Friday, November 21, 2008

Reglan Sucks

Reglan, or the generic version metoclopramide, is sometimes used in nursing mothers to increase the prolactin levels and thereby increase the milk supply.

I hate this medication. Don't get me wrong, it really works...compared to all the herbal products I've tried, this is the one item that will show results in as little as a 1 day. However, while it may help increase milk production, but it may do so while increasing the incidence of anxiety, depression, headaches, stomach cramps, diarrhea and sleepiness in the mother.

A depressed mother who is continously going to the bathroom and is so drowsy she falls asleep while doing normal chores (driving, feeding baby) is not a healthy thing for the baby (or for other family members), no matter how much milk he is getting out of the situation.

It took me about a month to find the pattern. When I took Reglan, I was so unhappy. At first I blamed it on general post partum blues, but then I found that when I was off of the medication I was in a better mood overall and didn't fret needlessly over Om. And when I say fret, I really mean FRET...I would imagine all sort of wild scenarious of what could possibly happen to my baby. Om falling off the bed, suffocating, getting burned, tumbling down the stairs with me, getting overheated, too cold, getting smushed, drowning, you name it. And I know these worries are normal, especially with new inexperienced Moms, but I was REALLY worried, more so than was normal. Constantly dreaming of these situations is not healthy. And then Reglan made me more emotional & tired overall so the crankiness factor also played in.

Anyway I'm tempted to take it again once in a while to get the milk going, but I am warning Moms who decide to take this medication. There is another medication called domperidone that is not approved by the FDA but widely used in Canada, but I have no experience with it.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

If the medication is affecting you so strongly, I recommend you discontinue it. Your baby needs a sane Mom more than milk.
Here's what helped me:-
1. Lactonic granules -twice a day with milk(Its completely ayurvedic and quite tasty)
2. GTX capsules:- These were like manna from heaven. I have been spouting milk since then. Do ask your doctor about them. They actually work like magic.
3. Expressing some milk in between feeds- helped build up my milk supply

More than all this waht really helped was increasing my dietary intake. I saw for myself the connection. The moment I started eating like a horse, my milk supply shot up. The downside being, the extra pounds. But thats ok too. Since I have stopped BFing my appetites returned to normal and although I havent started exercising yet,Ive started losing weight.
Basically, hang in there. It gets better and soon becomes just another body functtion.

Priyanka said...

WOW I didn't know domperidone had that effect. I'd often taken domped in the past for motion sickness. If only I knew earlier. Oh well, now BFing a thing of the past for me.
Do take care of yourself. A Happy Mom = A Happy Baby.

Mama - Mia said...

:)

second avanti totally!

please dont take medics that make you miserable to increasemilk supply!

OM will be better off with combination of breastfeeding, formula and most importantly happy mom!

cheers!

abha

Chikki said...

Munchkin - Where do you find Lactonic granules and what does GTX stand for? :-)

Thanks for the advice, everyone has somethng that works for them...for me I don't see any difference in what I eat/don't eat...but I've heard it helps some women.

Priyanka - Actually Reglan is not domperidone. Domperidone is not approved by the federal drug adminstration in the US...which is a crock of shit because domperidone has very few side effects, but a few ladies had heart issues with it so they banned it. I think they should ban Reglan, the symptoms are much worse.