Mefloquine is not for Mothers

A note on my malaria medication. I was very concerned about taking Mefloquine (Larium) because of the risk of psychological side effects. Having experienced some of the psychological side effects of just daily life, I was concerned about the side effects being amplified by a crazy medication and living in Africa. I find it ironic that mefloquine is the only medication approved for nursing mothers when some of the side effects are the following:
Nausea – like being pregnant but not
difficulty sleeping – that’s okay, I don’t need more sleep anyway
depression – never an issue when you are at home all day
bad dreams – scary dreams involving the safety of my infant in Africa aren’t that disturbing
feeling disoriented – yep
anxiety – excellent, more worrying
irritability – an aggressive, irritable mother – sounds like a party to me

There are more side effects but I have only listed those that I have actually experienced. The interesting thing is I feel like the effect is stronger the longer you take the drug, maybe it is because I expect Monday and Tuesday to be rough because I take my pill Sunday night. It does get better toward the end of the week but then Sunday comes again. You would think they would find an option that is more mother friendly until then, it is bareable but I am stoked out of my mind that this Sunday is the last mefloquine pill I will take this trip!