[blparent] Domperidone; was Re: Nursing and not sleeping through the night.

Wed May 30 21:58:41 UTC 2012

I took Reglan, and it increased my milk supply somewhat, but the physical 
and emotional side effects were horrendous.  Absolutely horrendous, and 
that's no exaggeration.  I had no energy whatsoever.  I would hear the baby 
crying, and my whole body would almost hurt, and I couldn't move to go and 
get her.  I was depressed and anxious, as you were, but the fatigue was 
insurmountable, to the point that I'd start crying when I faced a sink full 
of dishes because I couldn't manage to do them.  The problem with Reglan, 
also, was that I couldn't just quit taking it.  I had built gradually up to 
the maximum dose, probably denying some of the side effects because I wanted 
so badly to nurse, or blowing them off as new mom weariness.  So then I had 
to wean myself off the drug gradually, about a third of a dose at a time, 
and thus the fatigue lasted two or three more weeks, even after I decided 
Reglan wasn't for me.  I wouldn't advise someone not to take Reglan, but I 
would say, as you did, to be aware of her body and the side effects.  I'd 
never heard of the other drug you took.  But like you, I was satisfied that 
I'd done everything in my power to nurse, and it just wasn't meant to be. 
Sarah nursed a few times a day, mostly in the evening, till she weaned 
herself at about ten months.  I pumped several times a day, including once 
in the middle of the night, but I never managed to nurse exclusively.  Most 
of Sarah's bottles were half formula, half breast milk, which was the best I 
could do.  I grieved hard about that, but it was what it was, and I stopped 
completely a few weeks after Sarah's first birthday.  I'd made the goal of a 
year, sort of, and I couldn't take it anymore.

Speaking of that, my lactation consultant was looking for research, which 
she never could find, as to whether premature babies who grew up to be moms 
had more nursing troubles, or different ones, from other women.  I think it 
would be an interesting question to ask.  Perhaps breast tissue is one of 
the last things to develop in the womb, as are the lungs and the pyloric 
valve at the bottom end of the esophagus.

So that's my Reglan story, probably more than anybody wanted to know.

Jo Elizabeth

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a 
song."  Maya Angelou

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Angie Matney" <angie.matney at gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 3:33 PM
To: "Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [blparent] Domperidone;was Re:  Nursing and not sleeping through 
the night.

> Hi Jo Elizabeth,
>
> I don't mind discussing this on-list. At the recommendation of my
> lactation consultant, I took domperidone. I ordered this from a
> pharmacy in Canada because you can't get it in this country. My
> lactation consultant told me (and I saw the same thing in my
> independent research) that it had much less severe side effects than
> reglan, the drug that is available by prescription in the US to
> increase lactation.
>
> Domperidone did increase my milk production, but I still had to
> supplement. Additionally, a couple of times when I caught colds, my
> supply dropped drastically. I might have kept on going, but I was
> starting to experience a lot of anxiety in general, and after the last
> cold, I just could not face the prospect of continuing to pump several
> times a day at work and wondering just how much my LO got while
> nursing. So I stopped taking domperidone. My milk dried up pretty much
> immediately at that point. I had no engorgement or anything like that.
> My body really was done with milk production.
>
> And not long after, I noticed that my anxiety levels decreased
> significantly. I should add that the anxiety was relatively
> generalized and encompassed everything from feeding the baby to the
> security of my current job.
>
> All of this sounded similar to me to side effects I'd heard about in
> conjunction with reglan. But I couldn't find much on breastfeeding
> boards about people who had experienced these side effects with
> domperidone. I found one discussion about weight gain, which I had
> unfortunately experienced as well, but nothing about emotional side
> effects.
>
> Like reglan, domperidone is actually manufactured for GI issues. I
> decided to look for information about domperidone side effects from
> other sources. I eventually found some informative discussions on a
> board devoted to GI issues. Other people had experienced similar side
> effects with domperidone. (Some of the women had also experienced
> lactation, which, for them, was an unwelcome side effect of their GI
> medication.)
>
> I have a theory that some of this is due to domperidone's action on
> dopamine and the connection between low dopamine levels and social
> anxiety disorder, but this is only my own theory.
>
> Anyway, things have started to return to normal for me since I've been
> off of domperidone. I went through a whole grieving process because I
> gave up nursing much sooner than I wanted to. But I think it's
> probably better for Jacob to have a mom who's basically together (or,
> at least, not totally crackign under the pressures of a distorted
> reality). I am glad I was able to nurse him until he was eight months
> old.
>
> I don't regret trying domperidone. Apparently, many moms use it
> successfully. My lactation consultant recommended it after pretty much
> everything else had failed to get my milk production back up to a
> level where I could feed exclusively breastmilk again. (I did do this
> successfully for a few months.) And I know now that I tried everything
> within my power to nurse for as long as I could. But it truly was an
> awful experience. I found it interesting that more people who used the
> drug for GI purposes seemed to be reporting issues than  did moms who
> used it for lactation.
>
> Anyway, that's probably more than you wanted to know. But I thought
> I'd post this publicly in case someone else is considering
> domperidone. I wouldn't tell someone else to stay away from it. I'd
> just recommend that anyone be aware of their emotional state and bear
> in mind that domperidone could have a negative effect.
>
> And if your experience was at all similar, my heart goes out to you as 
> well.
>
> Angie
>
>
>
> On 5/30/12, Jo Elizabeth Pinto <jopinto at msn.com> wrote:
>>
>> I'm wondering, Angie, about what drug you took that had side effects. 
>> Write
>>
>> me off list if you want, and if it's none of my business, feel free to 
>> say
>> that as well.  But I had serious issues with a drug, also, and I'm just
>> curious if it's the same one.  If it is, my heart goes out to you.
>>
>> Jo Elizabeth
>>
>> "A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a
>> song."  Maya Angelou
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> From: "Angie Matney" <angie.matney at gmail.com>
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 12:38 AM
>> To: "Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: Re: [blparent] Nursing and not sleeping through the night.
>>
>>> Every baby is different. Jacob started sleeping through the night
>>> before we stopped nursing. Unfortunately, we had to stop because I had
>>> chronic low supply issues. I tried everything to maintain my supply,
>>> including using a medication to aid with lactation. But it had some
>>> unfortunate physical and emotional side effects. so we stopped nursing
>>> a little while back. I'm off on a tangent, sorry. Just wantend to say
>>> that my son did start sleeping through the night while he was still
>>> nursing.
>>>
>>> Angie
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 5/29/12, Erin Rumer <erinrumer at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Oh, I know it is, but for now I will keep nursing him because my son's
>>>> not
>>>> ready to wean and I'm alright with waking briefly a couple times per
>>>> night.
>>>> I just make sure to go to bed early enough so I don't gyp myself on
>>>> sleep
>>>> and feel drained the next day.
>>>>
>>>> Erin
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>>> On
>>>> Behalf Of Allie
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 3:44 PM
>>>> To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
>>>> Subject: [blparent] Nursing and not sleeping through the night.
>>>>
>>>> I wonder if that has to do with the fact that you're nursing him, Erin.
>>>> Gabbie didn't sleep through the night 'til after I weaned her off the
>>>> breast. Coincidence?
>>>>
>>>> Allie
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>>> On
>>>> Behalf Of Erin Rumer
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 4:58 PM
>>>> To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
>>>> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
>>>>
>>>> You ladies are blessed!  My son is 19 months and not sleeping through
>>>> the
>>>> night yet.  It's not horrible though because we co-sleep and he just
>>>> wakes
>>>> me a couple times per night to have a booby snack and we then both fall
>>>> asleep right away again.  I think a lot of it is that he's growing so
>>>> fast
>>>> and just can't go through the night without having some sustenance and
>>>> that's alright by me.  I know that when he does start sleeping through
>>>> the
>>>> night, there will be a short period of time when I will keep waking on
>>>> my
>>>> own because my body is so used to it.
>>>>
>>>> Erin
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>>> On
>>>> Behalf Of Angie Matney
>>>> Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2012 5:59 PM
>>>> To: Blind Parents Mailing List
>>>> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
>>>>
>>>> Hi Bernadetta,
>>>>
>>>> That's great that he's sleeping through the night already. Jacob was
>>>> about
>>>> seven months old before he did that consistently. I think he did it 
>>>> just
>>>>
>>>> in
>>>> the nick of time to save my sanity (or what little there is of it,
>>>> anyway).
>>>>
>>>> Angie
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Bernadetta Pracon" <bernadetta_pracon at samobile.net>
>>>> To: <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2012 6:31 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [blparent] Introduction
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Wow, my goodness, your right. It's eleven months, not over a year. 
>>>>> lol.
>>>>> Ok, I've never been great in math, but I thought I could do basic
>>>>> subtraction without a problem. Guess this sleep deprevation is getting
>>>>> to me. *grin.
>>>>> It's a good thing that my little one has recently started sleeping
>>>>> through
>>>>
>>>>> the night finally. It's been happening for about a week now; He's
>>>>> sleeping
>>>>
>>>>> for seven, eight, even ten hours at a time now. He doesn't even fully
>>>>> wake
>>>>
>>>>> up when I change his diaper. I was really concerned at first; I never
>>>>> expected him to sleep that many hours at a time, but the pediatrician
>>>>> says
>>>>
>>>>> it's ok as long as I check on him every now and then.
>>>>> Yeah, I heard teething isn't fun. Fourteen teeth, wow, that means your
>>>>> little guy is almost home free as far as that's concerned. Mine hasn't
>>>>> started teething yet, but he's beginning to drool a bit and trying to
>>>>> put his toys into his mouth, so I'll bet that's going to occur soon
>>>> enough.
>>>>>
>>>>> Bernadetta
>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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