Hey everyone,
I am working with a mom who has twins due in 8 weeks by surrogate. They are
her genetic babies but she could not carry them due to severe HELLP syndrome
with her last baby 4 yrs ago. She wants to induce lactation for these
little ones, but is getting started late. She is interested in taking
domperidone and/or More Milk Special Blend (it has fenugreek, blessed
thistle, nettles, fennel and goat's rue). However her body reacts oddly to
meds. Please read her note to me and let me know what you think -
permission to post already given. It's a little long, but we need as much
input as possible so I had her tell me everything she could think of.
Thanks in advance
Jaye Simpson, IBCLC, CIIM
Breastfeeding Network
Sacramento, CA
www.breastfeedingnetwork.net
Hi Jaye - It was nice chatting with you again. Here's the info you asked
for:
I've mentioned to you before that I tend to be very sensitive to meds.
For example, even when I take a small dose of ibuprofen I fall asleep.
Tylenol also has a very relaxing effect on me. My history with infertility
drugs has been a bit rough. The first med I took was Clomid. After the
first dose, I had a horrible reaction. After a few hours I started feeling
dizzy. Later in the day I started cramping which eventually turned into
severe, sharp pain in my right ovary. My body got really hot & I started
sweating so much that my clothes were completely soaked. Maybe the heat was
just from the pain. I ended up in ER and the doctor said it was not caused
by Clomid and that they had never heard of such a reaction. So it was just
a fluke. To me, it was too coincidental and I honestly believe it was
Clomid that caused the pain. I think it was too much stimulation for my
ovary. At that point they took me off of the med. I believe it was my
right ovary because previous to starting any infertilty treatments I had
been experiencing a lot of abdominal pain on the right side. My doctor
finally did a laparoscopy and found that I had a lot of scar tissue in my
abdomen and that the right ovary was attached to the abdominal wall. He
seperated it and removed some of the scar tissue, but a few months later it
reattached. Anyway, the pain I felt was this same location. Next, I went
on Repronex and I think one other med(can't remember which one). Reactions
were mainly the typical weight gain and mood swings, but also some
occasional sharp pain in the ovary. Like someone stabbing me with a knife
and then it would go away. From there we started IVF and I did a combo of
Lupron with Repronex and one other drug(can't remember this one either).
Again, just the typical reactions. Got pregnant on the second try and had
many complications during the pregnancy. Towards the end I was diagnosed
with HELLP Syndrome and delivered at 38wks. Labor and delivery were not
smooth. My body was not responding to any pain killers or the "happy juice"
in my IV. Eventually had an epidural, but it didn't work on me. A second
attempt was made, but again did not work. Eventually ended up with
C-Section which I felt.
So, sometimes my body is sensitive to meds and other times it doesn't
respond at all. Another example is when I go to the dentist. I had a
cavity and it was very difficult to numb me. My dentist gave me 10 shots
and I could still feel the pain. Needless to say, I make sure I don't get
anymore cavities. My body also seems to be resistant to anti-biotics. I am
prone to sinus infections and have had to take them a lot over the years. I
guess my body has become somewhat immune to them. There have been times
when I also had opposite reactions to things.
Now we are expecting twins via surrogate. However, I had to go through
the whole IVF process again to get my eggs. This time my body responded
very differently. The first med was Lupron and I had severe reactions, then
they switched me over to Synarel(nasal). Even more severe reactions. Both
drugs are designed to put the body into menopause right before stimulating
the ovaries. My body didn't like being in menopause. I can't remember how
many side effects I had, but I know there were over 30 of them. I had
written them down at one point to bring to the doctor. I won't list them
all. On Lupron, I had the common hot flashes. Then bone pain kicked in
along with liver pain. My skin started turning yellow and I was swelling.
Also, very tired and just sick, mainly nauseas. Synarel was excruciating
pain. I remember feeling really amped after the first dose. A couple of
days later the symptoms had really kicked in. The worst day started with
major nausea and achiness all over my body. I thought I was getting the
flu. A few hours later I got a deep chill(hard to explain) and started
shaking uncontrollably. At this point I did something stupid and got in the
shower(all I could think about was warming up quickly). By the time I was
able to get into the shower, I was in so much pain. My skin hurt, my bones
ached, my heart was racing, and my muscles lost their function. I
collapsed. It's very hard to describe what I was feeling at the time, but I
felt like my entire body was shutting down on me. I was afraid to fall
asleep that night. The muscle function eventually started coming back, but
not completely. I was very weak and it took months to get full muscle
function back. The bone and skin pain lasted for about a week. The doctors
told me that many of these side effects were from the meds, but that they
had never heard of it happening to this extreme. They took me off of
everything at this point. Next I did Cetrotide, Gonal-F, Menopur, and HCG.
Didn't have any side effects until the end. I became overstimulated. Also,
very painful.
I guess I should also mention that since childbirth, I haven't been able
to get my energy back. My doctor told me it was from chasing a toddler
around or not getting enough sleep, but I know it's not that. I have
started seeking alternative meds now. I also still have liver pain. It
seems like after this last dose of Lupron, my liver has become very tender
again and occasionally starts pulsing. Some extra info, when I was going
through IVF I was tested for some blood clotting disorders. I don't
remember what tests were done, but I did test positive for 3 out of 4. I
was told it was only a concern during pregnancy because blood clots could
develop on the placenta(or in the umbilical cord?). Anyway, they just had
me take a low dose aspirin. One other thing, sometimes just randomly my
heart beat speeds up or flutters. I was told this was normal, though.
I hope this is helpful. If you need me to be more specific on anything
just let me know. Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from
you soon.
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