Hi Ellen,
Forgive me as I have not seen the post that elicited your response on
celandine.....Chelidonium majus or celandine is also known as bai qu cai.
This is a widely used herb in China and Europe.

So what does this mom want to use celandine for, dose including for how
long, how old is child and how much milk consumption, and what are her
alternative treatments and their risks?  This information is just as
important as the information about a herb. Celandine is not an entirely
benign medicinal plant in all circumstances, yet consideration of use must
involve the particulars of this mother's situation.

Celandine is known to relax smooth muscle thus relieving bronchospasms, bile
duct spasm and blood pressure to some extent.  Comm E describes as having a
"mildly antispasmodic, papaverine-like action on the upper GI tract and
approved it's use as safe and effective for "spastic discomfort of the bile
ducts and GI tract."  They list it's use for borderline hypertension as
worthy of further investigation.  The herb contains a number of alkaloids,
including berberine (total alkaloids 0.6% dry wt). The German Comm E does
not consider the plant toxic, and lists no contraindications for pregnancy,
lactation or any other condition, nor interactions with other drugs.  Their
dose: 2-5 g herb, equivalent to 12-30 mg total alkaloids calculated as
chelidonine ( the major alkaloid).

According to Duke's new edition of his Handbook of Medicinal Herbs (2002),
he gives the herb only one plus ( he gives 3 pluses for the safest herbs)
probably related to properties of the fresh herb as much as anything else.
He lists abortificient effect/tx of amenorrhea ( like most alkaloidal herbs,
it seems) as well as well over 50 other recorded uses, none particularly
lactation-related one way or the other.  The fresh herb is known to cause GI
distress.  Externally applied, the fresh juice can be allergenic, irritant
and paralytic. Indeed, Potter describes external use against warts.
Increased urine production is also a noted effect in both Duke and Potter.

AHPA's Botanical Safety Handbook rates it 2b ( pregnancy caution) and 2d
(not for use in children) but does not caution against use in lactation.
Ed.s note the dried plant is not associated with GI or skin irritation.
They also comment an an early report of toxicity that was gained from
homeopathic provings, where deliberately  excessive doses were administered
as part of that process.  They note this finding to be without relevance
when considering appropriate medicinal use.

The herb may or may not be able to lower milk supply, and some of it's
"drying" actions may indicate it could (at what dose?).  But these learned
sources have not seen fit to caution specifically against use in
breastfeeding per se.  Perhaps for this particular mother-baby pair, it's
use may seem unwise, depending on how she wants to use it and her
breastfeeding situation. Or celandine may be the "safer" treatment option,
in this mother's view.

Sheila
Sheila Humphrey
BSc RN IBCLC

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