Exclusive expressing - prolactin

[Elasticsong]

Just hoping that someone may be able to offer some advice / information here...

I exclusively expressed for my dd until she was 14 months. She's now 2.5 and all that hard work is a distant (emotional) memory.

However, we'd like to have another child but it's just not happening. I know there can be many many reasons for this but I just have this nagging suspicion it has something to do with the amount of prolactin I had to produce to sustain milk over that period. I am still producing a tiny amount of milk even now...

Does anyone out there know whether EPing for a sustained period can cause or trigger hormonal wonkiness like this?

Any thoughts?

I wouldn't have thought so

have your periods gone back to normal

do you know if you are ovulating

Periods back to normal? Nope... used to be regular 28 days. Now they can be anywhere between 26 and 44 days, with the occasional light but longish one.

Ovulating... hmm. When I went to the doctor about 6 months ago, she said she assumed I was ovulating seeing as I had a period almost every month (I was, needless to say, unhappy with her lack of interest). I have been using a ferning microscope for a bit which does seem to show mad ferning at around the right time. Assume yes.

How old are you

I am inclined to think the prolactin is a red herring iyswim

I bf dd for 18 months, my milk was there for quite a while after, so think that is normal

the haywire periods though not so much- worth checking out I think, can you ask for a referral to a gynaecologist?

Yep. Perhaps it's time to get a bit pushier with the doc. I'm (gasp) 37. That same doctor told me it was normal for periods to change after having been through a pregnancy. I went to see her because I was concerned about being older and leaving things too late. She was quite flippant and just said I was the right side of 40.

Thanks for your thoughts, chibi

Elasticsong... my nipples used to leak, my periods were all over the place and I was unable to conceive despite 2 years of trying. Finally diagnosed with a prolactinoma (benign tumour on pituitary gland) in August 2006, took medication and just had a baby boy.

I'm 37 and had to get really stroppy with my Dr in order to get my diagnosis which was done via a blood test, then MRI scan. Might be worth getting a blood test to check your prolactin levels, turned out mine were too high (prior to medication) for me to conceive. Good luck!

I had read about prolactinoma and wondered... Think I'll get an appointment with a different doctor and ask for some tests.

Thanks for this RW - well done for getting stroppy and congratulations for your little boy!