There were two RNs at my hospital who claimed their OBs helped them dry up with Vit B6. The RN I talked to most about this said it was 600mg by injection; and that most needed only one or two injections to make a real difference.

So I checked Hale's PDA version. AAP: Usually Compatible in normal nutritional-purpose doses. L2 in normal use. L4 in high doses. It passes into the milk in direct proportion to maternal intake.
"Very high doses (600 mg/day) suppress prolactin secretion and therefore production of breastmilk." 2 citations. Two more sources cited say that very high doses "failed to suppress prolactin levels or lactation."
Pediatric Concerns: "Excessive oral doses have been reported to produce sedation, hypotonia and respiratory distress in infants, although none have been reported via breastmilk." 
Kinetics: MW: 206   Oral: Complete  T1/2: 15-20 days  Tmax: 1-2 hrs. No other kinetics listed.

Me again, NOT claiming to be any kind of authority: 
Maybe this is why this particular RN's OB chose to give by injection: to slow down entrance into the milk? 

But the high dose given above (600 mg/day) and the dose given below (800 mg/day) do not give info on how many days in succession the mother would take it to get the intended result of cessation of lactation. Did the prescriber tell the mom how long to take 800 mg/day?

Can an expert address this accurately?
Thanks.
Phyllis


---- "Landry wrote: 
> I am working with a mother who now wants to wean her 6 month old twins, and
> she was told by her Dr. to take 800 mg of Vitamin B 6 every day to dry up
> her supply.  I have not been able to find out any additional information
> about this, and wondered if anyone has heard of this before.  I am familiar
> with the things like parsley, peppermint, sage, Pseudoephedrine, Dostinex  -
> the mother is gradually cutting back on nursing, but called to ask about the
> suggestion of taking the B 6.
> 
> Thanks for any information,
> Evelyn Landry, RN, IBCLC, RLC
> Lafayette General Medical Center
> Lafayette, Louisiana  70503
> 
 
--
Phyllis Adamson, IBCLC, RLC
Glendale, AZ.
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