I don't want to, but I need to stop breastfeeding immediately. How???? Please help!

[rockinghertosleep]

Hi, and thanks in advance for reading what'll undoubtedly end up as a loooong post. DD is 15 months later this week and the biggest boobie-addict in the world! My original goal was to breastfeed her for 12 months and then see how we got on from there. I'd always assumed that she'd eventually lose interest and it would just fade away gradually. As it turned out, we struggled to get established - she was 3 weeks early with no reflex for latching on/sucking, I ended up back in the hospital for a week when she was 5 days old and wasn't allowed to have her in with me, had bouts of mastitis and thrush, and went back to work when she was 8 months. But we somehow made it through all those things and both love feeding. She still feeds at 5:30, when we get home from nursery/work, again at about 7:30pm before bed, then through the night usually 4 - 6 times (it varies-sometimes pretty much every hour all night!). We co-sleep & have since she was about 3 weeks old (the only reason I get any sleep at all!) I just stopped expressing and sending EBM to nursery for her to have during the day 3 weeks ago.

The thing is, we were mid-house-move this weekend when something happened to my vision and to cut a long story short, the consultant I saw thinks I had a mini-stroke and wanted me to start aspirin therapy and therefore quit breastfeeding immediately. I have seen my GP today and he proposed that the only alternative would be that it was a complex migraine, which would make the aspirin unnecessary, however he suggested I should probably take the aspirin to be on the safe side and perhaps express until I know whether I need the aspirin. However, my CT scan is not until tomorrow night and a neurological eval won't be for weeks, unless I pay to go private this week - which I likely will.

So I'm staring at this aspirin bottle and thinking about the fact that I cried before and after what I presumed will be DDs last ever breastfeed tonight and hesitating. TBH I've been crying pretty much non-stop since Saturday. I need some encouragement that it's all going to be ok. That I can stop feeding my round-the-clock-boobie-baby immediately and she won't hate me and that I won't hate myself.

How can I do this?

And if you're still reading this - thank you for listening.... And - What would you do?

oh God you poor thing! I have no idea what I would do at all. Sorry to be so useless, but am hugely for you.

That sounds such a trauma and its a hard situation to be in - however your health must surely be a priority - i dont know how to advise stopping the 'boob' but it doesnt mean an end to your late night cuddles.

Hope you make a swift recovery x

Oh, you poor thing! I hope you get a speedy diagnosis and there's no lasting effects.

This gives more info re aspirin - what dose are you going to be taking?

What a horrible experience, poor you.

Do you know for sure that you have to give up b-feeding if you take the aspirin treatment?

My dd was 18mths when I stopped b/feeding her. She was also a boob addict.
By the point I stopped b/feeding, I was feeding only in the morning and at night, so maybe 2 feeds a day. The morning one we just stopped, no issue. The evening one was more difficult as she was used to going to sleep while b/feeding. So we started doing a different routine - lying down, she had a bottle, reading a book together, talking etc. It took longer to get her to sleep once I stopped b/feeding but she seemed to understand it.
She didn't seem to mind after a while. She wont hate you for it, she may be frustrated, but after a while she wont seem to mind / will stop trying to feed.
You need to put your health first. I had a terrible episode in Dec 07 where I ended up in hospital with docs thinking I'd had a stroke. It turned out to be hemipligic migraines, but it was still a terrifying time. Its no wonder you are crying - you're allowed to, you've had a health scare and are giving up b/feeding before you wanted, so dont be hard on yourself.
Hope you get your evals quickly.

You poor thing; sounds horrible to have t be going through this worry.

I think you need to get some more specialst advice re the aspirin. I did a quick search on lactmed and although it says use with caution, it doesn't discount it's use entirely.

same with the Breastfeeding Network

If I were you I'd call the BfN drugsline tomorrow and see what they have to say about it given the dose that you have been advised to take. they will also be able to advise of any suitable alternatives to the aspirin.

I hope that has reassured you somewhat

having looked at Hunker's link, you might be able to express as much as you can before you take the aspirin (if you want to continue giving her BM), then take the aspirin at a time as far removed from her next feed as possible. If it's stroke therapy, it is a fairly small dose once a day, isn't it? I am not sure of this, only going on various elderly relatives.

Aspirin dosing normally is every 6-8hours so it's reasonable to assume it takes about that long to be eliminated from the system. Phone the bf'ing helpline as well (see hunker's link for the number) as they might be better informed on how to deal with this situation.

Thanks for all the kind replies. The one thing both docs definitely agreed on was the breastfeeding would need to stop immediately once I start the aspirin. Initially it's to be just a low-dose dispersable until the neurologist gets test results. However, I'm told that although Reye's is rare, no one has identified whether a particular dose of aspirin is safe or not for a baby, thus the advice to avoid it completely. The GP did suggest that I could take the aspirin for now and express and then if the neurologist rules out the TIA/mini-stroke, then I could stop taking it and let it clear out of my system over 3-4 days and re-establish feeds. Which made it more platable to me, except that it'll likely be a good week to 10 days before that's possible and I don't know if it would be in either of our best interests to restart at that point.

I know I need to put my health first - it's taken me a good 48 hours to come to that point, but I have finally recognised that what will benefit DD most in the end is having a mother who will be there when she grows up....and that the surely stressful week or two we'll have in weaning cold-turkey will be worth it if the aspirin helps that to happen. The thing that's so frustrating is that there are no solid answers and no one will tell me what I should do. It's all up to me.... Well, if it were really all up to me, I'd scoop up DD and DH and run away to a tropical beach and pretend this never happened and carry on.

Would I be crazy to try and keep feeding her this week until I can see the neurologist? I mean really really cutting down each day until Friday, with the thought that if I put off taking the aspirin that night that maybe she'll be (very unhappily, to be sure) down to 2 feeds a day by then? The thing is, the GP said that if it was actually a mini-stroke that roughly 1/3 of the people who have them go on to have full-blown strokes - 80% of those being within the month. So, if it is that, then I'm in the statistically most dangerous period just now....

rocking, if it helps at all my experience of stopping bf at 14 months was that it took a long time for my milk to go - a looong time. Ds was having the odd fly feed for about 6 weeks after we officially stopped and I suspect he could have easily started again a good few months after that.

So, if you did stop temporarily I'm not sure you'd have to be all that enthusiastic with the pump (although you are giving more feeds than I was at that stage).

If I were in your position I would take the aspirin if there was a risk of stroke, but definitely phone the BfN and talk with them about it. It's amazing (not really I suppose..) how little doctors know about drug interactions and lactation, and they rarely seem to feel they need to check. When the reference texts are so widely available I have no idea why this should be.

Do a thread calling for TIKTOK and other breast-feeding experts. If anyone has up-to-the-minute information on this, she will.

I'm so sorry this is happening to you. I wish I could help, but have no useful advice. But do call for tiktok ASAP, she'll know.
((((((((HUGS))))))))))

Bumping for you.