Pregnancy, breastfeeding and fertility while taking bendroflumethiazide

Bendroflumethiazide and pregnancy

Bendroflumethiazide is not normally used during pregnancy as other medicines are more suitable for treating high blood pressure.

If you're trying to get pregnant or are already pregnant, talk to your doctor about whether bendroflumethiazide is right for you. They may recommend switching to a different medicine for high blood pressure.

Bendroflumethiazide and breastfeeding

If your baby is healthy, you can take bendroflumethiazide if you need to while you're breastfeeding. However, other medicines might be better. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist first, and they'll help you to decide.

It's not known how much bendroflumethiazide gets into breast milk, but it's only likely to be low levels. It's unlikely to cause any side effects in your baby. However, if you take bendroflumethiazide for a long time, or at very high doses, it might reduce the amount of breast milk you make.

It's very rare for breastfed babies to have side effects from medicines you're taking. But it's important to keep monitoring your baby if you're taking any medicine while breastfeeding.

Contact your healthcare professional or call 111 as soon as possible if you notice that your baby:

• is not feeding as well as usual or not putting on weight as you would expect
• has signs they may be becoming dehydrated, such as tiredness, dark yellow pee or fewer wet nappies
• is vomiting (being sick), or has diarrhoea or constipation
• is being irritable
• has a skin rash

If your baby has any symptoms that are not listed, or if you're worried about them, you can also call 111 or contact any healthcare professional.

Carry on taking the medicine, and keep breastfeeding as usual until you've got advice about your baby's symptoms.

Bendroflumethiazide and fertility

There's no evidence to suggest that taking bendroflumethiazide will reduce fertility in either men or women.

However, in rare cases, bendroflumethiazide can cause erectile dysfunction (impotence).

Speak to your doctor if you're having problems getting or keeping an erection. If bendroflumethiazide is the cause, it usually gets better after stopping treatment.

If you're trying to get pregnant, speak to a pharmacist or your doctor.