decreased milk supply

[cladanyi]

I am doing some research and wanted to get your opinion about Metformin and Domperidone use to help increase a mothers milk supply.
If a mother is only producing 1 oz per feed/pump do these medications have a chance of increasing supply?
I have been reading about the mothers who are having many side effects upon withdrawal of Domperidone making me concerned about suggesting this medication.

[admin]

Cladanyi:

We have no data one way or the other on metformin and its efficacy at increasing milk supply "in mothers with Polycystic ovary Syndrome". It might help a bit but I don't know for sure.

Domperidone ONLY works in mothers with low prolactin levels. It ONLY increases prolactin levels. So, if you measure prolactin, and its low (10-40 ng/mL), then it'll probably work fine. Use no more than 20 mg TID.
Yes, some women have reported withdrawal after prolonged exposure and rather high doses. It is always important to reinforce in patients that they should withdraw slowly over 3 weeks or so, to make sure they do not loose their milk supply, and to make sure they do not have withdrawal.

And lastly, yes it can induce arrhythmias in patients that are already susceptible to arrhythmias, such as those with prolonged QT intervals, and other heart anomalies. Its rare, but possible. But remember, we presently have more than 120 drugs on the US market that do the same thing, increase QT interveals, so its rather common in the drug field to have drugs that "can" induce arrhythmias.

Tom Hale Ph.D.