SSRIs

[goddessoflubbock]

Adhoc - it is possible to maintain a smaller supply if milk long after the baby is weaned. I bf DS for close to a year. I saw my dr several times about continuing milky discharge for years afterward, which my dr thought I was imagining. Then DD came to live with us and about a week later every time she cried I leaked. This was 4 years after I stopped bf DS. Finally the doc believed me and I got a shot to dry it up.

This post brought to you courtesy of TMI

[Sophist]

LOL

[SomethingElse]

I should imagine it would be possible to keep some lactation going, because some people breastfeed for years, don't they? I know that that's kind of odd and possibly quite frowned upon by people who don't believe in it (I get that breast milk is good, but I think it's kind of strange to breastfeed a child until the age of seven or so! Having said that I was never breastfed, at all, so my opinion might be overly biased due to that!).

I remember an episode of House where a guy wanted to be prescribed breast milk so that he could claim it back on his insurance or something, and they refused. But I have heard about it being used for things (although not as many as I have now read about in this thread! Interesting stuff.

[adhocisadirtyword]

I'll actually be breastfeeding for years - probably until Elliot is 3 - basically until he decides he's done. Don't worry about offending though, I thought it was weird too until I started looking into it a lot more. I found out recently that my grandfather breastfed until 6. It might explain why he was comfortable in a house full of girls! (He had all daughters. )

The issue is that you can't keep it forever. At some point, when he's done, it will go away. Unless I'm like Goddess and it never does without medical intervention. But I think it will because he's only used one breast for the past year or and the other one is long since dried up. I still have milk in it, but it doesn't really produce it for consumption. If he started sucking on it a lot more, it probably would balloon up again.

For me - as long as I have breast in production, my chest area is quite large and it makes it difficult to find comfortable shirts that look okay. So I don't really want to keep the breastmilk, but I don't want to lose it either because it is so beneficial. Decisions ... Decisions...

[goddessoflubbock]

For me it was the only time I HAD a decent bustline, so I wasn't in a mad dash to get rid of it

My neighbors son bf until he was about 3, then she had another child and the first boy would hang off her wanting to bf again at 4 or so.

[adhocisadirtyword]

Oh yeah - I'm already plenty "blessed" in that area. And they keep getting bigger too - I heard it may be a condition related to Scottish heritage.

[David]

@Sophist
I can only agree that more formal studies of LDN's efficacy would be welcome. Unfortunately, the drug companies won't fund them since it is out of patent and they can't make money on it and, worse from their perspective, if its efficacy were demonstrated in trials, its use would displace drugs that cost thousands of dollars per month for one that costs $7 to $25 per month (depending on where you get it). So from their perspective LDN is a pact with the devil. That leaves publicly funded sources like Penn State and Stanford and a few other research centers around the world.

What that leaves us with is a mountain of anecdotal evidence. Unlike some, I don't break out in a rash at taking this kind of evidence seriously. For one thing, there is so much of it. Here are a couple of links that will take you to databases of LDN users, the reason they take it, and how they feel about it. I just came across one that was new to me: https://www.patientslikeme.com/treatmen ... ws?brand=f
Another, larger database that has a little more polish may be found here: http://www.ldndatabase.com/index.html This site also contains on its home page the well known video in which a fellow in a white jacket explains naltrexone, low dose naltrexone, and the rebound effect that causes our opioid receptors to be flooded with endorphins with the consequent sense of well-being and how this mediates our immune systems. Some of us practically have it memorized but it is required viewing for anyone interested in LDN who has not seen it.

One thing to keep in mind. While the efficacy of LDN has been the focus of only a few drug trials, its safety is quite another matter. The FDA has found naltrexone to be safe at doses almost 100 times the LDN dose. So, this much can be said with certainty: low dose naltrexone may or may not help you but IT WILL NOT HURT YOU. When you think about it, that's a lot more than many of the FDA approved treatments, for MS as an example, can say. We would certainly like more studies, but let's not be too ready to put our light under a basket. This stuff is working wonders for many, many people and you have nothing to lose by trying it. Just don't mix it with opiates. Simple rule.

So go to the databases and have a peek. Wander about. I think you'll be impressed with all the good news.

My best to you all.

David Nixon

[Sophist]

From the anecdotal evidence I've heard, I truly believe LDN can be useful in a great many regards. However, being a scientist, I would still want drug testing to be safe because, while it may help many people, there may be things about it which have unwanted effects, perhaps on certain subpopulations of illnesses. Without testing, it's harder to say whether that might be the case.

Hopefully, with all its potential benefits, there is still potential funding to research it, although that would need to go through programs such as NIH/NIMH, etc. Which is possible.

The more it's used, I'm sure the more anecdotal evidence will build up and illustrate whether greater caution is warranted or not.

[David]

@Sophist

We must be clear about one thing. Naltrexone has been determined to be safe by the FDA at doses about 100 times greater than a LDN user would take. And that has nothing to do with the future trials that we all want nor would it be changed by those trials.

Repeat: NALTREXONE IS SAFE.

David Nixon

[Sophist]

Doses make a difference, David. Nor are high doses used for chronic longterm conditions. Someone taking a high dose while they're weaning off heroine is different than someone who will take a low dose for decades.

Bigger dose = more effect doesn't always work in chemistry. Although that's not to say DN doesn't work that way; just that we don't know yet. It could be perfectly safe. Or, it might not be. Therefore, caution is wise.

[Civet]

I think it's been about 3.5 weeks since I started the Citalopram. I am still having bad days/hours but I am more functional than I was at the start. I haven't really broken down emotionally in awhile and though work is still difficult at times I'm not having to fight myself at every step. I've also been able to go out a bit more and was able to visit my parents this past weekend, which I couldn't have done several weeks ago either.

My stomach upset is mostly better, still off some days but I'm mostly able to eat normally now. For awhile there I was not able to eat much. I think my sleep is a bit affected still.

[Civet]

I saw my GP today and she is having me go up to 30mg because I'm still quite depressed even though I have improved. When talking to my therapist it seemed that she was headed in that direction, too, and it's probably not a bad idea. Hopefully the dosage increase doesn't start my stomach woes up again.

[Sophist]

Be careful not to let her take you up too high, Civet. At the higher dosages, it doesn't increase its antidepressant effects. Higher dosages are generally reserved for OCD. Anything more than 30 or 40 and it's pushing it.

Hopefully the new dosage will have the effects you're desiring.

[Civet]

Thanks, Sophist. I have a lot of anxiety issues too, which is why she chose this particular SSRI, though I have generalized anxiety disorder, not OCD. I forgot to ask my doctor, do you know how long it should take to see improvement with a dosage increase? Is it 2-6 weeks like when I first started the drug or should it take less time than that?

[Sophist]

Oh gosh, that I don't know. You'd definitely need to ask her about that to verify.