Is It Safe to Use Diet Pills during Breastfeeding?

After the birth of a child, it's logical for you to want to lose weight. You've just put on a ton of pounds to house your child, and when he or she comes out, the pounds remain. Jumping to diet pills for a quick fix might seem like the perfect solution, but the side effects of such a decision could be more harmful than the "benefits" you may gain from the pills. Before you start relying on these kinds of supplements to help you lose weight after childbirth, you may want to keep some of the risks in mind. They may make you think twice about the pills you so desperately crave. Let's take a closer look at the safety concerns that come along with using diet pills while you are breastfeeding.

Overall Risks of Diet Pills

Looking beyond diet pills during breastfeeding for a moment, there are already a number of risks with ingesting diet pills in general. Pills like this get pulled off the market all the time because they are linked to strokes, high blood pressure, seizures, palpitations and much more. If any of those linked issues hold true while you are taking care of your baby, you could be putting your child at risk in the process. Your body is already trying to readjust to being on its own again, and your hormones are severely out of whack after childbirth. There is no sense in adding fuel to the fire.

Effects of Trace Diet Pills on Newborns

The effects of diet pills during breastfeeding on your child are not entirely known right now, but a child's immune system isn't as developed as ours. If some of the pill contents seep into your breast milk, there could be a lot of negative effects for your baby. Until tests have shown that diet pills will have no harm on a child, you should avoid consumption until after the baby is fully weaned. Even then, the lack of effectiveness should make you not want diet pills in general. You need to keep this in mind for all of the medications you are taking, as you should not put anything in your body without seeing what it could do to your child. You pay put your breastfeeding baby at risk if you are not careful.

Alternatives to Diet Pills

Instead of turning to diet pills during breastfeeding, you should stick with plain diet and exercise. The effects will be longer lasting, and you can drop the weight in a gradual, safe way. This will lessen the chances that you will be affected by instant mood swings that often accompany large weight drops. Don't do anything extreme with your body right after giving your birth. The side effects are just too risky for the health of yourself and your newborn. Avoid the gimmick pills that so many people fall prey to and just do what has proven to be effective for years now.

Conclusion

The fact is that diet pills are ineffective for the most part, and they aren't safe for you or your baby after you give birth. Investing in diet pills during breastfeeding would be a waste of time and a potentially risky choice overall. If you are trying to lose weight after giving birth, there are more logical ways to go about it. Focus on taking your postnatal vitamins and getting your body back in shape naturally. You had a great body at one point in time. There is no reason why you can't get it back now. With the right effort and a little precaution, you can get back to the old you in no time.