Anyone used domperidone? How long does it take to work (if it's going to)?

[Needsomewine]

Has anyone got any experience with this drug. I am trying to boost my supply for my 5 week old which seems to have dwindled for various reasons.

Did this drug work for anyone? if so, how long before you saw an improvement?

I was told anything from a couple of days till a couple of weeks. I saw the results quickly though. A couple of days. I really put the work in,she was about the same age and for a week or two I fed pumped fed pumped. It was totally worth it.she's 28 weeks now and thriving. Im happy to share my experiences though I'm no expert. Im certain that without it we'd be formula fed.

My milk dwindled also at 5 weeks and I used motilium (domperidone) for 2 weeks. I saw a result in three days. Just some points to consider:

Make sure you take the correct dose for increasing milk supply as its higher than for normal domperidone use

For some women a small course will be enough to re-establish previous milk supply, but others will have to use it for as long as they wish to maintain supply

Your GP may not prescribe it for you (mine wouldn't) so I had to find out the dose and buy over the counter myself. It worked out costing about £5 a day. Chemists would only sell me one box at a time and I found myself having to lie to them to prevent them asking too many questions as they can decline to sell it to you if they think it is unsuitable for you.

I personally was glad that I'd used it as had I not, we would definitely be on formula now.

Thank you for the info:)

How many tablets did you take per day? I am taking 3.

And the pack cost £5 for 10 pills. Surely I shouldnt be on 10 a day?

Please ask your doctor about this, needsomewine. Other people's experiences may not be the right or safe dosage for you.

There are side effects to domperidone which make it unsafe for some people with existing conditions to take - best to check with a doctor.

As I am not a GP, I wouldn't like to recommend a particular dose as the does I took was based from research I made into domperidone. I took the dose that I did, and used domperidone for the length of time that I did by making choice after examining various information sources. I could have been incorrect in the dose I took, so wouldn't want to advocate this to you in case I was wrong!! Also, domperidone is not a drug for increasing milk supply, this is simply one of its side effects. As such, it has not been researched for use to increase breast milk supply, so in deciding to take it, you will be doing it in the absence of this information.

The breast feeding counsellor who told me of of domperidone, also would not tell me the dose and only emphasised to me to make sure I was taking the correct doseage and that should I decide to take it, that it was entirely my responsibility and that I was the one taking the risk. She did however steer me in the direction of Dr Jack Newman (google Dr Jack Newman and there is a wealth of information on breast feeding generally as well as information on domperidone) and the breast feeding network website.

I would have preferred to have had the support of my GP in using domperidone rather than having to muddle through it by myself. Other Mumsnetters have said that they found it useful to take the Dr Jack Newman information with them to the GP as many GP's will not have heard of using domperidone for the purpose you wish to (mine certainly hadn't) and this may assist in your discussion with the GP.

In my experience the financial cost of using domperdone from an over the counter source was much more expensive than using formula, and this alone would be prohibitive for a lot of people-especially if they needed to use it long term. So again, I would have far preferred a GP over seeing my treatment.

All the best.

As with pinkseren, I was advised about domperidone by a breastfeeding specialist, and went to my gp armed with information from jack Newman. Luckily, my gp is prescribing for me, as the cost is prohibitive. I am on 12(!) per day. Saw an improvement, with the correct dosage for me, within 2 days. We are exclusively breastfeeding alongside blw.

My gp started me on 6 per day and went up in increments until my supply was what I needed. 3 per day, ime, will do nothing.

I took domperidone for a few months with ds1 and again for ds2. For ds1 the GP was comfortable to prescribe on the basis of the Jack Newman material. For ds2, the GP would not prescribe but referred me privately to an endocrinologist (I have private medical through work) and the endocrinologist did lots of blood tests, found thyroid fine but low on iron and vitamin D and prescribed domperione ( 8 a day) saying that it is the best thing available Pharmaceutically. The GP was then happy to do Nhs prescriptions. I took it for six months, winding down slowly from about four. However stopping at six months it was all fine and had no effect that I could see (albeit that I have heard of people saying supply plummets when they stop). Finally, it wasn't obvious but I think it took about a week or ten days to kick in.

Thank you so much for this info, it really helps. I am buying over the counter as haven't really got the energy for a failed trip to the gp at the moment. I will take the advice and go armed with info for the dr when I do go! Now, I also thought domperidone would be a short term thing, I.e, get supply up and then hopefully baby will keep up the supply if she's feeding exclusively. I don't fancy being on it long term so need to go and do some further research...thanks again :)

tiktok is right. you shouldn't be taking it regularly without medical advice. one of the side effects is heart issues, so it shouldn't be taken by anyone who has suffered palpitations or any other heart problems.
that's just ONE side effect.

the other thing you should bear in mind that the results only last while you take the drug.
the BEST thing you can do to increase your supply is to feed more often.
taking domperidone will artificially increase your supply. and when you stop taking it it will drop.
if,. by taking it, you increase your supply so that your son feeds less frequently, then when you stop he will be getting FAR less milk because he will not have been stimulating th ebreast to produce more.

well done if you've followed that lol

anyway. I would strongly advise against using any kind of drug to increase milk supply unless you have a physical reason why you cannot increase supply naturally.

My supply did not drop when I stopped taking it for two weeks however this can be the case for some people. I did feed feed feed whilst on it because unless you do this, there is no hope of establishing your supply. I now successfully ebf.

There is no way of knowing if you, like me, only need it for a short time or need to take it long term.

Yes pinkseren that was certainly my understanding of it. I Was hoping to use this to boost my supply, whilst doing lots of feeding in expressing to maintain the new level of supply. And then to be able to reduce the dose/ come off it altogether with the hope of ebf'ing.

Ayway, this seems a bit of a contentious issue so will go off and research some more but honestly can't seem the harm in trying it. I think it is pretty widely used for this purpose and I am still on quite a low dose.

but if you need to feed, feed, feed and express while on it then why not just do those things alone? that should be enough to boost your supply whilst giving baby enough (if you are also feeding the expressed milk)

obviously it's totally up to you, but I really would seek medical advice first and don't rely on drugs to work long-term because they may not.

have you spoken to a qualified breastfeeding counsellor? what makes you think that your supply is low?