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AIBU?

to find it disturbing that

31 replies

biddysmama · 03/05/2010 14:22

this was posted on a breastfeeding forum i'm a member of

" I am a man who has a medical condition which has caused me to lactate, this started over a year ago and I've been seeing doctors for this ever since... but they haven't yet found a way to stop it. I was in quite a lot of discomfort so my doctor advised that I should use a breastpump... both for comfort and to avoid mastitis. It seems that the amount of prolactin in my blood is always astronomically high whether I pump or not, so that kinda helps. Since it started the amount of milk I've been producing has increased quite steadilly, so at the moment I'm pumping about 7 times a day and producing roughly 1300ml per day. I go to university so I often have to skip a pumping session or two for my lessons and just leak through it."

he goes on to say he now donates the milk to a milk bank.....

(i understand its a genuine medical condition, but on a breastfeeding forum???)

OP posts:
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mumblechum · 03/05/2010 14:24

What response did he get?

Am a bit about donating it to a milk bank.

Hope someone sorts out his hormones soon.

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overmydeadbody · 03/05/2010 14:28

I'm confused.

So what if he posted on a breastfeeding forum, it's probably the only place where he can post his experiences and have people understand.


To find it disturbing is sexist isn't it?

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Salbysea · 03/05/2010 14:28

by normal bfing standards, won't the pumping just be increasing his supply? he says is has since he started so no brainer really, only pump a little when the discomfort gets too much - stop pumping as much as he can get off!

as for the milk bank - don't like the idea of that! I don't know how much testing is done on milk in milk banks - if the quality and normality of the milk is checked of if its just screened for infectious diseases?

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Salbysea · 03/05/2010 14:30

p.s. where else is he going to post about it! where else can he chat about expressing and pumps? how many forums can there be that are specifically for men who lactate?

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Choconellie · 03/05/2010 14:34

I don't understand, what is it exactly that disturbs you?
The fact that he is on the forum or his condition?

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runnybottom · 03/05/2010 17:41

Why is that disturbing?

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SolidGoldBrass · 03/05/2010 17:44

I'm a little tiny bit here (though I am not a medic). While I have heard that men can lactate, to do so to this extent sounds pretty fucking implausible. I am more inclined to think that this poster is either someone with some kind of gender issues (possibly intersexual) or someone with an elaborate lactation fantasy.

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OTTMummA · 03/05/2010 17:47

ditto what SGB said.

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runnybottom · 03/05/2010 17:53

Its not as uncommon as you might think, though that doesn't mean it happens a lot. Its usually a side effect of medication, mainly cancer drugs and antipsychotics.

There are recorded stories of men breastfeeding their own and other children.

interesting article here
and a video here

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cory · 03/05/2010 22:47

My experience of milk banks is that they are quite choosy about whose milk they take; imagine SGB is right; it's the detail that sounds implausible.

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Valpollicella · 03/05/2010 22:50

Cannot imagine for a second a milk bank would accept it Lactation in men amounts to pretty insignificant amounts compared to what would be donated to a milk bank

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Valpollicella · 03/05/2010 22:52

Plus a pump would surely stimulate the supply, which is effictively what both he and his doc would be hoping to avoid.

Given there are anti-lactation drugs given to women in certain circs, surely there must be some kind of similar drug that he could take

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pigletmania · 03/05/2010 22:54

Why the hell is it disturbing I have read of men who do lactate very rare but it does happen. Same sort of reactions from people like op when men started to get breastcancer. The bf forum is probably the only place he can post and get a bit of understanding and sympathy, can hardly tell his mates can he!

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Valpollicella · 03/05/2010 23:00

I don't find it disturbing at all. Men do lactate. I do find it implausible though that he is producing enough to donate to a milk bank, and that his docs would advise a pump (which would increase production) rather than prescribe a medicalised route to stop the lactation.

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WorzselMummage · 03/05/2010 23:05

I don't find it disturbing at all that men do lactate or get they might want to post about it on the Internet. I'm not much bothered by men pretending to lactate if that's what flicks their switch

I wouldn't have wanted either of my premature babies to have mens boob juice though, no way.

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WorzselMummage · 03/05/2010 23:07

Sorry.. Moob juice !

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TheCrackFox · 03/05/2010 23:13

Ditto what SGB said.

Men can lactate but in the off chance this is real he will only make his problem worse by pumping. There are drugs that can be prescribed to stop lactating.

Also, I would imagine that milk banks are quite fussy and he would have to be medically OK'ed to donate.

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SolidGoldBrass · 03/05/2010 23:20

Yup, it's the milk bank bit that really made me think it's a fantasy: if this were a man with a pituitary tumour, for instance, he would probably be on all sorts of meds that would make actually giving the milk to a baby a bad idea.

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Valpollicella · 03/05/2010 23:24

Absolutely SGB.

Hence my ness. I would have utter sympathy for a man going through this. But bet there would be better forums other than a BF one on which to post it. A man who is lactating is not BF. Appropriate advice could be found in other places, with a namechange if needed!

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WorzselMummage · 03/05/2010 23:27

What a bizarre fantasy to have eh.

The milk bank didn't want my milk bcause of a drug I was taking ironically to help me make more breastmilk. They are very fussy.

Someone needs to point this guy in the direction of domperidone.

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Magaly · 03/05/2010 23:28

if he stops breastfeeding the breastpump the problem should go away.

i bet it's easier to wean a breastpump than it is to wean a baby

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thumbwitch · 03/05/2010 23:36

Poor sod.
He does say in his post that his prolactin levels are astronomically high regardless, so pumping relieves the pressure. Stopping pumping wouldn't therefore necessarily make it go away. If they've been trying to stop it for a year then one would presume they've tried drugs. He might have a tumour in his pituitary gland that causes the enormous levels of prolactin.

Mind you, if he's lactating because of drugs he's on, I wouldn't think a milk bank would take it either.

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runnybottom · 03/05/2010 23:40

I've had a look. If they didn't know what was causing it, there is no way he could donate to a milk bank. Not if he is in the Uk as he says.

trippy trapp.

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Magaly · 03/05/2010 23:43

absolutely. There's a drug which is routinely given out to new mums in france to stop them lactating. If it works when there has just been a BABY then it should work on a man.

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thumbwitch · 03/05/2010 23:50

but it won't work if he has a tumour that is producing prolactin, because it isn't under the same controls that women are - since their glands are operating on a biofeedback mechanism. The tumour, by definition, is not going to be under normal physiological control and therefore is unlikely to respond to drugs that deal with normal physiological responses.

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