Just had a telephone call that has me very concerned.  Two physicians, a sports
medicine and an internist have informed this mom of a 6 month old fully
breastfed baby that the cause of her extreme tiredness and muscular
degeneration- catabolic , the MD's say - due to ametabolic disorder caused by
her breastfeeding.

She says she's normally athletic but she has lost all fat from her body and now
her muscles are wasting to such an extent that she can't even get up from a
crouch without pulling herself up.  She eats a very full, complete diet and has
not ever put herself on any strict diet.

She produces excessive milk so that she can pump 17 ounces at a time.  She has
13 bottles of 32 ounces each in the freezer, so that her baby is still receiving
only her breast milk even though she more or less has stopped breastfeeding for
a week except at bedtime.  Even so, she pumps 15 ounces ever 12 hours for
comfort.

The call was about how to wean and reduce milk supply - but after hearing all
these signs and symptoms I asked her if I could bring it up to you, and she gave
her permission.

Some of the tests she has had include normal liver and thyroid results and a
prolactin level of 33.  She's a medical technician, so she has even run all
sorts of tests on her own milk and says it is great.  Her hemoglobin is 18, her
CK less than 20, she was found to be hypoglycemic (at 42 in 3 hours).  I didn't
even know what other tests to ask her, but she has a full screen that I can have
her fax me.

She is not menstruating, baby is 20+ pounds (born at 6 lbs).

She took "Performance Enhancer Creatinine Fuel" for two days to give her more
energy, but stopped when she found the baby got hyper.

My reaction was one of concern for her.  It seems to me that something is being
missed and/or ignored as the identified "cause" is breastfeeding.  I did
recommend a good evaluation by an endocrinologist.   Could she be causing this
imbalance by excessive pumping?  It almost seems like a chicken-and-egg
situation.  Which came first, excessive production relieved by frequent pumping
or is excessive pumping causing excessive production?

Help - what else?  I did give her the information on cabbage leaves and sage tea
for reduction of milk supply so she felt she got an answer to her question (how
do I reduce my production?) and recommended lots of cuddling for the
no-longer-nursed baby, with Daddy if not with mom.

Any suggestions?

Jeanette Panchula, BSW, LLLL, RN, IBCLC
Puerto Rico
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