What does lithium do to babies?
Lithium exposure is associated with increased risk of neonatal complications. Newport et al. found an association between high infant lithium concentrations and lower 1-min Apgar scores, higher rate of central nervous system and neuromuscular complications and longer duration of hospital stays (Newport et al. 2005).
Is lithium safe for breastfeeding?
Lithium passes easily into babies’ circulation through breastmilk, giving the baby a high level of Lithium in their blood. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2) and the British Association of Psychopharmacology (1) recommend not to breastfeed whilst taking Lithium.
Can I have a baby on lithium?
The risks to your baby with taking lithium while pregnant or breastfeeding are: Heart defects. Taking lithium in early pregnancy can increase the risk that your baby’s heart might not develop properly. Your doctor or midwife should monitor your baby’s heart using ultrasound scans.
Which is the best formula milk in South Africa?
The four top-selling brands are NAN, Novalac, S26 and Similac for reasons specific to each one.
Is lithium excreted in breastmilk?
With regard to breastfeeding, lithium is excreted in human breast milk at a mean rate of approximately 50% (range 0.17–1.07%) of the mother serum concentration (Weinstein and Goldfield, 1969; Fries, 1970; Tunnessen and Hertz, 1972; Schou and Amdisen, 1973; Sykes et al., 1976; Viguera et al., 2007; Tanaka et al., 2008).
What are the side effects of lithium?
The most common side effects of lithium are feeling or being sick, diarrhoea, a dry mouth and a metallic taste in the mouth. Your doctor will carry out regular blood tests to check how much lithium is in your blood. The results will be recorded in your lithium record book.
Is lithium found in milk?
There were significant differences between the lithium content of milk: milk contains a high lithium concentration of 10 mg kg−1 dry matter. In contrast to milk, curd cheese and other cheeses only retain 20–55% of lithium in the original material available for human nutrition.
What is lithium side effects?
What are possible side effects of lithium?
- Headache.
- Nausea or vomiting.
- Diarrhea.
- Dizziness or drowsiness.
- Changes in appetite.
- Hand tremors.
- Dry mouth.
- Increased thirst.
Does lithium cause cleft palate?
Intragastric administration of lithium carbonate to pregnant rats immediately after confirmation of pregnancy resulted in high incidence of cleft palate, growth retardation, brain liquification and pulpy brain, hepatomegaly and digital abnormalities, when compared to the saline-treated controls.
Is lithium toxic?
A safe blood level of lithium is 0.6 and 1.2 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L). Lithium toxicity can happen when this level reaches 1.5 mEq/L or higher. Severe lithium toxicity happens at a level of 2.0 mEq/L and above, which can be life-threatening in rare cases.