Anyone else out there taking/ taken DOMPERIDONE?

[RinkyDinkyPinky]

How are you getting on with it? How long are you/ did you BF?
Or am I the only one?

Not me, but just wanted to bump for you and applaud your efforts.

My son took this for about 3 months and it worked wonders. I was still BF so had a syringe to get it into him but it was a life saver. He was a very bad feeder - used to take up to an hour of him screaming ... then he'd feed for 20 minutes or so and then throw it all up. Soul destroying. We got a second opinion from Stoke Mandeville and they recommended Domperidone even though it was unlicensed and as I say, it really worked for our little fella. Hope it works for you.

Do you mean for treating baby or for you to increase your milk supply?
I have a friend who is on domperidone long term while she breastfeeds as she has some issues with her pituitary gland. It's basically helped her to breastfeed and she almost certainly would have struggled without it. (She's in the U.S)
What's your situation?

SamJamsmum- I'm taking it because my milk supply isn't great and I tend to react to stress by producing less milk. I have been v stressed recently and have a poor support network (parents passed away, and no family around) Domperidone has boosted my milk supply and allowed me to carry on BF. I should add that DD2 (5 1/2 months) is very strongly refusing any attempt to give her a bottle. She just screams and then passes out from exhaustion when ever we have tried with a bottle, and we've tried all the tricks, all the milks, all the bottles. So the onus is on me to provide for her until she's weaned.

Candy- I didn't know that it is used for babies, is it the same medication?

Turtledove- Thank you!

it is also used to medicate reflux in babies and adults.

Sorry to hear you have been under stress and don't have much support.

My friend is just coming up for 12 months on it. She used it for her first breastfeeding experience and went about 18 months (by choice). She takes it with fenugreek as well. Have you had any luck with herbs? Any side effects?
In the UK reglan is also sometimes used (similarly developed as a medicine 'originally' to treat nausea and digestive issues).

Hopefully someone with personal experience will be along soon.

At 5.5 months you could consider skipping a bottle and trying with a sippy cup or even an open cup like a doidy cup if you wanted to.

SamJamsmum- Thanks for your kind words. I didn't get on with herbs- they didn't seem to make a difference in my case. Glad it's working for your friend; it's early days for me.

Leonie- glad you got the thyroid problem sorted. May I ask how it presented and how you got to your diagnosis- did your GP spot it?

Message withdrawn

i took dp for about 8 months. Have been off it for 5 months now. my whole story is here

i'm stilkl breastfeeding at 13 months thanks to dp and a fantastic bf counsellor

I have been taking dp for 4 months. I was on 60mg a day and I have been told to drop it to 30mg a day, 2 weeks ago. What dose are you on? I am paranoid that this has impacted on my supply but it's hard to tell as I have just started work again and I have started pumping.
I feel grateful as I am able to BF DS nearly exclusively thanks to DP while I struggled for DD and I only managed 50/50

I took it for about 6 months, as I solely expressed for my DD2 who was tube fed (no oral feeds at all.)

Worked well for me, no noticeable side effects.

Hope you manage to keep going, well done to you despite all your setbacks

Thanks everyone for your inputs. Pixiefish- your story is inspiring.
Briezheit- I'm taking 120mg/ day- sounds like a lot! DD has refused all attempts at giving her a bottle so it's all up to me.

My story, in brief: BF went well to 3 months, birth fine (at home) and supply was abundant with strong let down (leaking/ gushing/ spraying etc) At 3 months had big argument with DH and boobs went flat and empty and let down disappeared. After a few days I went to GP who px'd metoclorpramide which brought back my milk but caused depression (bloody awful drug!) It got so bad after 6 weeks that I stopped taking it- and milk supply crashed again. I tend to react badly to stress and have been stressed out recently.

Now on domperidone and finding that even on a high dose I am not convinced that DD is totally satisfied.

She's not the happy settled baby that she used to be and is waking 3-4 times per night for feeds. I am exhausted. She refuses bottles- we've tried all the tricks, and I'm worried that it's traumatising her to keep trying with them. She's not lost weight but just seems hungry, sometimes uncomfortably so, most of the time.

My dilemma is wether to continue with what feels like an uphill struggle with boobs that always seem empty and a baby who never gets a good bellyful on my pitiful let down and poor supply, until she's fully weaned and can drink formula from a cup, or throw in the towel and stop the BF altogether until she has to take a bottle and risk a traumatised baby. DD is now 5 1/2 months. We have started to wean but she's not accepting much solids yet.

(sorry that wasn't so brief)

It's such a dilemna.
I had to battle for weeks with relatives (and my conscience) accusing me of letting my child go hungry for the almighty benefit of BF. My 4 month old DS still wakes up at least 3 times a night to feed and I have started pumping as he is going to a CM 3 days a week and I only get 3 ounces every 3 hours. When DS comes back from the CM, where he gets EBM and formula, he is all setlled and I presume it is because he gets agood bellyful.

Sorry I am no help and I am rambling, but your issues resonate with mine! Good luck.

Ladies that have taken DP have you managed to get your doctor to prescribe it? I know it's not licensed for use to increase breast milk, so were your GP's happy to prescribe it anyway? I've just started taking it -suggested by my fantastic lactation consultant who is trying to help me breast feed my prem baby, and also increase my milk supply which has been diminishing recently :-( At the moment I've been buying it over the counter, but is expensive and also have found that some pharmacists are given me the third degree and some will only supply me with one box at a time. Why are they so restrictive about supplying it ?

Helenlouisey- from my story you can see that I was first Px'd metoclorpramide which is what the NHS recommends. However I would def not recommend it! I went to GP armed with references from Jack Newman's site, Kellymom and Breastfeedingnetwork sites on galactagogues. My GP wanted a day to look things up for himself and decide if he wanted to PX domperidone. And he did. Go prepared with the references, or better still print them out to show your GP.

Brilliant, thank you RinkyDinkyPinky, I have an appointment with my GP next wednesday for my son's check up, I will print off all the information and take it into her. My GP has been fantastic so far with our problems TTC, problems during my pregnancy, my son being prem, so hopefully she will be as helpful with this. Am just bit nervous asking her!!

anyone else got a story to tell?

Not the most important, but I wanted to know if anyone else felt that it made them put weight on?

Breizhette- I'm nowhere near pre-preg weight but I don't think I can blame the dom. I haven't tried TBH. How do you feel it's affected you?

I've lost 22 pounds after the birth within the first month, but I have at least another 20 to go and it's not coming off! And although I am not dieting, I am not stuffing my face and my husband has just lost over a stone and we eat more or less the same thing.
I am so disappointed that the BF is not helping. To my credit, I had hormone treatment to conceive DD who is 23 month and then another pregnancy very closely followed.
I shall blame it on the domperidone.