Vit. A

[wallacesmum]

If I had to go on a high A therapy, how much A is too much in my breastmilk? Baby is 8 months.

[ccohenou]

Lactmed does not have any information regarding ATRA/tretinoin in breastmilk. Other studies have shown that vitamin A status can be assessed by analyzing breastmilk, which suggests that mom taking more vitamin A means more vitamin A in breastmilk, but there isn't quantitative information about the breastmilk of moms on pharmacological doses. I guess it might be an option to have your own breastmilk analyzed while you are on treatment to find out whether there are toxic vitamin A levels present.

[Heba]

Dr Hale says "do not use vitamin A in excess of 5000 IU/day."
I dont know what kind of doses you're looking at, but if you have access to the book (medications and mother's milk) you could discuss the whole entry for Vit A with your baby's healthcare provider to weigh up the benefit/risk of not Bf vs Bf with high vitamin A levels.

[tanyalynn]

5,000 IU seems very low, I'm guessing there's no data above that point--I'd be surprised (shocked) to find out there's data showing a problem above that point if they also controlled for vitamin D. You would want to think about your vitamin D status, and baby's likely vitamin D status if you haven't done a blood test for baby, given the relationship between A & D.

I _think_ vitamin A in breastmilk is related to the amount circulating (retinol in a blood test) and my understanding is that's slow to go up and down, very similar to vitamin D. I read about this stuff a few years ago, I could be wrong.