To:  Laura Hawkins

This is to respond to your mother wanting to take L-Phenlyalanine while nursing
her 15 month old.

L-Phenylalanine is a naturally occuring amino acid.  The directions on the
bottle say not to be used by pregnant or lactating women.  I'm sure this is due
to the phenlyalanine and the risk of brain damage if the baby has
Phenylketonuria (PKU).
PKU is rare from my literature 1:10,000-15,000 live births.  Babies in the US
are screened for PKU after birth.  Mothers who drink diet soda have already
exposed their baby to pheylalanine because it is an ingredient in Nutrasweet.
The risk to a 15 month old "healthy" child is probably not a problem.  Though I
have heard reports of children and Nutrasweet having caused seizures, I don't
know the source on this or the ingredient which caused it.

I bring up an additional bit of information.  DLPA which is D-Pheylalanine and
L-Phenylalanine are natural essential amino acids found in many of the foods we
already eat.  When combined together is a powerful non-addictive analgesic("is
as or more effective than morphine or other opiates") that works by inhibiting
the enzymes that destroy endophins allowing endorphins to work.  How about that
for those of you who have a headache from reading this!  It works great for
arthritis pain and has been researched and published by University of Chicago
Medical School (a Dr. Semour Ehrenpreis).  Maybe he might have the real answer
to this question!

Sue Wright RN,BSN,IBCLC-from Harvard Illinois where today it's cold and sunny.
I thought it was supposed to be spring!