Has anyone used Reglan?

Jen0204 · January 2012

My milk supply is very low and I've been trying natural remedies (mother's milk tea, mother's love herbal drops, increasing my water intake, pumping after each feeding), but I'm still not getting much milk. Each feeding starts off with me breastfeeding, then giving them pumped breast milk, then formula, then after they're changed and put back to sleep I start pumping again. This schedule is exhausting and it's especially frustrating because I pump so little compared to what they eat ( they eat around 1000ml a day combined, and e most I've gotten pumping is 350ml). I was thinking of asking my doctor to prescribe Reglan but wanted to see if anyone else has tried it, especially since it has a possible side effect of severe depression. I have no history of depression, but between giving birth, their NICU stay, and a complete lack of sleep I have been very emotional the past couple of weeks. Any personal experiences with the medicine or other thoughts on breastfeeding or increasing my supply would be much appreciated. OB, I've also worked with the lactation consultants at the hospital, and they pretty much just said that breastfeeding is often a challenge for MoM's, especially when the babies are born early, and that some breast milk is better then none.

JenLC99 · January 2012

Though I have never tried either, I would suggest domperidone over reglan. More effective and less side effects.

jxd215 · January 2012

I decided not to take Reglan bc of the potential side effects. I had to supplement from the beginning, and like you, tried everything except drugs until my supply tanked even further when i went back to work. At that point I took domperidone and didn't have any side effects. I still had to supplement, but my supply went back up enough that we did about 50:50 breastmilk:formula, which I felt was worth it.

punkin06 · January 2012

I used Reglan about 4 yrs ago with my singleton when my supply dropped. It worked wonderfully with no side effects. I called it my miracle pill bc whenever I slacked on pumping & my supply tanked, I could take this & my supply would be better within a day! The herbal stuff didn't help me much either. My OB was hesitant to prescribe it but I convinced him. Good luck!

Jen0204 · January 2012

Thanks or the replies, I'll ask their pediatrician and my OB about both. I have to go back to work after three months do I want to do everything I can to get my supply up now since I figure it will go down then. Honestly, unless I can give them at least half of what they need via breastmilk by then I can't see myself continuing to pump once I'm back at work.

2moms2twins · January 2012

For those that took domperidone

its not legal in the US so did you just go through Canada?

meldoo2002 · January 2012

I used reglan. My OB really only wanted me to use it for 4 weeks based on the effects it can have. I literally used it for 3 days and although it really helped my supply it made me super tired. I was falling asleep next to the boys isolates. I had to stop using it which sucked because my supply sucked. I was too nervous to try domperidone.

LakeGenevaBride · January 2012

I was on reglan. It helped my supply marginally. At the peak of my supply I could still only pump half their needs. I tried EVERYTHING to make BFing work. I ended up in a depression requiring medication. I don't know if it was from the reglan, or everything else going on. The best thing I did for myself was quit pumping/nursing when the babies were 11 weeks. I did the best I could.

Jen0204 · January 2012

LakeGenevaBride:
I was on reglan. It helped my supply marginally. At the peak of my supply I could still only pump half their needs. I tried EVERYTHING to make BFing work. I ended up in a depression requiring medication. I don't know if it was from the reglan, or everything else going on. The best thing I did for myself was quit pumping/nursing when the babies were 11 weeks. I did the best I could.

H and I have talked about it and if I don't produce at least half of what they need by the time they're 8 weeks then I'm going to stop pumping/nursing. That will get them past their 6 week growth spurt and I'm going back to work at 11.5 weeks so that will give me a few weeks to have my body adjust to not nursing and a few weeks of some sleep where H can start covering some feedings at night. I want to do everything I can to increase my supply, but if I can't I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

rachelle2824 · January 2012

Can you try increasing your calories? I know my supply jumps when I increase my food intake. Lack of sleep really impacts some womens supplies as well- can your DH cover a nighttime feeding so all you have to do is pump and go back to sleep? Or someone else can do that during the day for you so you can catch a few extra hours?

I took Reglan for 1.5 months after I had bad mastitis (that dropped my supply) and the reglan worked great! I didn't have any side effects and took 10 mg 4 times a day. I also took straight Fenugreek (not the "Mothers Love" blend) 3 times a day and if I recall it was 3 caps, 3 times a day although I can't remember the dose. I think the Fenugreek was very effective also.

Last question: what kind of pump are you using? In the beginning I had to do the breastfeed-bottle feed- pump routine and my LC said that store bought pumps (even the nice Medella ones) aren't made for building a supply, they are only made for maintaining a supply. I rented the hospital grade pump for the first 6 weeks and ended up with an oversupply for quite some time!!

GL, stick with it, it's completely and horribly exhausting but totally worth it in the end. When you are frustrated make sure you talk to women who understand, support is an important factor.

Jen0204 · January 2012

I'm renting the same pump that I used at the hospital because the LC there told me the same thing about pumps. The calories could definitely be an issue - sometimes I'll look at the clock and it will be 8pm and I'll realize that I haven't eaten yet that day. I just don't know where the time goes! H has been very good about pulling his weight with the girls and usually handles the 3am feeding. I've even been skipping that pump (bad, I know, but I'm so unbelievably xhausted) so that I can get 3-4 hours in a row.

The girls don't seem to like their formula and while they take the pumped breastmilk with no issues at all, they spit up/throw up the formula a lot. I'm hoping that I can increase my supply enough to drastically cut back on or eliminate the formula, although I'm going to ask their pediatrician tomorrow if we should switch their formula too.

Want a personalized experience?

Has anyone used Reglan?

Re: Has anyone used Reglan?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards