Breastfeeding can make you ill

[babymutha]

All bfers/pregnant mums PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ask your GP for a Vit D test - if you are deficient then your baby could be too, it is such a simple thing, but could make so much difference to your health and quality of life.

I am an extended BFer - and finally had to give up in Feb when DD was 27months because I collapsed, exhausted and depressed on the sofa unable to move.

I was diagnosed with depression and prescribed anti-depressants BUT LUCKILY also given a vitamin D test. I was seriously deficient and as a knock-on effect my thyroid is also going haywire. Apparently there is a vit D deficiency epidemic in developed countries.

Apologies for the deliberately provocative title I wanted to make sure you read the thread.

Very provocative title!
I think I may have had this too. I BFed for a year and became very run down, thin, depressed. GP did various tests and I have a vague memory of her saying something about low vitamin D.
I never connected this with BFing though. I think it was more to do with poor diet (although I know vit D is more to do with sunlight than diet...which is odd because I'm sure I got more sunlight when I was on mat leave than I do now I'm back in full time work).
I also had PND which I think exacerbated my exhaustion, poor appetite, general feeling run down.
So what's the link with VitD and breastfeeding?

My thyroid played up after having DS2 - it has nothing to do with breastfeeding.

This is interesting, but not sure about the link with bf. I'm tandem feeding and feeling pretty knackered atm (very sore joints & feet too), but just thought this was more to do with having 2 young children than anything else.

Had planned on getting a blood test to check for iron deficiency, but will ask about vit D too. Thanks for the post OP!

I think OP isn't actually suggesting the Vit D deficiency is caused by breastfeeding, just knew if she posted with a title like that all the keen breastfeeders would come and read the thread and be warned about Vitamin D.

I suspect I'm fine as I eat plenty of fish, but always worth bearing in mind.

Sorry but it's nothing to do with breastfeeding - it is to do with us sedentary people not getting outside enough!
We make Vit D by exposing our skin to natural daylight, because we are obsessed with covering ourselves up as soon as their a tiniest bit of sun evident! This is why Vit D deficiency is so prevalent in developed countries, because we tend to be indoors a lot more and especially in more northern climes where we do see a lot of sun anyway!

So your title was not only provocative it was also inaccurate.

Well done for feeding your baby for 27 months, I hope you are feeling better now!

To be honest in the UK it is very hard to get enough Vit D from the sunlight. The latest reseacrh suggests we may need 4000 iU and the recommended dose is 400 iU

We make Vit D by exposing our skin to natural daylight, because we are obsessed with covering ourselves up as soon as their a tiniest bit of sun evident!

Sorry realised this bit doesn't make any sense What I meant to say was

We make Vit D by exposing our skin to natural daylight, but because we are obsessed with covering ourselves up as soon as there is a tiniest bit of sun evident, we don't get that exposure!

Good point but title is misleading as it was lack of sun exposure which made you ill not bfing. if you are exhausted after giving birth good idea to get thyroid & iron checked too.

My sister in law BF her DS until 15 months mainly as he had CMPI also allergies to eggs, sesame and peanuts. Anyway around then he broke his leg and SIL and BIL confused as he hasn't fallen over. Turned out both he and SIL vit D deficient and iron deficient (and she'd taken pregnacare every day during pregnancy and BFing!!!!).

kara - I get out in the sun every day and tend to get as much skin out as poss, BUT for 8 months of the year that is just not enough for a lot of people.
And fox apparently there is a link between low vit D and postpartum thyroiditis, there is some research although I can't find it on the internet.

I thought you could get enough vitamin D from 10 minutes' exposure per day.
So I'm baffled as to why we are so deficient.

Vitamin D deficiency is very common in the UK (over 50% of the population, I recall, perhaps higher). Bf doesn't give you vitamin D deficiency, but if you are deficient and are ebf then it makes sense that your baby is likely to be deficient too.

Hoever, there is an ongoing debate also as to what level of vit D actually counts as "deficient", and some people argue (as hilda says above) that we need 10x as much as previously thought to prevent some autoimmune conditions. On the other hand, we don't know what a safe maximum dose is. It's a fairly hot topic in (my area of) science, at the moment.

The advice should be to get out for a bit whenever the sun's out, particularly if you have darker skin, as darker skin makes vit D more slowly than lighter.

NWLondon BF mothers are much more likely to develop Vit D deficiency than non BF women also pg women are more likely to develop Vit D deficiency than their offspring free sisters. That's why I think that bfing (and ignorance) made me ill, if I'd been supplemented I wouldn't have had the problems I did and maybe wouldn't have developed thyroiditis either.... (although the endocrinologist may disagree).

I have underactive (autoimmune) thyroid condition - arose when I came off the pill after 5 years (before I had any children) - but I was likely to get it as my mum and grandma have it too. My sister developed it post partum with her second child, and the first was BF until 11 months. The thyroid probs most likely to have been caused by the pregnancy (including its impact of your vit d stories) and aftermath not the feeding. Seems very unlikely that not BFing or BFing with some formula would have make any difference to the thyroid condition.

re: VIT D yes can see that BFing mothers need more VIT D hence more likely to be deficient.

i thought diet was the cause - as getting enough sunlight was possible in a short time and on face & hands only?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D

some basic info here. It's diet AND sunlight.

There are a lot of studies into Vitamin D at the moment, deficiency can affect all sorts of health issues.

Maybe BFing can affect Vit D levels if you're stuck inside for months on end with a baby that won't ever stop feeding? (not really being serious, btw)

I thought that you only needed to expose a small part of your skin (like your hands) for about 15 mins a day to get enough vit D, and in fact if you exposed your skin for longer you wouldn't make any more vit D - is that not right?

Babymutha, where are you getting your info from, can you provide a link?

Yes, that's right Edgar, although I think I've read somewhere that if you're black it's harder to get enough vit D from the feeble British sun than if you're white.

nwmum sorry, didn't give you all info - had an auto-immune thyroid problem prior to conception which was dormant. I agree that Vit D not sole cause but believe it could be a contributing factor.

You'll never know for sure, but BFing aside massive hormonal changes in pregnancy and post partum and v common for dose to change etc post birth.

I know one of the concerns they have had over sun expoure is that we are now maybe useing to much suncream. As even a low factor block's the UV we need to make Vit D.

There is also the problem that many people now living in Northen hemaphers countries are from more southen reagens and they don't make vit D as efficently as those who are pall skined. So need more UV exposure.

It is a bit of a hot topic at the moment, and they still don't seem to be able to make there minds up about what's best to do. Although I think the current recomendation is to give vitmine drops to babies once they are six months. Plus they think all PG women should take a suppliment espicaly if your PG over the winner months.

I suppliment myself but chose not to give any to DD.