Hi All,

 

Cross posting because I just don’t know what else to do for this poor mom.
Have suggested she go to an endocrinologist for help but she is fighting
with her primary care just for a referral.  Primary care doesn’t appear to
care at all…

 

Here is her situation in her words:  A note:  This mom deliberately crashed
her supply in the first week or so due to extreme pain with nursing and
pumping.  She was an emotional wreck and just couldn’t handle the pain.
About 2 ½ wks later, when the milk was gone she changed her mind and started
pumping just 2-3 times per day.  Within a week she was making 12 ounces.
She increased to 5 times per day and had a full supply within a week.  I
finally saw her in person (I’d been encouraging that for quite a while – she
just wasn’t ready) about a week after her supply was fully meeting baby’s
needs and switched her to proper fitting flanges so that her pumping was no
longer painful.  Her supply then jumped to nearly 70 oz per day – on only
5-6 pumpings!  She has tried to reduce her supply repeatedly with sage – it
will drop no more than 5 ounces (and that is taking a double amount of sage
that the average mom would take) and when she stops after a week or so, her
supply rebounds like crazy.    Here are her comments:  Thoughts are greatly
appreciated!

 

 

Weight loss vs. weight gain:

            Increase calories, lose weight but milk supply also increases

            Quantity of calories needed to lose weight is higher than I can
comfortably eat

            Consume comfortable amount of calories (1300-1500), weight
rapidly increases

Supply resistant to decrease:

            Cannot use Sudafed due to side effects

            Sage brings supply down minimally and for short time only

            Trying to cut out a pump results in clogged ducts that take
about a day to resolve

Let-down is always slow

            Recuse Remedy worked for a while and then stopped

            Warm compresses help minimally

            Massage with or without heat does little to increase let-down

            Need to pump for about 15 minutes just to get let-down and then
milk flows more readily

            Just pumping to comfort means pumping around 35 minutes (gets
uncomfortably full again after 

                        1 ½-2 hours after pump)

            Pumping to “empty” results in 40-45 minute pump

Feel extremely worn out following a pumping session

            Eating a snack prior to or during pumping does not improve
outcome

 

The lowest I can get my supply is around 65 ounces.  The next day will be
really uncomfortable.  If I try to do this two days in a row, I am beyond
uncomfortable and have difficulty even holding baby. 

I tried decreasing to 4 or 5 pumps for a few days and only pumped to
comfort. I still ended up with 73-77 ounces. I’m doing 1 tsp. sage four
times per day during this too.

 

 

 

 

 

Jaye Simpson, IBCLC, CIIM

Breastfeeding Network

Sacramento, CA

www.breastfeedingnetwork.net

  _____  


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