A mother of a nursing toddler went to her OB to find out why she has been
having such heavy periods since she started cycling again when her daughter
was 9 months old.  The first two days of her period are so heavy she
describes it as hemorraging, and she feels they are getting worse and she is
getting bad PMS.

So her OB asked her how long she'd nursed for, and she told him she is still
nursing her 21 month-old.  He told her that the reason she is having such
heavy periods is because of mixed messages in the brain (pituitary, I think)
and her body is telling her to make too much estrogen--and that this is
because she is breastfeeding.  In other words, the normal messages the brain
received about lactating are getting mixed up and her body is producing too
much estrogen as a result.  And that the periods are getting WORSE over time
the longer she nurses.

If anyone has any information on the relationship between breastfeeding and
menorrhagia or breastfeeding and the production of excessive estrogen,
please email me at [log in to unmask]  I am quite concerned because I know
that heavy bleeding is also a sign of serious medical problems, and this OB
doesn't seem to be taking the route of greatest caution.

Thanks in advance,

Nancy Rupert
PoCo, BC

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