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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Reducing oversupply through medication

28 replies

stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 18:19

Has anyone done this? Options seem to be the pill for 4-7 days or sudafed. I'm pretty desperate. I left the house for 3 hours today and I have blocked ducts again. DD2 (7 weeks) cannot feed/drain the breast unless we are both lying down and I'm not prepared to do that in public. We went out for 3 bloody hours and here I am again.

I have emailed the BfN drugs help email address and I am awaiting a reply. I have phoned by HV - no advice. I have phoned the Infant Feeding Specialist at the regional teaching hospital and left a message.

Other than exclusive pumping, I cannot see how to resolve this.

OP posts:
Original poster
stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 18:34

Link:

www.llli.org/faq/oversupply.html

OP posts:
Original poster
stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 18:55

Link:

kellymom.com/bf/can-i-breastfeed/herbs/herbs-oversupply/

OP posts:
GoogleyEyes · 06/10/2014 19:07

Block feeding and Savoy cabbage worked for me, plus miniseries nipple stimulation (quick wash with flannel, not hot baths or showers on breasts) and clearing blockages with my fingers. And lots of painkillers!

Original poster
stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 19:08

I have tried all of those things. I am desperate.

OP posts:
tiktok · 06/10/2014 19:15

Block feeding but with 6 or even 7 hour blocks, and tried for several days....should work.

Original poster
stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 19:23

More than 4 and I get blocked ducts. I have scarring from previous mastitis.

Soya lethicin?

OP posts:
Midori1999 · 06/10/2014 19:42

It sounds difficult for you! What happens if you gradually increase the time you block feed for?

It's not a perfect solution, but can you take a sterilised bottle with you and hand express while you're out and give a bottle? I realise this is a PITA, but it was what I did when my DD was very young due to oversupply as I couldn't feed her from that side in public as unless I was laying down she would choke/get covered (in fact, everyone would get covered!) in milk. It was a struggle feeding from both sides tbh, but one side was definitely worse.

McBaby · 06/10/2014 19:50

I would check out kellymom for over supply tips.

Single sided feeding and block feeding really helped me. Plus avoiding foods which increase supply personally oats and alcohol increase my supply massively.

I never express this sends me into production overdrive.

By about 12 weeks I had it under control but even now at 25 weeks I have been massively engorged and in pain since yesterday morning as I went out on Saturday night and had to express the missed feed as I was too uncomfortable to go to bed.

I would also get latched checked as if baby is not draining breast then there maybe a different position you could do out the house which would help. I have to recline for feeds

Original poster
stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 20:13

I started at 2 hours and increased to 4 but it led the blocked ducts on successive sides. The left breast is the worst. The let down clears a metre across the floor. The latch was great from the beginning in all positions. She will latch on really well in all positions but pulls away at let down. I have tried everything on kellymom and LLL links bar sage tea and meds. Reclined positions are a problem due to a number of back and pelvic issues.

Today, I fed her before leaving at 9.30am. I tried to feed at the Nappacino. 40 minutes of her unlatching after every suck and needing winded every 30 seconds. Cradle hold. Came home at 12.30pm. Fed from other breast (as now engorged) in bed. She fell asleep. I leaked to the point of needing to change my top. She woke after an hour and a fed from the breast I had used 10-11. It is now hard and knotty.

I am desperate for an answer.

OP posts:
Original poster
stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 20:16

The pumping just seemed to make it all worse. She won't take a bottle from me at all.

She's screaming trying to feed at the moment. Lying down. Milk all over her face. She won't latch now. Damn this to hell!!!

OP posts:
Original poster
stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 20:21

I'm phoning my LLL leader tonight.

DH is at the point of hiring a hospital pump and exclusively expressing. We just need to get to 17 weeks according to DD1's consultant. I had hopes for bf this time but it seems like I'm just not built for this.

OP posts:
Original poster
stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 20:23

She's such a lovely baby. This is only thing that makes her cry. It's the only thing that makes me cry.

OP posts:
Original poster
stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 20:30

DH has her.

Do you think this was caused by something I have taken? Since her birth, I've been on:

Paracetamol 4x1000mg daily
Ibuprofen 3x400mg daily
Diclofenic 3x500mg daily
Dihydrocodeine 4x30mg daily
Co-amoxiclav 10 day course
Metronidazole 10 day course
Amoxicillin 10 day course
Fragmin 1 injection daily
Iron Tablets 3x daily
Lactulose 45ml daily
Multi-vitamin plus omega 3

Do any of these cause oversupply?

OP posts:
Original poster
stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 20:41

12 weeks, McBaby? My heart sinks. How did you cope emotionally trapped on your bed for 3 months? My body aches from lying down so much in the last 7 weeks.

I have found sage tea on Amazon.

Would soya lecithin make oversupply worse?

OP posts:
Original poster
stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 21:03

All I want is to sit in a cafe on Thursday morning with a latte and the paper bfing my baby. DD1 at the childminder having fun.

Not much to ask but it's not gonna happen any time soon.

Breastfeed is so hard. It makes me feel like such a failure. I've never come across anything I couldn't do before now.

OP posts:
RedKites · 06/10/2014 21:10

Have you considered full drainage in combination with block feeding ?

Original poster
stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 21:22

Would I need a hospital grade pump for this? I have a Medela Freestyle double pump.

I am in rural Perthshire and my nearest board certified lactation consultant is in Dumfries. I think I'm going to need RL support for this. Who would be best to ask?

OP posts:
RedKites · 06/10/2014 21:30

Honestly, I've only read about it, so can't really advise, but I agree you'd want to be talking to good RL support about it (and hopefully they could suggest re: pump, but by reputation I thought the Medela Freestyle was good?). Could you talk to your LLL leader about it as an initial step? Hopefully she could suggest where you go next with it, if the two of you think it's worth pursuing?

Original poster
stargirl1701 · 06/10/2014 23:48

She is going to do some research and get back to me. I'll go to the NHS bf cafe on Wed. Hopefully, the feeding specialist will return my call too.

Thank you for your help tonight. I appreciate it.

OP posts:
McBaby · 07/10/2014 00:11

The lactation consultant I saw unofficially suggested cold medicine but I didn't go down that route. It did work for other clients she had in extreme cases.

ToadToast · 07/10/2014 00:25

If ordinary approaches aren't working you could get to the GP for a hormone screen. Take the sudafed and feed using nipple shields. Lecithin won't give you more supply and might help with blockages

McBaby · 07/10/2014 06:57

How often dies your little one feed?

Also it may sound stupid and prob not the same for everyone but if I reduce the amount a eat so I am losing weight not maintaining my supply is much more manageable. I know food intake shouldn't effect your supply but mine really seems to.

sanfairyanne · 07/10/2014 09:14

what i did was register with the donor milk bank
at least you feel you are helping someone else then!
then i did pretty much what was linked to before(full drainage etc)
i didnt know it was 'a thing'
being relaxed about it and not expecting to do much other than feed and watch tv helped too.
it did settle down by around 4 months i seem to recall, possibly earlier

Original poster
stargirl1701 · 07/10/2014 23:05

The infant feeding specialist called back this afternoon. She had the paper where sudafed was trialled. It was a study in 8 women...so mini! The average drop in supply was 24%. She feels it is too early for a medicated approach. She would go down that road at 3/4 months not 7 weeks.

She thinks the best idea is ebm in a bottle as a PP said. I should then pump when we return home. DH is working on the bottle situation. She took 2 oz tonight from a NUK bottle with a latex teat.

So, I have some hope and feel less desperate. Breastfeeding truly is the hardest thing I have ever done in my adult life. Physically and emotionally draining like nothing else I have encountered.

I was not prepared for this at all and really thought I prepared well for DD2.

OP posts:
RedKites · 10/10/2014 21:34

Hi Stargirl, I'm glad the infant feeding specialist was helpful. I just wondered how you were getting on? I hope things have been working a bit better for you.