medication to dry up breast milk?

[ashleyisawesome]

sorry if this is a silly question-- im just curious. im a nursing student in my OB rotation and i was doing discharge teaching today on a post partum mom. in the breast feeding section of the education it gives advice to moms who arent breastfeeding on how to make yourself more comfortable (snug bra, ice, dont let the hot water hit your nipples in the shower, etc).. it also says in bold print "no medication will be given to dry up breast milk"

my mom bottle fed me , and i remember her telling me that they gave something to dry up her milk so she wouldnt have as much discomfort.

so my questions are: Did they used to give something to dry up milk in the past (or do they still in some hospitals?), What was it (an anti cholenergic maybe?), Why did they stop doing it?

thanks in advanced for anyone who replies.. just curious.

[Nascar nurse, ASN, RN]

I had babies in 94 and 95. No meds given. suffered horribly with the first one for about 48 hours. Second time I asked for a prescription for just 10 Darvocet at discharge - worked like a charm. Of course this option isn't available today either.

[muesli]

Working a nursing job where no one covered my breaks and there was no lactation room for my shift helped my milk dry up really quick.

[robby5313]

Yes, my daughter was born in 1993 and I think they JUST stopped using it!

[klone, MSN, RN]

I don't know if bromocriptine is the generic name for Parlodel, but that is another med that was commonly given (ETA: just googled and they're the same drug).

Clomid, if taken in the early days after birth, works pretty well at drying up milk. Estrogen has that effect as well.

I have recently talked to a few women who needed to quickly wean for health reasons, and the advice I generally give is to suck on Altoids all day long, and drink lots and lots of sage tea.

[On_the_on, BSN]

I just wanted to chime in on the cabbage leaves. I was told to use the red cabbage and it worked wonders! I think it still took a couple of weeks to dry up. but no pain and minimal swelling!

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

We have given parlodel ( or bromocriptine) for many reasons in the Neuro ICU. We give it when someone is in diencephelon storm. We also gave it to a few women after pregnancy who weren't able to breast feed due to medications that they were taking. My friend was on it due to a pituitary tumor.

[sunbaby0811]

Along the same lines as cabbage, sage is also known to dry up breastmilk (commonly in the form of sage tea...). Just some random info for your googling fun :)

[SamL]

I also have to recommend using Cabbage Leaves.. along with binding up the breasts or a really tight bra/top. I was never given the option of medication and wouldn't have taken it anyway. Just a personal choice.

I couldn't breastfeed any of my 3 kiddies, and found that my milk had dried up within the first few days using this method.

[emmanewgrad]

How in the world is cabbage used to dry up milk? :eek::eek:

[SamL]

Not exactly sure but apparently something in it reduces swelling, improves blood flow to the breasts and has antibiotic properties.

Personally, I thought it was just the cold as it was always a better relief just after applying and I was constantly changing to new, cold leaves.

Edit: Also, I don't know if it actually dries up the milk, but makes the process a little more tolerable.

[tntrn, ASN, RN]

Back in the 70's (I had babies in 1972 and 1976) we used a drug called deladumone. It worked great if you refrain from stimulating your breasts in any way (even as little bit as washing in the shower) which no one bothered to tell me:)

[tparks]

My ob had me take sudafed and I dried up in 2 days with no discomfort. :)