To AnnieBrooke regarding Reglan for increasing milk production

[Me2mommy2b]

Hi, I did a little research on the drug Reglan even before I found out that sometimes it's prescribed to increase milk production.  DD has reflux and her ped prescribed it to her suspecting she might have slow emptying of the stomach (the drug helps with that too).  Unfortunately, it has a side effect of seizures and there are a few lawsuits going on.  I'm just way too scared to take anything that strong let alone to give it to my baby.

[pertykitty]

there is a natural way to help with increasing milk production that i used. its an herb called fenugreek. its actually used mostly in digestion i think, but my lactation consultant had me use it and after a few days i could have fed the state of texas!! call your ped and see if they are ok with that.

[Me2mommy2b]

I have been taking fenugreek for over a week now.  Unfortunately, I have not seen any increase yet.  I'm aslo taking blessed thistle.  Yeah, you can say that I'm doing anything possible to keep breastfeeding.  I'm also pumping every 2 hours.  It's a pain but I gotta do it.

[DollChina]

Hey, yes I think there's a prescribtion but you will have to ask your doc and see what they advise.  What kind of pump are you using?

[mum2beagain]

There have been several post's lately about breastfeeding, pumping etc etc so I wanted to share my stories. I lost my milk with my first at four weeks due to some very bad advice given to me by a NICU nurse, I tried to relactate but my doc would not prescribe any drugs, he said it was in his opinion better to switch to formula than to take drugs to relactate as these drugs are then present in your milk and as they cannot runs trials on this kind of thing there were no solid arguments to say it wasn't harmful to baby. Now on the subject of pumps I have an ameda personal dual electric pump (I purchased it 3 years ago when trying to relactate with my first, but it was too late by the time I recieved it) and it is fantastic. If I pump first thing in a morning I get anywhere between 9 and 18 ounces depending upon whether baby fed during the night; as he then only takes 5oz of this in his bottle I have plenty left over to store for later use. I cannot sing the praises of this pump enough, my baby is 8 weeks old and I have 700 oz (yes 700, thats not a typo) of breastmilk already stored in the freezer and he has been exclusivley breastfed since 3 days old. 2 days ago I introduced 1 bottle of formula per day as I know that within the next 3-6 months I want to stop breastfeeding and don't want problems with him not liking the taste of formula, he took it no problem.

[girlybuff]

I exclusinvely breast feed my DD who is 6 months  old.  Her demand became so great that I would literally run out ofmilk so I started looking into ways to increase my milk.
I take Brewer's yeast and Fenigreek daily and I have more milk than I can handle.  If she doesn't nurse within 2 hours, I'm engorged.  
Taking them both together definitely works wonders.
Good luck.

[Me2mommy2b]

Brewer's yeast?  Meaning beer?

[Me2mommy2b]

I use Medela in Style.

[Me2mommy2b]

Maybe you're just making a lot of milk.  I think no matter what I'd do, I just wouldn't produce more milk.  Some people just don't no matter what they try.  I just didn't want to quit without giving it another chance.  Right now, the most that I pump the whole day is anywhere from 10-15 oz.  No nearly enough for two feedings as DD can take up to 8 oz at one feeding (she's 5 months).  

[mum2beagain]

Yes I agree, I am probably producing lots of milk but for me the pump I have does make a difference. I used a hospital Medela symphony pump for several days when baby was 3 weeks old and could only get 4 to 5 ounces at a time which is about the same amount I get if I use my avent manual (we have lots of power cuts here so I have to keep my options open!). I have heard lots of good things about Medela pumps but for me personally the Ameda works much better. Sounds like you may be onto something with the herbs though, I used to work in a herbalists and we always recomended brewers yeast and it sound like others have had sucess with Fenugreek, worth a try, best of luck, I do hope you are able to get results.

[mum2beagain]

Sorry the last post was for you. I also wanted to let you know that I do understand how you feel, with my first (who was 8 weeks premature) I started off by pumping because he was tube fed, when we took him home 3 weeks after he was born the nurse told me not to pump at all just breastfeed.  Of course as he was only taking an ounce or so at a time he didn't take nearly as much breastfeeding as I had been pumping so after getting engorged at first over the course of a two week period my supply simply shut down, what I know now is that what I should have done was to continue to pump after each feed to empty my breasts until I got to the point where the baby was eating more. I can tell you I was absolutley devastaed to have to put my premature baby on formula. I tried relactating but it was too late, I felt such a failure and so guilty for months but you know he is three next month and he did absolutely fine on formula. I really do wish you all the very best and hope the herbs and pumping help you re establish a better supply but please don't wear yourself out with this, one or two feeds of breastmilk a day for your baby is great and she will benefit greatly from that and formulas nowadays are very good at giving a baby everything they need to thrive. Best wishes Jo.

[Me2mommy2b]

Thank you for your kind words and wishes.

[misslollipop]

Try Maxalon it's used for nausea but it seems to increase milk production with no harm to mother or baby

[AnnieBrooke]

Yes, I had heard of the question on Reglan, but it was from a lawyer's website who was drumming up lawsuit participants, so it was not reliable from a consumer-information point of view.  My doctor is a high-risk specialist, so when she said Reglan is used for moms of preemies I certainly thought she would not have said it if there is a danger.  I did say in my post about Reglan that the original poster should check with her doctor, probably every doctor has his or her own opinion about this.  The one thing the doc did say about Reglan is that it loses its effectiveness after a while, so if she had prescribed it for me she would have given me only one course of about 4 weeks.  

I also recommend fenugreek, non-alcoholic beer, and the Mother's Milk tea, which is the single thing that worked best for me.  I got 8 ounces the other day when pumping in the morning, a very exciting moment for me who used to only get about three from the lush breast and one from the sparse producing breast.

Annie

[mommyof1_1020]

I am the mother of a six month old baby boy.  I couldn't seem to keep up with his growing demands so I tried multiple methods to increase my supply.  When none of these worked my doctor prescribed Reglan.  DO NOT take this drug.  It absolutely wreaked havoc on my body.  I suffered from severe depression (I have no history of depression) and extreme anxiety.  I almost could not even function to take care of my child.  The doctor made me aware of this side effect but by the time I realized what was going on it was too late.  I quit taking the drug then suffered horrible withdrawl symptoms. My son also suffered quite a bit from the drug.  He developed insomnia (he had been sleeping through the night since 7 weeks) and also facial twitches.  As soon as I stopped taking it and gave him milk from before the meds he returned to normal.  Had I known that I would have had to go through what I did I would have NEVER taken this Rx.  It is an awful drug with side effects that are not worth it. Stick to the herbal supplements!