Lamotrigine effects on breastfed infants

Abstract

Lamotrigine is a safe anti-epileptic drug among pregnant and lactating women. Some concerns exist regarding the safety of lamotrigine during breastfeeding and related neonatal complications. In this brief review, this matter was evaluated and discussed. In this review study, the medical literature available in search databases such as Embase, Scopus, PubMed, and Medline and even also local medical search engines were evaluated. The results indicated that lamotrigine is a safe anti-epileptic drug for breastfeeding women with rare and usually mild adverse effects among neonates exposed to high milk concentration of this drug and its metabolites. However, close periodical monitoring for infants whose mothers are utilizing lamotrigine is recommended to decrease the probability of severe side effects among them.

Keywords: Breastfed Infants; Effect; Lamotrigine.