Has anyone taken dietary supplements while breastfeeding? Please respond

[verystressed07]

Hi, I'm pregnant with twins, and this is my second pregnancy. I have a c-section scheduled next week and I know I'll be very overweight. I do plan to breastfeed, however, I'd like to take dietary supplements to help me lose weight. Has anyone taken any while breastfeeding, if so, what have you taken? Thank you.

[mslkpage]

You'll be burning extra calories by breastfeeding. I would hold off any any kind of diet pill until after you're done BFing. I can't think of any prescription diet pill that would be okay to take (most contain stimulants), and OTC pills aren't regulated by the FDA (except for Alli, which you should not take while BF).

[chellybeans]

they are all transmitted through breastmilk. i would just try to eat healthy, count on all the extra calories you'll burn from nursing and diet when done.

it's not a safe idea to let that pass on to your babies.

good luck , i'm having twins too :)

[2songbirds]

I agree with lisa. I am pumping my milk and I researched on what all I can/can't take during BF'ing. It's basically the same as when you're pg. Everything that you put into your mouth, your baby gets. I looked up ephedra/ma hung (sp?) in the book "Nursing Mother's Herbal" and it specifically says to not take any diet pills. It will dry up your milk as well.

I currently have an 8 wk old, 22 month old, and a 3 1/2 yo. I am overweight from having the babies so close together, but you have to give yourself at least 9 months to take off the weight. THey say the average before you get back to your prepg self is 6 months. Seems so far away at times though

[verystressed07]

Some of the excess weight I have is from my first pregnancy. I have a 17 month old and when I found out about this pregnancy I was still 30 lbs overweight so I know it'll take so much longer. I know that diet pills aren't good for nursing moms. I was thinking more of supplements along the line of Noni Juice which is an antioxidant and it helped me lose some weight when I was 16 and Colon Cleanse which is a fiber supplement that's self explanatory, I thought this one would be beneficial for me since I've had issues with constipation in the past.

Here are the websites with more information on them:

For Noni Juice:

http://glacialmilk.net/products_noni.htm, even kids can take this!

For Colon Cleanse:

http://www.colon365.com/s-Colurb365/lp/colon365.html

In the meantime I'm going to try to change my dietary lifestyle. I read that BFing moms can consume from 1500-1800 calories a day and drink plenty of water in addition to that. It'll still take me a long time so  was wondering if there are ways to speed up the process since I haven't been in a normal weight for my height in 2 years.

[verystressed07]

by the way, chely congrats on your twins :) are they your first?

[2songbirds]

I haven't been my normal weight for my height for almost 5 years now, lol. But, I'm done having babies now so after I'm done BF'ing this one, I'll work on the weight loss.

There's a colon cleanse that I was researching and it did say not for pg or nursing mothers because it too can be passed along to the baby. You def don't want a continuously pooping baby. They poop enough as it is :-)

My only advice is to try to eat as healthy as possible, cut out all processed foods, and watch your carbs. THat's what I"m doing and doing good so far. I've noticed my milk increasing a lil' due to the increased protein in my diet, and eating healthier.

Congrats on the twins btw, but my god are you going to have your hands full with a 2 yo too!!

[chellybeans]

yuppers. my second pregnancy but the first to make it this far. counting down to october 3rd now :)

[jifnif]

my ds is 10mths old and we are trying again.  i have not lost my weight yet.  i am not dieting now b/c i really can't focus on two things at one time....baby comes first.  i will diet later...well, not diet really....just get back to me.  i love to run and hike and bike.  someday this will all come together.  dont worry about it all right now....mommas have a priority to be just that ...momma.  breastfeeding is way more important and a money saver than dieting.  eat healthy and take long walks....snack healthy too!!!  good luck

[AndiJ78]

Nursing moms need way  more than 1500-1800 calories a day, they need at least 2300 calories to produce good milk. Eat sensibly, but your body still needs fat, protein, carbs, etc. Now is not the time to stress about it, wait until after you wean to diet. Losing weight to quickly releases tons of toxins stored in body fat directly into your breastmilk and is not good for baby. I have been reamed by my docs with all three kids becasue I lost my preg weight too fast. It is not worth the risk.

[verystressed07]

I don't want to jeopardize my babies' health just so I can lose weight. My daughter was breastfed for 9 months (I wanted to do it for a year but my supply dried out) and she's been very healthy. I hope to breastfeed my boys for a year if possible. I guess I can stick to exercise and cut back on junkfood. I've been through so much stress in the past 3 months and that hasn't helped my diet at all.

[jacksproudmommy]

Hello, I recently stopped nursing my son after four years! I most definitely dealt with weight issues for a long time after the birth of my son.  I don't know much about the safety of diet supplements while breastfeeding, but I do know of a wonderful little secret called grapefruit seed extract.  It is made from the ground pulp of the grapefruit seed.  I only learned of this while trying to cure my yeast problems (from antibiotics during c-section, mastitis, etc.) Well, talk about amazing.  Apparently GSE promotes drainage (toxins, etc.) Toxins are stored in fat cells which are flushed out with the cleansing.  Obviously, this is great, but it also has unbelievable antifungal, antibacterial, etc., properties. Which is where I seriously needed help!  The Yeast Beast!  It certainly worked, and I have been taking it for over a year now and have lost over twenty-five pounds.  I have also tried to be better about what I eat, but I will always have a serious sweet tooth.  There are so many other great things about it, I could go on, I would encourage you to find out more!  I think if you eat well, take your vitamins, take a walk a few days a week, take GSE, an omega-3 supplement and some acidophilus  along with nursing and the weight will fall off.  Drink lots of h2o also!  I know it sounds like a lot, but I think it is much safer than other dietary supplements out there.  

[jacksproudmommy]

I can't believe that I didn't mention the importance of starting out slowly with the GSE, it is very powerful and it starts working immediately and as a result toxins are released very quickly into the bloodstream which is why it is so important to drink a lot of water to help things flush out.  If you start by taking one pill daily you could allow your body to adjust and slowly start your process of, well, elimination!  Read up on the Herxheimer Reaction also if you are thinking of taking the GSE.  It is incredibly safe and is also used on babies, of course diluted!  After all, it is ground up grapefruit seed.  If I remember correctly, wasn't there a grapefruit diet?  Good Luck!  Another thing, the only reason you shouldn't take it is if you have a citrus allergy.  

[verystressed07]

Yes, I knew about the grapefruit diet. That was a fad but I've read about the benefits of having grapefruit or the juice with your meals. I just might try that. It seems like my safest bet. I'm planning on starting a diet from sparkpeople.com which is about portion control. With that I'm allowed a 1900 calorie diet and I heard I can consume right about that much if I'm breastfeeding but I have to consume more, I'll try to make the calories count. I'll try anything as long as I don't put my babies' health in jeopardy. I also happen to have a lot of yeast infections right now so I'm sure this might help if it's that good!

[verystressed07]

I just bought a 2 ounce bottle of the GSE concentrate. You're supposed to drink it diluted with either 8oz of water or juice. It's costs me $22 I hope it works. I googled it and most people gave good reviews on it. I wonder if the caps might have been cheaper. Where did you get yours? I bought mine through kalyx.com
I also looked up pureliquidgold.com, that's seems to be the #1 source for GSE. Please let me know where you found the caps so I can buy those next time. Thanks. Wow, you nursed 4 years! That's amazing. I was surprised I was only able to nurse my daughter for 9 months!

[jacksproudmommy]

Hi!  I actually found a great deal on a site called herbalremedies.com, I actually did take the liquid which worked very well.  The only problem being that it does have a very bitter taste.  Orange juice is a great thing to mix it with.  I did find that it was easier for me to take the pills, which are just as effective.  The pills that I take are equal to approximately twelve to fifteen drops.  One drop is very potent!!  It's just good stuff, the other great thing is that it will  kill the bad bacteria while somehow, miraculously!, leaving behind the good bacteria!  Lately, I have been purchasing the pills at my local health food store and for sixty pills I pay $15.99, but I have found them at the above website for about half the price!  I usually wait too long to order and can't imagine being without them for a week so I cave and head down there!  They are so valuable to me, especially during allergy season, they really clear my nose and lungs out after one dose.  It's great to get rid of all that yucky stuff that's just bogging us down!  Good Luck to you and your beautiful babies!!

[jacksproudmommy]

P.S.  With the liquid you could take a medicine cup and put a small amt. of O.J. or juice and take it as a shot just to get it all down and then chase with a drink of juice as opposed to mixing it in to a bigger drink that might be less easy to get down, that worked better for me!!  Either way, if you decide to switch to the pills you will still have so many uses for your liquid (sanitizing bottles, toys, laundry, etc.  I fill a spray bottle with hot water and add approximately ten to fifteen drops and cannot believe how clean things feel after using it.  It's great for floors too!!  Have a great day!!!!

[verystressed07]

thanks for the website! I'll keep the bottle I bought but from now on, I'll get those pills since it'll save me more money. I read about all the variety of uses for it. Sounds like real good stuff! I can't wait to try it!