i havent taken the xanax for 3 days now and i was to breast feed my daughter, shes 5 months old. my doc is out of town he will be out of town for 2 weeks otherwise i would have asked him but i dont know -_-;

[spratling33411]

also lol if u do want to talk my email is ska_rocks_yea***@****

[spratling33411]

hey thanx :)
i have a good one i payed ALOT for lol i been using it and throwing out the milk just like u said i gotta get my moneys worth for it

[jackiemoo]

You should talk to your doctor before you stop taking meds like that. It is very important to taper off. You body can have side effects. Are you still having panic attacks. I have had these for years and they are definatley debilitating. IF you are interested in overcoming them without the use of drugs, than I recomend talking with someone, reading books, learning how to deal with stress etc. Paxil works really well also. It doesn't usually make you very tired, but it does make you loose sexual drive and you get a dry mouth too! I wish you the best of luck, and if you ever need someone to talk to regarding panic attacks, please seek me out. I know that it helps to chat about them.

[AndiJ78]

Involve your pharmacist in this discussion as well, they are much more knowledgable about half times of meds than most docs and will be better able to tell you when it will be safe to resume nursing. In the meantime, continue to pump, gte a good double pump (if you don't own one, rent one for a month) just to increase your supply. I would simply pump and dump until you have been given reassurance the meds are out fo your system. I don't think it will take too long, but you really need to consult a pharmacist.

Good luck!
Andi