Hi, everyone, >I recently meet this mom with a 7 week old She also was interested in >finding if she could take some type of sleeping pills - since she >basically gets no >sleep - she cannot calm herself and is constantly wired. She also has a >major over supply and strong let down. I saw her pump >four oz in 2 minutes after nursing her baby, as he choked at let downs. I >think this mom is close to some break down. >Just wondering what experiences everyone else has had on this. I REALLY feel for this mom! It sounds like she is going through just what I did with my first three kids. This was before my fibromyalgia was diagnosed. I had never been able to sleep well in my life, but having babies up so often made it almost impossible to go to sleep, or stay asleep. The more tired I got, the more wired I felt,the harder it was to sleep, and the more anxious I got. After adopting my third son, Thomas, who was also the first I nursed full-time, it got to the point where I was so exhausted, and in so much pain that I was afraid that I would drop the baby or that, if something unusual happened that would have put any of my boys in danger, I wouldn't be able to react in time. It also got to the point where, even when I did manage to sleep, I would startle myself awake after a short time. When Thomas was six months old, I went to a wonderful neurologist, in Wiesbaden, who finally diagnosed fibromyalgia (myofascial syndrome was what he called it, back then). He recommended amitriptyline, but told me I would have to stop nursing Thomas first. After having worked so hard for both the nursing relationship and every drop of the breastmilk I was producing, I was not willing to stop, and told him that I would just have to wait until Thomas was weaned. I went home and called Elizabeth Hormann, who looked it up and said the drug was considered safe for nursing mothers. My ex also looked it up in a different source and found the same thing. So, I went ahead and started it. I gradually worked up to 75 mg., which was the lowest dose that was effective. It didn't knock me out, but it made it so that I could both go to sleep easier and stay asleep, when I had the chance, while still being able to respond to babies waking up at night. I have been on it ever since, and nursed three more babies while taking it, with no problems. I did have to increase the dose after a while, to as much as 125 mgs., but had very little trouble with side-effects. I did gain weight on it, but that was a small price to pay for being able to feel better. I also found it helpful to nurse in a recliner, with pillows supporting my head and arms, where I could go back to sleep while the baby nursed. Of course, this is just one example, but I wanted to share it as one possibility for this mom to consider. I wonder if she is one of those women whose letdown becomes more active with stress and anxiety. For her to be in such a state is not good for her, her baby, or the rest of her family. I think it is extremely important for her to find some kind of relief, as soon as possible. Darillyn _________________________________________________________________ Get reliable access on MSN 9 Dial-up. 3 months for the price of 1! (Limited-time offer) http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialup&pgmarket=en-us&ST=1/go/onm00200361ave/direct/01/ *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html