I would love to hear from mothers who have lyme and did or did not breastfeed their babies. I am due to give birth to a boy in February and am having a hard time deciding whether or not to breastfeed him. I am hearing mixed ideas from doctors about whether the benefits outweight the risks when the mother has lyme. Specifically, what was your LLMD's advice to you about breastfeeding with lyme?
Thank you,
Lymers
Posted by surprise (Member # 34987) on :
Oh boy, I don't like to share this, breast feeding can be such a touchy subject.
I had 2 children later in life, while I had Lyme disease unknown and untreated.
1st child I breast fed, and she has Lyme. Apparent from infancy. Still no clue about Lyme,
had my last child 2 years later, and did NOT breast feed, personal reasons. (Still untreated)
The last child is/ was like night and day from the other child- and she is 100% neurotypical and healthy.
Dr. B., quoted from the better health guy's website, stated women's breast milk was tested, 5 out of 5 came back with spirochetes.
I do not know if they were untreated, tho. It can be passed through breast milk.
Obviously, you'd have to stay on treatment.
Posted by lymers (Member # 21512) on :
Thank you for your insight. I am being treated throughout this pregnancy and plan to remain in treatment throughout breastfeeding IF I choose to breastfeed. I know that lyme can be transferred to baby when mother is untreated, but I'm wondering what the statistics are when the mother is properly treated.
Any other information tidbits from anyone regarding TREATED mothers and breastfeeding?
Thanks,
Lymers
Posted by jlcd1 (Member # 18138) on :
I breastfed my son until he was 8 months. I didn't know I had Lyme until he was about 5 months old. The LLMD we took him to said that breastfeeding is the best thing I could do for him right now.
I don't know if that's because she thought why stop now after already breastfeeding for 5 months or not but I continued for 3 months and had to stop when I went on doxy.
He was positive for bartonella at 1yr and had band 41 positive, but didn't have any symptoms so we couldn't treat. He is 3 now and I think I see symptoms sometimes and my husband says he's just 3.
But he wasn't and isn't developmentally slow. I think he is actually advanced for his age. (mother talking)
Good Luck with you decision. I think if you stay on antibiotics then it's one of the best thing's you can do for your baby.
Posted by lymers (Member # 21512) on :
jlcd1,
Thank you for your story. Is your LLMD one of the more well-known ones? Do you mind my asking who he/she is (I mean the one who told you to continue breastfeeding)? You could PM me that information if you'd like.
Thank you,
Lymers
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Lymers... Congratulations on your pregnancy!!!
I hope all goes well for you and your baby!!
Posted by pmerv (Member # 1504) on :
Lyme wasn't even discovered when I had my children, and I breastfed them all. I think I got Lyme when I was pregnant with #4. Later he was diagnosed with LD. He was treated and is now 35 and healthy. A couple of my other children got Lyme from ticks. They are doing ok. One daughter got bad enough to seek treatment; she is doing ok now. One son dropped out of school and I think his life is different because of Lyme, but who knows? I've thought about this question. What if you don't breastfeed, and then your child gets Lyme anyway? You will have denied him the known benefits of breastfeeding and your own satisfaction, for nothing. He might be afflicted with allergies or compromised immune system just from being deprived of mother's milk. It's a tough decision but I think I would do it anyway.
Posted by pmerv (Member # 1504) on :
plus, they don't know spirochetes can be effectively passed via breastfeeding although spirochetes have been detected in breast milk. Maybe they die in the GI tract. They are pretty picky about their environment, if the medium is not just right. So it's a pretty sketchy theory to base a big decision on.
Posted by surprise (Member # 34987) on :
Yes, but the breast milk will also be infused with antibiotics.
Something else to think about.
Sorry, I know it must be a tough decision. I, for one, am okay feeding my babies formula, FWIW.
Posted by philly78 (Member # 31069) on :
I just had a baby boy this past April. He is now 6 months old and doing great. I did breast feed up until 4 months when I had to go back to work. I didn't keep up because it was just too hard to try and pump in my line of work.
I see Dr. C in PA and she said I was fine to breastfeed as long as I was being treated. She encouraged me to do so actually. In my case, the benefits outweighed the risk.
Posted by lymers (Member # 21512) on :
Oh...thank you everyone! I really appreciated all of you taking your time to reply to my breastfeeding post.
Does anyone else have any personal experiences they would like to share? Or, insights from their LLMD about breastfeeding with lyme?
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