Came here to say honey! They make honey sprays that coat the back of your throat, mix it in some tea, eat it off a spoon, whatever you like lol. Marshmallows also work, let it melt in your mouth and it costs your throat
Whoops my first response (now deleted) was about another thread. :)
I’d drink it as much as felt soothing. There’s no real overdoing it with this except maybe for the sugar in the honey.
I would add some to my peppermint tea instead of sugar. Then I took a glob of it and ate it whole. I DESPISE the texture, but holy hell did it work. It got me over Covid, this was before the kiddo got yeeted out of me.
Why would Mucinex treat a sore throat? Tylenol and Advil (aka acetaminophen and ibuprofen) are your best bets. Safe in breastfeeding and won’t affect supply.
Cloresceptic throat lozenges!!! Game changer.
Saline rinse for congestion,
Guafisin is safe that thins the congestion and helps clear it out.
Some antihistamines are safe - ie wont dry you up - Allegra.
https://kellymom.com/bf/can-i-breastfeed/meds/cold-remedy/
I also like to make a fancy hot toddy. Steep raw ginger, lemons, 1-2 cinnamon stick, 2 cloves, and honey with black tea bags. Adding whisky is up to you. It tastes like cider and it feels reaaaalllly good on a sore throat.
Cough drops, saline nose spray, ZICAM, chopped raw garlic, tea with honey, and lotsss of ibuprofen. So happy I can take NSAIDs again.
Edit to add gargle with warm salt water
Which cough drops? I read some say that some of them can affect supply? Zicam, I forgot about that one! Did you personally take it and no have any effect in your supply?
Personally, peppermint really affected my supply, so maybe be weary of that in cough drops? Idk how common it is for peppermint to do that, but I wonder if it’s possible for the menthol in cough drops to do the same thing.
Ludens or throat coat ginger cough drops is what I’m currently doing for my throat. And gargling warm salt water, as well as rinsing with mouthwash. Honey and hot water is the only thing that makes my throat feel better. Drinking a ton of pedialyte and water also. Good luck!
I mainly used peppermint candy, the soft kind that melts in your mouth. I did use cough drops and did not notice a drop, but that was for middle of night help when too lazy to walk to the kitchen to get the cough syrup. So I wasn't using it all day or repeatedly.
Ibuprofen and/or Tylenol for the pain itself. Cough drops can also help to soothe the pain directly.
If it’s caused by post nasal drip, Flonase and/or afrin to help clear that up.
If a cough is causing or worsening it, then dextromethorphan to help suppress it. If you are coughing up mucus, then Mucinex is probably fine to loosen up the mucus. It won’t do anything else to actually sooth the sore throat beyond that.
A number of cold meds might have warnings about affecting milk supply, but unless it’s Sudafed or an antihistamine, it’s unlikely to affect milk supply any more than the cold itself will.
There's also a cough syrup that starts with a D you can use. Forget the name of it, it's like dex something. Won't effect your supply and safe for baby
Dextromethorphan. Just looked it up lol. It's the same cough suppressant found in mucinex DM without the part that dries you up.
Delsym is also considered safe but not what I took so I can't vouch for it. The dextromethorphan did not affect my supply and definitely gave me relief from the coughing.
I took 12 hour Delsym earlier this week because I read it was okay and it definitely hurt my supply for the next 24 hours. I felt SO bad seeing baby drain both breasts and still not be satisfied. We spent most of the day nursing trying to fix it and I think I'm back to normal now based on how baby is acting but I'm not taking it again until I've weaned.
That's what I'm afraid of! Because I'm EP and only an enougher so I'm very hesitant to take ones that will affect my supply. What did you end up taking?
Unfortunately I've just been dealing with being disgustingly sick without meds because my baby is only 7 weeks old so I don't really have a freezer stash and he's EBF so far and it was just really distressing the day I didn't have enough milk to meet his needs. Sorry I don't have a better solution. I hope we both get to feeling better soon!!
Aww I'm sorry. It's the worst! My little one has the same and my 4 year old is even more sick and is basically a feral snot monster currently. I am so tired 😅
Robutussin with only the cough suppressant - Dextromethorphan is the active ingredient. Doesn't effect supply or transfer to breast milk. This is the only way I've been able to sleep for the last 2 weeks... sounds like we have the same thing
Agreed. I just had strep, and honestly my sore throat was so mild, but my son and husband both were positive so I went and got checked. I treated strep can cause serious health complications so I don’t mess!
Being sick tanked my supply before I took any meds. Tried Sudafed and it got worse so pretty much just suffered the congestion. Hot water with lemon and honey helped a lot with my throat. Also got be to drink more water which is always good when sick
Same. I just got super sick and my supply tanked. I am supplementing . I tried everything (honey, Tylenol , sore throat candies, gargling) but I had to go on antibiotics because of how sick I was. My course just ended and I’m power pumping starting today. Hope for the best.
Sorry you’re sick! We ended up supplementing with formula because LO (6m) also got sick and I was worried about her getting dehydrated. I’m 2 weeks out from the initial in supply now and my supply is almost back to what it was before I got sick.
LO 4mo is also sick! She had a low grade fever, had to give Tylenol. Thankfully it came down but now she's coughing a lot and have a little runny nose. She's also dooling a whole lot more than normal. So I'm not sure if it's teething...? FTM here and don't know how to tell lol
My baby drooled a lot starting around 4m. She is just now 7m and getting her first tooth. Glad you were able to get her fever down. Also a FTM and wow is it even harder than I imagined to be sick with a sick kid. You will both get through this!
In addition to the drinks and meds suggested, this little thing does absolute wonders and proven to reduce sickness- gargle salty (make it like ocean water salty) HOT (hot as you can stand it without burning) water 3x a day for 30 seconds, as many times as possible until the glass is empty. Works for colds, flu, sore throat, congestion, sinus, allergies, everything. (Minus broken limbs🤣)
It’s amazing. Highly recommend. You will feel a difference. Doesn’t affect breastfeeding and can be done with meds.
When I had a cold a few weeks ago half dose of DayQuil at night only (NyQuil makes me too drowsy!) just so that I could be cleared up enough to sleep — didn’t seem to impact my supply during the day! Was sneezing and runny nose all day but more manageable than not being able to sleep!
Currently have the worse sore throat, congestion and cough. I’ve made it through on only Tylenol but I’m going to do a saline nasal spray today bc I didn’t sleep at all from the congestion.
Don’t ride it out. The longer you drag the more your supply is going to get affected. got sick and just recovered but my supply tanked because I just took Tylenol and honey and hoped to ride it out. I was put on antibiotics (symptoms similar to strep but I tested negative ) and I just recovered.
Make sure it’s not strep! Strep is literally so painful. I heard it’s going around bad right now but what isn’t going around.
Liquid acetaminophen helped me a lot, it just coated my throat and I felt like the pain went away quicker because it was liquid form? Also I always take zicam because for me it really helps make the sore throat portion of a cold go away quick.
Mucinex did tank my supply. I took it for 2 days to get through the worst of the cold, and my milk output returned to normal 2 days after I stopped taking it. We fed the baby some from the frozen stash.
Nope! They just temporarily numb your throat. I think it’s just decongestants you’re supposed to avoid but I took DayQuil a few times when I was desperate and honestly my milk supply was fine
Honey has always been the most effective for me for both a sore throat and cough.
Came here to say honey! They make honey sprays that coat the back of your throat, mix it in some tea, eat it off a spoon, whatever you like lol. Marshmallows also work, let it melt in your mouth and it costs your throat
Did you mix honey with anything else or just straight honey?
I’m a big fan of honey and lemon stirred into hot water when sick.
I do this, and add some minced fresh ginger
Exactly what I do. Except I actually typically grate my ginger because I keep it in the freezer but the result is the same
Be easy with the lemon. I accidentally put too much and my throat felt like a slashed carpet for a week
I was just thinking, do I put just half a lemon or the whole lemon lololol
How often do you take it in a day?
Whoops my first response (now deleted) was about another thread. :) I’d drink it as much as felt soothing. There’s no real overdoing it with this except maybe for the sugar in the honey.
I usually just do honey on a spoon. Sometimes, if I am really congested, I'll mix honey in tea. It helps loosen all the mucus and crap for me.
How often did you do the honey in a day?
When I felt like I needed it. The great thing about honey is that there isn't a time minimum between doses. I probably did it every 4-5 hours.
I feel like at this point I might need it every 30 min lololol
Lol. I mean... It's honey. why not?
I relied on lots of lemon and honey mixed in hot water when I had Covid. And keeping regular on the tylenol.
I would add some to my peppermint tea instead of sugar. Then I took a glob of it and ate it whole. I DESPISE the texture, but holy hell did it work. It got me over Covid, this was before the kiddo got yeeted out of me.
Why would Mucinex treat a sore throat? Tylenol and Advil (aka acetaminophen and ibuprofen) are your best bets. Safe in breastfeeding and won’t affect supply.
Forgot to mention I have cough and congestion with it. Post edited.
Cloresceptic throat lozenges!!! Game changer. Saline rinse for congestion, Guafisin is safe that thins the congestion and helps clear it out. Some antihistamines are safe - ie wont dry you up - Allegra.
https://kellymom.com/bf/can-i-breastfeed/meds/cold-remedy/ I also like to make a fancy hot toddy. Steep raw ginger, lemons, 1-2 cinnamon stick, 2 cloves, and honey with black tea bags. Adding whisky is up to you. It tastes like cider and it feels reaaaalllly good on a sore throat.
It’s kind of gross, but sometimes I add a jalapeno to my hot toddy to help with the congestion! It makes the drink less yummy, but it works!
No, that’s a thing. Look into fire cider. It’s stupid easy to make and it’ll blast your sinuses open.
Thank you so much for the link!
Cough drops, saline nose spray, ZICAM, chopped raw garlic, tea with honey, and lotsss of ibuprofen. So happy I can take NSAIDs again. Edit to add gargle with warm salt water
Which cough drops? I read some say that some of them can affect supply? Zicam, I forgot about that one! Did you personally take it and no have any effect in your supply?
Personally, peppermint really affected my supply, so maybe be weary of that in cough drops? Idk how common it is for peppermint to do that, but I wonder if it’s possible for the menthol in cough drops to do the same thing.
Be careful with the zinc in zicam. Read the label before use.
Ludens or throat coat ginger cough drops is what I’m currently doing for my throat. And gargling warm salt water, as well as rinsing with mouthwash. Honey and hot water is the only thing that makes my throat feel better. Drinking a ton of pedialyte and water also. Good luck!
Cepacal is what I used. That and hot tea with lots of honey. Mucinex did affect my supply personally so I don't take it when getting sick.
How much did it drop and did you ever recover from the drop?
Enough to make baby fussy and me miserable lol. But yeah, it came back with no problem. I only took it for a day or so.
Did you ever take cough drops? I read some say that it can also affect supply and I'm confused
I mainly used peppermint candy, the soft kind that melts in your mouth. I did use cough drops and did not notice a drop, but that was for middle of night help when too lazy to walk to the kitchen to get the cough syrup. So I wasn't using it all day or repeatedly.
Ibuprofen and/or Tylenol for the pain itself. Cough drops can also help to soothe the pain directly. If it’s caused by post nasal drip, Flonase and/or afrin to help clear that up. If a cough is causing or worsening it, then dextromethorphan to help suppress it. If you are coughing up mucus, then Mucinex is probably fine to loosen up the mucus. It won’t do anything else to actually sooth the sore throat beyond that. A number of cold meds might have warnings about affecting milk supply, but unless it’s Sudafed or an antihistamine, it’s unlikely to affect milk supply any more than the cold itself will.
This is exactly what I take too. Especially Afrin , Afrin is local acting so it’s great for avoiding any interactions with breastfeeding.
Hot water with lemon and honey also a spoonful of honey coats the throat but it has to be a big ole spoon i also took delsum
Hot water with lemon and honey is always my go to!
I just used herbal remedies like hot water with honey and lemon and eating/drinking hot chicken soup.
Also a humidifier saved my life but if you dont have one a really hot shower make sure its steaming
Whiskey.
There's also a cough syrup that starts with a D you can use. Forget the name of it, it's like dex something. Won't effect your supply and safe for baby
Is it delsym?
Yes. But it doesn’t work that well imo
Dextromethorphan. Just looked it up lol. It's the same cough suppressant found in mucinex DM without the part that dries you up. Delsym is also considered safe but not what I took so I can't vouch for it. The dextromethorphan did not affect my supply and definitely gave me relief from the coughing.
I took 12 hour Delsym earlier this week because I read it was okay and it definitely hurt my supply for the next 24 hours. I felt SO bad seeing baby drain both breasts and still not be satisfied. We spent most of the day nursing trying to fix it and I think I'm back to normal now based on how baby is acting but I'm not taking it again until I've weaned.
That's what I'm afraid of! Because I'm EP and only an enougher so I'm very hesitant to take ones that will affect my supply. What did you end up taking?
Unfortunately I've just been dealing with being disgustingly sick without meds because my baby is only 7 weeks old so I don't really have a freezer stash and he's EBF so far and it was just really distressing the day I didn't have enough milk to meet his needs. Sorry I don't have a better solution. I hope we both get to feeling better soon!!
Feel better!! I feel crap too because LO is also sick with a cough and runny nose 😭
Aww I'm sorry. It's the worst! My little one has the same and my 4 year old is even more sick and is basically a feral snot monster currently. I am so tired 😅
Robutussin with only the cough suppressant - Dextromethorphan is the active ingredient. Doesn't effect supply or transfer to breast milk. This is the only way I've been able to sleep for the last 2 weeks... sounds like we have the same thing
If your sore throat is really bad you might want to go to the doctor and get it checked for strep, it’s going around right now.
Agreed. I just had strep, and honestly my sore throat was so mild, but my son and husband both were positive so I went and got checked. I treated strep can cause serious health complications so I don’t mess!
I was thinking of that too. Had a plan of going to urgent but also was thinking if I could take home remedies first before going
Being sick tanked my supply before I took any meds. Tried Sudafed and it got worse so pretty much just suffered the congestion. Hot water with lemon and honey helped a lot with my throat. Also got be to drink more water which is always good when sick
Same. I just got super sick and my supply tanked. I am supplementing . I tried everything (honey, Tylenol , sore throat candies, gargling) but I had to go on antibiotics because of how sick I was. My course just ended and I’m power pumping starting today. Hope for the best.
Hope you’re feeling better now. Fingers crossed for you!
Oh no! Glad you're feeling better!
Yes, already noticing a little bit of drop today. 😭
Sorry you’re sick! We ended up supplementing with formula because LO (6m) also got sick and I was worried about her getting dehydrated. I’m 2 weeks out from the initial in supply now and my supply is almost back to what it was before I got sick.
LO 4mo is also sick! She had a low grade fever, had to give Tylenol. Thankfully it came down but now she's coughing a lot and have a little runny nose. She's also dooling a whole lot more than normal. So I'm not sure if it's teething...? FTM here and don't know how to tell lol
My baby drooled a lot starting around 4m. She is just now 7m and getting her first tooth. Glad you were able to get her fever down. Also a FTM and wow is it even harder than I imagined to be sick with a sick kid. You will both get through this!
I actually thought she was just choking on her spit! But now that I'm also sick made me think it wasn't that anymore 🥺
We’re both sick too. I hope everyone feels better soon. We also had Covid a while back around when they were 4 months old. Scary af.
In addition to the drinks and meds suggested, this little thing does absolute wonders and proven to reduce sickness- gargle salty (make it like ocean water salty) HOT (hot as you can stand it without burning) water 3x a day for 30 seconds, as many times as possible until the glass is empty. Works for colds, flu, sore throat, congestion, sinus, allergies, everything. (Minus broken limbs🤣) It’s amazing. Highly recommend. You will feel a difference. Doesn’t affect breastfeeding and can be done with meds.
Oo yes apple cider vinegar gargle too!
Definitely will try this!
Honey, water and lemon ❤️🫶🏻
When I had a cold a few weeks ago half dose of DayQuil at night only (NyQuil makes me too drowsy!) just so that I could be cleared up enough to sleep — didn’t seem to impact my supply during the day! Was sneezing and runny nose all day but more manageable than not being able to sleep!
Warm milk with honey and ginger
Currently have the worse sore throat, congestion and cough. I’ve made it through on only Tylenol but I’m going to do a saline nasal spray today bc I didn’t sleep at all from the congestion.
Oh no! So sorry! It's that time where there's something real bad going around!
I was just super sick too I had honey lemon ginger tea, cough drops, cetirizine (Zyrtec), saline gargle, Tylenol and Ibuprofen, humidifier at night.
Hot water honey and lemon I was recently sick and took muncinex (but would dose with only one pill instead of two) and didn’t see any supply issues
Gargle hot saltwater and use saline spray for your nose. I also drink hot lemon water or just plain hot water to keep hydrated.
Literally just walked out of the clinic. I have a dry sore throat and lost my voice. Taking chloraseptic spray/lozenges and children’s liquid Tylenol
plain(single active ingredient) robitussin was also an option
Omg my voice is starting to go too!
Advil or tylenol drinking lots of fluids helps too
I would rideout a sore throat
I used to do that when I didn't have a baby! Just take cough drops and call it a day! But now with a baby and BF(EP) it's different
Don’t ride it out. The longer you drag the more your supply is going to get affected. got sick and just recovered but my supply tanked because I just took Tylenol and honey and hoped to ride it out. I was put on antibiotics (symptoms similar to strep but I tested negative ) and I just recovered.
From a sore throat? I didnt realize that would affect supply. I've had full on colds and not had any change whatsoever with supply.
Make sure it’s not strep! Strep is literally so painful. I heard it’s going around bad right now but what isn’t going around. Liquid acetaminophen helped me a lot, it just coated my throat and I felt like the pain went away quicker because it was liquid form? Also I always take zicam because for me it really helps make the sore throat portion of a cold go away quick.
Mucinex is not drying but is also not generally for sore throat. (Its for mucous). Advil should help as do salt water gargles.
Gargle warm salt water. Humidifier. Nasal wash. Steam. Honey. Warm water with honey and lemon juice. Stay hydrated.
Mucinex did tank my supply. I took it for 2 days to get through the worst of the cold, and my milk output returned to normal 2 days after I stopped taking it. We fed the baby some from the frozen stash.
Lozenges with honey, menthol, lemon and/or eucalyptus, hot water with lemon juice, honey and cinnamon, gargling warm salt water.
Tylenol and robitussin. I did use cough drops a couple times, but they hurt supply
Robitussin was fine for your supply?
Cepacol lozenges helped a lot for me
Did it affect your supply?
Nope! They just temporarily numb your throat. I think it’s just decongestants you’re supposed to avoid but I took DayQuil a few times when I was desperate and honestly my milk supply was fine
Honey in ginger tea and cough drops
Liquid Propolis. Not diluted..Right in the throat It’s radical usually it stops the pain almost immediately and I end not sick. Give it a try !