Developed bell's Palsy after giving birth last Monday - after a week of being messed about my Dr finally said the best treatment is a mild dose of steroids and these other tablets - Aciclovir and Prednisolone....

The Dr has said it should be fine with breastfeeding as its a low dose - basically the other choice was to bottle feed for a week but my milk hasnt even come in yet and I really did not want to do this - I cried my heart out as I want to do the right thing by my baby but cant go on with my face being paralised on one side...cant close me eye or eat properly...

The course is for five days and is 8 tablets in the morning! and then 5 of the other during the day!

anyone else had this and taken the tablets? i just want to do the right thing....

x

i cant give any advice but please don't think for one minute that bottlefeeding is doing the wrong thing for your baby! for my own selfish reasons i bottlefeed my LO because i have no feeling in my nipples and just touching them makes me feel sick and he is perfectly healthy and growing brilliantly, me and my sister were both bottlefed and there's nothing wrong with us! get urself well and dont worry about bottlefeeding, ur LO will be fine x

I do agree with Mrsjbourne - do not for one minute feel you are doing the wrong thing by your baby by bottle-feeding. I have bottle fed all 3 of my boys for my own personal reasons and there has never been a problem with bonding.

Unfortunately I cannot advice if it is safe of not to breast feed on this medication but you could always talk to your pharmacist who would be able to advise you if it is safe.

Maybe one of the ladies who did breastfeed would be able to advise on whether you could use a breast pump or something to make sure your milk comes in if you do go down the bottle feeding route.

I know someone who had Bells Palsy and it wasnt nice - their confidence was shattered while they had it and the last thing you need right now is stress as it doesnt help you get better.

I hope you feel better soon tho hon

xx

hi, sorry to hear about your illness, hope you get better asap. i didnt bf for 9 days as sam was in the scu, i was in a bad way, and he wouldnt stay latched on properly but i expressed - tho not till day 5, and kept at it and have been able to bf, moving from mostly bottle, to some bottle some breast, now mostly all breast with occasional bottle from dad!

dont worry im sure you will be able to bf but if not your lo will be just fine wiv bottlefeeds, main thing is you are healthy and well to take of him her, dont worry!

love
rach xXx

thanks guys....I keep crying as I am so confused over what to do and what is best..the Dr said that I can still breastfeed on the medication she gave me as its a lower dose...so might take the tablets...feeling so down...

thanks again

hey,

if the doctor says that they are safe then they should be. things we eat/drink or take go into the milk differently than when we were pregnant. Ypu can take paracetamol and ibrpfrofin while breastfeeding and whatever pain killers I was given in hospital, plus i had antibiotics because of my birth.

I would kep up the breastfeeding though it sounds like your having a tough time so maybe do both botle and breast. If you do keep up the breastfeeding, make sure you drink lots of water. You say that you can't eat properly, you will need to find a way to keep up your energy if you want to exclusively breastfeed.

don't feel bad if you do choose bottle feeding, as others have said, you can express to keep up your supply until you feel better and try bf'ing again.

hope your feeliong better soon and congrats on your little one!

For energy breastfeeding my mate gace me a fab tip - make a smoothie, natural yogurt, banana, any other fruit you like and a heaped teaspoon of spirulina, from holland n barrett - it is powdered algae, full of protein, great for bf. you cant taste it but the smoothie looks green or brown! yuk!

also, homemade soups full of veg are great, with wholemeal bread- leftover veg, blended with boiling stock are a cheap and easy way to make a quick one

hope you take the medicine, my mate had bells palsy but once it was diagnosed the meds cleared it up pretty quickly. this will be all over before u know it im sure xxx

Awwww hun dont feel bad if you have to give your baby a bottle!

Im sure most of us here gave up over a lot less ( i know i did) so dont feel bad x x

I took prednisolone whilst pregnant for PUPPP, I am unsure about the other medication though. If I were you I would speak to GP or pharmacist first.