In response to the post on the herb Lactuca Virosa. I have found in a book
called "Herbal Medicines: A guide for health care professionnals" that it is
commonly called Wild lettuce.
Its contituents are a milky white latex that form a drug called Lactucarium,
citric, malic, oxalic acids, alkaloids, coumarins, flavonoids, terpenoids
and mannitol, resins, proteins, sugars.

It says it is a mild sedative with anodyne and hypnotic properties used
traditionnaly for insomnia, restlessness and excitability in children,
pertussis, irritable cough, priapism, dysmenorrhoea, nymphomania, muscular
and articular pains.

Lactucarium has been shown to induce mydriasis attributable to hyoscyamine.
They say a low amount of morphine has been found in the Lactuca species even
this is too low to cause any pharmacological effect.

The chapter on Pregnancy and lactation say that "the safety has not
established. In view of the lack of toxicity data and the possibility of
allergic reactions, excessive use of wild lettuce during lactation and
pregnancy should be avoided."

This is the only source in herbal medicines that consider lactation.

Dany Gauthier, IBCLC
Lactation consultant at Ste-Justine Hospital, Montreal
Quebec
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