Galactorrhea

[EDValerieRN, ASN, RN]

Hello everyone,

I encountered a strange thing the other day. A young woman was lactating, and was not pregnant. Her only child is six years old, and she was taking none of the meds that might cause this symptom. Her MRI was also clean, so no pituitary adenoma. Can you all think of any other reason why this would be happening? I'm stumped.

The milk wasn't gushing out, just dripping occasionally and could be expressed. What else besides the pituitary and meds would make the pitocin level go up so much as to cause lactation? Have any of you witnessed this before?

[SouthernLPN2RN, MSN, RN, APRN, NP]

Some women supposedly never truly dry up. It could also be excessive stimulation.

[catlady, BSN, RN]

Is she one of those LaLeche ladies who never stop nursing?

[EDValerieRN, ASN, RN]

No, she said she hadn't nursed for several years. I thought about excessive stimulation... but the lactation had been going on for several days. Would excessive stimulation cause a one-time thing, or would it go on for a while?

[Diva Nurse Dani]

I have seen a similar problem.

The MRI didn't show an adenoma. She lactated and missed mestrals for a couple of years before the doctor began to treat as if an adenoma was present.

Same s/s, but no evidence.

Doctor treated with dostinex and birth control to regulate menstrals.

Rationale: some adenomas may be too small to be detected. Also, hormonally just out of whack due to possible blunt trauma to head area causing similar s/s.

hope this helps.

[EDValerieRN, ASN, RN]

I have seen a similar problem.

The MRI didn't show an adenoma. She lactated and missed mestrals for a couple of years before the doctor began to treat as if an adenoma was present.

Same s/s, but no evidence.

Doctor treated with dostinex and birth control to regulate menstrals.

Rationale: some adenomas may be too small to be detected. Also, hormonally just out of whack due to possible blunt trauma to head area causing similar s/s.

hope this helps.

Thanks for the information. This seems like it would be something that would cause infertility as well, due to the horomonal imbalance. I wish I could find out what they found, if anything.

[Mistify]

I was in an auto accident about 8 years ago and had some pretty bad damage from the seat belt to the chest wall. About three days after the accident I started lactating and was diagnosed with galactorrhea. My GYN said it happens sometimes from seat belt injuries. I continued to lactate for about four months and it stopped on its own. I started lactating again recently, but I am also six months pregnant(first baby), I am just glad I did not have any premanent damage to the breast tissue from the accident(I wish I could say the same for my shoulder).