I was diagnosed with PsA shortly before becoming pregnant when I had my first appearance of a "sausage digit." I took prednisone until becoming pregnant, and then stopped. The finger returned to normal during pregnancy.
Baby is now 7 mos. old and still nursing. I currently have two fingers that are inflamed, and I am wondering what treatment course to pursue.
Has anyone received treatment while nursing? What is safe? I would continue to ignore the inflammation, but it is becoming difficult to do simple things like diaper changes!
I cant say that I can be of great help however I was watching my baby nephew during the day while his parents worked and my fingers swelled up much like yours which made diaper changers very difficult aswell however after the fingers came the back and knee and feet and neck and everything else swelling and pain and it got to the point where it was no longer even safe for me to watch him any more.....I suggest making an appointment with an rhumey and starting treatment as soon as possible so that the flare doesnt get out of control!
I'd suggest you talk to your rheumatologist about what treatment might work best for you while nursing, and also contact an IBCLC (internationally board certified lactation consultant). They can contact Dr. Thomas W. Hale (more info at infantrisk.com), author of "Medications and Mother's Milk" and speak to him or his staff if they have any questions.
Here's part of what Medications and Mother's Milk has to say about Prednisone: "In small doses, most steroids are certainly not contraindicated in nursing mothers.... Following administration, wait at least 4 hours if possible prior to feeding infant to reduce exposure. With high doses (>40mg/day), particularly for long periods, steroids could potentially produce problems in infant growth and development... "
Here's part of what Medications and Mother's Milk has to say about Enbrel: "Due to its enormous MW (150,000 daltons), I still believe it is extremely unlikely that clinically relevant amounts owould transfer into milk in actively breastfeeding mothers. In addition, due to its protein structure, it would not be orally bioavailable in an infant. Infliximab is somewhat similar and is apparently not secreted into human milk. "
Infliximab is Remicade.
I'm a breastfeeding mother who takes Enbrel. I made the decision to do so after reading the information in Medications and Mother's Milk and speaking with Dr. Hale.